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"Black Adder the Third" More at IMDbPro »

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41 reviews in total

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23 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Absolutely Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!, 1 June 2004
Author: Bucs1960 from West Virginia

Someone said that they thought the British humour of "Blackadder" might not be appreciated in the United States......WRONG!!!!! One would have to have the brain cell(s) of the Prince Regent not to enjoy this series. It is brilliant......sarcastic, cutting, witty, beautifully written, beautifully acted and generally outstanding. Rowan Atkinson is not the Mr. Bean we are used to......as Edmund Blackadder, he hits his comedy stride as the conniving butler to the Prince Regent. We miss the Percy character in the third series but Hugh Laurie, as Prince George more than makes up for his absence. Baldrick is still with us and still has "cunning plans" but his IQ has taken a definite drop in score.

If you want to laugh until you weep, then catch BA3 on BBCAmerica or better yet, go out and buy the tapes and the book "Blackadder, the Whole Damn Dynasty". It will keep you amused for years to come as this type of humour does not date. Rowan Atkinson, we salute you!!!!

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22 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Intelligent sarcastic humour – the best of British!, 29 March 2002
Author: bob the moo

In England 1790-1815 we follow the continued annals of the Blackadder family. Edmund Blackadder is now butler to Prince George – a man who is as `thick as a whale omelette'. Over 6 episodes his lot goes from the dizzying heights of ruin to disaster to opportunity with little or no help from his dogsbody the `mouse brained' Baldrick.

The third in the Blackadder series is not the best (although it's a very close). The scripts are very sharp and typically British. Every word is hilarious and Blackadder is given plenty of juicy lines to throw at his below-average-intelligence master. The plots are ludicrous but inventive – Baldrick accidentally elevated to the house of lords, Blackadder saving the Scarlet Pimpernel, the destruction of the world's first dictionary etc, but they're all carried off with style and great humour.

Rowan Atkinson is hilarious – Blackadder is one of his finest hours and he fits the character perfectly. Tony Robinson is cursed forever to be remembered for Baldrick (no matter how many Time Teams he does) and he is brilliant in a thankless role. Hugh Laurie is superb as the stupid Prince and brings inbred stupidity to life! But each episode is also underpinned by a wealth of talent including Helen Atkinson Wood, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Moore, Chris Barrie, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry etc. The casting is great.

Overall Blackadder is one of the finest British comedy series for decades – it deserves to be up there with Monty Python and the like. Anyone who loves to laugh at intelligent sarcastic humour will love this. One of the best comedy series I've ever seen.

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15 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
The opposite of Baldrick's trousers!, 14 October 2006

Author: scifi_luv from LA

Holy crap this is so hysterical! Why aren't American comedies written like this? For anybody who thinks comedy has to be dumb-- there is more wit and intelligence in the six episodes of this series than in a shelf of novels! Hugh Laurie is a complete hoot. I couldn't believe it was the same guy as House! There are so many great lines and gags in this series you could watch each show dozens of times and still pick up on new things each time. Rowan Atkinson is hilarious as the verbose and put upon butler Edmund. This is my favorite of all the Blackadder series. And Tony Robinson is wonderful as ever as the somewhat obtuse heart of the series, "the oppressed mass" Baldrick. Some of my favorite lines: "When someone messes with a Wellington he really puts his foot in it" and Baldrick explaining how he got his name and cousin Macadder "the top kipper salesman" and homicidal swordsman from Scotland.

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
from an American fan, 16 February 2005
Author: The Worlok from New Jersey, USA

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!!

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Macbeth!, 28 August 2002
Author: book addict from farnham, england

I love this series. No, scratch that, I ADORE this series! Rowan Atkinson is fantastic as Blackadder (Macbeth!), Tony Robinson is perfect as Baldrick (I'd buy a little turnip of my own), and Hugh Laurie is wonderful as the Prince Regent (Why is it, that however many socks I buy, I never seem to have enough)! It was a shame that Tim McInnery and Stephen Fry could only be in it for one episode - but hey, they made the most of that one episode! Dr. Johnson is a brilliant character (EVERY word), like Pitt the Younger (What kind of jelly?) and those actors! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A forgotten yet great series!, 22 November 2006

Author: general-melchett from United Kingdom

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

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Too Good for Television!, 29 October 2006

Author: (sylviastel@aol.com) from United States

We could still use Black Adder even today. Imagine Rowan Atkinson resuming the role of assistant to the prime minister played by the wonderful Hugh Laurie. Hugh is sensational as the dimwit Prince George and Edmund as his brilliant assistant. I love the episode which Kenneth Connor guest stars as a British thespian. Every time, Edmund says Macbeth. The two thespians do a silly little act to ward off evil spirits. It's the funniest things that you will see. Of course, none of this brilliance and comedic genius could be without Ben Elton and Richard Curtis who are also behind the films like Love Actually, The Thin Blue Line, Four Weddings and A Funeral. Black Adder is funny and almost too good for television. Humor can be smart, sexy, and funny all at one. I was hoping last night on Saturday Night Live that Hugh Laurie would pay homage to his background in British humor. If the gang at SNL did some research, they would know what a treasure it was to have Hugh Laurie grace their stage.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Absolute Class, 9 July 2005

Author: VictorianCushionCat from United Kingdom

The 3rd and in my view the best of the Blackadder series.

The only downside is that there is no Lord Percy who was the funniest character from the previous series but Hugh Laurie's Prince Regent is suitably madcap laugh a line.

As a package it's quality through and through with convincing regency sets, superb cutting sarcasm and little bits of the wacky, the 'macbeth' actors standing out and Prince Georges 'lucky us' chicken impression, and the missing words from Dr Johnson's dictionary.

Few comedies have been quite as both clever as they are funny, okay the odd lame observation or line gets in but mostly it's a scream.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Edmund Blackadder, A Butler's Tale, 31 March 2006

Author: arvie88 (blackadder_humor@hotmail.com) from Netherlands

I think 'Blackadder the Third' is the best one of the series.

Actuelly all the episodes are funny, personally i really like the episode with the 'French invasion', but the one with the superstitious actors, in 'MACBETH' is also really funny, the way Rowan keeps playing on with them is really (English) Humor at the highest level.

Actors: 'Never say that again, always call it the Scottish Play; Blackadder: Oh, So you want me to say the Scottish Play? Actors: YES Blackadder: Rather than MACBETH...!

I am a big fan of Rowan and i have the majority of his work, but i think he did the series of Blackadder especially good.

I Hope Rowan is going to continue his great style, but i think we can count on him, because he is already working on a Bean 2 Movie, that will be out this year, i can't wait...

I Give this 3rd Blackadder a 9 out of 10 Rating.

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6 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Blackadder the Third, 17 May 2005

Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

After the success of the second instalment, Richard Curtis and Ben Elton decided that Blackadder should have a third appearance. This time instead of Tudor times or Elizabethan times, Edmund Blackadder (BAFTA nominated Rowan Atkinson) is living in the time of the French Revolution. Accompanied by the now stupid but lovable Baldrick (Tony Robinson) Blackadder is the "faithful" butler to George, the Prince Regent of Wales (Hugh Laurie). Throughout this third series to the wonderfully written sitcom Blackadder tries everything he can to get rich and powerful. He tries electing a lord for a rotten borough, tries to sell a book, tries to win a bet about The Scarlet Pimpernel, tries to be a highway man and finally poses as the Prince. This is a very good instalment to the popular comedy. Includes appearances from Robbie Coltrane, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson and Stephen Fry. It won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Series, and it was nominated for Best Design and Best Make Up. Rowan Atkinson was number 18 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, he was number 24 on The Comedians' Comedian, and he was number 8 on Britain's Favourite Comedian, Edmund Blackadder was number 3 on The 100 Greatest TV Characters, and he was number 3 on The World's Greatest Comedy Characters, and Blackadder (all four series) was number 2 on Britain's Best Sitcom. Outstanding!

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