Tony Robinson slams Michael Gove on WWI comments

Sir Tony Robinson with his co-stars in Blackadder Goes Forth. Picture: BBC

The actor, who played the lowly, flea-bitten soldier Baldrick in the hugely popular series, said the education secretary’s “ugly” comments had diminished what should be a time of national reflection.

In an emotional ending to Blackadder Goes Forth, Baldrick is among British soldiers who charge towards the enemy, only to be gunned down in their muddy tracks.

The image fades to be replaced by fields of poppies, in scenes that have had an enduring effect on a generation and shaped many people’s view of the war.

Episodes have been shown in classrooms and Sir Tony, a Labour Party member, claimed Mr Gove’s comments had amounted to a further attack on teachers.

He said: “I think Mr Gove has 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 to show them Blackadder.

“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. I think it’s particularly unhelpful and irresponsible for a minister in charge of education.”

Tristram Hunt, the shadow education spokesman, also condemned what he saw as Mr Gove’s opportunistic hijacking of the debate around the First World War to push his own Tory agenda.

The row started on Friday, when Mr Gove wrote a newspaper article which said the Left insisted on peddling myths about the First World War that had served to “denigrate virtues such as patriotism, honour and courage”.

Although he attacked “left-wing academics”, he did not specifically mention schoolteachers.

He wrote: “The war was, of course, an unspeakable tragedy, which robbed this nation of our bravest and best. 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.”

Mr Hunt, who studied history at Trinity College, wrote in a national newspaper: “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.

“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.”

The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War will be marked in August with several events, including a service at Glasgow Cathedral.,