Blackadder: Difference between revisions

|'''Captain Edmund Blackadder''', ''Blackadder Goes Forth''}}

 

 

Season one, written by [[Rowan Atkinson]] and Richard Curtis, featured Blackadder as a hapless loser, Baldrick as his more cunning servant, and a series of Shakespearean in-jokes. Much of the humour was reliant on the sort of rubber-faced comic buffoonery Atkinson would later use in ''[[Mr. Bean]]''. The show had lots of expensive location footage but was not a ratings success. Nonetheless it was recommissioned for a second series, (albeit with a drastically reduced budget), which, after a change of direction, and writers, [[Grew the Beard]] and became extremely well-loved. The show was a smash hit from its second season onwards. Seasons two to four saw [[Ben Elton]] replace Atkinson on the writing team, the Blackadder character [[Retool|repurposed]] as the [[Deadpan Snarker]], and a greater emphasis on clever dialogue, running gags, and historical subversion. The retooled show became a comedy institution, although it has resisted several attempts at revival.

 

'''The original four seasons of ''Blackadder'' are:'''

* ''The Black Adder''. An alternate history set during the period of the [[Wars of the Roses]].

* ''Blackadder II''. [[The Virgin Queen|Elizabethan]] London.

 

'''There were also several one-shot ''Blackadder'' specials:'''

* ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years''. Set during the English Civil War

* ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''. Victorian era, an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''

'''Melchetts''': "[[But You Screw One Goat!|BAAAAA!]]"

'''Blackadder''': "...well quite." }}

{{quote|'''Blackadder:''' It is the way of the world, Baldrick: the abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed, and so I kick the cat; the cat pounces on the mouse; and, finally, the mouse bites you on the behind.

'''Baldrick:''' And what do I do?

* [[Funny Money]]: One opening sequence in the first season claimed that "the egg has been replaced by the worm as the lowest unit of currency".

* [[Groin Attack]]: Lord Yeovil in "The Foretelling": "Ah, yes, groin job!" (even though this obviously didn't actually happen).

* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]: Baldrick

* [[Kangaroo Court]]: Edmund's trial by the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is this [[Up to Eleven]]. Where to begin: Edmund's entire case is thrown out when the Witchsmeller convinces Prince Harry that they should ignore the testimony of a witch pleading for his life, Percy - who is defending Edmund - is accused of being a witch and is also ignored, and when Baldrick counters the Witchsmeller's assertion that carrots grow on trees, the Witchsmeller uses his knowledge of carrots to 'prove' Baldrick is a witch as well. He then produces a signed confession by a horse, an old woman Edmund has never met, and an obvious poodle that he claims is Edmund's son. It is almost fitting to the ridiculousness of the situation that our heroes apparently escape with [[Ass Pull|hitherto unused and never mentioned again magical powers of teleportation]].

* [["The Villain Sucks" Song]]: You horrid little man!

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: In "The Archbishop", Baldrick shows off a range of priced curses signed by ecclesiastical figures, the cheapest of which reads "Dear Enemy, I curse you, and I hope something moderately unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head".

 

== Tropes Present in ''Blackadder II'' ==

* [[Audience Murmurs]]: Parodied in "Potato". Everyone on the ship is panicking / arguing except [[Tom Baker]], who is clearly saying "Rhubarb!" over and over again.

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Queenie enjoys beheading everyone and anyone for the slimmest of reasons. She just has other people do the beheading for her.

{{quote|See the little goblin

See his little feet

* [[Despair Speech]]: A very short one, which is also a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Richard II]]'':

{{quote|'''Percy''': Then you are doomed. Alas. For God's sake, let us sit upon the carpet and tell sad stories.}}

* [[Eats Babies]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells]].

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Ask any fangirl and she'll tell you that either this version or ''Blackadder the Third'''s was the most attractive.

** If they thought Farrow was Ponsonby and vice versa, presumably at the time, Farrow was in Ponsonby's cell.

* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: Flashheart, depending on your definition of 'wholesome'.

 

== Tropes Present in ''Blackadder the Third'' ==

* [[Face Palm]]: Blackadder, when {{spoiler|Lord Topper}} revealed his disguise.

* [[Fictional Political Party]]: Going hand-in-hand with the [[Election Night]] trope (above), the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" uses these, too, in its parody of British election conventions. After the constituent of rotten borough Dunny-on-the-Wold (consisting of nothing more than a tiny plot of land, many farm animals, and only one voter) suddenly died, Prince Regent and Blackadder decide to run Baldrick as their own candidate and tip Parliament in their favor. Baldrick runs on behalf of the "Adder Party," a name that becomes much more appropriate when it turns out that Blackadder was both the borough's Returning Officer and lone voter after both died in freak "accidents." Other fictitious parties on the ballot included "Keep Royalty White, Rat Catching and Safe Sewage Residents' Party" and the "Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party" (whose party line stands for "the compulsory serving of asparagus at breakfast, free corsets for the 'under-fives,' and [[The Triple|the abolition of slavery]]" - though the last one was just put in as a joke).

* [[Her Codename Was Mary Sue]]: Blackadder's novel ''Edmund: A Butler's Tale'' sounds like this, based on what he tells Baldrick about it.

* [[Identical Grandson]]: In addition to the previously mentioned usage, this series features Blackadder's Scottish cousin [[Violent Glaswegian|MacAdder]], played by Atkinson in a [[Wig, Dress, Accent|curly red wig, a kilt and a deliberately bad accent]] and Vincent Hanna playing "his own great great great grandfather".

* [[Upper Class Twit]]: Prince George, who [[Captain Ersatz|has more than a few similarties]] to [[Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|Bertie Wooster]]. The fact that they're both played by [[Hugh Laurie]] helps. However, George is far ''[[Up to Eleven|less]]'' intelligent than Wooster, and far, far less likeable.

* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Mr. E. Blackadder likely qualifies as one, being an implied serial killer (during the election episode), as well as having two famous actors arrested and executed for treason in "Sense and Senility", sending Amy Hardwood to the noose in "Amy and Amiability" and killing Topper and Smedley in "Nob and Nobility". So he's ''directly'' responsible for killing or having killed at least seven people during the course of six episodes (although Amy had tried to kill him first, and Smedley's death was accidental).

* [[You Look Familiar]]: Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson, and [[Stephen Fry]] all made guest appearances in various episodes.

 

== Tropes Present in ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years'' ==

* [[The Cavalier Years]]

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: [[Stephen Fry]]'s portrayal of King Charles in "The Cavalier Years" is a thinly-veiled-if-at-all-veiled impression of [[British Royal Family|Prince Charles]].

 

== Tropes Present in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' ==

** It's notable that Darling enjoys his easy assignment and is trying to get an even easier one in the Royal Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: "The blood, the noise, the endless ''poetry''!"

* [[Badass Mustache]]: General Melchett is hardly a badass, but damn if his lip-cover isn't an impressive specimen!

* [[Bawdy Song]]: Melchett and George's version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".

{{quote|'''Blackadder''': I only smoke cigarettes after making love. So, back in England I'm a twenty-a-day man.}}

* [[Smug Snake]]: Captain Darling

* [[Sudden Downer Ending]]: ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' is set in the trenches of WWI, and the writers didn't want to be accused of making light of one of the most tragic moments in British history, so the last episode {{spoiler|becomes steadily more serious and somber as all of the characters but General Melchett (and he's quite callous about sending Darling to his doom) are ordered over the top in what is assumed to be a suicide charge. While the cast are all shown to have died in ''The Black Adder'' and ''Blackadder II'', this time it's not played for comedy at all.}}

* [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]: Bob, in "Major Star".

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: We never do find out if Blackadder or Darling were able to prevent Nurse Mary's firing squad execution in time.

* [[World War I]]

* [[You Look Familiar]]: Miranda Richardson appears as Nurse Mary in "General Hospital".

 

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{{BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series)}}

[[Category:Comedy Series]]

[[Category:British Series]]

[[Category:TV Series]]

[[Category:Britain's Best Sitcom]]

[[Category:Military and Warfare Television]]

[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1980s]]