The final full season of the history of Blackadders, creators choose setting of The First World War. It’s the 1917, Western front and we are in the trenches with the British troops. Between them and German troops is so called no-man’s-land. This season originally aired in the 1989, and reunites the all-star actors from all previous seasons, some of them as guest stars in a single episode. Shame that this is the last season of the series.

Cast

Blackadder is now captain in the army and again he is there with now Private Baldrick and Lieutenant George. Their commanding officer is General Melchett who has a personal secretary Captain Kevin Darling. George is idealistic and again not very smart as his predecesor Prince George was. Hugh Laurie again did an excellent job with this role.Stephen Fry is back for a full season in the role of general, and he is brilliant. This role is much stronger that the role of Melchett in the second season. Tim is back as Captain Darling and he also does a great job.

Blackadder Goes Forth

Among guest stars there is Geoffrey Palmer as Field Marshal Haig, Rik Mayall again as Captain Flashheart and Miranda Richardson as a nurse.

Writing

This season is more satirical then previous seasons was, and writing is still very intelligent and funny. For the most part, this season delivers a anti-war message and shows how pointless the war was, and how bad was conducted on the part of the commanding officers involved.

Conclusion

Another great season of Blackadder. As I said, shame it was the last. And apart from few specials this is the end of the series. Next, and for now last review will be about these extras and specials aired over the years.

Only a year later from the second season, BBC aired the third chapter in the history of Blackadders. This time Edmund is a servant to the Prince of Wales and regent to the throne George, and Baldrick is once again servant to Blackadder. We are now in the period of late 18th and early 19th century, even that some of the events in the show are out of the time frame.  This season is again created by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis.

Prince Regent

Characters

Hugh Laurie has appeared in the last episode of season 2 and now he is a cast regular. He plays the role of prince regent who is very, very stupid and in everything depends on Blackadder. Hugh does a wonderful job in playing the prince who has ‘only two brain cells’. It’s hard to describe the role, you need to see the series to understand how brilliant is Hugh’s role. But, the same goes for Rowan and Tony as Blackadder and Boldrick. As a Duke of Wellington in the last episodes guess star is Stephen Fry.

Writing

Again, writing is excellent. A witty and intelligent sarcastic humor is the essential part of the series, and this time we can see all that in the real events based setting in stories about first english dictionary, over the top theatrical actors, French Revolution, parliament elections and more.

Conclusion

This is my favorite season of Blackadder, and this is absolute classic of the British comedy production. Blackadder as a whole can be put shoulder to shoulder with older classics like Monty Pythons. Once again, grab the box set and start watching. This is one not to be missed.

Few centuries after the first Black Adder we are now in the 16th century, on the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Edmund Blackadder is now a Lord and close friend with queen. Unlike his predecessor, this time Edmund is intelligent and good looking, but inside he is the same, still scheming and plotting to advance further. But, no matter how different Edmund seams to be, good thing is that Blackadder will always be Blackadder.

Cast

There were some changes in the cast. Blackadder and Baldrick are still here. And so is Percy. But this time we have the Queen, played by Miranda Richardson, here nanny Nursie, played by Patsy Byrne and Lord Melchett, played by Stephen Fry. I think that Queen is a bit overplayed and annoying at times, but I think that was a general idea on how to show her. Stephen Fry is great as always.

Edmund, Baldrick and Percy

Writing

As the story goes, this is maybe the weakest in the series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still good, but seasons 3 and 4 are much better. Rowan Atkinson wasn’t involved in writing process in this season as he was in the first one. And ending of the season is a sort of introduction of the next season and Hugh Laurie plays crazy german Prince Ludwig.

Production

In terms of production, this season is much better, and sets the standard for the following seasons. Music is in style of the first season. Costumes are really great, and at times really over the top, but all that is done on purpose.

Conclusion

Blackadder is really a great series, and the second incarnation of Edmund is really a must see. Not the best in the series, but still better than the most comedies you are likely to see on TV.

The Black Adder show is created more than 25 years ago, but still it’s one of the greatest TV shows ever created. Everything started with the fist season that is the first chapter in the history of Edmund Blackadder. This first story is set in the 15-th century on the court of King Richard III and is actually the ‘secret history’ of the period. Edmund is a prince, son of Richard III, he has a brother and searching for a way to became a king himself.

Show is created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. Rowan Atkinson also stars as Edmund and does amazing job. Blackadder has a servant named Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and a ‘friend’ Percy (Tim McInnerny). Richard III is played by Brian Blessed and it’s a pity that he is only part of the cast of this first season. Edmund is a sneaky, cunning and sometimes if needed evil character with only one idea on his mind, he wants to became a king. And the things he would do for that, it’s really amazing to see some of his ideas. And, eventually all of them will fail.

Writing

First season is much different in terms of humor than the later seasons, because it relies much more on visual comedy and historical satire and less on sarcasm that is used much more later. But, because of them some of the dialogs can be hard to follow if you are not well versed in the period. But, if you give it the time and watch it few times, I am sure that you will be able to get much more of the subtle humor. Also, this is the only season that has a narrator to lead the story and his parts are very, very funny.

Production

Well, this is something where first season fails at the times, and it looks like that there is not much money invested into the series. But most of the BBC series from that period suffered the same problem most likely do to many shows produced in the same time. Important thing is that you will not even notice the problems because characters and story are really great.

Conclusion

So, grab the box set with all four seasons and many extras and start from the beginning. Blackadder’s history is really worth a watch.