Product Description

Twenty-six years ago, Edmund Blackadder made his first appearance on our screens. Comedy has never been the same since (nor indeed has history). Gathered here – in this twenty-sixth anniversary commemorative edition – are the complete scripts of Blackadder’s adventures and, mostly, misadventures. Every word, every lie, every cunning plan and cock-up. From medieval nastiness, through Elizabethan and Regency glory, to the mud and sautéed rats of the First World War, Blackadder and his oafish underling Baldrick can be most definitely blamed for ruining England’s reputation as a country with a great history. This historical record has been set down by Mr Richard Curtis, Mr Ben Elton, Mr Rowan Atkinson and Mr John Lloyd.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26315 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
For many people under 35, their most vivid glimpses of Britain's illustrious history have been through the Blackadder chronicles which brightened television screens from 1983 to 1989. Their constantly reborn protagonist, Edmund Blackadder, flounced through a bloody Middle Ages, a campy Elizabethan court, even camper Regency revels, and the rat-infested trenches of the Great War, armed with only his repulsive servant Baldrick, and a fine line in complex insults ("you would bore the leggings off a village idiot"; "he's got a brain the size of a weasel's wedding tackle").

Now you can brush up your Blackadder with a fine collection of the complete scripts, interspersed with useful titbits on medieval torture instruments, the menu in Mrs Miggins' coffee house, and the Prince Regent's laundry list. Bereft of their familiar faces and voices, television comedy scripts often fall flat--and Blackadder without the rubber-faced consonant-spitting of its hero Rowan Atkinson is surely unthinkable. But here the Blackadder oeuvre, penned by Richard Curtis and various collaborators, stands up wonderfully.

Curtis's bizarre, surreal take on English history takes up where 1066 and All That left off, wickedly skewering venerable historical personages, and hilariously literalising the classic clichés of textbook history (marvel again at the Puritan Whiteadders sitting on spikes so they won't enjoy their dinner). Classily produced, and with royalties going to the entertainment charity fund, Comic Relief, this is one TV tie-in well worth getting. --Alan Stewart

About the Author
The Blackadder series - Blackadder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth - were written by Richard Curtis (writer/director of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and The Boat That Rocked) and Ben Elton (the bestelling author and writer of The Young Ones, The Man From Auntie and The Thin Blue Line), and starred Rowan Atkinson (star of the Mr Bean TV series and films, amongst others). The four Blackadder series, produced by John Lloyd, won numerous BAFTAs and also an EMMY.

Customer Reviews

�An Excellent Read through History � dramatised�
This is a script-based book of all the four Blackadder series', not including the newest Millennium edition. The presentation, layout, illustrations and 'the other bits' are very good, and also very funny. The book also links the four historical periods and tells us what happened to the main characters after each series ended. It has almost been turned into a historically interesting novel, with the scripts woven in. There is also a cast list and synopsis for each series/play.

The appendix's, which can be found throughout the book, includes very funny accounts of instruments of torture, medieval medicines, the Mrs Miggins' Coffee House Tariff, Duties of... Clothes bills, Passage from Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, Baldrick's family tree, Baldrick's school, Index of Blackadder's finest insult etc...

For a Blackadder fan this surly is a must. It should be in every library and in every drama club! It's a lot of fun acting and there's so many to choose from - you'll never get bored! It's a jolly good read too!

Not your typical dynasty...
The authors Richard Curtis and Ben Elton are well known to BBC audiences for their comedic masterwork, having been severally and individually part of the Vicar of Dibley, Mr. Bean, The Young Ones, The Man from Auntie. Rowan Atkinson, the lead actor in this series, also collaborated as writer and actor in other features such as Mr. Bean and the Thin Blue Line. John Lloyd was the producer who helped bring this series to life.

The Blackadder series, begun in the 1980s, was a comedic masterpiece set forth by Rowan Atkinson and his comrades. From start to finish, the first series was a masterstroke of wit, irony and comedic styling that fits both the contemporary and medieval situations perfectly. The combination of slapstick and intellectual humour blended well, and the literary types will not miss the occasional credit of William Shakespeare as a collaborating writer on some episodes -- this might well be the kind of comedy Shakespeare would have produced today.

The first series was set in the pre-Tudor royal family, projecting that Richard III won at Bosworth Field, and Richard IV succeeded him, until after many adventures, the entire royal family was done in, and Henry Tudor reworte history thereafter. The first series starred Brian Blessed and Elspet Gray as the King and Queen, and Robert East as their eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Rowan Atkinson played the second son, who with companions Percy and Baldrick (Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson) create most of the comic scenes. BlackAdder variously becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury, the betrothed of the Spanish Infanta, a witch on trial, and finally, however briefly, King of England.

The second series sees Percy and Baldrick following a descendent of Blackadder in Elizabethan times; as befits the period, the characters are more vibrant and saucy, particularly Blackadder, who still seeks his fortune as one of the Queen's suitors. Here he variously becomes the royal executioner, a sea-faring discoverer, a bankrupt noble, and finally a traitor to the crown, albeit not without a sense of humour. Miranda Richardson puts in a spectacular performance as Queen Elizabeth, with Stephen Fry and Patsy Byrne in attendance. Stephen Fry will recur throughout the series.

In the third series, Blackadder is still close to the crown, as the butler of the Prince Regent, a despised position to a despised person. Baldrick is still around, and the Prince is played by Hugh Laurie, who will recur in the final series. Done almost as a period comedy, the very titles and situations pay hommage to the day of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Dr. Johnson's dictionary, and the conflict with France. Through an interesting set of circumstances, butler and prince trade places, and the Blackadder finally becomes his intended goal, albeit in the name of someone else.

In the fourth and final series, Blackadder has fallen from a great height, and is an officer in the trenches of World War I. Baldrick is still there, and Percy and the Prince have transformed into fellow field officers, with Stephen Fry playing a bellicose general here as he did Wellington in the third series. The main device of this series is the effort by Blackadder to escape the trenches, by variously becoming an artist, a theatre producer, a chef, but to no avail finally, producing a sombre end to the dynasty.

The book is a fabulous companion piece to the series, as the BBC is known to do with television series of success. The six episodes of each of the four seasons is laid out in script-narrative form, with a generous collection of side offerings, such as the Blackadder family tree, the menu of Mrs. Miggins' pie shoppe, and other pieces of interest related to but not found in the actual series. The cast is included at the beginning of each series section. The book concludes with a partial collection of some of Blackadder's best insults.

This book was printed in aid of Comic Relief, who give a brief outline of their history of funding good causes in the last few pages.

This is a must-have for any Blackadder fan. Regretably, it does not contain the addition special features (such as the Victorian Christmas of Blackadder), but for any devotee of the series, this is a requirement.

Giving this the mental equivalent of a standing ovation!
Throughout the annals of history one dynasty--a singular lineage of crossbred loons--has been at the fore of the British revival. This family bears the name of Blackadder, and they are doomed by heriditary curse to suffer being a git for all of eternity. We all know Edmund Blackadder and his loyalist village idiot Baldrick, as they clamber through the menacingly black Dark Ages, the silly fickleness of the Elizabethan times, surviving the insanity of being Regency peasantry, and finding themselves stuck in a squalid dug-out on the last platoon against an encroaching WWI German army, with nothing to protect themselves with but some unclean spoons and a dead homing pigeon. Some of Blackadder, as we all know, is so utterly hilarious that if it'd be any funnier, we might as well have our ribs removed. Chroniclers Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd have put together this plump alternative history to the days of yore: "Blackadder (1485-1917): The Whole Damn Dynasty." In it we see all 24 scripts in a superbly well-presented way, plus casting lists, scores of intricate illustrations and photographs, extensive introductions and prefaces, and heaps of extra bits, thingummies and wossnames. In it, you'll find what happened after "1066 and All That" in a satirically funny way, lampooning such works as Will Cuppy's "The Complete Fall and Decline of Practically Everybody". We see how medicinal condiments helped to heal medieval sicknesses (apply leeches, burn 'em off, saw the sore part off, etc.), and we even get a glance of one of the misappropriated pages of Dr Johnson's rare dictionary. Any Blackadder fan would be as happy as a Frenchman with a pair of self-removing trousers with this brilliant book which is as cunning as a fox who has just been made Professor of Cunning at Oxford University. All the proceeds go to the charity Comic Relief, and if it weren't enough by itself, there is an independent section featuring all of Blackadder's finest insults. After "The Black Adder", "Blackadder II", "Blackadder the Third" and "Blackadder Goes Forth", go and seek out the "Blackadder Back And Forth" video to complete your collection. And try and avoid fierce winds; faces with mile-wide smirks set in concrete look amusingly silly.