Product Description

One of the best comedy series ever to emerge from England, Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of World War I. In his pre-Bean triumph, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson played all five versions of Edmund, beginning with the villainous and cowardly Duke of Edinburgh, whose scheming mind and awful haircut seem to stand him in good stead to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury--a deadly occupation if ever there was one. Among tales of royal dethronings, Black Death, witch smellers (who root out spell makers with their noses), and ghosts, Edmund is a perennial survivor who never quite gets ahead in multiple episodes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4058 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-01-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 860 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
One of the best comedy series ever to emerge from England, Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of World War I. In his pre-Bean triumph, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson played all five versions of Edmund, beginning with the villainous and cowardly Duke of Edinburgh, whose scheming mind and awful haircut seem to stand him in good stead to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury--a deadly occupation if ever there was one. Among tales of royal dethronings, Black Death, witch smellers (who root out spell makers with their noses), and ghosts, Edmund is a perennial survivor who never quite gets ahead in multiple episodes. Jump to the Elizabethan era and Atkinson picks up the saga as Lord Edmund, who is perpetually courting favor from mad Queen Bess (Miranda Richardson) and is always walking a tightrope from which he can either gain the world or lose his head. Subjected to bizarre services for her majesty (at one point, Edmund is asked to do for potatoes what Sir Walter Raleigh did for tobacco), Edmund--as with his ancestor--can never quite fulfill his larger ambitions. The next incarnation we encounter is in late-18th-century Regency England. This time, Blackadder is a mere butler to the idiotic Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie in a brilliantly buffoonish performance) and is caught in various misadventures with Samuel Johnson, Shakespearean actors, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and William Pitt the younger. With a brief stop in Victorian London for a Christmas special, the series concludes with several episodes set during the Great War. The new Edmund is a career Army officer, but a scoundrel all the same. Shirking his duties whenever possible and taking advantage of any opportunity for undeserved reward, this final, deeply sour, and very funny Blackadder negotiates survival among a cadre of fools and dimwits. No small mention can be made of Atkinson's supporting cast, easily among the finest comic performers of their generation: besides Laurie and Richardson, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Classic Brit Humour at its best
For anyone who knows anything about Rowan Atkinson and his cronies in comedy, Black Adder is a must have for your collection. By far, the best of the series is Hugh Laurie playing the idiotic Prince George and RA as his conniving butler. My husband loves that his favourite character in the series, Baldrick, appears in all episodes as Blackadder's hapless sidekick.

An adder can really sink its fangs into this bloody brilliant BritCom!
With the help of writers like Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, comic genius Rowan Atkinson pokes irreverent fun at the human frailties that made British history such a bloody mess. Of course, I realize that our short USA history is just as full of human frailty and bloody messes, but the British seem to have a greater sense of humor about themselves than we do, and they are certainly more open about accepting and poking fun at the role of politics and even religion in the mishaps and mayhem in their past. Witch Smellers, dishonest Archbishops, depraved loan-shark bishops etc. are as much a part of Britain's dark past as the corruption, greed and violence of royalty and politics. Again, the US has much of these qualities in our own past too, but the British (as shown in this wonderful comedy) have a greater sense of humor about it. In the first season, Brian Blessed supurbly portrays the loud, brash king in the 1400s who would gladly kill his son or even The Archbishop of Canterbury (who somehow needs to be replaced on a weekly basis because archbishops seem to have fatal "accidents") if they cross him. In the second season, the Elizabethan era queen, played wonderfully by Miranda Richardson, is a spoiled, simpleton twit with the brain and attention span of a child. In the third season, Hugh Laurie is the scatter-brained Prince Regent who literally can't dress himself without his butler's help in the 1700s. And the final season finds Blackadder in a foxhole or bunker on the front lines during WW1. The fifth disc is not really a season, but a special where a modern day Blackadder goes back and forth in history via a time machine. That is a funny and interesting special, but does not stack up against any of the 4 actual seasons of the show. Many of the characters in all 4 seasons are based on actual historic figures. Aside from Laurie, many great actors add their talents on a regular basis, such as Tim McInnerney, who is a wonderful and usually buffoon-like regular character in 3 seasons, Steven Frye, who takes on very different characters in 2 seasons, Tony Robinson is Rowan's constant sidekick, Baldrick, and is perfect in the role. There are so many others I can mention. Let me just say that this is a dark, cynical and often irreverent comedy where some of Britain's finest cemedians poke fun at their own history during different stages. They are not afraid to peal away the thin vaneer of respectability and reveal some of their ugly secrets in a way that never would have been done here in The States (even though we share many of the same dark secrets). Politics, royalty, religion, heroes and so many things are the target of this brilliant comedy. Holding up a mirror to themselves is holding a mirror up to us as well. Even if it scares you a little, it will still make you laugh. It will make you laugh A LOT!

Must have for Rowan Atkinson fans
Great series, the first 3 episodes are a little so so compared to his other works but, from episode 4 he hits stride and it is the Black Adder we love, sharp, witty and cynical.