Blackadder Goes Forth (1989– )

Stuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry

3 wins.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Captain Edmund Blackadder (6 episodes, 1989)
Tony Robinson	...	Private S Baldrick (6 episodes, 1989)
Stephen Fry	...	General Melchett (6 episodes, 1989)
Hugh Laurie	...	Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh (6 episodes, 1989)
Tim McInnerny	...	Captain Kevin Darling (6 episodes, 1989)

Storyline

It is 1917, and lunatic General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett is leading the British troops at the front lines against the Germans, while everyone waits for Field Marshall Haig's big push. There are various emotions throughout the camp about it. For Captain Kevin Darling, Melchett's bull-dog-like right-hand man, it makes no difference, as it appears he will be safe and sound with the general when the big push occurs. For Lieutenant George Colhurst Saint Barleigh, he is overly excited at thrashing the Germans. For Private S. (probably for Sod-Off) Baldrick, it's a terrifying experience he is not looking forward to. For Captain Edmund Blackadder, however, it's something he's too cowardly too face. Self-centered, arrogant, and sarcastic, Blackadder is always constantly searching for a way out of this silly war, and will try various, often crazy, variations on escape, all of which will take a turn he never expected. Sharing a dugout with George and Baldrick, his main obstacle for ...

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Plot Keywords:

officer | cult tv | world war one | trench | sexual innuendo | 

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Genres:

Comedy | History | War

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1989 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blackadder 4

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The writers researched World War I and thought it made a very apt fitting for a comedy: "All the buildup to the First World War was very funny, all the people coming from communities where they'd never bumped into posh people, and all being so gung-ho and optimistic... the first hundred pages of any book about the World War are hilarious, then of course everybody dies." Rowan Atkinson further explained that the trenches of WW1 were perfect: "We wanted a place and time that could reproduce to an extent the claustrophobia and sordidness of medieval England, the best way to do that was to set it in the middle of a war."

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Private Baldrick: I have a cunning plan.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are notably presented as static captions, instead of scrolled down as in the previous three series.

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Connections

Follows The Black Adder (1983)

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Soundtracks

"British Grenadier"
(uncredited)
Traditional
(incorporated in the theme)

User Reviews

Goodbyeee

This final Blackadder series to date (I'm not counting Back and Forth, that one off for the end of the 20th century, because it was disappointing) was set in the Great War, where Blackadder and his fellow soldiers (Baldrick and George - Tony Robinson and Hugh Laurie) had to cope with the blithering idiocy of General Melchett (the incomparable Stephen Fry) who liked nothing better than shouting and belittling his private secretary, Cpt Darling (played winningly by Tim McInnerny, who had of course been a regular fixture of Blackadder's first two series).

With an episode which involved George dragging up for a camp show, the famous final episode which sent our heroes over the top, and the episode where Blackadder made a play to leave the war to become troop artist in Paris, this series was a worthy sign-off to a long-running comedy classic.