Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Paul Weiland

Writers:

Richard Curtis (television series "The Black Adder", "Blackadder II", "Blackadder the Third" and "Blackadder Goes Forth") &
Rowan Atkinson (television series "The Black Adder") ...

Genre:

Short | Comedy | History | Sci-Fi

Plot:

At a New Millennium Eve party Blackadder and Baldrick test their new time machine and ping pong through history encountering famous characters and changing events rather alarmingly....

Plot Keywords:

Time Machine | Friend | Millennium | Con | Cunning Plan

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Lord Edmund Blackadder / King Edmund III / Blackaddercus
Tony Robinson	...	Sod-Off Baldrick / Baldrickus
Miranda Richardson	...	Lady Elizabeth / Queen Elizabeth
Tim McInnerny	...	Archdeacon Darling / Duc de Darling / Duke of Darling
Hugh Laurie	...	Viscount George Bufton-Tufton / Georgius
Stephen Fry	...	Bishop Flavius Melchett / Melchett / General Melchecus / Wellington
Rik Mayall	...	Robin Hood
Colin Firth	...	William Shakespeare
Kate Moss	...	Maid Marian / Queen Marian
Patsy Byrne	...	Nursie
Simon Russell Beale	...	Napoleon
Jennie Bond	...	Royal Reporter
Crispin Harris	...	Friar Tuck
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amanda Jane Manning	...	Lady in waiting
Tyronnosaurus Rex	...	Dinosaur

Also Known As:

Time for Blackadder (UK) (working title)
Untitled Blackadder Millennium Project (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

33 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS 70 mm

Certification:

Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

New Millennium Experience Company

Trivia:

Regarding Blackadder's cunning plan to become king, Baldrick asks if it is as 'cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University, but has moved on and is now working for the UN at the high commission of International Cunning planning?'. This is building on a line delivered by a previous Blackadder to his Baldrick in _"Blackadder Goes Forth" Goodbyeee (1989)_, involving a plan 'as cunning as fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford university'

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Blackadder exits the time machine in the Elizabethan era, the lights in the basement are electric wall lights and couldn't have featured in an Elizabethan building.

Quotes:

Blackadder: [trying to be friendlier towards Shakespeare at their second encounter] I'm a very big fan Bill.
William Shakespeare: Thank you.
Blackadder: Keep up the good work. King Lear... very funny.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga (2008) (TV)

a delightful old favorite gets a makeover

Old BBC shows are lovely, so low-budget and witty and strange.

To a lover of literature and history like myself, Blackadder stands as possibly the funniest sitcom of all time. Like Doctor Who, it was cheap, but I didn't give a fig...it was simply ten times cleverer than anything on American television, and I loved it. At first, I was dubious about this millennium special - I didn't think that Blackadder really needed a big-budget makeover, special effects, etc. But in the end, "Back and Forth" served its purpose for me. I laughed. Lots. Maybe I would've liked a little more wit and a few less sight gags, but so what? It's been ten years since the original Blackadder went off the air, and it's unreasonable to expect that a new special will emulate the old show exactly. And in addition to the new material, there's plenty of nostalgic jokes on hand (e.g. "I have a cunning plan"...why do people complain that this was recycled here? Can you image Blackadder WITHOUT this line?).

Like the recent big-budget Doctor Who and Asterix films, this was criticized by fans who were disappointed that it wasn't 4 stars all the way...but a general audience can forgive the odd flaw and accept this for what it is, a delightful reunion of great British comics for one last episode of a great show.