In the comedy Blackadder Goes Forth, set during the Great War, Tony, 75, plays Private Baldrick who was famously baffled about how the conflict began. Tony told the Radio Times that the inspiration for the series "didn't appear from nowhere".

       He said: "It came out of education ？ and I fear that kind of education is disappearing fast.

       "Ben Elton, who co-wrote it, knew a lot about the First World War."

       He added: "But since we made it, in 1989, the vision of what should be taught in schools and universities has contracted ？ and that's a real problem.

       "Because if a country doesn't know its history, it's likely to repeat its mistakes.

       "It's to the country's detriment that most of these wars aren't routinely taught in British schools."

       The Time Team presenter went on: "A nation needs to understand the truth about itself. And you can only get that through knowing your history."