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") ...
(more)

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:

Friend | Time Machine | Millennium | Cunning Plan | Gullible

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
Sacha Bennett	...	Will Scarlett (uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Weiland

Writing credits
Richard Curtis		television series "The Black Adder", "Blackadder II", "Blackadder the Third" and "Blackadder Goes Forth" &
Rowan Atkinson		television series "The Black Adder" &
Ben Elton		television series "Blackadder II", "Blackadder the Third" and "Blackadder Goes Forth"
Richard Curtis		(writer) &
Ben Elton		(writer)

Produced by
Peter Bennett-Jones	....	executive producer
Sophie Clarke-Jervoise	....	producer
Marigo Kehoe	....	line producer
Geoffrey Perkins	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Howard Goodall

Cinematography by
Tony Pierce-Roberts

Film Editing by
Guy Bensley

Production Design by
Andrew Howe-Davies

Art Direction by
Nic Pallace

Costume Design by
Hazel Pethig

Makeup Department
Jan Sewell	....	makeup designer

Art Department
Kevin Day	....	stand-by prop
Peter Hallam	....	property master

Sound Department
Philip Meehan	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
Colin Shulver	....	art finisher
Colin Shulver	....	creature sculptor

Visual Effects by
Sean Danischevsky	....	digital compositor: Magic Camera Company
Max Dennison	....	digital matte artist
Sarah Lockwood	....	digital compositor
Daniel Pettipher	....	digital supervisor
Andy Stevens	....	visual effects camera assistant: Millfilm

Stunts
Marc Cass	....	stunts (as Mark Cass)
Joss Gower	....	stunt double: Rowan Atkinson
Steve Griffin	....	stunts
Richard Hammatt	....	stunt coordinator
Paul Heasman	....	stunt coordinator
Tony Lucken	....	stunts
Lee Sheward	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sam Goldie	....	camera trainee
Rawdon Hayne	....	assistant camera
Andrew Shields	....	video playback operator
Philip Sindall	....	camera operator

Other crew
Adam Browne	....	location manager
Sue Calverley	....	production coordinator
Gavin Charlton	....	sous chef
Peppy Dickinson	....	stand-in
Simon Giles	....	title designer: closing title sequence
Paul Jackson	....	health and safety
Charles Jiminez	....	stand-in
Paul Kirkby	....	stand-in
Nathaniel McCullagh	....	floor runner
Paul Mortimer	....	unit paramedic

Production Companies

• New Millennium Experience Company
• Tiger Aspect Productions

Distributors

• BBC Enterprises
• British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
• Sky TV
• VCI Distribution

Other Companies

• Shepperton Studios  movie studio
• Mobile Mouthful  catering
• One8Six  video playback equipment
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services

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: [Blackadder is drowning Baldrick] Hows it going?
Baldrick: [having flashback] I'm 18 years old! I've just left nursery school!
Blackadder: Okie Dokie.
[dunks his head back underwater]
Baldrick: I'm 25! I'm back at nursery school!
Blackadder: [groans]
Baldrick: Got it!
Blackadder: Very good.
Baldrick: I wish... I wish I'd flushed the loo first.
Blackadder: [peers into bowl] Oh yes.

Movie Connections:

References "Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989)

OK – but a shadow of the series in terms of humour

Blackadder and his faithful servant Baldrick build a fake time machine from original plans in order to fool their friends into thinking that they went back in time and collected artifacts, thus winning a big bet. However they travel back in time and accidentally change history – wiping out the very characters they claimed to have met.

This special was made for show in the millennium dome, however it was also shown on BBC recently. This is no way classic Blackadder – the story is a mix of Blackadder trademark sarcasm and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The time traveling element is amusing and is also an excuse for some very funny scenes (Robin Hood, Jurassic Park moment) but other bits don't work as well (the current-time dinner party is weak given the cast, and the Blackadder II bit isn't very funny and just shows how good the series was). The dialogue lacks the sharp, cruel sarcasm that the other 4 series had – it tries to do it but it isn't as fresh as it once was…I guess that's the real effect of time!

Atkinson is good as Blackadder – but he never seems comfortable with this incarnation as he did with previous ones…perhaps because it is an one-off creation. Robinson is good as Baldrick because his character never changes. Of the rest of the talented cast only Rik Mayall is really funny – the rest (Fry, Laurie, Richardson etc) are all weak and never as good as they were in their roles in the 4 series. However nice cameos from Colin Firth and Kate Moss make it interesting.

Overall it's worth a watch – but don't expect to be anywhere near the height of the original 4 Blackadder series.