The Good: Hilarious, Wonderful acting, Interesting characters
The Bad: SHORT!
The Basics: Funny and enduring, Blackadder hardly takes up shelf space proportionate to its greatness.
Looking over my DVD library, there are dreadfully few comedies. I think this is largely because comedies tend to hold up poorly over time because humor tends to rely on surprise. We find funny what is unexpected, not what we see coming. A DVD permanent collection like mine, then, has very few comedy television series' and I can think of even fewer I would consider adding to my arsenal. One of the few sets I find myself watching and rewatching - and have recently been falling in love with again - is Blackadder.
Blackadder is a historical comedy, set in the Dark Ages. The basic concept was to take a twist on British history and make a situation comedy that would have an immortal quality to it. Largely, series creators Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson succeed because the humor is both universally funny and historically smart. This series relies on British wit and Atkinson's amazing sense of comic timing. And it works.
With only six episodes in this season, Blackadder tells of the reign of Richard IV, beloved king who immediately followed the poor, decapitated Richard III only to have records of his reign destroyed afterward by Henry Tudor. Richard IV takes charge of England only to immerse himself in wars throughout Europe, leaving his devout and studious son Harry and his slimy son Edmund to manage the day-to-day operations of the kingdom.
Over the course of the episodes, Edmund the Blackadder - whom witches have prophesied will become King - deals with the ghost of King Richard III, who he accidentally killed. As well, he attempts to kill a Scottish warrior until he realizes that the Scotsman brings with him evidence of the Queen's affairs in the past, which Edmund thinks will disqualify Harry from assuming the throne! In the process, Edmund becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, almost marries the Spanish Infanta to seal a deal with Spain and falls prey to a witchhunter. In his final act of defiance, Edmund hires six goons to help him take over the kingdom, only to be betrayed by his new servant and his childhood enemy!
Blackadder tells the story of the fictional reign of Richard IV and it is utterly hilarious. In fact, it is so funny one wonders why the BBC has a laugh track to it; there is plenty that is amusing without the tiresome laugh track going off letting viewers know when it is appropriate to laugh. I mention this because this series has one of the most intrusive and annoying laugh tracks of any series I have ever seen.
The only other real strike against this series is the fact that it was released in the early 1980s and it looks like it was released in the early 1980s. The special effects are campy even by BBC standards and it is clear this was never the top of the BBCs list for cleaning up when making the transfer to DVD. As a result, there is quite a bit of footage in the series that is grainy and some that even has lighting washouts.
But what makes Blackadder worthwhile, timeless and funny is the quality of the writing. Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson wrote scripts with fairly straightforward plots with Edmund suffering much like most downtrodden and loathed protagonists. Twist is Edmund protects himself with his razor wit and surrounds himself with a lowly assistant Baldrick and arguably the stupidest lord in the land, Lord Percy Percy. And in that, there are some absolutely hilarious bits. For example, in when describing the Spanish Infanta, Lord Percy relays to Blackadder that her eyes are supposed to be more blue than the stone of Galveston, a bit that quickly degenerates into Blackadder learning that Percy has never seen the stone in question and the people who have have likely never seen the Infanta, which prompts the quip, "So you're telling me that the Infanta's eyes, which you've never seen, are slightly more blue than a stone, which you've never seen."
But more than most comedies, certainly the ones that are this short - Blackadder episodes are less than thirty minutes long each - this series is about characters. Here are the primary characters of Blackadder:
Edmund Blackadder - Duke of Edinburgh, one of two sons of Richard IV. Neglected by his father and despised by women, he schemes to rule all of England, usually by trying to ruin his older brother Harry,
King Richard IV - Successor to Richard III, following the Battle Of Botswick Field. He is loud, crazy and often inappropriate in his conversations. His ambition is to increase the wealth and power of England by taking over neighboring countries through force,
Prince Harry - Richard IV's beloved son. Deeply religious and educated, he is much loved by the people and a thorn in Blackadder's side,
The Queen - Richard IV's wife and mother to Harry and Edmund. She is a sorceress who hates sex,
Lord Percy Percy - The dimwitted sidekick of Edmund, he makes Blackadder look like a potentially great king by comparison,
and Baldrick - Son of Robin the Dung Gatherer. He always has a cunning plan to help Edmund thwart his enemies and is genuinely interested in seeing Edmund become king.
The characters are vivid and the acting is pretty decent, all things considered. Brian Blessed portrays King Richard IV with an energy that is convincing. Every scene he seems to be committed to being a bloodthirsty maniac and Blessed makes it work for him! Similarly, Tim McInnerny is utterly believable as the brainless Percy, making the viewer wonder how he manages to get through his lines he is so adept at portraying the witless sidekick. Actor Tony Robinson makes the catch phrase "I've got a cunning plan . . ." work for him and he presents Baldrick as the power behind the throne . . . or attempt to seize the throne in Blackadder.
It is Rowan Atkinson who holds most of the series together and moves it. He has a great sense of comic timing and he delivers his period-specific references beautifully with the complete sense that he knows just what it is he is saying. As well, he is adept at physical comedy, erupting when necessary to flinch, jump or fall as needed to sell the physical gags that balance out the scripted comedy.
On DVD, Blackadder has three bonus features, plus trailers for other BBC DVD releases. These simplistic features include cast biographies of all of the major players in the Blackadder series, narrated references to historical events alluded to in the series and a singalong feature that plays the title song with the lyrics for fans to sing along to. The historical information is actually intriguing and some of the more obscure allusions, like "Morris Dancers" provide information that I did not have before watching the series.
For a more complete idea of exactly what is in this DVD set, please check out my reviews of the individual episodes at:
"The Foretelling," "Born To Be King," "The Archbishop"
"The Queen Of Spain's Beard," "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant," "The Black Seal"
And while the one-disc season is fun and interesting, I certainly prefer "The Complete Collection" (reviewed here!) because part of the fun of Blackadder is seeing how the line evolves over the various "generations!"
8/10
For other television reviews, please visit my Television Index Page!
© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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