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'Captain Kevin Darling' was a fictional character played by Tim McInnerny in the British sitcom ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.
The character was originally named 'Captain Cartwright', as writers Ben Elton and Richard Curtis were unable to think of a more amusing name for him. Eventually however, Stephen Fry suggested 'Darling' would be a more comedic alternative. ^[1] It was at this point that Captain Darling developed his trademark eye-twitch.
As both Darling and Lord Percy Percy are portrayed by Tim McInnerny, Darling is possibly intended as a latter-day member of the Percy line, a familial line that seems to gravitate to association with the Blackadder line as the various other bloodlines of the ''Blackadder'' universe do (Baldrick, Melchett, Mrs. Miggins, Kate/Bob etc.). However, as with Simon 'Farters Parters' Partridge (also known as 'Mr. Ostrich')/Lt. George/Prince George, it is unclear whether Percy and Darling are related or merely happen to be portrayed by the same actor (although Lt. George and Prince George share a given name, something Kevin Darling and Percy Percy do not).

Contents

Character

Character Development

''Blackadder Goes Forth''

''Blackadder: Back and Forth''

References

Character

Darling, whose surname is a constant embarrassment to him, is a Captain in the British Army in World War I. He is a pencil-pushing staff officer (hence the red tabs on his collar and the red band around his cap, both of which were later only worn by officers of the rank of Colonel or above) and aide to General Melchett. Despite (or perhaps because of) his constant toadying, Melchett views Darling with a great deal of contempt, and although claiming to regard him as a son, takes pains to point out that he's certainly not a favourite, but rather a "sort of spotty, illegitimate sprog that no one really likes". Darling's main duties at GHQ include unloading and assigning truck loads of paper clips, sending orders to charge and helping Melchett with his dickie-bows and his dicky bladder. Darling is portrayed as an intellectual rival to the character of Blackadder (most of the other characters are usually comic foils), and one who usually triumphs over him. However, Blackadder often gets some sort of revenge, for example getting Darling to eat Baldrick's "Charlie Chaplin" Moustache (in reality a slug) or watching as Lord Flashheart headbutts him out cold.

Character Development

''Blackadder Goes Forth''

Much like Lord Melchett in series 2, Darling and Captain Blackadder share a mutual hatred, and are constantly embroiled in a game of one-upmanship. Both are clever men who, seemingly alone amongst everyone else around them, recognise the absurdity and pointlessness of their surroundings. However, whilst Blackadder is trapped outside the high command and dependent on the goodwill of those within it for his survival, Darling (like the earlier Melchett) is on the inside, and uses his influence to stymie Blackadder wherever possible. However, the two men finally achieve a form of empathy when Darling is sent to join Blackadder and his men at the front line for the 'final push' (Darling, much to his horror, was given his orders by General Melchett who believes it to be something of a treat rather than a death sentence). In the final scene both captains reluctantly go forward, side by side, into the machine gun fire that will almost certainly kill them.
At home in England, Darling worked for 'Pratt and Sons', kept wicket for the Croydon Gentlemen and had a girlfriend called Doris, who, had it not been for his untimely death, he intended to marry. He kept a diary, the final entry in which, written shortly after being ordered to the front line, simply read 'Bugger'.
He is constantly tortured by his embarrassing surname, a trait that manifests itself in the nervous twitching of his left eye (a trait which McInnerny claims it took three months to shake off after completing the series). This tormented quality is the greatest similarity between McInnerny's two ''Blackadder'' characters, as the idiot Percy (from series 1 and 2) who also had something of a tormented air during acts of most supreme idiocy (such as his appearance in drag as a prostitute at the end of the series 2 episode "money").

''Blackadder: Back and Forth''

Three other Darlings appear in the millennium special ''Blackadder: Back and Forth''. In the modern day setting McInnerny plays Archdeacon Darling, the assistant of Bishop Flavius Melchett. When Blackadder visits the Napoleonic Wars, we learn that the Duke of Wellington (played, as in ''Blackadder the Third'' by actor Stephen Fry) was aided by the Duke of Darling, whereas Napoleon's aide was the Duc de Darling.

References

1. The Insider