Meet the man who went from Blackadder actor to castle history expert

THERE is a locked room underneath Cardiff Castle. Inside there are dozens of rare and expensive swords. As you walk into the gloomy space filled with medieval weapons you may worry for your safety. You may even think you are in the stickiest situation since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun.

Luckily the only person that awaits you is the castle’s resident sword expert named Simon Osborne.

Living near Treorchy, 48-year-old Simon did not always work at the castle. That is because Simon worked for many years as an actor and had a wellknown role in the iconic BBC comedy Blackadder aged just 17.

Working alongside comedy legends Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson, he played William Pitt the Younger in the third series of the hit show in one of the most well-loved episodes.

Blackadder is battling to counter Pitt the Younger’s attempts to abolish the hopeless Prince George/Hugh Laurie (who had spent £1,000 on socks).

Pitt also had a manifesto pledge to ensure stricter sentences for geography teachers.

To say Simon started in acting early is an understatement. He first got the bug aged eight when he saw a television show being filmed in Cornwall where he lived.

“They were filming a series in my village,” he said. “I remember going to watch that being filmed with my parents.

“I remember thinking that I could do this. I was eight years old and I can distinctly remember thinking that.

“When we go back there I point out to my wife and son where I was stood watching it.

“There was a child actor there at the time and my parents asked his father how he got into it.

“He gave them the telephone number of an agency that was fairly new at the time called Sylvia Young’s – it is now one of the biggest ones in London.”

Simon, who then had a thick Cornish accent, started getting a few small roles including some period pieces.

It was clearly a very cunning plan to become a child actor because after he started attending stage school he got a part in well known BBC children’s show Grange Hill. In fact you might say the plan was so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel.

“I was in Grange Hill for three years from 13 to 16,” he said. “I was mainly background, but I was in a gang of six called The Smokers.

“Out of about 100 kids in it they chose the only six people who didn’t smoke! I did that until I was 16.”

It was then that Simon secured his dream role.

He said: “I remember when I was about to leave school someone asked me what I would like to do and I said I would like to be in a BBC-type comedy like Blackadder.

“Before my 17th birthday I had the audition for that and it was hinted that I had the part on the day.” It wasn’t long until he met Baldrick. “I arrived at the BBC rehearsal rooms and I signed in. Someone else had been signed in ahead of me and we both got in the lift together.

“It was a guy in full black leathers and a motorbike helmet.

“He took the helmet off and it was Tony Robinson! He said to me, ‘Are you Pitt the Younger by any chance?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am.’

“He asked what my name was and I told him, ‘My name is Simon’ and he said, ‘Hi I’m Tony’ and I just remember saying, ‘Yeah I know.’”

Unlike so many other comedies from the 1980s, Blackadder has truly stood the test of time. This is unsurprising when you have a cast of Laurie, Atkinson and Robinson (Stephen Fry was only in one episode that series).

According to Simon, they all played a big part in how the show came together.

“The whole team were really friendly, it’s the best you could hope for,” he said.

“When people would suggest changes it would be mainly the central three.

“Hugh Laurie would suggest a few things and Tony Robinson will also make suggestions.

“Rowan Atkinson would come up with some great ideas, but no one could do the stuff he does.

“I remember him saying that some redcoats could come in behind me to enforce my will with faces like this and he pulled a funny face.

“The director said to him, ‘That is great Rowan, but no one else in Britain can do that face!’

“Whatever he suggested would have