Blair Loveday
Blackadder is one of the greatest comedies that has ever existed.
I came across it when a friend told me that there was an awesome comedy with the actor that played Mr Bean and that it is super witty.
Skeptically I watched an episode from Blackadder The Third, and I was immediately hooked. After owning, then loaning out my DVD collection many years ago and it never returning, I was stoked to see a new release with Black Adder: The Complete Collection Remastered, and I must say, you should own this collection.
If you don’t know Blackadder, you are in for a serious treat.
Rowan Atkinson plays the fictitious Edmund Blackadder in different historical settings. The first season has him as a weasley Duke of Edinburgh in the 1400’s. He is the kings son, but the king doesn’t like him so he does what he can to get power.
The second season follows Edmund Blackadder in the 1500’s where he is constantly trying to gain power by making Queen Elizabeth I happy.
The third season jumps to the 18th century where Blackadder is the butler to Prince George and the forth season jumps to World War I where he is a Captain in the trenches. Each of them have recurring characters in new roles, and none more famous than his servant style character Baldrick.
These massively changing settings allow for resets, and brand new material to make comedy from.
I was never the biggest fan of the first season, and in rewatching it I have realised why. The other three seasons have Blackadder as a very clever and conniving character who is always in it for himself. The first season on the other hand he is the bumbling idiot, and his assistants like Baldrick tend to be the smarter ones helping him out. On this rewatch I enjoyed the season a lot more than I had before, but it’s still not the strongest of the four.
Season three and four are still the best ones, with Blackadder The Third showing him as a man twisting and manipulating the idiotic Prince George who is played by Hugh Lawry.
It has some of the funniest and most iconic moments from the series, and Hugh Lawry makes me laugh every time. Blackadder Goes Forth is a mastery of making a comedy in such a tragic time. Blackadder does everything in his power to avoid going over the top to certain death. In his company is Hugh Lawry again, playing the same style of idiot as he was as George, except this time as a lieutenant. And consistently, Baldrick is one of the funniest characters ever created with his practical attempts to solve problems, his lack of general knowledge, and just excellent consistent humor.
Now for why this collection is extra brilliant.
Previous releases just had the series, and I had to buy the specials on their own. Not this time. Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, and Blackadder: Back & Forth are all included in the collection. The Cavalier years is set in the English Civil War which is a familiar style to the series.
Blackadder’s Christmas Carol shows a Blackadder who is the kindest person around, is shown his past lives as a reward where he discovers that being greedy is better, and becomes the classic Blackadder at the end.
Blackadder: Back & Forth was made way later, and has Blackadder trying to trick his friends with a fake time machine. It turns out Baldrick accidentally made a real one and they whip through time settings seeing other Blackadders and Baldricks. The specials are as consistently brilliant as the show.
Blackadder: The Complete Collection Remastered hasn’t had a massive overhaul, and looks pretty old, but that doesn’t stop it from being as brilliant now as it ever was. If you don’t already have all the series and specials in your collection, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.
There are some additional special features which are great to watch and enjoy, but it’s the core show and specials that make this collection worth every cent.
