Rowan Atkinson was funny as Mr. Bean, but he was downright hilarious as the Black Adder. He had such a talent for playing the sharp-tongued rogue I’ll never figure out why he decided to start doing comedy in which he hardly spoke. The premise of this British comedy series is that the central character, “The Black Adder”, shows up at different points in history in various incarnations distorting historical events and poking fun at various British historical figures and situations along the way.
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Lots of people don’t like Black Adder I, in which the title character, Edmund, is the younger son of a brutish man consumed with thoughts of war who actually becomes king of England through Edmund’s own bungling – he arrives late for the Battle of Bosworth Field and winds up chopping off the head of Richard III, thus saving the life of Henry Tudor. Throughout this first season he plays the buffoon, often having the expression of a deer caught in the headlights. This is the only season in which the Black Adder takes on the persona of a weak effeminate person. Especially funny is Edmund’s mother who is a proper noble woman sitting around doing embroidery and indifferently waiting for the next marauding army to pass through.
The second season takes place early during the reign of Elizabeth I, with the Black Adder confident, handsome, and even a favorite at court. A young Amanda Richardson plays the role of Elizabeth I, who comes across as Betty Boop, just not as intelligent. Although more cunning in this season, Black Adder still comes up the loser in just about every episode. My favorite is “Bells”, in which Blackadder finds his new servant, Bob, curiously pleasant company. Afraid for his reputation at court, Blackadder searches for a “cure” – which of course involves leeches, until Bob conveniently reveals that she is in fact a girl called Kate. Their wedding is disrupted by the profane Lord Flashheart, who, although he is the best man, winds up stealing the bride.
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The third season takes place in the eighteenth century during the reign of George III, and will be a favorite of all fans of “House, M.D.” due to the presence of a young Hugh Laurie. Here, Black Adder plays the manservant of the Prince Regent, George, played by Hugh Laurie. George is the dim-witted target of Black Adder’s many schemes to enrich himself by taking advantage of his cushy position in George’s household, and this often means having to save the Prince Regent’s pension and position in the kingdom, which is largely controlled by Parliament.
The fourth season takes place during World War I, with Edmund Blackadder as a captain in the British army whose company is trapped in one of the trenches that gave everyone in Europe such a distaste for warfare between the two world wars. Blackadder’s aim in this season is to stay alive by staying in that trench until the war ends. His stunts include shooting a carrier pigeon when it arrives with orders to advance, and joining the Royal Flying Corp – “the twenty minuters”. Unfortunately, the name comes from how long they are expected to live once in the air, not how much time they work each day, as Blackadder had originally thought.
This show has several interesting plot devices. First, most of the main characters show up in different periods of time with the same name but different roles. Hugh Laurie is always “George”, Tony Robinson is always “Baldrick”, Stephen Fry is always “Melchett”, and Tim McInnerny is always “Percy”. Since each season was shot in alternate years – (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989) – the cast must have been having a terrific time in order for them to be regathered after such long intervals in order to make filming this series possible. Secondly, everyone in the cast, including the Black Adder, always dies in the final episode of each season. It is somewhat like the South Park stunt of Kenny being killed at the end of every show only to reappear in the next episode as though nothing had happened.
Do note that there are only six episodes per season. If you liked “Red Dwarf” or “Fawlty Towers”, you’ll probably like this series too.
As for extra features, disc five contains the specials. The Cavalier Years has Stephen Fry as King Charles and Warren Clarke as Oliver Cromwell. There is also Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and Back and Forth. Christmas Carol is pretty funny, but I’ve never cared for Back and Forth.
Disc six contains the documentary Blackadder Rides Again, a 90-minute special with the behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage from the fourth season included. There’s also a look back at the costumes used in Costumes Revisited, along with extended interviews and audio commentaries with the key actors. As for the audio commentaries, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny and producer John Lloyd have all contributed to these.
You have to give the Blackadder family credit — they’re tenacious. “Black Adder – The Complete Collector’s Set” chronicles this odd, sardonic family’s presence throughout the greatest eras of British history. The first season stumbles somewhat, but the following seasons are brilliant — sardonic, kooky, and sometimes rather sick.
On the day of the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Duke of York (Brian Blessed) and his son Harry (Robert East) accompanied the king (Peter Cook) into battle. His second son Edmund (Atkinson) hopes to come along, but he oversleeps — and when he arrives, he accidentally kills the king, and Edmund’s his father is made king. He dubs himself the “Black Adder” and decides to one day become king of England… too bad nobody likes him.
He’s followed by a string of descendents through the ages — all more acid-tongued and intelligent than he, or anyone else around them. And they’re always accompanied by a Baldrick. That includes Lord Edmund Blackadder, the favorite of the demented queen Bess (Miranda Richardson); Edmund Blackadder Esq., valet and butler to the half-witted Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie); and Captain Blackadder, a soldier in World War I who spends his time trying to get out of it.
These unlucky Blackadders find themselves dealing with demented Puritans, hosting bawdy drinking parties, crazed bishops, even crazier princes, giant turnips, the Red Baron, drag musical acts, Spaniard inquisitors, and almost being shot for eating a carrier pigeon. Startlingly, the final season — although another is in the planning stages — ends on a very poignant note.
But there is an upbeat ending overall — the final episode introduces us to the modern-day Blackadder, a sharp-tongued aristocrat dining with the modern-day descendents of Prince George, Queen Elizabeth, Melchett and Darling. Not to mention Baldrick in a truly horrifying porno apron.
Blackadder reveals that using da Vinci’s plans, Baldrick has constructed a time machine, and bets £30,000 that he can bring back historical items. It’s actually an elaborate scam… until the machine works, and Baldrick and Blackadder find themselves spinning helplessly through time, with no idea how to get home. And in a couple of side-stories, Ebenezer Blackadder discovers how his pleasant cheery attitude will affect his descendents; and the last two Loyalists to King Charles (in other words, Baldrick and Blackadder) deal with the impending execution of the king ( “No, it’s not! It’s a huge pumpkin with a pathetic moustache drawn on it!”).
The series starts off a little weakly — the first season is funny, but not outrageously so, and Prince Edmund is the incompetant twerp rather than Baldrick or Percy. But things blossom with the arrival of a new writer in “Blackadder II,” and sets the tone for the rest of the series: a smart, bitter man who’s constantly surrounded by nincompoops.
There are one or two dud episodes, but the majority of them shine with comic genius, from the kookily childish Queen Elizabeth (”Who’s Queen?”) to Baldrick’s rancid boxers killing the dinosaurs. Atkinson gets most of the good lines (”He’s the most over-rated human being since Judas Iscariot won the AD31 Best Disciple Competition”) but the rest of the cast usually gets in some great ones too (”A total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through!”).
Atkinson, of course, rules the whole series a series of acid-tongued Blackadders who have influence but no power, and Robinson is great as the gross servant who always has a cunning plan. The rest of the cast reappears regularly — Laurie as a series of half-witted bluebloods, Richardson as drippy young women, Fry as cunning advisors and hearty generals, and McInnery as airbrained idiots and prissy assistants.
Aside from being polished up in the remastering process, apparently this edition is going to have deleted scenes, audio commentaries (YAY!) and interviews. It’s probably not worth the shell-out if you already own the whole thing, but definitely is if you don’t.
The complete series of “Black Adder” is a comic cornucopia — it starts off a bit weakly, but once it gets its footing, it’s absolute hilarious. A must-have.
