You Know Who Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 In honour of the 30th anniversary of Blackadder's premiere in 1983 (which was a week ago). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuaveStar Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Blackadder 2 was my introduction to the series, so it holds a special place for me. But the writing of three, and the stories were when the show hit its creative peak. My personal favourite being the election episode. It took me nearly ten years to finally appreciate how good, if not odd in the grander scheme of the show, the first series was. And, I'm not sure if the Cavaliers special was on the DVD set, so I'm including a link to the episode from YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKX8g76Rkqg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 I'm a big fan, even of the first series. However Goes Forth is probably the funniest and most poignant in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted June 23, 2013 Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 Forth is probably the best, and something I love watching, but Third has some of my favorite episodes and " Ink and Incapability " is a serious contender for the funniest half hour in sitcom history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothian Posted June 23, 2013 Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 Forth is probably the best, and something I love watching, but Third has some of my favorite episodes and " Ink and Incapability " is a serious contender for the funniest half hour in sitcom history. "Once upon a time there was a little sausage called Baldrick....Sausage? SAUSAGE?!?!?" Blackadder is one of the all-time great comedies, and even though the first series is radically different, it was that period of history (ie/ tail end of the Wars of the Roses) that I did my first dissertation on for my History degree, so I have a love for that series as well. I mean, Peter Cook as Richard III and Brian Blessed as a full grown version of one of the Princes of the Tower? That's awesome in and of itself! Blackadder Goes Forth has to be the best series. Not only is the comedy fantastic, but its also very near the knuckle and satirical in terms of how badly the Allied generals handled aspects of the First World War. My school literally used it as part of our GCSE coursework on WWI-based literature for context when studying Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. And on a less serious note, Rik Mayall returns to play a different variation of Lord Flasheart, whilst Stephen Fry is hilariously monstrous as General Melchett. As for favourite, it's actually quite a tough choice. In the end I partially hedged my best and went with Blackadder's Christmas Carol. Not just because you get retreads of Blackadder & Baldrick from series 2 & 3, but it's an ingenious reworking of The Christmas Carol - a story that so many TV shows recreate, but only a few reinvent. The tone is set from the very beginning with Hugh Laurie's narration and the lyrics to that version of the Blackadder theme. In seemingly timely news, it was announced last week that Tony Robinson was being knighted whilst Rowan Atkinson was being made a CBE. I'd like to think "for services to Blackadder", but boringly, its more for their entire careers. So seemingly, the Queen is a bigger fan of Time Team and Maid Marian & Her Merry Men than she is The Thin Blue Line and Johnny English. Which, in that context, makes sense.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
You Know Who Posted June 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 I love all the series and I think each has a lot going for them, so choosing the best was hard. However, I went with Blackadder II because it established the Blackadder-Baldrick dynamic that endured throughout the rest of the show. It also brought the collective brilliance of Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson, and Hugh Laurie to the program as well. Yet Blackadder the Third has some of my favorite episodes in it (including "Ink and Incapability") and Forth has the show's most powerful moments. The Christmas Carol is my favorite because it was one of the first full episodes of the show I was exposed to and turns the Christmas Carol on its head masterfully. Plus, Robbie Coltrane is fantastic in it and is introducing busting through the door at night as a bearded giant. Hmmm...wonder where I've seen that before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pan-dub Posted June 23, 2013 Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 They've been quoted saying as much as "There won't be another series" but if there was which period of history would be ripe for the Blackadder treatment? I'd love the Roman Blackadder from Back and Forth to be expanded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
You Know Who Posted June 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 That could work. I'd also love it if they did a Reformation-era one with Stephen Fry as Henry VIII or one set during the Third Crusade (with Richard the Lionheart, King John, and Rik Mayall as Robin Hood again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shining knight Posted July 16, 2013 Report Share Posted July 16, 2013 It was said once early 90s if they had did a fifth series it would have been set in the 60s with blackadder as a bastard son of the royals forming a band with a drummer called Bald Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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