After playing an essentially similar character called "Percy" in each of
the first two "Black Adder" series, he declined to reprise the character
in
Blackadder - Dritter Teil (1987), as he felt that the possibilities of playing a bumbling fool had been exhausted. After playing a guest role in one episode of the third series, writers
Richard Curtis and
Ben Elton persuaded him back into the regular cast for
Blackadder - Vierter Teil (1989) by offering him a role with a different name (and personality) in the shape of "Captain Darling". He is, thus, the only one of the cast to play differently named regular characters in different series.
