Movies - Blackadder

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	Movies - Blackadder

Blackadder is the generic name that encompasses four series of an acclaimed BBC historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. The first series was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, while subsequent episodes were written by Curtis and Ben Elton. The shows were produced by John Lloyd, and starred Rowan Atkinson as the eponymous anti-hero, Edmund Blackadder, and Tony Robinson as his sidekick, Baldrick.

Each series was set in a different period of British history, and comprised six half-hour episodes. The first series, made in 1983, was called The Black Adder. This was followed by Blackadder II in 1986, Blackadder the Third in 1987, and finally Blackadder Goes Forth in 1989. In addition to these, three specials were also made: "Blackadder: The Cavalier Years" appeared as a 15-minute insert during the 1988 Comic Relief telethon; Blackadder's Christmas Carol
was a 45-minute Christmas instalment, broadcast the same year; and Blackadder: Back & Forth
was a 30-minute film originally shown in a special cinema at the Millennium Dome throughout 2000, and later transmitted by Sky and the BBC. A pilot episode was filmed in 1982, but has never been shown on television.

In January 2005, Tony Robinson told ITV's This Morning that Rowan Atkinson is more keen than he has been in the past to do a fifth series, set in the 1960s (centered around a rock band called the "Black Adder Five", with Baldrick — aka 'Bald Rick' — as the drummer) . However, aside from a brief mention in June 2005 there have been no further announcements from the BBC that a new series is being planned. Furthermore, in November 2005, Rowan Atkinson told BBC Breakfast News that although he would very much like to do a new series set in Colditz or another prisoner-of-war camp during World War Two, the chances of it happening are extremely low . In 2000 Blackadder Goes Forth ranked at #16 in the "100 Greatest British Television Programmes" a list created by the British Film Institute. Also in the 2004 TV poll to find "Britain's Best Sitcom", Blackadder was voted the second best British sitcom of all time, beaten only by Only Fools and Horses.

Blackadder overview

Developments over the series

It is implied in each series that the Blackadder character is a distant descendant of the previous one. With each observed generation, his social standing is reduced, from prince, to nobleman, to royal butler, to army captain and by the end, in the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, nothing more than cannon-fodder. However, he concurrently goes from being an incompetent fool (in the first series), to an ever more devious strategist in matters that affect him. The Macbeth-inspired witches, in "The Foretelling" (1.1) (thinking he is, in fact, Henry Tudor), promise that one day Blackadder will be King and, in "Bells" (2.1), the 'wise woman' says "thou plottest Edmund: thou wouldst be King!" In the first series, Edmund does become King for less than a minute, but then dies after succumbing to some poisoned wine, a fact alluded to in closing credits song in Head (2.2):

:His great-grandfather was a king :Although for only thirty seconds

In the second series, Blackadder comes very close to marrying Elizabeth I but fails. At the end of Blackadder the Third, the character assumes the role of Prince Regent after the real prince is killed in a duel with the Duke of Wellington, and (presumably, though not definitely) goes on to assume the identity of George IV. After the continual decline in status through the series, Blackadder, or at least the descendant of the original, finally becomes King in Blackadder: Back & Forth through manipulation of the timeline. A Grand Admiral Blackadder of the far future is also seen in the Christmas special, and his status further rises when he manages to achieve control of the entire universe upon marrying Queen Asphyxia XIX. However, while Prince Edmund Plantagenet adopts the title "The Black Adder", Centurion Blackadicus (presumably an ancestor) has it as a name. It may be a cognomen, a nickname at the end of a Roman man's name.

Comparison between Baldrick and Blackadder

It is also noticeable that, as Blackadder becomes more cunning, so Baldrick develops into a dimwit. It is clear that in the first series, the latter is smarter than his superior, saving the day on several occasions. However, in later instalments, this situation is reversed: e.g., in "Captain Cook" (4.1), Baldrick scratches his name on a bullet, because "somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it" — and if he owns it himself, then he cannot be shot by it.

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Movies - Blackadder

Blackadder overview

Developments over the series

Comparison between Baldrick and Blackadder

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