Chains (20 Feb. 1986)

Blackadder and Melchett are kidnapped by a neurotic German spy just after the Queen announces she is sick of paying ransom to kidnappers.

Director:

Mandie Fletcher

Writers:

Richard Curtis (by), Ben Elton (by)

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder
Tim McInnerny	...	Lord Percy
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Stephen Fry	...	Lord Melchett
Patsy Byrne	...	Nursie
Hugh Laurie	...	Prince Ludwig
Max Harvey	...	Torturer
Mark Arden	...	1st Guard
Lee Cornes	...	2nd Guard

Storyline

Following a spate of kidnappings, Queen Elizabeth declares that she will no longer pay the perpetrators their ransom demands. Almost immediately, Edmund Blackadder and Lord Melchett are kidnapped by the demented German spy Ludwig, who may have more on his mind than just money. Knowing that the Queen will not pay for their release, Blackadder and Melchett must outwit their half-wit captors in order to escape.

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Plot Keywords:

german | ransom | escape | kidnapping | hit on the head | 

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Genres:

Comedy | History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1986 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many viewers have speculated and found it strange that, though Prince Ludwig is German, his torturer seems to be Spanish.

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Goofs

In his pantomimed conversation with the torturer in Prince Ludwig's dungeon, Blackadder interprets one of the torturer's gestures as meaning that he (Edmund) is "head over heels" in love with Satan. In fact, at that point the torturer had his heels over his head instead of the other way around.

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Quotes

Queen Elizabeth I: Lord Percy...
Lord Percy Percy: Yes?
Queen Elizabeth I: It's up to you. Either you can shut up, or you can have your head cut off.
Lord Percy Percy: [thinks for a few seconds] I'll shut up.

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Connections

References Goldfinger (1964)

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Soundtracks

"Funeral for a Friend"
Written and performed by Elton John
The opening plays over the scene after the credits as the camera pans over the murdered bodies of the characters.

User Reviews

Weak...

While any Blackadder episode is better than no episode at all, I really disliked this final installment of the second series. While I noticed that the other review was quite glowing, I had a much, much different reaction. For the most part, the episode was undone by a rather dull plot and horrible overacting (even for this series) by Hugh Laurie.

The show begins with learning that there has been a series of kidnappings. As for Edmund, he is completely unsympathetic about this and recommends to the Queen that she not bother paying the ransom, as anyone stupid enough to be captured deserved to die. Naturally, only minutes later, he and Melchett are both victims of this bizarre gang. Bizarre because the men doing the kidnapping speak Spanish and their boss is a German (Laurie) with an outrageous accent. Every second he's on camera, he mugs horribly his accent is about what you'd expect from a middle school student who is trying to make his classmates laugh--without much success. I frankly found the character completely incomprehensible--one of the worst characters from any Adder series. As for the end, it comes COMPLETELY from left field and actually makes no sense at all--like is was tacked on as an afterthought. The only pluses I can find in the show is the costume worn by Nursie and Blackadder's great one-liners. A sad disappointment to a great series.