Starring:
Year(s) Aired: 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1999
Year of DVD Release: 2001
Rated: Not Rated
Written By: Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Rowan Atkinson
Approx. Running Time: 860 minutes (5 discs)
Format(s): DVD
My Rating: 5 stars (Out of 5)
From Back Cover:
Blackadder I: 1485 ~ Set during the really dark part of the Dark Ages, this premiere season chronicles the wickedly funny misadventures of the terminally treacherous Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh.
Episode 1: The Foretelling ~ From out of the swirling mists of the Dark Ages comes a lone horseman with a most ridiculous haircut, haunted by the ghost of Richard III.
Episode 2: Born to Be King ~ An orange-faced, kilt-clad Scotsman sends waves of shock through the court of England with his treachery, murder and Scottish dancing.
Episode 3: The Archbishop ~ The landscape is littered with dead Archbishops of Canterbury... and Edmund the Reluctant is next in line for this rather precarious position!
Episode 4: The Queen of Spain's Beard ~ When one of Europe's most eligible princesses is up for grabs, the scheming Edmund tries to lure her into his lascivious clutches.
Episode 5: Witchsmeller Pursuivant ~ The King contracts a nasty case of the Black Death and blames it on withcraft. Only the witchsmeller can sniff out the hocus-pocus.
Episode 6: The Black Seal ~ Edmund hatches a hapless, hilarious plot to dethrone the king... with the help of the Seven Most Evil Men in the Land.
Special Features:
Blackadder II: 1558-1603 ~ The nasty genes of the Blackadder dynasty bubble back to the surface as Lord Edmund swaggers around town with a big head and a little beard in search of grace and favor from the stark raving mad Queen Bess.
Episode 1: Bells ~ Edmund is reasonably normal - until he meets Bob.
Episode 2: Head ~ Edmund's enthusiasm as the new Minister in charge of Religious Genocide and Lord High Executioner lands him in trouble.
Episode 3: Potato ~ Blackadder sets out on a quest for new potatoes and to boldly go where Sir Walter Raleigh has already gone before.
Episode 4: Money ~ Edmund is distressed when a baby-eating Bishop drops by and tries to place a red hot poker in places where a cotton swab would be kinder.
Episode 5: Beer ~ An embarrassing incident with a turnip, an ostrich feather and a fanatically puritan aunt leads to a right royal to-do in the Blackadder household.
Episode 6: Chains ~ When Edmund finds himself chest-high in iron spikes, he has but one course of action - charades with a crazed Spanish interrogator.
Special Features:
Blackadder III: 1768-1815 ~ A golden age of wealth, power and discovery, though not for Edmund Blackadder, Esq. In a situation that can rightly be seen as something of a slump in the fortunes of the previously aristocratic family, Edmund is now butler and gentleman's gentleman to the "mini-brained" Prince Regent.
Episode 1: Dish and Dishonesty ~ Blackadder's attempts to interfere with the democratic process and save his master from bankruptcy don't go according to plan as Baldrick is accidentally elevated to the House of Lords.
Episode 2: Ink and Incapability ~ Blackadder is unimpressed with Dr. Johnson and his new dictionary until he learns of his enthusiasm for a certain "Gertrude Perkins" novel.
Episode 3: Nob and Nobility ~ Francophilia is all the rage in England, so Blackadder's intense dislike for anything French seems somewhat out of date. But the lure of money can do strange things to a man's principles.
Episode 4: Sense and Senility ~ The Prince of Wales hires two foppish actors to help him rehearse a speech, but Blackadder has other plans for the prissies.
Episode 5: Amy and Amiability ~ The Prince is dead broke and no self-respecting princess will marry him... until Blackadder devises a deliciously devious plan!
Episode 6: Duel and Duality ~ Blackadder finds himself amid a duel between the Prince of Wales and the head-splitting, throat-slitting Duke of Wellington.
Special Features:
Blackadder Goes Forth: 1917 ~ There's disorder on the Western Front when that numb-headed ninny, Captain Blackadder, stumbles onto the battlefields of WWI and discovers that people are trying to kill him.
Episode 1: Captain Cook ~ When General Haig unveils a new strategy to move his liquor cabinet six inches closer to Berlin, Blackadder volunteers to be official War Artist.
Episode 2: Corporal Punishment ~ Orders arrive and Blackadder breaches regulations by eating the messenger - who happens to be the General's closest boyhood friend.
Episode 3: Major Star ~ The Russian Revolution produces two appalling result - an offensive by Germany and a really offensive Charlie Chaplin impression by Baldrick.
Episode 4: Private Plane ~ German machine guns in the front, British firing squads behind. It'll take a better man than Blackadder to escape this predicament.
Episode 5: General Hospital ~ Ordered to find a spy in the hospital, Blackadder discovers a man with a strong German accent, a beautiful nurse and a chance for three weeks in bed.
Episode 6: Goodbyeee ~ The troops must advance, but as the final big push looms, Blackadder gets a bit crazy with the help of two pencils and some underpants.
Special Features:
Blackadder Back & Forth: 1999 ~ The Blackadder cast returns after a 10-year absence for this special. The new 21st-century Lord Blackadder and his scabby but loyal servant, Baldrick, wreak havoc as they tumble through the past in a time machine with disastrous consequences.
Special Features:
My Comments:
Though it is very funny, the original season of this show didn't quite get the formula right - Edmund is portrayed as a bumbling idiot surrounded by other bumbling idiots - and fails to capture the magic of its later incarnations. The second and third seasons shine as Edmund becomes the only person of wit and intelligence among a group of morons, thus leaving him much opportunity to laugh at their idiocy. The fourth season - set during World War I - continues that same formula, but the humor is overshadowed by the grim circumstances surrounding its characters. The fifth in the series, Blackadder Back and Forth, is really just a reunion special in which Edmund and Baldrick travel back and forth through time, visiting all of the previous Blackadders as well as some never before seen ancestors.
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B
Not Rated (MPAA)
5 Stars
Television Shows
Main Index
Starring:
Year(s) Aired: 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1999
Year of DVD Release: 2009
Rated: Not Rated
Written By: Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Rowan Atkinson
Approx. Running Time: 860 minutes (not including special features, 6 discs)
Format(s): DVD
My Rating: 5 stars (Out of 5)
From Back Cover:
THIS DELUXE EDITION INCLUDES EVERY EPISODE OF BLACKADDER DIGITALLY RESTORED FROM THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM MASTERS PLUS A HOST OF ALL-NEW BONUS FEATURES AND MORE!
Remastered Series
Brand New Audio Commentaries with:
Blackadder Rides Again
Costumes Revited With:
Plus
My Comments:
This new box set includes everything from the old set, plus episode commentary, interviews, and "Black Adder Rides Again" - a documentary on the making of the show.
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