"The Archbishop" is the third episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder (The Black Adder). It is set in England in the late 15th century, and follows the exploits of the fictitious Prince Edmund as he is invested as Archbishop of Canterbury amid a Machiavellian plot by the King to acquire lands from the Catholic Church. Most of the humour in the episode relies on religious satire.
The script pays tribute to the real-life 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. Edmund, faced with the threat of assassination, attempts to escape to France into self-imposed exile; and in a later scene, two drunk knights overhear King Richard IV exclaiming "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?", the words attributed to King Henry II which led to Becket's death in 1170, and embark on a mission to murder Edmund.
"The Archbishop" won an International Emmy Award in 1983 in the Popular Arts category.
The Catholic Church was to be satirized again in the second series, Blackadder II, in the 1986 episode "Money".
Plot
In November 1487, the Duke of Winchester, the greatest landowner in the kingdom, is on his deathbed, with King Richard and Godfrey, Archbishop of Canterbury, sitting beside him. Winchester initially plans to leave his lands to the Crown in his will, but Godfrey threatens him with the eternal torments of Hell unless he bequeaths his estate to the Catholic Church. Moments after the will is signed, Winchester dies, and his lands pass on to the Church. Enraged, the King has the Archbishop murdered.
Edmund learns of Archbishop Godfrey's death from his brother Harry and reflects on it scornfully with his companions Lord Percy Percy and Baldrick, remarking that Godfrey was the third archbishop in a year to suffer such a fate, sarcastically referring to the other absurdly obvious murders as "tragic accidents". Edmund then hears of a rumour that Harry is to be appointed as the new archbishop and speculates gleefully that his brother will also be brutally murdered, thus leaving Edmund next in line for the throne of England. The next day, to Edmund's horror, King Richard announces that he will be the new archbishop. Fearing for his life, Edmund tries to grovel his way out of the job, but Richard refuses, threatening to do to him "what God did unto the Sodomites" should he anger him.
