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Blackadder character
King Richard IV of England
Nationality	English
Occupation(s)	King of England
First appearance	The Foretelling
Last appearance	The Black Seal
Episode count	6
Played by	Brian Blessed

King Richard IV of England was a fictional character in the first series of the BBC comedy series The Black Adder, played by Brian Blessed. The character is loosely based on Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (1473-1483?), son of Edward IV, brother to Edward V, who, an apocryphal story claims, was murdered to the political benefit of his uncle, Richard III in 1483.

Richard and his wife Gertrude of Flanders have two sons. The eldest is Harry, Prince of Wales, of whom the king is extremely proud. The younger son is Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, of whom the king is oblivious at best, utterly contemptuous at worst. On the few occasions he does recognise his son, he calls him by the wrong name, be it Edna, Edgar, Edwin, Enid, Edith, Edward, Osmond or simply 'The other one'. In "The Archbishop", he says that comparing Edmund to Harry "is as comparing excrement to cream," a comment that flatters both sons.

As Richard's wife is Queen Regnant of Flanders, it is likely that Richard enjoys the title and power of King of that country, as was customary in the 15th century when a queen regnant married.

According to the series, Richard ascends to the throne in 1485 after his uncle, Richard III, is accidentally killed by Edmund at the Battle of Bosworth Field. (The series' first episode explains that Henry Tudor altered the historical record to make himself the victor).

Richard revels in crusades and, in "Born to be King", defeats an entire Turkish horde armed only with a small knife used for peeling fruit. He despises the Turkish people and quotes the Bible as saying "Love thy neighbour as thyself. Unless he's Turkish, in which case, kill the bastard!" In "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant", he catches the bubonic plague and goes temporarily insane; he attacks everyone he sees, believing them to be Turks. He is known to shout "Chiswick! Fresh horses!" to his courtier Lord Chiswick.

Richard, along with the rest of his court, is accidentally poisoned in the series' final episode, "The Black Seal". Henry Tudor then usurps the throne and re-writes history so that the reign of King Richard IV of England would be eradicated from history.