Blackadder star attacks Gove on WW1

5 January 2014 Last updated at 15:40 GMT

Blackadder star Sir Tony Robinson criticises Michael Gove

Sir Tony Robinson (centre) played Baldrick in Blackadder Goes Forth

Sir Tony Robinson has criticised the education secretary for saying Blackadder is used as a propaganda tool by "left-wing academics".

The actor and Labour Party grandee - famed for playing Baldrick in the BBC comedy - accused Michael Gove of "slagging off teachers".

On Thursday, Mr Gove told the Daily Mail some on the left were guilty of peddling "myths" about World War One.

He did not specifically mention teachers.

Mr Gove told the paper programmes such as Blackadder were being used by some "left-wing academics" to denigrate "virtues such as patriotism, honour and courage".

The final series of Blackadder - set in the trenches of World War One - depicts Britain's military leaders as cowards and buffoons, in common with previous fictional accounts of the conflict such as the 1960s musical farce Oh, What a Lovely War!

'Catastrophic mistakes'

"The war was, of course, an unspeakable tragedy, which robbed this nation of our bravest and best," writes Mr Gove.

"But even as we recall that loss and commemorate the bravery of those who fought, it's important that we don't succumb to some of the myths which have grown up about the conflict.

'The conflict has, for many, been seen through the fictional prism of dramas such as Oh, What a Lovely War!, The Monocled Mutineer and Blackadder, as a misbegotten shambles - a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite.

"Even to this day there are left-wing academics all too happy to feed those myths."

Some scenes in Oh, What a Lovely War! were based on historian and Conservative politician Alan Clark's revisionist history of World War One, The Donkeys, which is credited with starting the trend for unflattering portrayals of World War One top brass.

'Unhelpful'

Sir Tony, a former member of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, said: "I think Mr Gove has just made a very silly mistake; it's not that Blackadder teaches children the First World War.

"When imaginative teachers bring it in, it's simply another teaching tool; they probably take them over to Flanders to have a look at the sights out there, have them marching around the playground, read the poems of Wilfred Owen to them. And one of the things that they'll do is show them Blackadder.

Alan Bleasdale's The Monocled Mutineer was also in Mr Gove's crosshairs

"And I think to make this mistake, to categorise teachers who would introduce something like Blackadder as left-wing and introducing left-wing propaganda is very, very unhelpful. And I think it's particularly unhelpful and irresponsible for a minister in charge of education."

Speaking on Sky News's Murnaghan programme, the actor and Labour activist said it was "just another example of slagging off teachers," adding: "I don't think that's professional or appropriate."

Shadow education secretary and TV historian Tristram Hunt has also criticised Mr Gove's comments.

Paxman comments

In an article in The Observer, the Labour MP writes: "There was always a fear that the timing of the First World War anniversary alongside the May 2014 European parliament elections and the rise of UKIP could undermine a dignified response to the events of 1914-18.

"Yet few imagined the Conservatives would be this crass. The reality is clear: the government is using what should be a moment for national reflection and respectful debate to rewrite the historical record and sow political division."

Last October, BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman, who has written a book to tie in with the centenary of the start of World War One, criticised schools for relying on episodes of Blackadder Goes Forth to teach pupils about the conflict.

The following month, Conservative defence minister Andrew Murrison, a former Royal Navy surgeon, said: "We risk disconnection from a defining event of our time and an opportunity, perhaps, to balance the Oh! What A Lovely War/Blackadder take on history, that has sadly been in the ascendant for the past 50 years."