Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-03
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the best comedy series ever to emerge from England, Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of World War I. In his pre-Mr Bean triumph, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson played all five versions of Edmund, beginning with the villainous and cowardly Duke of Edinburgh, whose scheming mind and awful haircut seem to stand him in good stead to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury -- a deadly occupation if ever there was one. Among tales of royal dethronings, Black Death, witch-smellers (who root out spell-makers with their noses), and ghosts, Edmund is a perennial survivor who never quite gets ahead in multiple episodes. Jump to the Elizabethan era and Atkinson picks up the saga as Lord Edmund, who is perpetually courting favour from mad Queen Bess (Miranda Richardson) and is always walking a tightrope from which he can either gain the world or lose his head. Subjected to bizarre services for her majesty (at one point, Edmund is asked to do for potatoes what Sir Walter Raleigh did for tobacco), Edmund -- like his ancestor -- can never quite fulfill his larger ambitions. The next incarnation we encounter is in late-18th-century Regency England. This time, Blackadder is a mere butler to the idiotic Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie in a brilliantly buffoonish performance) and is caught in various misadventures with Samuel Johnson, Shakespearean actors, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and William Pitt the younger. With a brief stop in Victorian London for a Christmas special, the series concludes with several episodes set during the Great War. The new Edmund is a career army officer, but a scoundrel all the same. Shirking his duties whenever possible and taking advantage of any opportunity for undeserved reward, this final, deeply sour, and very funny Blackadder negotiates survival among a cadre of fools and dimwits. No small mention can be made of Atkinson's supporting cast, easily among the finest comic performers of their generation: besides Laurie and Richardson, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny. --Tom Keogh

DVD Description
For the first time every Blackadder episode is packaged together in a special boxset, including Blackadder's Christmas Carol, Back and Forth and The Cavalier Years. This six disc set has a running time of 763 minutes.

Customer Reviews

A very stylish boxset.
This is a 6-disc boxset of all four series of Blackadder with subtitles, two feature-length specials ("Blackadder's Christmas Carol" (with subtitles) and "Back and Forth" (without subtitles)), a 15 or so minute mini-feature having Blackadder in the time of Cromwell ("The Cavalier Years"), and a 30 minute making of documentary about Back and Forth (but does cover the series of Blackadder as well - analyzing the characters etc) "Baldrick's Video Diary". And all of this comes in a very stylish, specially designed limited edition box... 4cm thick (so very shelf-friendly) and made to look like an 'olde worlde' book.

And I just wanted to also say... for anyone who has been dreading or putting off seeing series one because of bad reviews - it's not bad it's just different. It's not got Ben Elton's style but it does still have the essence of Blackadder - the sarcasm and cynicism of Edmund, the not-so-cunning plans of Baldrick, and the total idiocy of Percy. The only real difference is that Baldrick's a bit cleverer (worth seeing it for that IMO) and Blackadder's a bit Mr Bean-ish (with a squeaky voice and goofy look), but the character hierarchy is still the same. It also has a lot of before-they-were-famous appearances, such as Angus Deayton and Jim Broadbent (DCI Roy Slater, Del Boy's arch enemy in Only Fools and Horses). It does take some getting used to but it really is just as hilarious as the others at times.

Overall, if you love Blackadder this is the set to get.

Still incredibly funny all these years on
Blackadder has stood the test of time remarkably well. This may be down to the fact that it was never set in modern times so doesn't look any more dated than it did at the time. Series One is still a little patchy in places, but charming nonetheless. Where it really kicks in is the unforgettable series 2. Episode One is still as funny now as it was then. Just hearing Rowan Atkinson say "Bob" has me reeling with laughter. All six episodes are absolutely priceless, and the supporting cast are all fantastic. Season 3 keeps up the momentum with classic performances from Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, and then there's the brilliant ending to the fourth season set in the war trenches. With the specials on here too this is a great box set. And very very funny.

A great comedy not done justice
Another review I did recently on the Only Fools collection is pretty much an echoe of the one I find myself writing now. The show itself is superb, right through from series one, set in medieval times, through to the WW1 setting in the fourth series. R.A and co are superb throughout with my faourite series being the third. Also, the finale of series four is breath taking and superbly done. The writing throughout is top draw, casting/acting superb but yet again the beeb has been sloppy when bringing a great series to DVD. Visuals and sound are no better than when it was on video. This is a major school boy and typical of how the BBC continue to churn out classic series with no real benefit in quality or content. Very disappointed that they cannot put more thought and effort into what they release and rely on the strenght of the franchise. Worth buying if you dont own as it is sheer genius.