Categories
Blackadder Season 3

Sense and Senility

BlackadderThe Prince is suffering from poor public relations, which coincides with an outbreak of anarchistic attacks. He decides to have two actors, Mossop & Keanrick, teach him how to effectively deliver a speech that Edmund has written. The palpable disdain that Edmund shows the actors drives a wedge between him and the Prince. Pushed too far, Edmund decides to leave for Sardinia, but the actors have plans that may change things…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Notes: Mossop and Keanrick’s anti-Macbeth “hex” chant goes: “Hot Potato / Orchestra Stalls / Puck Will Make Amends,” followed by the squeezing of the other’s nose. (“Ahhh!”)

Kenneth Connor is best known for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and the France-set sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Ben Elton, co-writer of all Blackadder except the first series, makes his only acting appearance in Blackadder here, despite being an experienced performer in his own right.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 3

Amy and Amiability

BlackadderWhen both Edmund and the Prince find themselves in financial difficulties, the only solution is for the Prince to marry into some money. With no viable prospects amongst the aristocracy, Edmund chooses the beautiful daughter of an industrialist. But Amy Hardwood seems to be even thicker than George and also seems to be hiding something…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Roger Avon (The Duke of Cheapside), Warren Clarke (Josiah Hardwood), Barbara Horne (Sally Cheapside), Miranda Richardson (Amy Hardwood)

Notes: Miranda Richardson makes her first guest appearance here. The part of Amy Hardwood provided Richardson with the opportunity to both hearken back to her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Blackadder II and also show off her comic range. She would return again for Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, Blackadder Goes Forth (General Hospital) and Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Roger Avon has had a long career in television including appearances on Benny Hill, Doctor Who, and Upstairs, Downstairs. His films include A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966) and Quartermass and the Pit (1967).

Warren Clarke is best known as Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel in the long running Dalziel And Pascoe series of TV movies. He also appears in the Blackadder mini-episode The Cavalier Years as Oliver Cromwell.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 3

Duel and Duality

BlackadderThe Prince Regent is in trouble for having had a sexual dalliance with the nieces of the Duke of Wellington. When the Duke challenges the Prince to a duel, Edmund agrees to take his place. As the time of the duel approaches, each of Edmund’s plans for survival fall short…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Mandie Fletcher
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Stephen Fry (Duke of Wellington), Rowan Atkinson (McAdder), Gertan Klauber (King George III)

Notes: Fry returns to Blackadder after having been a regular in Blackadder II. He would return as a regular in Blackadder Goes Forth and for the specials. He again portrays the Duke of Wellington (among others) in Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Rowan Atkinson get a chance here to play opposite himself, in the dual roles of Edmund and his Scottish cousin, McAdder.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Specials

Blackadder: The Cavalier Years

BlackadderNovember 1648. King Charles I is on the run from Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads. He seeks shelter with his last supporter, Sir Edmund Blackadder and Edmund’s servant, Baldrick. When Baldrick reveals the King’s whereabouts to Cromwell himself, Edmund must find a way to save his Sovereign from the chopping block…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
director not credited
music by Howard Goodall

Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Sir Edmund Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Baldrick), Warren Clarke (Oliver Cromwell), Stephen Fry (King Charles I)

Notes: This approximately fifteen-minute mini-episode was created for the BBC’s Comic Relief telethon and was unavailable commercially until the release of the US Blackadder VHS box set. It is now available as bonus material on the US Blackadder the Third DVD and the UK Blackadder: Back & Forth DVD.

The young Prince Charles (portrayed here as a baby) was, in fact, 19 years old at the time his father was executed (and already safely in exile).

Stephen Fry is clearly impersonating Prince Charles (Windsor) in his portrayal of King Charles I.

Warren Clarke previously appeared in the Blackadder the Third episode Amy and Amiability.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Specials

Blackadder’s Christmas Carol

BlackadderOn Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Blackadder is visited by the Spirit of Christmas. Seeing that Ebenezer is such a good person (no, really!), the Spirit decides to show him scenes of his ancestors’ shameful behavior. A view of how horrid his predecessors were leads Ebenezer to wonder what the future holds for him…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
based on “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Ebenezer Blackadder / Lord Edmund Blackadder / Mr. Edmund Blackadder / Grand Admiral Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Mr. Baldrick / Baldrick / S. Baldrick / Commander Baldrick), Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett / Lord Frondo), Hugh Laurie (The Prince Regent / Prince Pigmont), Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth I / Queen Asphyxia XIX), Robbie Coltrane (The Spirit of Christmas), Jim Broadbent (Prince Albert), Miriam Margolyes (Queen Victoria), Patsy Byrne (Nursie / Bernard), Denis Lill (Beadle), Pauline Melville (Mrs. Scratchit), Philip Pope (Lord Horatio Nelson), Nicola Bryant (Millicent), Ramsay Gilderdale (Ralph), David Barber (Orphan), Erkan Mustafa (Orphan), David Nunn (Orphan), Martino Lazzeri (Boy)

Notes: The principals from the casts of Blackadder II (minus Tim McInnerny) and Blackadder the Third (minus Helen Atkinson-Wood) reprise their roles for the flashback sequences.

Nicola Bryant is best known to sci-fi fans (especially guys who hit puberty around 1985) for her portrayal of Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown on Doctor Who.

Robbie Coltrane returns in a kindly role, following his menacing portrayal of Dr. Samuel Johnson in the Blackadder The Third episode Ink and Incapability.

Jim Broadbent and Miriam Margolyes appear together, re-uniting the duo from The Queen of Spain’s Beard episode of The Black Adder. Margolyes also appeared in Blackadder II (Beer).

This is the only full Blackadder series or special not to feature Tim McInnerny.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

Captain Cook

BlackadderCaptain Edmund Blackadder, serving on the front lines of World War I, suspects that he and his men, Lieutenant George and Private Baldrick, are about to be sent on a suicide mission. When a call comes from General Melchett looking for an artist to inspire the troops for the big push, Edmund sees it as an opportunity to get out of the trenches. But once he gets the assignment, Edmund realizes there’s more to it than he was led to believe…

Season 4 Regular Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Captain Edmund Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Private S Baldrick), Stephen Fry (General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett), Hugh Laurie (Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh), Tim McInnerny (Captain Kevin Darling)

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: none

Notes: No explanation is given as to how the Blackadder line has fallen again despite the previous series ending with Edmund assuming the identity of the Prince Regent, and so presumably ruling England as King George IV. This Edmund may simply be descended from a different line than the lead character of Blackadder the Third.

This is the first series to feature absolutely no new additions to the cast. The entire regular cast had appeared as regulars in one or more previous series.

In keeping with the claustrophobic nature of life in the trenches, Blackadder Goes Forth features fewer guest appearances than any other Blackadder series.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

Corporal Punishment

BlackadderEdmund’s various schemes to avoid actually fighting finally come to a head when he kills a pigeon that turns out to be a pet of General Melchett’s. Arrested for defying orders (and the murder of a pigeon), Edmund’s fortunes look grim once George takes on his defense…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Jeremy Hardy (Corporal Perkins), Stephen Frost (Corporal Jones), Lee Cornes (Private Fraser), Paul Mark Elliot (Private Robinson), Jeremy Gittins (Private Tipplewick)

Notes: Stephen Frost returns to the series, having previously appeared in The Black Adder (Witchsmeller Pursuivant).

Lee Cornes was seen in both Blackadder II (Chains) and Blackadder the Third (Ink and Incapability).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

Major Star

BlackadderWith the overthrow of the Czar, Russia has pulled out of the war. In an effort to boost morale, General Melchett decides to put on a show for the troops and Edmund takes the assignment when he learns it could lead to a return to London. George is a fantastic success in drag as “Georgina”. So successful, in fact, that the General falls in love with “her” and his thoughts turn to marriage…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Gabrielle Glaister (Driver “Bob” Parkhurst)

Notes: Gabrielle Glaister portrayed another cross-dressing “Bob” in the Blackadder II episode Bells and returns as Parkhurst in the next episode, Private Plane.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

Private Plane

BlackadderIn yet another attempt to get out of the trenches, Edmund, George and Baldrick join the Air Force, thinking it a safer alternative to the trenches. Once Edmund realizes the true level of danger, he attempts to get out of it, but is shot down while on his first mission and captured. Any number of tortures are possible, for Edmund finds he is in the clutches of the Red Baron, himself: Baron von Richthoven…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Rik Mayall (Lord Flashheart), Adrian Edmondson (Baron von Richthoven), Hugo E. Blick (Lieutenant von Gerhardt), Gabrielle Glaister (Driver Parkhurst)

Notes: Rik Mayall returns with a new incarnation of Lord Flashheart, first seen in Blackadder II (Bells). He also appears in The Black Adder (The Black Seal) and in Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Gabrielle Glaister plays a much more feminine “Bob” than in her previous appearance (Major Star). “Bob” seems to have given up the pretense of being a man.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

General Hospital

BlackadderThere is a spy at the Army field hospital sending information to the Germans. Captain Blackadder is sent in to investigate and finds himself romantically involved with a beautiful nurse. True, there is a patient named “Smith” with a German accent, but the evidence points towards someone quite close to Edmund…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Miranda Richardson (Nurse Mary), Bill Wallis (Brigadier Smith)

Notes: Miranda Richardson swings full circle, giving a mostly dramatic reading as Nurse Mary, in stark contrast to her Queen Elizabeth from Blackadder II and following her schizoid performance in Blackadder the Third (Amy and Amiability). She also appears in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Bill Wallis returns, having previously appeared in The Black Adder (The Archbishop) and Blackadder II (Head).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Season 4

Goodbyeee

BlackadderThe time has come at last for the “Big Push” and Edmund tries every trick in the book to get out of it. But General Melchett is wise to Edmund’s plans and there really doesn’t seem to be any way out this time…

Order the DVDswritten by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
directed by Richard Boden
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Geoffrey Palmer (Field Marshal Haig)

Notes: Geoffrey Palmer is a mainstay of British comedies, appearing in diverse projects such as The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Whoops! Apocalypse, and As Time Goes By. He also appeared in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and with Rowan Atkinson in the Full Throttle episode of Heroes and Villains.

Goodbyeee was named the most popular episode of all Blackadder series by the registered members of the BBCi web site. It was also voted the most popular final episode of any TV series by a 2004 BBCi poll.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Specials

1775 (US Series Pilot)

BlackadderIn colonial Philadelphia, innkeeper Jeremy Proctor tries to keep the Cock and Hound Inn afloat with revolution lurking just around the corner.  His middle daughter, Eliza, frets that her hair is becoming “less flaxen” and sees her hopes for a husband fading.  Her bookish older sister, Maude, is more interested in spelling bees than dating and the youngest, Abby, is becoming far too involved with the local revolutionaries (especially the boys).  Jeremy’s wife, Annabelle, decides what they need is to send the girls to the Free Mason’s Ball, but Jeremy lacks the necessary funds.  Jeremy is also under pressure from the Colonial Governor, Massengill, who’s always looking for new things to tax.  Thanks to the new candle tax (suggested by Maude), Jeremy swallows his pride and tries to borrow money from his wife’s brother-in-law, George Washington, but Jeremy refuses to pay George’s exorbitant interest.  The future of the entire Proctor may be at stake…

written by Martin Rips and Joseph Staretski
directed by David Trainer

Cast: Ryan O’Neal (Jeremy Proctor), Lesley-Anne Down (Annabelle Proctor), Sarah Koskoff (Maude), Judith Jones (Eliza), Danielle Harris (Abby), Gregory Sporleder (Bert), Adam West (George Washington), Jeffrey Tambor (Governor Massengill)

Notes: This is the pilot episode for what was intended to be an American version of Blackadder. Produced in 1992 for CBS, the series was not picked up and the pilot remains unreleased commercially, although it did air once and is available for viewing online.

Ryan O’Neal went on from the TV drama Peyton Place to become one of the golden boys of 1970s cinema starring in such films as Paper Moon (1973) and A Bridge too Far (1977).

Lesley-Anne Down’s main forte has been costume dramas, including a stint on classic UK drama Upstairs, Downstairs and the three North & South miniseries. Genre work is minimal, but includes From Beyond the Grave (1973) and Beastmaster III (1996).

Sarah Koskoff appeared as Theresa Nemman in The X-Files (1993), the original pilot for the series. She returned several times in that role. She also made appearances on SeaQuest DSV and Millennium.

Judith Jones has made appearances on the genre series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. She also portrayed Debbie Reynolds in Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995).

Danielle Harris appeared as Jamie Lloyd in both Halloween 4 (1988) and Halloween 5 (1989). She also appeared on genre series Eerie, Indiana and Charmed. Since 1998 she has provided the voice for Debbie Thornberry on the TV series The Wild Thornberrys and in its spin-off movies.

Gregory Sporleder has made guest appearances on shows such as NYPD Blue, The Drew Carey Show and Smallville. His film work includes diverse projects such as A League of Their Own (1992), True Romance (1993) and I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998).

Jeffrey Tambor first made an impression with his scene-stealing performance in …And Justice for All (1979). He finally gained national recognition for his work as Hank Kingsley on the HBO sitcom The Larry Sanders Show and later as patriarch of the Bluth family on Arrested Development. He finally won award recognition for his lead role on the Amazon Prime series Transparent. Other successful His genre work includes Muppets from Space (1999), Hellboy (2004) and the forward-thinking sci-fi series Max Headroom.

Adam West is best known for the role of Batman, a part he portrayed (in live action and animation) from the 1966 TV series and movie through the 1985 cartoon show The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. His numerous genre work includes appearances on The Outer Limits and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as well as in films such as Zombie Nightmare (1986) and Monster Island (2004).

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey

Categories
Blackadder Specials

HRH Prince Charles’ 50th Birthday Gala

BlackadderMay 1680. Lord Edmund Blackadder, Privy Counselor, has been asked to organize a gala to celebrate the 50th birthday of King Charles I. He is disinclined to accept the offer until the King makes it clear it would be dangerous to choose not to accept…

Order the DVDswritten by Ben Elton
director not credited
music by Howard Goodall

Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Lord Edmund Blackadder), Stephen Fry (King Charles I)

Notes: This is the second documented event in the life of this particular Blackadder.  He was previously see in The Cavalier Years towards the end of Charles’ life.

Stephen Fry returns to play Charles again, this time with a lot more Melchett blood in him.

This marks the first time Tony Robinson was not involved in a Blackadder appearance of any kind since the original pilot.

LogBook entry by Philip R. Frey