Kevin Darling
Captain Kevin Darling was a
fictional character played by
Tim McInnerny in series four of the popular
BBC sit-com Blackadder. He was a
Captain in the
British Army during
World War I.
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.
Darling, whose
surname was a constant embarrassment to him, was a pencil-pushing creep and aide to
General Melchett. Despite his toadying and brown-nosing nature, however, Melchett views Darling with a great deal of contempt, and although claiming to regard him as a son, takes pains to point out that it's certainly not a favourite one, but reffering to him rather as a "sort of spotty, illegitimate sprog that no one really likes". Darling's main duties at GHQ include unloading and assigning truck loads of paperclips, sending orders to charge and helping General Melchett with his dickie-bows and his dicky bladder (which Melchett claims to be wooden.)
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 smart men who, seemingly alone amongst everyone else around them, recognise the absurdity and pointlessness of their surroundings, however, whilst Blackadder is trapped on the outside of the chain of 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 make amends 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 the insane General Melchett who believed it to be something of a treat, rather than the death sentence it was); as both men are trapped within a system that will kill them, they silently agree to drop the feud.
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'.
Three other Darlings appear in the millennium special
Blackadder: Back and Forth. In the modern day setting McInnery 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.
