Character

Lord Melchett

Lord Melchett in Blackadder (1983), played by Stephen Fry.

Lord Melchett is a blustering officer of the crown, forever puffed up with self-importance and utterly divorced from the realities around him. Whether barking orders from a safe distance or pontificating at court, he mistakes volume and rank for wisdom, delighting in his own authority while remaining gloriously, dangerously clueless.

Stephen Fry plays pomposity like a musical instrument, finding new registers of delight in every bellow and non sequitur. The writing hands him a man entirely insulated from consequence, and Fry turns that insulation into comedy gold—his booming confidence never once dented by how wrong he constantly is.

Played by

Appears in

Blackadder1983