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Blackadder: Difference between revisions
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* ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years''. Set during the English Civil War
* ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''. Victorian era, an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''
* ''Blackadder Back & Forth''. The 21st Century Blackadder and Baldrick trip through time in a [[Doctor Who
All four seasons, but not the specials, are available on Netflix.
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* [[Malaproper]]: Baldrick and George, on occasion.
* [[Needle in A Stack of Needles]]
* [[Not
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Amy Hardwood and Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown, and possibly Queenie (all played by Miranda Richardson).
* [[Oddly Small Organization]]: In ''Blackadder II'', the Queen appears to have only three courtiers; in ''Blackadder the Third'', the Prince Regent has a staff of two; and in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Capt. Blackadder has only two men under his command. In the latter case, the number of men under Captain Blackadder's command is revealed in the final episode, although even then it is rather small.
* [[The Pig Pen]]: Baldrick
* [[Rant-Inducing Slight]]: Doesn't usually take much of a slight. The most notable example is probably that following Edmund being stripped of his titles in the last episode of series one.
* [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]]: How each series ends.
** Except Series III, which end with only Prince George dead, and King George (who is as mad as a spoon) thinking Blackadder is Prince George (and several other prominent people also thinking this, or at least willing to play along since it means not having an idiot as regent and future king).
* [[Running Gag]]: Many.
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* [[Upperclass Twit]]: Several, most notably Lord Percy Percy [second season] and Prince Regent George (the future George IV) [third season]. Not that Percy's season 1 ancestor is any better, as he appears to be quite a bonehead.
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Played with in Edmund, although only the third really qualifies.
* [[With Friends Like These...]]: Blackadder to Percy in the first two series.
* [[World of Snark]]: The shallowness, stupidity, and downright arrogance of the world around him make Blackadder's hijinks as a [[Villain Protagonist]] [[Kick the Son of A Bitch|particularly satisfying]]
* [[Zany Scheme]]: Blackadder tends to have one for every occasion. Baldrick also cooks all sorts of these up...problem is, with his intelligence, most of them border on the ridiculous (Such as in season 3's "Nob and Nobility", where he suggests to Edmund that they wait until their heads have been cut off by French revolutionaries before they make an escape, in the manner of a headless chicken). His season 1 plans were perfectly feasible and at times even [[Hitman|worthy of Codename 47]]. That said though, Edmund does take him up on one plan in season 4. Percy also had his share of these in the first two seasons.
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* [[Rhetorical Request Blunder]]: Richard IV was telling the story of Henry II accidentally ordering the murder of Thomas Becket to his wife to contrast the situation there with how happy he is with the current Archbishop, and a couple of Mooks overheard and decided to "help." The two of them [[Table Space|sitting at opposite ends of a very long table]] contributed to the misunderstanding. He initially said "Never again will I have to say 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?'" (he had in fact had several of the previous archbishops murdered), but had to repeat the last bit.
* [[Robotic Torture Device]]
* [[Shout
* [[Sinister Minister]]: Edmund himself in "The Archbishop", and Friar Bellows in "The Black Seal".
* [[Smug Snake]]: Prince Edmund, although his smugness tends to evaporate quickly when his schemes (inevitably) go wrong.
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* [[Curse Cut Short]]: In "Beer":
{{quote| '''Lady Whiteadder''': Luck! Sounds almost exactly like f-- ''[episode ends]''}}
* [[Despair Speech]]: A very short one, which is also a [[Shout
{{quote| '''Percy''': Then you are doomed. Alas. For God's sake, let us sit upon the carpet and tell sad stories.}}
* [[Dry Crusader]]: the Whiteadders are these--at least until the end of the episode.
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{{quote| '''Young Crone:''' Two things you must know about the Wise Woman! First...''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|she is...a WOMAN!]] And second...<br />
'''Blackadder:''' [[Deadpan Snarker|...she is wise?]] }}
* [[Shout
* [[Sinister Minister]]: The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells.
* [[Speech Impediment]]: Partial meta example - Rowan Atkinson has a stutter, especially having trouble with words that begin with hard consonants such as "Bob". This gives us his wonderful plosive pronunciation of "Bbbob", which Stephen Fry has on record described as "sexy".
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Had an enormous horn... }}
* [[Beleaguered Assistant]]: Blackadder
* [[Bomb
* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: Amy's flintlock pistol [[Rule of Funny|never seems to need reloading]] in "Amy and Amiability".
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: This lovely bit at the beginning of "Duel and Duality":
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* [[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).
** The last two are a [[Shout
* [[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".
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* [[Disguised in Drag]]: George, in "Major Star", leading to [[Attractive Bent Gender]] when Melchett falls for "Georgina".
* [[Drama Bomb Finale]]: In a rare highly successful example at the very end of season four.
* [[Downer Ending]]: Series four finale; even more remarkable is that the [[Kill'Em All|same basic ending]] was played for laughs in series one and two. [[Reality Subtext]] is to blame for the [[Mood Whiplash]]. To put it into perspective, it aired on Remembrance Sunday with no complaints whatsoever. (Well, almost none - one woman wrote to the ''[
* [[Evil Gloating]]: But terminated gloriously.
{{quote| '''Baron von Richthoven''': Ah, and Lord Flashheart! This is indeed an honour! Finally the two greatest gentlemen flyers in the world meet! Two men of honour, who have jousted together in the cloud-strewn glory of the skies... face to face at last! How often have I rehearsed this moment of destiny in my dreams! The valour we two encapsulate, the unspoken nobility of our comradeship, the— '''*[[Boom! Headshot!]]* '''<br />
'''Flashheart''': '''[[Take That|WHAT A POOF!]]'''" }}
* [[Hanging Judge]]: General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett becomes one in a military court. He's completely ready to have Blackadder shot for shooting '''his''' prize pigeon.
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* [[Unwanted Rescue]]: In "Private Plane", Blackadder and Baldrick are captured by the Germans and told they'll be spending the rest of the war [[Cool and Unusual Punishment|teaching home economics to a bunch of German convent girls]]. They're looking forward to this, until George and Flashheart turn up to "save" them. Flashheart actually works out that they were trying to get away from the front and forces them both to come with him.
* [[Verbal Tic]]: General Melchett's trademark "Baa!" has been variously attributed to madness, asthma, and an ancestor's illicit relationship with Flossie the sheep. [[Stephen Fry]] has said it really originated from his imagining that Melchett had haemorrhoids and would yell out every time he sat down or got up.
* [[Wham! Line]]: At the very end:
{{quote| '''Darling''': I say, listen - our guns have stopped.<br />
'''George''': You don't think...<br />
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== Tropes Present in the Specials ==
* [[Almost
* [[Annoying Laugh]]: Ebenezer Blackadder's niece Millicent.
* [[Call Back]]: In ''Blackadder Back and Forth'' Baldrick references Blackadder's line "as cunning as a fox that's just been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University" from the end of ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.
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* [[Naked Apron]]: Baldrick serves dinner in ''Blackadder Back & Forth'' while wearing an apron patterned like a maid uniform. [[Fan Disservice|And nothing under it]].
* [[Shakespeare in Fiction]]: ''Blackadder: Back & Forth''.
* [[Shout
* [[Throw the Dog A Bone]]: Things finally end happily for (one descendant of) Edmund and Baldrick in ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' as they alter time and history for fame and fortune.
* [[Yet Another Christmas Carol]]: An inversion and parody. Indeed, when Ebenezer Blackadder, the [[White Sheep|only good and friendly member of the Blackadder bloodline]], sees that his descendant would rule all of the universe if he became a spiteful miser like his ancestors (instead of being a slave to future Baldrick, which would happen if he were to remain kind and generous), he lampshades it gleefully:
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