Black Adder the Third (1987– )

In the 19th century Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder, butler to the Prince (6 episodes, 1987)
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick, a dogsbody (6 episodes, 1987)
Hugh Laurie	...	The Prince Regent, their master (6 episodes, 1987)
Helen Atkinson-Wood	...	Mrs. Miggins, a coffee shoppekeeper (6 episodes, 1987)

Storyline

During the Regency period, the insane King George III's stark raving mad son, George, is the Prince Regent of Wales. Vulgar and staggeringly slow-and-dim-witted, George exhausts the country's money and would surely be dead by know were it not for his dry, angry, bitter, arrogant and cynical butler, Edmund Blackadder, Esq. Blackadder is an ex-aristocrat who has lost his family fortune and been reduced to servant-hood, and full of loathing knowing he should have a better position then serving a lunatic. Sod-Off Baldrick is his dirty, smelly peasant servant, and Mrs. Miggins is an annoying cheerful coffee-shoppe owner who is too stupid to understand most of Mr. Blackadder's insults.

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Plot Keywords:

servant | 19th century | england | king | cult tv | 

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Taglines:

Sausage!

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Genres:

Comedy | History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blackadder III

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though this is fictitious, Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Prince George (later George IV) is reportedly accurate. Prince George was made regent in the absence of his father (George III) and was immediately hated by his people. He reportedly lived only for pleasure and didn't care about the public who through taxes had to foot the bill. This also explains the otherwise incongruous references in this series to George (played by the noticeably slender Hugh Laurie) having a weight problem - in reality the prince regent's indulgent life style resulted in him being obese.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, Blackadder roams amongst bookcases. He pulls out books from time to time, upon the spines of which the opening credits are written. Finally, he pulls out a book (upon which the series title is inscribed)... then with a sly wink, he reveals the book is hollow and contains a dirty romance novel.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

A forgotten yet great series!

Blackadder 3 is probably the Blackadder series that people have least heard of - it has basically the same principles as the second and fourth ones and has nothing revolutionary in it. But it is still great

• a fiery Duke of Wellington and a fat foolish Dr Johnson (writer of

the first dictionary in England) make this series one to be reckoned with. There are still more hilarious one-liners to be delivered in this series, and it brings out the humour in a lesser-known era - in historically accurate and enjoyable episodes. Blackadder's third outing is not the most famous and well-known of the lot, but Rowan Atkinson's role as a butler to a stupid prince is a funny and effectively done one, and Hugh Laurie is at his best in this series. Very good! 9/10