Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4713 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 719 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Follow the progress of Rowan Atkinson's irredeemably wicked Edmund Blackadder throughout history in this complete box set of all four series--from the snivelling War of the Roses-era creep in the Shakespearean parody that was the first series, to his final and unexpectedly noble demise in the trenches of the First World War in Blackadder Goes Forth. In between, of course, we see Edmund at the court of giggly Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder II, now transformed into the Machiavellian cad audiences came to love so well (thanks to a character overhaul from writing team Ben Elton and Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson’s note-perfect performance). Then in Blackadder III he's still scheming, but this time has moved a little down the social ladder as butler to the congenitally stupid Prince Regent on the cusp of the 18th and 19th centuries. In all four generations Blackadder is accompanied (or should that be hampered?) by his faithful yet terminally stupid servant Baldrick (Tony Robinson); and if that wasn't bad enough he also has to put up with the incompetence, pomposity and one-upmanship of a host of other contemporary hangers-on wonderfully played by regular costars Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnery, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson and Rik Mayall. Taken as a whole this sharp, cynical, occasionally satirical, toilet humour-obsessed and achingly funny saga deserves to stand alongside Fawlty Towers as one of the best ever British sitcoms. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
All the Blackadder episodes from all four series:

• Series 1 - Blackadder
  
• Series 2 - Blackadder II
  
• Series 3 - Blackadder the Third
  
• Series 4 - Blackadder Goes Forth

Special Features

• Graphical menu
  
• Scene selection

DVD Technical Information:

• Region Code: 2, 4
  
• Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired
  
• Total running time: 719 mins

Customer Reviews

Worst. DVD. Transfer. Ever
One of the worst DVD transfers I've ever seen. This is completely unwatchable if you have an LCD TV due to all the artifacts, ghosting, and other bad effects you get from really badly compressed video.

I really don't know how the other reviewers here could give it a high score, maybe they were just rating the show itself.

A huge shame as blackadder is one of the funniest shows ever made, but don't waste your money on this. You get better quality watching it on UKTV Gold.

One of the best....ever!
In terms of razorsharp verbal wit with a nice portion of pure slapstick, this is one of the best sitcoms around. Series One (Middle-ages is the most forgettable; the writers and Atkininson clearly hadn't found their ideal "Adder" yet (Baldrick was even smarter than him), but the fun begins with series two (Elisabethan times)when the cast got stronger and the setting was more structured.
Series three was the best i.m.o., with references to dashing Higwaymen, dr. Johnson dictionary and the French revolution).
Series four was the most poignant; finding the humour in the Great War. It works, though and Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry play great (but not too bright) characters.

BLOOD!!
I remembered Blackadder series 2-4 from television, but am too young to have seen the first series first time round. So I was intrigued when I received the box set as a gift.

I must say that the surprise was a pleasant one. Series one was excellent - Brian Blessed is one of my all-time favourites, and is marvellously over-the-top as King Richard IV - the forgotten king. The tone is rather different from the other three series, especially with Baldrick being more cunning.

The other series all lived up to my memories (particularly the pathos-laden final series).

All in all, a wonderful bunch of comedies. The only minor gripe for me was that the Blackadder Christmas Carol could have been included as an extra, as buying a separate DVD for a 45-minute special is a bit extravagant.