"Blackadder the Third" (1987) TV series

User Rating:

9.0/10   

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 | Dictionary | Sex

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)
"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:

Blackadder: I have come up with a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Little Britain: Biggest House of Cards (#1.5)" (2003)

Intelligent sarcastic humour – the best of British!

In England 1790-1815 we follow the continued annals of the Blackadder family. Edmund Blackadder is now butler to Prince George – a man who is as `thick as a whale omelette'. Over 6 episodes his lot goes from the dizzying heights of ruin to disaster to opportunity with little or no help from his dogsbody the `mouse brained' Baldrick.

The third in the Blackadder series is not the best (although it's a very close). The scripts are very sharp and typically British. Every word is hilarious and Blackadder is given plenty of juicy lines to throw at his below-average-intelligence master. The plots are ludicrous but inventive – Baldrick accidentally elevated to the house of lords, Blackadder saving the Scarlet Pimpernel, the destruction of the world's first dictionary etc, but they're all carried off with style and great humour.

Rowan Atkinson is hilarious – Blackadder is one of his finest hours and he fits the character perfectly. Tony Robinson is cursed forever to be remembered for Baldrick (no matter how many Time Teams he does) and he is brilliant in a thankless role. Hugh Laurie is superb as the stupid Prince and brings inbred stupidity to life! But each episode is also underpinned by a wealth of talent including Helen Atkinson Wood, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Moore, Chris Barrie, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry etc. The casting is great.

Overall Blackadder is one of the finest British comedy series for decades – it deserves to be up there with Monty Python and the like. Anyone who loves to laugh at intelligent sarcastic humour will love this. One of the best comedy series I've ever seen.