Black Adder the Third 

In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie

Top Rated TV #105 | 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder, butler to the Prince / ... 6 episodes, 1987
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick, a dogsbody 6 episodes, 1987
Hugh Laurie	...	The Prince Regent, their master 6 episodes, 1987
Helen Atkinson Wood	...	Mrs. Miggins, a coffee shoppekeeper 6 episodes, 1987

Storyline

During the Regency period, the insane King George III's stark raving mad son, George, is the Prince Regent of Wales. Vulgar and staggeringly slow-and-dim-witted, George exhausts the country's money and would surely be dead by know were it not for his dry, angry, bitter, arrogant and cynical butler, Edmund Blackadder, Esq. Blackadder is an ex-aristocrat who has lost his family fortune and been reduced to servant-hood, and full of loathing knowing he should have a better position then serving a lunatic. Sod-Off Baldrick is his dirty, smelly peasant servant, and Mrs. Miggins is an annoying cheerful coffee-shoppe owner who is too stupid to understand most of Mr. Blackadder's insults.

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Plot Keywords:

period | british humour | georgian era | regency era | king george iv | 

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Taglines:

Sausage!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blackadder III

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though this series is notable for its historical inaccuracies, Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Prince George (later George IV) is fairly close to the mark. Prince George was made regent in the absence of his father (George III) and was immediately hated by his people. He reportedly lived only for pleasure and didn't care about the public who through taxes had to foot the bill. This also explains the otherwise incongruous references in this series to George (played by a noticeably slender actor) having a weight problem - in reality the prince regent's indulgent life style resulted in him being obese. However, he probably wasn't quite as hopelessly stupid as portrayed in the script.

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Goofs

Although purportedly set during the British Regency (1811-1820), there are appearances by, and contemporary references to, historical figures who were dead before that time, such as Samuel Johnson and Admiral Nelson. Characters use expressions not developed until later, such as "prince and the pauper" or "roller coaster."

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Quotes

Baldrick: Morning, Mr. B.
Blackadder: Leave me alone, Baldrick. If I wanted to talk to a vegetable, I would have bought one at the market.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits are presented in the style of a theatre programme from a Regency-era play. The last scene of the episode forms a poster image, and below it run the following credits: For the BENEFIT of SEVERAL VIEWERS MR CURTIS & MR ELTON'S Much admir'd Comedy BLACKADDER The THIRD or (EPISODE NAME) was performed with appropriate Scenery Dresses etc. by EDMUND BLACKADDER, butler to the Prince, Mr. ROWAN ATKINSON Baldrick, a dogsbody, Mr. TONY ROBINSON The Prince Regent, their master, Mr. HUGH LAURIE Mrs. Miggins, a coffee shoppekeeper, Miss. HELEN ATKINSON-WOOD (Cast for that particular episode) MUSIC, (never performed before), Mr. HOWARD GOODALL (List of the Crew) the director, Mifs. MANDIE FLETCHER the producer, Mr. LLOYD To conclude with Rule Britannia in full chorus NO MONEY RETURN'D (C) BBC MCMLXXXVII

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Thief and the Cobbler (2010)

User Reviews

Edmund Blackadder, A Butler's Tale

I think 'Blackadder the Third' is the best one of the series.

Actuelly all the episodes are funny, personally i really like the episode with the 'French invasion', but the one with the superstitious actors, in 'MACBETH' is also really funny, the way Rowan keeps playing on with them is really (English) Humor at the highest level.

Actors: 'Never say that again, always call it the Scottish Play; Blackadder: Oh, So you want me to say the Scottish Play? Actors: YES Blackadder: Rather than MACBETH...!

I am a big fan of Rowan and i have the majority of his work, but i think he did the series of Blackadder especially good.

I Hope Rowan is going to continue his great style, but i think we can count on him, because he is already working on a Bean 2 Movie, that will be out this year, i can't wait...

I Give this 3rd Blackadder a 9 out of 10 Rating.