The Black Adder
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DVD details
Actor: Rowan AtkinsonBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of The Black Adder
DVD Review: The beginnings of a comic icon
Summary: 4 Stars
BLACKADDER ran four glorious series on the BBC, but the show took a dramatic change in format after this, the first series, and a change indisputably for the better, changing the character of Edmund Blackadder from a bitter, pretentious, self-serving, sniveling idiot to a bitter, pretentious, self-serving, saracastic jerk. The changes made were beneficial both to the series itself and to the performance of Rowan Atkinson. In later series, he would make , in his various incarnations, Edmund Blackadder (whether Lord, Butler, Captain, Royalist, Dickensian shop-owner or Time-Travellor) into a strangely likeable anti-hero dealing with people far below his intelligence level. It is not so here, and the series is weaker for it.
The show takes place over a 13-year period in the 1480s, a reality in which Richard III (Peter Cook) was a beloved monarch and won the battle of Bosworth Field, only to be beheaded by an idiotic nobleman mistaking him for a horse thief. That nobleman is Prince Edmund the Black Adder (Atkinson), Duke of Edinborough and Warden of the Royal Privies, the weak-chinned son of the fictional King Richard the Fourth (Brian Blessed). Edmund is a blithering idiot with unrealistic expectations of ascending the throne, a man whose father doesn't even know he's alive and whose only allies are Lord Percy (Tim McInnerny), an aristocratic nitwit even more incompetent than himself, and Baldrick (Tony Robinson), a serf who's slightly cunning plans only rarely go right.
Atkinson plays up the idiocy in a funny voice, a funnier hat and an even funnier haircut, whimpering and giggling like a schoolgirl when pleased and squeaking in terror when in mortal danger (which happens frequently). He has a nice way with a slow burn and the over-enunciated consonant, traits he would perfect as the character's descendants become more cynical. When taken in small doses, he can be hysterical, but watching all six episodes after the other, one becomes aware of how mannered the comedy is.
Atkinson is lucky he has such an excellent supporting cast, or he'd be in trouble. As Baldrick, Robinson builds the foundation for the unassuming moron he would perfect in later series. This Baldrick is smarter than all of his descendants, though not by much, and Robinson's deadpan takes on the insanity that revolves around his master is priceless. As Percy, Tim McInnernry plays dumb so well it should be illegal, a look of blissful incomprehension stuck to his face to side-spliting effect.
As the bloodthirsty King Richard IV, Blessed is keen to the parody of the Shakespeare hero his role entails, and his insane monarch is a highlight of the series. As Edmund's Goody-goody brother Harry, Robert East does much with little material, playing straight-man with an upper lip so stiff you could use it as a diving board. Elspet Grey provides a sense of airy class and a delectable foreign accent as the Queen who never quite knows what's going on.
The Episodes are as follows:
THE FORETELLING: In which Edmund kills the King, becomes a Prince, accidently saves a traitor and dons the title of the Black Adder. The groundwork for the series is laid out in the best possible manner, and in ten minutes you know exactly what you're in for. Peter Cook trods out his best Olivier impression as the ghostly Richard III. Unfortunetly, this is Atkinson at his most annoying.
BORN TO BE KING: In which Edmund must deal with an arogant Scotsman and the dregs of Medieval entertainment. The series kicks into gear here with a hilarious script, featuring a side-spliting performance from The Jumping Jews of Jerusalem ("They Jump, my Lord. A Lot" says Percy, describing their act) and Brian Blessed at his most violent. Alex Norton scores points as the coarse Doogal McAngus, who takes every possible opertunity to humiliate the Black Adder, and Baldrick gets his first chance to fill out a dress when a beared lady shaves off her beard.
THE ARCHBISHOP: in which the Archbishop of Canterbury is the most dangerous position in the land, and Edmund is the next canidate. Features Atkinson at his best while trying to convince a dying man Hell isn't such a bad place at all, and some hilarious Catholic-related sight-gags. Tony Robinson's crowning glory in the first Black Adder series is in this episode in a wonderfully-played routine where he hocks fake religious relics such as a Holy appendage variety pack (Featuring the noses of Jesus and Peter and the breasts of Joan of Arc). One of the best.
THE QUEEN OF SPAIN'S BEARD: In which politically-profitable wedding Bells ring for Edmund and a gargantuan Spanish Princess, and he tries his damnest to get out of the marriage. The inspired pair of Miriam Margolyes and Jim Broadbent are at their best as the horny Infanta and her effeminate interpreter Don Speekengleesh, who impassionate translates such phrases as "I want to enfold you in my broad thighs" to hilarious effect. Atkinson does wonderful work here, including a prize-winning double take when he meets his bride-to-be.
THE WITCHSMELLER PERSUVIANT: In which the plauge is blamed on Witchcraft, and Edmund and Company find themselves on the wrong end of a witch trial. This episode features a highlight of the series in Frank Finlay. Watch him happily chewing away the scenery as the titular Witch hunter, barking out words like "Grumbledook" and "Beelzebubbles" with glee as he accuses Edmund and his pets of Witchcraft on clearly manufactured evidence that everyone believes. The sequence in which he condems Edmund's horse is especially funny. Watch for a cameo by British stage and screen regular Louise Gold as a screaming woman at the beginning of the episode. One of the best of the series.
THE BLACK SEAL: In which Edmund, desperate to get the throne, gathers a band of seven of the most evil men in England and the tale of the Black Adder comes to a suitably violent (and hilarious) end. Rik Mayall shows up uncredited as the delightful whack-job Mad Gerald, and Edmund's evil band provide plenty of laughs. Atkinson finally gets a chance to use the strongest weapon in his comic arsenal in this episode: withering insults. When he dismisses Percy from his services, Edmund unleashes a series of put-downs in the manner born, a trait that would become synonimus with the name Blackadder. A fitting end to a side-splitingly funny if uneven series.
Description of The Black Adder
Rowan Atkinson stars as the comic villain, Edmund Blackadder, in the premiere series of Britain's enormously popular comedy series, set during the really dark part of the Dark Ages.DVD Features:
Biographies
Other:Black Adder Sing Along Footnotes to History
Theatrical Trailer
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