Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)

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:

At the dinner party at the beginning, a portrait of Captain Blackadder from "Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989) is positioned on the wall behind the present Blackadder.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Blackadder runs into Shakespeare after his visit with Elizabeth I, he picks up a copy of "Macbeth". "Macbeth" was written during the time of James I.

Quotes:

Blackadder: May I present to you, the greatest breakthrough in travel since Sir Rodney Tricycle thought to himself, "I'm bored of walking. I think I'll invent something with three wheels and a bell, and name it after myself": the time machine.

Movie Connections:

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

Great reunion, for actors and fans.

Blackadder Back and Forth was, or seems to be, meant as a collector's film for fans of Blackadder, and also as a fun reunion for the actors at the millennium. That is, it started out with the same motif as the other Blackadder series: just to have fun and be funny. Though Back and Forth is only funny as an addition to the other Blackadder's, not by itself. All the other series' could be funny on their own. This movie isn't a disappointment if you realize that it's just a wrap up put together for fun at the turn of the millenium, it wasn't meant to be like the other Blackadders, and it certainly isn't. It's a mere following of some of the characters throughout time, which is funny in itself, especially the part with the Romans and the short skirts.

The only real disappoint I had was the loss of Percy Percy. Even in the "Making of a Blackadder" they seemed to avoid talking about Percy Percy deliberately. I think it's great to see Tim McInnerny as more than one role in the series: Darling and Percy (and Smedly), because he's such a terrific and underrated actor, but I loved him the most as Percy and I miss that character. I know he doesn't want to be pigeon-holed as just one character, and he shouldn't be, but it would have been great to see both Percy and Darling in one film.