Daring To Not Be Funny As Blackadder Goes Forth Reaches Its End!

The Good: Funny, Poignant, Some decent performances
The Bad: Medium
The Basics: Blackadder Goes Forth closes with "Part 2," a generally darker video to embody the darkness of the Great War.


Sometimes, there is an instinct within me to bump some of my favorite things up a notch or two just because I enjoy them and with the Blackadder saga, I have found I have held to my standards pretty well over reviewing the different seasons and episodes. So when I reached the final episodes of the final regular television series of Blackadder - Blackadder Goes Forth - I found myself actually having to review my objective standards to not rate the tape, Blackadder Goes Forth Part 2 too high. This is because the video has three episodes, one great, one good and one terrible.

As always, I find myself in this case griping some about the medium: Blackadder Goes Forth on video could have fit the entire series on a single video, so splitting it into "Part 1" and "Part 2" is somewhat wasteful, even for VHS. And while I ultimately recommend this video, it is a much better deal to find the episodes on DVD. This final tape for Blackadder Goes Forth has the last three episodes of that series, with "Private Plane," "General Hospital" and "Goodbyeee."

In "Private Plane," Blackadder's loathing of the war reaches a new high when he practices duck and cover during an air raid, only to discover the flyby is by British pilots. The pilot in question is actually Squadron Commander Flashheart and the lusty pilot lives up to family's promiscuous and sexually powerful line. After being knocked about by Flashheart, Blackadder realizes that the best way to survive the war might well be by becoming a pilot.

Attempting to get airmen training from Darling, Blackadder finds himself shut out. However, Melchard soon approves it and with five minutes training from Flashheart, Blackadder is set to join the twenty minute club. With Baldrick as his navigator, Blackadder stays in the air for less than twenty minutes, crashing on the German side of the lines where it looks like the war might be over for the reluctant soldier!

In "General Hospital," Edmund finds himself disgusted when - after a thoroughly witless game of "I Spy" between George and Baldrick, George is nearly blown up by a German bomb. Recovering in the hospital, he finds himself fancying Nurse Mary and writing letters to one of his many uncles. He is then recalled the headquarters where paranoia is running higher than usual.

There is a spy, it seems, in hospital and General Melchard wants Blackadder to go there to smoke out the guilty party. Darling, distrustful as ever of Blackadder, convinced Melchard to let him go to hospital to spy on Blackadder. Shot in the foot by Melchard, Darling then spies on Blackadder as he susses out the German spy!

In "Goodbyeee," Blackadder, George and Baldrick begin reminiscing about the war and their lives when they are given notice that the big push is to begin the next morning. Faced with the likelihood of certain death, Edmund becomes despondent and opts for the less-than cunning plan he picked up in the Sudan: to fake insanity. George, buying the act entirely, sends for General Melchard and Blackadder revels in the possibility of surviving the war.

When Melchard arrives, though, he mentions shooting soldiers who faked insanity, prompting Edmund to quit his charade. With the big push only hours away, Blackadder is stuck philosophizing with Baldrick and George on the very nature of war and peace and as dawn breaks, all three lives - and that of Darling - are changed forever.

The problem with Blackadder Goes Forth Part 2 is that it is irregular. "Private Plane" has the return of Flashheart, one of the characters who appeared in "Bells" (reviewed here!) in Blackadder II. He is still oversexed, horny and quite crazy. This incarnation is given an even bigger part than the earlier one, though his self-absorption is still as high as his ancestors. As the Squadron Commander, Flashheart provides a screwball adversary for Blackadder for an episode and that works wonderfully to shake things up.

Unfortunately, "General Hospital" is possibly the most mundane episode of the entire franchise and it sucks this video down like nothing else could. Not nearly as funny as the others, the return of Miranda Richardson - this time as a nurse - is welcome, but her part does not give her nearly enough to do to impress the viewer and it holds up poorly over multiple viewings.

What gets even better with subsequent viewings is "Goodbyeee" which does not even attempt to be funny. Instead, this episode muses on war and peace and the interchange between Baldrick and George on the subject might well be the best exchange Tony Robinson gets in the entire franchise and Hugh Laurie's sputtering as George in response to Baldrick's simple question of "what if we just stopped fighting?" is priceless. It is not funny, though. The episode treads toward the philosophical and clever, avoiding humor, save in the scenes where Edmund plays as crazy.

This video sends the Blackadder franchise off well, though it is hard for those who are not fans already to appreciate the significance and darkness of "Goodbyeee." Sure, casual viewers can understand the antiwar arguments, but the emotional resonance of the final scene of Blackadder Goes Forth is intended entirely for those who have been watching the series from the beginning. Again, writer Richard Curtis does not aim for funny, but he manages to be quite meaningful and the result is arguably one of the best series finales of all time, certainly of a comedy.

In the end, which this is for Blackadder, the episodes are held together largely on the consistent acting talent of Rowan Atkinson. As Blackadder, he is given the chance in these three episodes to step away from his deep sarcasm - at least in the final two episodes - and portray Edmund with a stronger sense of humanity. Atkinson loosens Edmund's body language and this sells the viewer on the idea that his character is truly someone who wants to live, to survive the great war.

And the Blackadder franchise - at least as a weekly television series - closes there with Edmund and Baldrick in World War One and the end feels very much like an end. Despite the problems with this tape, it is a worthy end to the characters and the series as it is.

[Given that VHS is a rapidly dying medium, a far better investment would be Blackadder Goes Forth, reviewed here!
As well, those who already love Blackadder will find Blackadder - The Complete Series to be an even better buy, reviewed here!
Thanks for reading!]

6/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Enjoying It More Than I Remember Before, Blackadder Goes Forth Part 1 Is Surprisingly Good!

The Good: Funny, Good characters, Decent acting
The Bad: Medium, Repetitive humor
The Basics: Funny and with more universal humor than I remembered it, the sarcastic Blackadder returns for Blackadder Goes Forth, Part 1 in World War 1!


Only those who have seen the other seasons of Blackadder are likely to find Blackadder Goes Forth anything less than absolutely incredible and original. After all, if one has not seen any of the earlier incarnations of the historic comedy, it is unlikely they would find the sarcasm, wit and articulation of Edmund Blackadder to be anything other than unique in the history of comedy. Moreover, the buffoons who surround Blackadder are played by comic geniuses like Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, so the show is brimming with talent and it appears to be unique.

But for fans of the Blackadder franchise, by the time Blackadder Goes Forth begins, the premise is obvious and most of the jokes are beaten deader than a dead horse after St. Beatings Day. Blackadder, in this incarnation, is a Captain in the British Army in World War One, stationed at the front and desperate to do anything to stay alive. Blackadder Goes Forth, Part 1 is a collection of the first three (of six) episodes from this series of Blackadder.

In "Captain Cook," Captain Edmund Blackadder intuits that General Haig's next plan for winning the war is the same plan as the prior seventeen times. Rather than go over the top into certain death, Blackadder entertains one of Baldrick's brilliant ideas, which turns out to be utterly unfeasible. However, when General Melchard reveals that "King And Country" needs a rousing patriotic portrait, Blackadder sees his opportunity to get out of the trenches.

Having swindled Lieutenant George out of just such a painting, Blackadder enthusiastically heads to high command in hopes of being reassigned to Paris. Unfortunately for him, Darling and Melchard have something else in store for him. As premiere artist of the day, Blackadder is assigned to draw a map of No Man's Land!

In "Corporal Punishment," Edmund manufactures one communications problem after another to ignore the persistent orders to push forth into No Man's Land and get killed. In his efforts, he pretends his phone is not working, disregards a telegram that abbreviates his name and ultimately shoots a prized pigeon which was General Melchard's only childhood friend. Arriving at the front, disgusted at the lack of advancement on Blackadder's part, Melchard learns of the death of his pigeon and charges Edmund with disobeying orders.

Edmund turns up for his court martial, dismayed that George will be his legal defender, only to discover that Darling is the prosecutor and the judge is none other than Melchard himself. Sentenced rather quickly to death, Blackadder awaits a firing squad, cursing his fate and his friends, hoping for any last resort, even the aid of Baldrick!

In "Major Star," Blackadder's distaste for Charlie Chaplin puts him on the outs with his subordinates, who are in love with the works of the American actor. However, when General Melchard arrives with news that the military is looking to form a troupe to entertain both the troops and the civilians in London, Edmund sees his opportunity to get away from the front. Conniving to be put in charge of the production, Blackadder wrangles talent from his unit, including the newly marxist Baldrick and the happy-in-drag George.

Disaster, however, strikes Blackadder's plan when Melchard, not realizing Georgina (George's drag act) is not a woman and he becomes infatuated with her. George, happy to play along, finds himself in the position of possibly being engaged to Melchard and Blackadder must keep the two apart and get out of the situation before Melchard learns the truth!

It is a rare thing that I end up calling a VHS a poor use of the medium. Indeed, it is a poor medium, but the use of it is often limited only to being that medium. In the case of Blackadder Goes Forth, Part 1 it is a poor use of the poor medium: the entire fourth season of Blackadder could easily have fit on one video whatwith its running time being under three hours. That said, it is still funny and I found I enjoyed it more this most recent viewing.

Blackadder Goes Forth is a wonderful mix of historical one-liners that make obscure references to British and European history and universal, timeless humor. So, for instance, in "Major Star," there are numerous allusions to various actors, like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, while "Corporal Punishment" has such basic and obvious humor as Blackadder feebly covering up the bones from the pigeon he has just eaten while denying its death and a trial where the judge is also the prosecution's star witness. There's a good balance between the was jokes about sex and jokes about the specifics (lack of) battle plans during World War One. The balance makes for a smart and simultaneously universal show.

As well, the characters are fun and interesting. Edmund is hilarious with his cold sarcasm and Lieutenant George and Private Baldrick are utter idiots. Fans of the Blackadder franchise will likely enjoy seeing Edmund as the smartest man in the trenches in Blackadder Goes Forth and the points when he must talk to oblivious commanding officers are funny with the way he gets in jabs that go completely over their heads.

On the character front, these first episodes of Blackadder Goes Forth are fleshed out with General Melchard who is presented as a lunatic with a giant mustache and Captain Darling, his cowardly, sycophantic assistant. Watching Edmund spar with Darling (in prior incarnations, he has sparred with the Melchard character) shakes things up some and keeps the actors from simply repeating their past performances.

The acting is great as well, whatwith Rowan Atkinson taking the title role of Edmund Blackadder. Atkinson is given a fairly unique acting challenge: the present essentially the same character (Blackadder) a different way while keeping the performance fresh and funny. Atkinson does this by altering the delivery of his lines. In this season, he infuses every line with a tired quality, as if his character is sick of the war and the waiting. The tired quality makes some of his deliveries even sharper as he sounds entirely unimpressed by everyone and everything he encounters! Atkinson makes for a credible leader in this series and he plays off the sniveling, yet powerful sarcasm that Tim McInnerny presents with Darling wonderfully.

In short, anyone looking for a hilarious war comedy will find it with Blackadder Goes Forth and this video is the one to start with!

[Given that VHS is a rapidly dying medium, a far better investment would be Blackadder Goes Forth, reviewed here!
As well, those who already love Blackadder will find Blackadder - The Complete Series to be an even better buy, reviewed here!
Thanks for reading!]


7/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page by clicking here!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Great War Takes Its Toll When Blackadder Goes Forth!

The Good: Funny, Good character development, Interesting DVD bonus features
The Bad: Short, Some of the humor is more predictable than in the past.
The Basics: Funny - and daring to not be funny - pushes Blackadder Goes Forth out of "average" territory on DVD.


There are only a few television comedy series' found on my shelf. This is largely because I am not so much into humor because I see that it tends not to endure all that long. Humor is largely based upon surprise and as a result, it is hard to find truly great comedy series' that I want to add to my permanent collection. One of the few is the television series, from the BBC, called Blackadder.

Blackadder is a historical comedy, and each season was set in a different time period. By the fourth and final season, the show was up to roughly Modern times and Blackadder Goes Forth, the final regular series of Blackadder was set in the trenches of World War One. 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 Goes Forth tells the story of Captain Edmund Blackadder, trapped in the trenches fighting Germany in World War One. As the Great War reigns, Blackadder looks to survive and he is accompanied by the idiotically patriotic Lieutenant George and the just plain dim Baldrick. Given orders by the oblivious General Melchard and sparred with by Captain Darling, Blackadder finds that war truly is hell.

From the trenches, Blackadder attempts to survive the war by feigning communications problems to prevent him and his troops from going over the top (an act that gets him court martialed), posing as a great artist and sneaking into HQ as a cook. As well, he gets his troops out of the trench by making them into an acting troupe (which almost leads Melchard to marry George in drag) and by joining the air force, which gets Blackadder captured.

Blackadder Goes Forth tells a darker story of living in war and what people will do to survive. The wit in the show is colder and the comedy - when not being predictable to those who are fans of the series - 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 time the laugh track is not engaged is for the bulk of the final episode, "Goodbyeee," which is a strong, unfunny, antiwar episode that works beautifully to enhance the characters and provide viewers with something truly new, even if it is not funny.

The only other real strike against this series is the fact that it was released in the late 1980s and it looks like it was released in the 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 Goes Forth 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. This series is preoccupied with Edmund surviving using his razor wit. And in that, there are some absolutely hilarious bits. For example, when dealing with HQ and pretending the phone has gone wonky, Blackadder goes through an impressive array of voices and noises to convince Captain Darling that he could not possibly be understood. And in the trial, when General Melchard enters as one of the judges, it is impossible to not laugh, especially considering he is the one bringing the charges against Edmund!

But more than most comedies, certainly the ones that are this short - Blackadder Goes Forth episodes are less than thirty minutes long each - this series is about characters. Here are the primary characters of "Blackadder Goes Forth:"

Edmund Blackadder - Captain in the royal army. Having survived the war in Africa, he considers colonization foolish and he treats his men with disdain, but does his best to keep them alive. Frequently ignoring orders to go over the top, Blackadder tries every way he knows how to get out of the trenches in ways that will keep him alive,

Lieutenant George - Dimwitted subordinate of Edmund, he is eager to die for King and Country, witlessly believing that going over the top is a chance for glory (Edmund soon illustrates the error of such thinking). He becomes a leading lady for Blackadder's acting troupe and is wounded protecting his captain,

General Melchard - An idiot with a giant mustache, he unquestioningly follows Field Marshal Haig's witless orders to keep sending British soldiers in front of German machine guns,

Captain Darling - Sycophantic assistant to Melchard, he is a coward who frequently spars with Edmund when Blackadder comes to HQ,

and Private Baldrick - The idiot noncom, he tries his hand at poetry, balancing a slug on his upper lip to impersonate Charlie Chaplin, and painting with bodily fluids. Resourceful, but stupid, he is Edmund's most loyal companion.

The characters are vivid and the acting is pretty decent, all things considered. Hugh Laurie's George is ridiculous and funny in a way most American audiences would be surprised, given his performances on "House, M.D." Similarly, Tim McInnerny's return to the Blackadder franchise as Captain Darling is a welcome one with him sniping at Blackadder as his equal, instead of his dimwitted sidekick.

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 Goes Forth 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 an extensive interview with Richard Curtis that describes his take on the history of comedy. The historical information is actually intriguing and some of the more obscure allusions, like to specific military personnel, provide information that I did not have before watching the series.

Those looking for something different from a comedy will find much to enjoy with Blackadder Goes Forth.

For a more complete idea of exactly what is in this DVD set, please check out my reviews of the individual episodes at:
"Captain Cook," "Corporal Punishment," "Major Star"
"Private Plane," "General Hospital," "Goodbyeee"

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!"

5/10

For other television reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Terribly Average, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol Has Its Moments, But Holds Up Poorly.

The Good: Moments of humor, Funny concept
The Bad: Not great acting, Concept gets old quickly
The Basics: Despite the usual humor of Blackadder, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol holds up remarkably poorly over many viewings.


For those who might not follow my reviews, I am a bit of a fan of the British comedy Blackadder (reviewed here!), which was a historical comedy staring Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson in the 1980s. It was a clever concept that followed various incarnations of Blackadder (Atkinson) and his faithful servant Baldrick (Robinson) in different time periods throughout history. Always living in London, Blackadder has relationships with the royalty or notables of the time and schemes to get ahead or keep his head (depending on the time period).

So, if anything, I was inherently biased towards Blackadder’s Christmas Carol when I sat down to watch it the first time. I remember being much more disappointed with it the first time than I was with it the last time when I sat down to watch it for this review. Still, over the course of watching the Blackadder series' in the franchise, it is plagued by repetition and Blackadder’s Christmas Carol is no exception to that. In fact, after the first viewing, it is hard to muster up the enthusiasm to watch this a second time and I cannot imagine well when I would be so eager to pick it up for a third (or beyond) viewing. That might be why, in addition to appearing alone on video and DVD, it appears as a DVD bonus feature for the third series (Blackadder The Third) of Blackadder. It's nice to get it for free, but it is remarkably hard to get excited about getting it on its own.

Ebenezer Blackadder is living in Victorian England where he is renowned as the most kind and charitable man in London, if not all of Britain. In fact, hounded by his niece and local orphans, he gives away the scant remains of the year's profits and gifts he had, leaving Baldrick and him to spend Christmas in the cold. While Queen Victoria plans to honor Blackadder with riches on Christmas for his goodness, Baldrick and Ebenezer fall asleep in the cold.

Blackadder is then visited by the Spirit Of Christmas, who comes in, has a friendly chat with Ebenezer Blackadder and is shocked by how good Blackadder is and how he appears ignorant of his family's history. So, the Spirit Of Christmas shows Ebenezer his rotten line, including Lord Blackadder, attending Queen Elizabeth, who schemes to get ahead by giving a great gift to the queen, then having Melchard put to death, and the Blackadder who served the Prince Regent and tries to swindle the Regent out of all his gifts. Inspired by the way his ancestors all got ahead - and plagued by visions of two futures where he has the potential to rule the universe - through their conniving, Ebenezer Blackadder vows to make some changes.

Blackadder’s Christmas Carol is a pretty obvious outing, which takes the classic Charles Dickens novella and turns it on its ear. Instead of a miserly person turning charitable, Richard Curtis pens a tale about the virtue of not getting stepped on. The appeal of the concept is an obvious one; no one wants to be ridiculed and taken advantage of and almost all of us find ourselves compromising at one point or another.

Ebenezer Blackadder, then, is one of the lost links in the Blackadder chain and up until now, it is easy to not be bothered by that absence. The result of this outing, though, is to leave fans baffled as to why the series didn't leave it blank. In fact, one wonders why Curtis and Atkinson went ahead with this project; did the franchise seriously need a Christmas episode?

This is not to say it is thoroughly unpleasant. Ebenezer Blackadder witnesses various past incarnations of Edmund and there is something wonderful about seeing Lord Blackadder and Melchard sparring again. The actors instantly recapture the character and tenor of their prior works and they make watching the episode bearable.

The fundamental problem, though, is that this adds nothing of significance to the overall story. Instead, the character growth is all about a single reversal and once the viewer gets where that is going, it is hardly worthwhile or impressive upon repeating. Moreover, the jokes tend to be the same ironic observations on the elements of the time that have classified all of the previous incarnations of Blackadder. The only fundamental difference is that Rowan Atkinson delivers them with enthusiasm instead of growled sarcasm.

Furthermore, Atkinson and Robinson seldom seem excited about the project. Atkinson appears like he is sleep-acting when he is not playing incarnations of Edmund and Robinson looks about as uncomfortable as the audience in the future scenes. The new elements, like Ebenezer's screeching niece Milicent, are more annoying than memorable and lower the overall appeal of the forty-five minute episode.

Fans of Blackadder will not miss much by not seeing the kindly Ebenezer Blackadder robbed blind by the locals, the fat jokes and the bored quality with which many of the performers act through Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and if one needs to get this, try to pick it up on DVD (not video) and not as a standalone episode; otherwise, it's not likely to get much play. At least as a bonus feature on the season three discs, there's nothing put out special for this work.

For other Christmas movies, please check out my reviews of:
Elf
Disney's A Christmas Carol
Four Christmases

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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