Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) (TV)

Director:

Richard Boden

Writers:

Richard Curtis (by) and
Ben Elton (by)

Genre:

Comedy | History

Plot:

Pleasant Ebenezer Blackadder is turned into a cruel and witty miser after seeing visions of his ancestors and descendants.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Ghost | Black Comedy | Reverse Footage | Actor Playing Multiple Roles

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Ebenezer Blackadder / Lord Edmund Blackadder / Edmund Blackadder, Esq. / Cmdr. Edmund Blackadder
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick / Baldrick / Sod-Off Baldrick / Baldrick
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Elizabeth I / Asphyxia XIX
Stephen Fry	...	Lord Melchett / Lord Frondo
Hugh Laurie	...	George, the Prince Regent / Lord Pigmot
Robbie Coltrane	...	Spirit of Christmas
Miriam Margolyes	...	Queen Victoria
Jim Broadbent	...	Prince Albert
Patsy Byrne	...	Nursie / Bernard
Denis Lill	...	Beadle
Pauline Melville	...	Mrs. Scratchit
Philip Pope	...	Lord Nelson
Nicola Bryant	...	Millicent
Ramsay Gilderdale	...	Ralph
David Barber	...	Enormous Orphan

Runtime:

43 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

This film and Blackadder Back & Forth (1999) are the only two to actively reprise characters from previous Blackadder incarnations (namely new segments for "Blackadder II" (1986) and "Black Adder the Third" (1987)).

Quotes:

Ebenezer Blackadder: Ah, my dear Millicent, come for her dinner.
[Looks at Ralph]
Ebenezer Blackadder: ... and she seems to have brought the fish course with her! Who, my dear, is the huge halibut in the trousers?
Ralph: I think... it's me!
Millicent: This is Ralph - he's my fiance!
Ralph: We're in love!
Ebenezer Blackadder: Oh, dear. Ill-conceived love, I should warn you, is like a Christmas cracker: one massively disappointing bang, and the novelty soon wears off.
Ralph, Millicent: [they laugh obnoxiously]
Ebenezer Blackadder: Shut up!
Millicent: Oh, Mr. Blackadder! What's happened? You've changed from the nicest man in England into the... the horridest man in the world!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Black Adder the Third" (1987)

hilarious!

A fantastic idea, this one. Take the old chestnut 'A Christmas Carol', give it a shake-up, and turn it on its head.

Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson in fine form as ever) is a good guy, who gives away anything to anyone, and is truly chock-full of the Christmas spirit. Time for the Spirit of Christmas (a rip-roaring turn from Robbie Coltrane) to work his magic, invoke the spirits of Ebenezer's ancestors and descendants, and inform him of the errors of his ways.

We're reminded of Blackadder's former incarnations, in Tudor and Regency times, and of the cunning plans and twists of the long-gone relatives. We meet again with the likes of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), Nursie (Patsy Byrne), and Prince George (Hugh Laurie). And of course the Cratchit character - Baldrick, who else! - suffers more and more as the story unfolds.

A scary turn from Miriam Margoyles and Jim Broadbent (Victoria and Albert), and a mind-boggling look into the distant future completes the transformation.

Not shown often enough, this is a real plum-pudding of a piece.