RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Dave I've never understood Blackadder's appeal. How can anyone who doesn't have a history degree know who the historical characters are and what they were like? Even if you did, would you laugh out loud at fun being made of a politician/royal etc. who died hundreds of years ago? How can a modern audience relate to it all? Are we supposed to spend thousands of hours finding out about what society was like then and who was who during that period?I've watched several episodes of Blackadder in order to try to get into it, but I'd need to be sitting next to a historian explaining the historical references in detail in order to understand it, let alone appreciate it.I've enjoyed other comedy by Rowan Atkinson, such as Mr Bean.

anthony-rigoni Ah, so this is how the Blackadder series got started(And it's a good start, too!). Rowan Atkinson(Best known as Mr. Bean) stars as Edmund Blackadder, a cunning yet slimy Duke of Edinburgh out to overthrow his father, Richard IV(Brian Blessed) and become King of England. He has two assistants named Baldrick(Tony Robinson) and Percy(Tim McInnerny), who maybe dumber than bricks but are loyal to their master. My favorite episodes are Born to be King and the Queen of Spain's Beard. There's also Princess Leia of Hungary, who is probably the cutest reference to the Star Wars franchise I ever seen. The plot is original, all the characters make me laugh, but the ending is kind of sad. This is part one of the Blackadder series.

winstonfg That said, it's not too bad; just not the classic mixture that gelled in the next series. As others have said: too much Bean, not enough Blackadder. If you already liked Rowan Atkinson, you'll enjoy his facial muggings; but aficionados will miss the stylish, scheming sociopath we came to know and love.My pick, for those who want to check it out, is "The Queen of Spain's Beard", with Miriam Margolyes as the Spanish Infanta. Very funny, and full of the sort of quotes we associate with the later series.Thank God the BBC had the foresight to see its potential and schedule a second series because, as we all know, the rest is history.

Karl Young The central premise of The Blackadder is that Richard III did not in fact lose the Battle of Bosworth field and that the Plantagenets continued to rule for "thirteen glorious years" before Henry Tudor became King.The first episode deals with the afore said battle and it's immediate aftermath and is presented from the point of view of Prince Edmund who is second in line for the throne and who is also looking to make that "second in line" into "first in line". In this first series Edmund is incredibly slippery, stupid and a bit of a weasel - for the viewer he's not a particularly likable character and the programme overall suffers because of this.Despite the weaknesses in the main character the show is still very good value for money. Every episode has enough jokes to keep you laughing throughout and on the whole the show holds up a lot better than most British comedies from the mid-eighties. That said though this first series of Blackadder is no where near as good as the sequels, for one it is just not as sharp or witty. Meanwhile Prince Harry and Lord Percy are no match for their successors George and Darling in terms of comedy value - the "Hello Darling" line still cracks me up every time.Also the observational humour is not quite as strong here as it is in later series of Blackadder - although this may just be down to my own lack of familiarity with this particular period of British history.Despite it's shortcomings, and although often though it is very easy to see why Michael Grade did not want to re-commission Blackadder for a second series, The Blackadder is still very much worth watching especially for 'The Archbishop' episode which is simply brilliant.