Whatever happened to Blackadder and Baldrick?

Blackadder and Baldrick

For those of you who were fans of the BBC comedy series Blackadder starring Rowan Atkinson in the title role and Tony Robinson as his trusty sidekick Baldrick you may be left wondering what happened to them after they went ‘over the top’ at the Battle of the Somme.

Fear not, the trusty duo has re-emerged, in Western Australia as the Premier (Blackadder aka Roger Cook) and Deputy Premier (Baldrick a.k.a. Rita Saffioti).

The Premier has recently returned to the old country to work on the progress of the AUKUS agreement and will almost certainly be visiting the site of nuclear submarine building in the UK, Barrow-in-Furness. Whilst at Barrow, with his love of speed sports, he might very well take the short trip north to The Lake District, to visit Coniston Water. This is where Donald Campbell died trying to set a new water speed record on 4 January 1967. Campbell had previously set a water speed record on Dumbleyung Lake (near Wagin here in WA) on 31 December 1964. What’s not to love about speed?

Possibly our revered Premier might like to take the 34-kilometre trip north to Keswick to visit the spiritual home of the much more sedate Lakeside poets, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey. Maybe the Arts are a little too highbrow for Blackadder.

Our Premier’s love of speed and bare-knuckle violence is matched only by that of his deputy Saffioti. Their joint desire to put noses out of joint and make enemies of the electorate is astounding. Whilst it made for great comedy to see Blackadder start a devious project and Baldrick attempt to save it with an inevitable ‘cunning plan’ it is nowhere near as amusing to see these two performers squander tax-payer’s money like two drunken sailors.

Spending, what they heroically claim to be, only $220 million, on creating a ‘street circuit’ on the Burswood peninsula. There can be absolutely no doubt that this will cost very much more than the budgeted figure and to what purpose? Two days V8 car racing per year? Do you expect us to believe that? As an after-thought all sorts of add-ons have been made to get other interest groups on board. The prospect of a 15,000 – 20,000 capacity amphitheatre is laughable in the extreme. Where will that fit in? Where will the entrances and exits be? What happened to the Urban Forest we were promised in the Burswood Park 20-year vision document?

Whilst in the UK perhaps Premier Cook might like to venture down to Cornwall to visit, The Eden Project. Sited on a reclaimed china clay pit, two massive biomes house thousands of plant species, one emulating a rainforest the other a mediterranean environment. The site is open 365 days of the year, attracts visitors from all over the world and makes no noise! What is not to love about this?

Premier Cook, Deputy Premier Saffioti don’t just think outside the circle, think outside the boxing ring and outside the race circuit. Admit you were wrong!