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13 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
As good as the rest, 14 November 1999
Author: rlough9272 from Sunderland, ENGLAND

This instalment of Blackadder is not a regular episode. It is a fifteen minute special written for the 1988 Comic Relief telethon here in the UK. However, despite its short running time it manages to cram in all of the usual Blackadder humour. Blackadder - The Cavalier Years is just as funny as the other episodes.

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8 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
very very very very funny, 30 October 2002
Author: Mmyers2003 from England, UK

just like the series but set just after the era of BA2. rlough has said it all really but i can safely say you should check this episode out if you ever can. Rowan Atkinson never fails in his role as blackadder and could never be replaced and neither can Tony Robinson as Baldrick

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A lesson in "Civility"..., 5 December 2007
8/10
Author: Guardia from Brisbane, Australia.

Yet another great take on the "Blackadder" character in this short installment set in the "Cavalier Years" - the English Civil War (1642 - 1651). Rowan Atkinson slips straight back into his role beautifully for this special episode (filmed in between series 2 and 3 from what I understand). Hugh Laurie and Tim McInnery are absent in this, but the cast make excellent use of their limited time and resources to create a fifteen-minute episode that rivals any of the other series'.

As with all Blackadders, the background setting is remarkably complimentary to the comedy, and we are treated to seeing Stephen Fry act as King Charles II, as well as Baldrick, well, acting as moronic as ever. Blackadder's scheming and plotting is there, as well as the classic Blackadder-style twists. It's production values aren't as polished as the other installments, but this short episode in English history and English comedy is well worth tracking down.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Fifteen Minutes of Hilarity *Possible Spoilers*, 25 May 2004
10/10
Author: cobra-8 from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This short had me doubled-up with laughter, even more so than some of the episodes in the Blackadder series. If they are to be given ranks, Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is the King of Comedy, and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) is the equally funny Dung-Shoveller of Comedy.

Stephen Fry does a very good impersonation of Prince Charles in his role as King Charles.

There are some very good lines ("[Cromwell]'s got so many warts on his face it's only when he sneezes that you find out which one is his nose." - Blackadder). As always, of course.

Great fun!

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Too, too short..., 5 June 2010
7/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

I felt rather wistful watching this 16 minute segment from Comic Relief. That's because a Blackadder series set during the English Civil War might have been terrific--too bad it was only a small segment and not an entire series! The show is set in the final days of the Civil War. At this point King Charles is virtually alone--with only Blackadder and Baldrick! In other words, he's totally screwed! Eventually, the King is captured and the next order of business is to find someone awful enough to be willing to execute the man. Take a wild guess which scoundrel they manage to find who is willing to do this infamous deed! Overall, not bad at all--just too short, too short, too short.

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Hilarious special, 15 August 2009
8/10
Author: Grann-Bach (Grann-Bach@jubii.dk) from Denmark

This is located on at least one set of the full series, seasons 1-4, though not all, so be sure to notice if or when you purchase it. Fifteen minutes of pure Blackadder. What better way to spend a quarter of an hour? This has Edmund as a Lord during the time of Cromwell and the revolution. He has to defend King Charles I(Stephen Fry, in a deliciously accurate parody of Prince Charles of Wales) from Oliver and the Roundheads. Baldrick returns, Percy does not. The minimalistic cast of this is works perfectly for this short. This has some of the best writing of this franchise. This is very close to being even funnier than Blackadder II, but it's prevented by just one too many uninspired gags and jokes and some pacing problems. It has quite a bit of the most clever material and laugh-out-loud as well as burst-out-laughing moments and scenes of these. I doubt more than half a minute passed without me laughing through watching this. A must-see for any fan of Blackadder. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys British humor, Rowan Atkinson's work and/or the titular character. 8/10

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, 6 July 2007
7/10
Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I first saw a small clip of this on a countdown looking back at the best past moments of Comic Relief in 2007, and then I finally saw it in the DVD of Blackadder: Back & Forth. This 15 minute Comic Relief special, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis (creator of the charity) first has a short narration from Harry Enfield, then it sees Sir Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) in 1648, the time where King Charles I (Stephen Fry) is to be beheaded, and Oliver Cromwell (Warren Clarke) is making sure it goes ahead. Baldrick (Tony Robinson), being a simple minded pig farmer and bearded lady's son is the man who has got a job as the King's executioner. Blackadder decides to take his place to try and save the King, and get some cash when doing it. It ends quite well for Blackadder when he takes off his trait beard and gets Baldrick in the line of danger. 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. Very good!

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
fun, and exactly the right length, 24 May 2005
7/10
Author: TheNorthernMonkee from Manchester

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

SPOILERS Every few years, "Comic Relief" takes place in the United Kingdom to raise money for people in Africa. Raising millions each event, the night long fund-raiser is responsible for some of the funniest moments on British television for the last twenty years. It gathers together the greatest singers, actors, comedians and even newsreaders from across the country to spend one night entertaining the country in the hope they will pledge money to a worthy cause.

In 1988, this night gave us a chance to see a short fifteen minute sketch by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Taking the characters of Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and placing them at the end of the English Civil War, the short sketch was exactly what you'd expect from it's creators. It was funny, entertaining, and most importantly it lasted just long enough to get all the jokes from the specific time period into it.

King Charles I (Stephen Fry) and his Cavaliers have lost the Civil War. Locked in the Tower of London by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell (Warren Clarke), the King's fate lies in the hands of his two remaining supporters, the noble Sir Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) and a smell being who's name is not important (Tony Robinson).

Shown a year after "Blackadder the Third", this short sketch has all the humour expected from Elton and Curtis. With one liners of humour and wit, the story is led by two funny performances by Atkinson and Robinson. Both have played their characters in different settings for a few years now and as a result their performances have evolved too.

The best thing about this short clip however is that it remains at only fifteen minutes long. Whilst we all always like to see new "Blackadder" episodes, parts of this story just would not last any longer.

Stephen Fry as the King for example is brilliant in his spoof of the modern day Prince Charles, but only because he has limited screen time. The character does grate slightly and whilst this is no doubt intentional, the idea of anything featuring him lasting longer than this would probably agitate a lot of people.

Warren Clarke is another example of this being the right amount of screen time. As Detective Inspector Andy Dalziel in television series "Dalziel and Pascoe" (1996 - present) Clarke is superb and never ceases to entertain. As Oliver Cromwell though, you know he is doing it for a laugh, and he is actually quite good for the time he's on screen, but the idea of him playing the role for longer than fifteen minutes is less than bearable.

It is always a delight to watch some new "Blackadder" and to do a special for Comic Relief was a great idea. The key about "The Cavalier Years" though is that the sketch remains quite short. With irritating characters and lack of real potential, the sketch is worth watching for it's actual length of time, and no longer.

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2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Good, but not as great as the Blackadder series., 9 December 2006
8/10
Author: general-melchett from United Kingdom

The Cavalier Years is a Blackadder special made for Comic Relief - and to be honest, it is pretty good. Though it is rather dated and it always tries to stay off the violence (to be honest, Blackadder should display more violence in its historical settings and rather violent eras it depicts (WWI, Medieval era, Revolution)). This episode once again delivers some hilarious liners, and Blackadder is still the cruel, calculating character everybody knows him as, but there isn't much interaction between him and Stephen Fry - Mr. Fry did not depict a king sentenced to death too well. But this is just as classic as all other Blackadders - the abundance of cunning plans, hilarious moments and historically-accurate humour ensure that The Cavalier Years is not one to be overlooked as just "another spin off".

Blackadder: The Cavalier Years may be short, but it is what you would call "a quick blast". Very good, but could have been a bit better. 8/10

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
"Absolutely Fascinating" - King Charles, 1 March 2004
10/10
Author: OldManFromScene24 from Dale, Norway

as good as the rest. Very very funny as always.Should have been longer only because I can't get enough of Blackadder. I've seen the whole series between 7-12 times, I even got the pilot episode, where Baldrick is played by someone else.

two favorite quotes from the episode: "Baldrick, your brain is like the four-headed man-eating haddock fishbeast of Aberdeen! It dosen't exist."

"The earl he had a thousand florins. Hey, nonny no. Gave it all away to the man with the axe. Oh!"

"Percy, it's green." (one of many favorite quotes)

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