At Blackadder Hall in 1999 Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is entertaining three guests on New Year's Eve. He informs them he has invented a time travel and wagers £10,000 each that he can bring back any item from history they ask for. Archbishop Melchett (Blackadder) (Stephen Fry), Archdeacon Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), George (Blackadder character) (Hugh Laurie) and Queenie (Blackadder) (Miranda Richardson) agree to this and request he bring back a Roman centurion's helmet, wellingtons worn by the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington on the day of the Battle of Waterloo, and an ancient, reeking, stinking pair of 200 year old underpants. The whole thing is actually a scam, Blackadder has, in fact, had Baldrick (Tony Robinson) retrieve the items from his stores, and the time machine is just a prop. Blackadder stages the time machine travelling through time for his guests, with himself and Baldrick hiding inside, but when he opens the door he finds it has actually worked.