Blackadder Goes Forth 

Stuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry

Top Rated TV #57 | 3 wins.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Captain Edmund Blackadder 6 episodes, 1989
Tony Robinson	...	Private S Baldrick 6 episodes, 1989
Stephen Fry	...	General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett 6 episodes, 1989
Hugh Laurie	...	Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh 6 episodes, 1989
Tim McInnerny	...	Captain Kevin Darling 6 episodes, 1989

Storyline

It is 1917, and lunatic General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett is leading the British troops at the front lines against the Germans, while everyone waits for Field Marshall Haig's big push. There are various emotions throughout the camp about it. For Captain Kevin Darling, Melchett's bull-dog-like right-hand man, it makes no difference, as it appears he will be safe and sound with the general when the big push occurs. For Lieutenant George Colhurst Saint Barleigh, he is overly excited at thrashing the Germans. For Private S. (probably for Sod-Off) Baldrick, it's a terrifying experience he is not looking forward to. For Captain Edmund Blackadder, however, it's something he's too cowardly too face. Self-centered, arrogant, and sarcastic, Blackadder is always constantly searching for a way out of this silly war, and will try various, often crazy, variations on escape, all of which will take a turn he never expected. Sharing a dugout with George and Baldrick, his main obstacle for ...

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Plot Keywords:

world war one | 20th century | british comedy | 1910s | british soldier | 

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1989 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blackadder

Filming Locations:

Colchester Garrison, Colchester, Essex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The decision to set Blackadder in the trenches of World War One did not come from Ben Elton, Richard Curtis or any of the cast or producers. The BBC received an unsolicited script for a new Blackadder series set in a France during WWI, from a young first-time writer. Elton and Curtis felt that the script itself was not good enough, but liked the WWI setting, and subsequently wrote Blackadder Goes Forth using this idea.

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Goofs

Captain Darling is supposed to have the same rank as Blackadder, but wears a uniform with red lapels and a red band on his cap, which would make him at least a major.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Private Baldrick: I have a cunning plan.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, Captains Blackadder and George lead a battalion in parade past General Melchett and Captain Darling (with Private Baldrick in the marching band playing a triangle). The closing credits are a grainy 1920s newsreel of the same battalion heading into battle, with Melchett and Darling walking casually but quickly in the other direction...

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Connections

Featured in The 100 Greatest TV Moments (1999)

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Soundtracks

British Grenadier
(uncredited)
Traditional
(incorporated in the theme)

User Reviews

WWI comedy series with great lines

While I can think of plenty of WWII comedies, comedies about WWI are few and far between. Okay, there is Chaplin's Shoulder Arms, but then I fail to think of anything - apart from these glorious 6 half-hour long pieces of British Comedy. There are reasons for this scarcity, most notably that hardly anything happened during the war, except that millions of soldiers died in their muddy trenches. Not much room for a comedy writer to get his teeth into, is there?

Well, watch this and you'd be surprised how much one can squeeze out of that setting. The main angle is the absurdity of it all, which our hero, Edmund Blackadder, is fully aware of. Alas, he's the only one and so his cynicisms and sarcasms remain undetected by the other characters. The highlights of the series are thus Blackadder's one-liners (well, often a bit longer than one line).

If you have grown up watching TV comedy US style only then you may find the conclusion of the series rather disturbing.