Sir Tony Robinson has criticised Education Secretary Michael Gove for suggesting Blackadder was being used as a propaganda tool by “left-wing academics”.
The actor, who rose to fame playing Baldrick in the BBC classic, which included a series set during the First World War, said the minister’s comments amounted to “slagging off teachers”.
Speaking on the Sky News Murnaghan programme, Sir Tony 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.
“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.”
Sir Tony, who is a member of the Labour Party and once sat on its National Executive Committee, added: “Ultimately, if you think about it, what it’s really doing is just slagging off teachers. It’s just another example of slagging off teachers. I don’t think that’s professional or appropriate.”
In an article for the Daily Mail, Mr Gove said the left insisted on peddling myths about the First World War, which have served to “denigrate virtues such as patriotism, honour and courage”.
Although he attacked “left-wing academics”, he did not specifically mention school teachers.