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:''This article refers to a fictional TV character, for the pretender to the English throne sometimes referred to by this name, see Perkin Warbeck.''
'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, a popular theory claims, was murdered to the political benefit of his uncle, Richard III in 1483.

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In the series

In the series

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, contemptuous at worst. On the few occasions he does recognise his son, he calls him by the wrong name, be it Edgar, Enid, Edward 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.