"Blackadder the Third" (1987) TV series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

17 September 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | History

Tagline:

Macbeth!

Plot:

In this generation, Blackadder is a frustrated butler in the employ of an incredibly stupid Crown Prince of England.

Plot Keywords:

England | Servant | King | Sequel | Murder

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder / ... (6 episodes, 1987)
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick / ... (6 episodes, 1987)
Hugh Laurie	...	The Prince Regent / ... (6 episodes, 1987)
Helen Atkinson-Wood	...	Mrs. Miggins / ... (6 episodes, 1987)

Also Known As:

Blackadder 3 (UK) (alternative title)
Blackadder III (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Ireland:15 | Australia:PG | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Among the books that Blackadder peruses during the opening titles are: - (Morte D'Edmund?) - The Blackadder's Progress - Rise and Fall - Bath on 5p a Day - Encyclopaedia Blackaddica Vol XIX FUN to HUG - Chelsea Arts Club (...) - Blackadder Unbound - Landscape Gardening by Capability Brownadder - From Black Death to Blackadder - Blackadder's Bedside Cockfighting Companion - The Blackadder of Calcutta - (...) - Blackadder Book of Martyrs - The Blackobite Rebellion - Old Blackamore's Almanac Second Edition - Sir Francis Blackadder (Letters?)

Quotes:

[Referring to a suicide pill they have both been given, after being captured by French revolutionaries]
Baldrick: I'm glad to say you won't be needing that pill, Mr. B.
Blackadder: Am I jumping the gun, Baldrick, or are the words "I have a cunning plan" marching with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of this conversation?
Baldrick: They certainly are.
Blackadder: Well, forgive me if I don't do a cartwheel of joy; your record in this department is hardly 100%. So what is it?
Baldrick: We do nothing...
Blackadder: Yup, it's another world-beater.
Baldrick: No, wait. We do nothing... until our heads have actually been cut off.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga (2008) (TV)

I charge you now for the good of mankind, Baldrick - NEVER open your trousers.

Blackadder series tend to lob themselves in contexts involving ongoing or imminent historical change. In this particular instalment, Edmund finds himself as butler to the Prince of Wales during the Enlightenment and Age of Revolutions - he seems willing to appear loyal to the monarcy, while practising the 'rights of man' by surreptitiously manipulating and undermining the Prince, who is a colossal twit, in order to fulfil his own greed. This is a return to the character of the first series, Blackadder having become less grasping and selfish in the second, at least overtly. The Prince takes up the reins of the 'stupid-but-outspoken' character from Lord Percy in Series II, while Baldrick remains to provide the easy target and toilet humor (or should that be 'turnip humor'?)

The series makes full use of its chosen context: the Scarlet Pimpernel and some moaning aristocratic Frenchies, the bullyish Duke of Wellington, Dr Samuel Johnson and his dictionary, and the Enlightenment poets Byron and Shelley all make appearances with stereotypical flourish, great use being made of the mythology behind each figure. The usual Blackadder comedy formula - double-entendre, sarcasm, simile - is utilised to good effect. The sets and costumes in this series are also exceptional, probably the best of the four instalments. The result is a highly watchable set of six programmes: Blackadder is probably least likeable here, but remains quite funny.