Blackadder

1983 • BBC

4.9

609 reviews

Rating

Eligible

Season 3 episodes (6)

1 Dish and Dishonesty

9/16/87

Pitt the Younger has just been elected Prime Minister. His priorities are war with France, tougher sentences for geography teachers and a right royal kick up the Prince's backside. But he hasn't counted on the Prince's wily butler, E. Blackadder Esq. To stop Parliament from voting away all George's money, Blackadder hatches a fiendish plan.

2 Ink and Incapability

9/23/87

Prince George decides he needs to shake off his reputation as England's greatest thicky, so he agrees to patronise Dr Johnson's new dictionary. Unfortunately, Baldrick doesn't recognise the infinite value of the manuscript, which took the finest mind in England 10 years to complete, and he throws it on the fire.

3 Nob and Nobility

9/30/87

Everyone in Britain is mad with admiration for the Scarlet Pimpernel, who has been bravely rescuing French aristocrats from the clutches of evil revolutionaries. The scornful Blackadder accepts a bet from the foppish lords Smedley and Topper that he can rescue an aristo himself. But actually going to France would be insanely dangerous, so Blackadder opts for an alternative solution.

4 Sense and Senility

10/7/87

The Prince is understandably worried about his popularity after an anarchist throws a bomb at him. He agrees to recite a brilliant speech by Blackadder and decides that he wants his two favourite actors, Mr David Keanrick and Mr Enoch Mossop, to coach him. But things take a turn for the worse when Baldrick overhears the actors plotting against the Prince.

5 Amy and Amiability

10/14/87

As ever, the Prince is terminally short of cash, so he is persuaded to marry the fantastically wealthy heiress, Miss Amy Hardwood. Having wooed her heart for the Prince with a lot of drippy poetry, Blackadder is disgusted to learn that the Hardwoods have been lying about their fortunes from industry, and in fact have been living off lard butties for five years.

6 Duel and Duality

10/21/87

The Duke of Wellington challenges the Prince to a duel after the latter made sexual advances to the Duke's nieces. Blackadder agrees to fight the Duke in the Prince's place, in exchange for the Prince's entire fortune, an amusing clock and a stack of French erotica. When a plan for his mad Scottish cousin to take his place falls through, Blackadder must face the duel himself.

About this show

Rowan Atkinson stars as the dastardly Edmund Blackadder in this acclaimed historical comedy. From the castles of medieval England to the trenches of World War One, the scheming Blackadder and his smelly servant, Baldrick, seriously lower the tone wherever they go. Many great men have played a part in shaping Britain's noble heritage. But Edmund Blackadder is not one of them. From coward to cad and back again, Blackadder brings his cunning plans and serpentine banter to British history through the ages.

Ratings and reviews

4.9

609 reviews

Tim Wells

April 16, 2017

One of the best TV Sitcoms ever made, with Blackadder II Blackadder Goes Fourth being the best two of the four series. Ranging from War of the Roses to WW1 the collection of four series looks at the 'forgotten' period between Richard III and Henry VII, life in the Elizabethan court, what went on Prince George's palace during George III's life and life in the trenches of World War 1, not to mention a brief visit to Victorian London where Edmund encounters a Christmas spirit.

Ben Delplanque

September 19, 2020

Based in history but ironically doesn't age. Fantastic characters, brilliantly scripted and acted. The first series is very different from the rest but is definitely still worth a watch: the humour is there but the character dynamic is quite different. I still like it a lot. Be sure to make time for Blackadder's Christmas Carol as well as that is utterly brilliant though not sold on Playstore I see...

Nat Gibbs

June 21, 2015

The best satire in the British tradition arguably of the latter twentieth century I have found anywhere in the world. Of course everyone has a slightly, to very different appreciation, but to those in the know, it's bordering, if not genius.

3 people found this review helpful

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