Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104 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

Simply excellent.
I'll keep this short- this is a boxset of every Blackadder episode ever released, including the specials, entirely (to my knowledge) unedited and uncut. What Blackadder fan could ask for more?

I've read some reviews criticising the sound and picture quality of the DVDs. Sure, it's hardly High Definition, and even through 1080p upscaling the picture isn't great... but neither was the picture of the original broadcasts. Personally, I don't find it a big problem.

The box has some nice artwork with classic Blackadder quotes, the DVDs are arranged in order by series and personally I would say the packaging is generally flawless.

You may be expecting bonus material for the price you are paying- don't get your hopes up. Apart from some hastily added "making-of" scenes on the final disc, bonus material is unheard of. It's a shame- most of the actors are still alive and in their right mind today- some audio commentaries wouldn't have gone amiss.

That said, I couldn't ask for a better boxset. If you are any self-respecting Blackadder fan, you will need this gem.


EDIT: On another note, it is really very interesting to watch how the series has progressed over time. Series One doesn't have Mr Blackadder- it has Mr Bean. Watching Rowan Atkinson slowly change into the cynical, sarcastic, sour-faced witty individual he forms into in the last series, is worth the £37.99 alone! Series One, although not a quarter as funny as Series Two and onwards, is intriguing to watch, as Blackadder is still finding his feet!

You don't just have a comedy golden nugget in this box, but a piece of British history too!

The best of all comedies
When I think of my favourite comedies of all time Blackadder, alongside Red Dwarf come top.

What makes Blackadder one of the great is its variety of different comedy which is mixed well. Perhaps most famous for its sarcastic wit, of which is does like no other show, it also uses other humour to good extend and thus has something for everyone.

All the characters are well written and acted meticulously. Each actor brings his or her own special quality to the show, yet it can never be said any upstage the other, they compliment each other.

This will have you laughing long and hard and something you will want to go back to time after time.

A must for anybodies collection.

Get the best of all comedies for a great price.

Wonderful stuff
This is one of the finest TV shows ever, with lines as funny as watching Celine Dion being tarred and feathered by music lovers and acted better than Olivier. Buy this.