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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Sausage!

---

Genres:

Comedy | History

---

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

Tim McInnerny decided to discontinue the role of Lord Percy for fear of being typecast as an idiot; however he appeared in a guest role in the third episode.

---

Quotes

Baldrick: [Blackadder slams the door] Something wrong, Mr. B?
Blackadder: Oh, something's *always* wrong, Balders... the fact that I'm not a millionaire aristocrat, with the sexual capacity of a rutting rhino, is a constant niggle.

---

Crazy Credits

The episode titles are spoofs of Jane Austen's novel 'Sense and Sensibility'. The covers of the books, painted by Warwickshire artist Stan Kaminski, are meant to spoof the covers of popular bodice-ripper novels, with scantily clad women being grabbed by the hero of the story.

---

Connections

Followed by Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988)

User Reviews

from an American fan

I own the DVD box set of all of the Blackadder series and this one and "Goes Forth" are my favorites, but I love them all. This series skips through history with tongue firmly planted in cheek and is just superb. I call it "smart yet silly" comedy. The British are, or were, pros at this. Seeing some more recent "Britcoms", as some of us Yanks call them, I lament that they are taking too much from our lame American sitcoms. The brilliance of the recent "Coupling" gives me hope for the future.

I really enjoy Rowan Atkinson and the cast of Blackadder. They are all fabulous, but Steven Fry just cracks me up as the Field Marshall in the Fourth Series.

To get back to the Third series I really enjoy the guest appearances of Tim McInnerny as Lord Topper/Le Comte de Frou Frou, Chris Barrie (of Red Dwarf and Brittas Empire fame) as the French Revolutionary Guard, and who can forget the role of Dr. Johnson played by the illustrious Robbie Coltrane (who later played Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter series of movies).

If you like "smart" comedy then check out Blackadder!!