Ink and Incapability (24 Sep. 1987)

Baldrick burns the only copy of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and Blackadder has only one weekend to rewrite it.

Director:

Mandie Fletcher

Writers:

Richard Curtis (by), Ben Elton (by)

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder, butler to the Prince (as Mr. Rowan Atkinson)
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick, a dogsbody (as Mr. Tony Robinson)
Hugh Laurie	...	The Prince Regent, their master (as Mr. Hugh Laurie)
Robbie Coltrane	...	Dr. Samuel Johnson, noted for his fat dictionary (as Mr. Robbie Coltrane)
Helen Atkinson-Wood	...	Mrs. Miggins, a coffee shoppekeeper (as Miss Helen Atkinson-Wood)
Lee Cornes	...	Shelley, romantic junkie poet (as Mr. Lee Cornes)
Steve Steen	...	Byron, romantic junkie poet (as Mr. Steve Steen)
Jim Sweeney	...	Coleridge, romantic junkie poet (as Mr. Jim Sweeney)

Storyline

Samuel Johnson has nearly completed his dictionary, and visits his sponsor the Prince Regent. Unfortunately, the illiterate Baldrick burns the manuscript leaving Blackadder the impossible task of recreating in one weekend what it took Johnson nearly a decade to write.

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Plot Keywords:

dictionary | quill pen | poet | burning book | novel | 

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Genres:

Comedy | History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1987 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Obvious roller-coaster anachronism, when Blackadder refers to his novel as "a giant, roller-coaster of a novel".

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Quotes

Dr. Samuel Johnson: [places two manuscripts on the table, but picks up the top one] Here it is, sir. The very cornerstone of English scholarship. This book, sir, contains every word in our beloved language.
Blackadder: Every single one, sir?
Dr. Samuel Johnson: Every single word, sir!
Blackadder: Oh, well, in that case, sir, I hope you will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafribularities.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: What?
Blackadder: "Contrafribularites", sir? It is a common word down our way.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: Damn!
[writes in the book]
Blackadder: Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm anispeptic, frasmotic, ...

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Connections

Spoofs That Hamilton Woman (1941)

User Reviews

Class Act

I've been hearing about this TeeVee series for years and finally watched an episode.

Its probably not a fair assessment because the gimmick depends on accretive jokes. But I was fairly impressed.

The reason is that the basis for the story and many of the jokes depends on a literary awareness. Its a bit of a pleasure. No, the jokes weren't any better in formation than what you usually see. But there's something deep and lasting in literate humor, even silly puns. I wonder why this is so rare, even in films.

This is superimposed on relationship situations. Most sitcoms are, but because this is intelligently British, its not based on friends and lovers, but on class. Even for this non- Brit, that element goes deeper.

If I were going to mess with TeeVee shows, this would be near the top of the list.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.