Blackadder

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Television series
German title Blackadder
Original title Blackadder
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Year (s) 1983, 1986-1989
Production
company
7 Network
BBC
BBC Worldwide
length 30 minutes
Episodes 24 in 4 seasons + 3 special
genre Comedy
idea Rowan Atkinson
Richard Curtis
production John Lloyd
First broadcast June 15, 1983 on BBC One
German-language
first broadcast
December 30, 1993 on 3sat
occupation

The television series Blackadder the BBC in 1983 and from 1986 to 1989 with Rowan Atkinson turned in the lead role. Rowan Atkinson wrote the pilot episode and the first season with Richard Curtis , after which Ben Elton co-wrote the other episodes and specials for Atkinson.

In 2004, Blackadder was voted the UK's second best sitcom. The film magazine Empire voted "Blackadder" # 20 among the best TV shows of all time.

action

The four seasons of the series take place in four different epochs of English history between 1485 and 1917. Rowan Atkinson plays the current representative of the Blackadder family in each epoch (the German equivalent, a monochrome black variant of the adder , means Höllenotter), who is in the The first three seasons are very close to the center of power, with a continuous descent from the prince (1st season) to the noblewoman (2nd season) and the valet of the heir to the throne (3rd season) to a simple captain in the British Army (4th season) . Season) can be observed. Edmund, as Blackadder's first name is in every era, is characterized by great cunning and pronounced selfishness in all seasons of the series. Blackadder himself is always subordinate to a mentally limited, conceited, arrogant and incompetent superior, whom he despises with all his heart and on whom he is unfortunately very dependent. While the first season is still very much characterized by slapstick elements, the character and humor of the series change fundamentally with the addition of Ben Elton to the team of authors: From the second season, Blackadder uses all the subtleties of the English language to attract all of his fellow men highly creative way to offend. At Blackadder's side is the deeply simple-minded, completely incompetent, but endlessly good-natured Baldrick (played by Tony Robinson ), who is at the bottom of the social hierarchy and always has to serve as a lightning rod for the cynicism and (self) hatred of his master. ( Blackadder: "You're fired." - Baldrick: "But my lord, I've been in your family since 1532!" - Blackadder: "So has syphilis!" )

Each episode presents the viewer with a self-contained story that follows a similar dramaturgical structure. Initially, Edmund Blackadder is thrown into a tricky, often seemingly hopeless situation through an arbitrary decision by his superior or through his own arrogance. One of the running gags of the series is the supposedly saving "clever plan" that the servant Baldrick believes he has ( "Don't worry, my lord, because I have a cunning plan!" ). This plan is indeed brilliant at times, prompting Edmund Blackadder to adopt it. Most of the time he is completely outrageous and fails all along the line, whereupon Baldrick is punished and only chance saves everyone involved in the end - seasons 1, 2 and 4 end with Blackadder's death. In season 2 he is killed by Prince Ludwig after the credits. At the end of season 3, however, he even becomes heir to the throne by a happy coincidence .

In the course of the series, a development in the character of Sir Edmund Blackadder can be clearly observed. The Edmund of the 15th century still acts as a simple-minded, grimacing idiot in very slapstick-like situations ( see above ). His descendants, the Edmunds of the 16th to 20th centuries, on the other hand, present themselves as highly intelligent, cynical and calculating misanthropes , from which the best scenes and dialogues in the series arise. This is thanks to changes in the series' writing team as well as the acting performance of Rowan Atkinson. With each season Blackadders grow in intelligence and caution, while Baldrick becomes more and more dumbfounded. Shortly before Edmund and his company are sent on a hopeless assault at the end of last season, he comments on the futility of the war in a typical way: “We've been sitting here since Christmas 1914, during which time millions of men have died, and we 've moved no further than an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping. " (" We've been sitting here since Christmas 1914, and during that time millions of men have died while we made no more progress than an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping bags. ")

The joke of the series arises to a large extent from the contrast between undergames and overacting : While all the characters except Blackadder play cocky and exaggerated, the character Blackadders is always very reserved from the 2nd season onwards. Even the raising of an eyebrow or a gesture acts as a pointed comment by Blackadder on the ridiculous behavior of the other characters.

The pun, which can hardly be translated, requires a very good knowledge of English, and the plot also contains countless historical and political allusions; both of which meant that Blackadder was not very successful outside of the English-speaking world.

background

The series is a pointed satire on British history. She uses many quotes from famous British literature, from Shakespeare to the propaganda vocabulary of the time of the First World War . These quotes are included in the plot both faithfully and satirically alienated. In principle, historical knowledge is not required to understand the series, but without this many jokes and punchlines remain hidden from the viewer.

It was precisely this complexity of the plot and the historical references - in addition to the acting performance of the main actors - that made the series very popular. In 2004 the British voted for the hundred best British sitcoms . Blackadder came in second behind Only Fools and Horses .

In Germany the series ran on ARTE and 3sat in the original version and on RTL II in a dubbed version. The series is now also available on DVD .

There is also a book with the dialogues and some extras such as Baldrick's family tree: Blackadder - The Whole Damn Dynasty . The proceeds from the book will go to the Comic Relief charity .

Four seasons with a total of 24 episodes and three specials were shot.

occupation

Special offers

Outside of the series chronology, three series specials were filmed:

Blackadder - The Cavalier Years (1988)

Sir Edmund Blackadder stands out in 1648 as the only loyal person to King Charles I (played by Stephen Fry as a caricature of the current British heir to the throne, Prince Charles ) and hides him from Oliver Cromwell and his henchmen . Charles is caught through Baldrick's guilt, however, and the imminent beheading of the king means that the noble Blackadder sees his own life in danger. In the end, however, he follows the call of the money and makes himself available as the king's hired executioner .

This special first aired on February 5, 1988.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988)

This is a parody of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas story, A Christmas Carol . The main role is taken by “ Ebenezer Blackadder”. This is a kind-hearted person who is constantly exploited by those around him until the Christmas spirit shows him how vicious his ancestors were compared to him. Ebenezer draws his own conclusions from this and transforms himself into a typical representative of the Blackadder family, that is: emotionally cold, greedy and cynical.

This special first aired on December 23, 1988.

Blackadder Back and Forth (1999)

Back and Forth (Original title: Time for Blackadder) takes place on New Year's Eve 1999. Edmund Blackadder gives a party for some old friends, at the center of which is a time machine . Blackadder bets that with her help he can get things from the past. Of course, he doesn't intend to travel through time, but rather to get things out of a basement full of junk hidden by a trapdoor. However, Blackadder did the math without Baldrick, who built the working time machine using a book by Leonardo Da Vinci . Reluctantly, both now embark on a journey into the past, where they meet personalities like Robin Hood or William Shakespeare and intervene in the course of history.

At the end, the audience sees the Millennium Celebration with King Edmund III, Queen Maryan (of Sherwood) and Prime Minister for life S. Baldrick.

Further

There were various other specials (some theater appearances) that did not appear on DVD or other media: Woman's Hour Invasion , Royal Gardener , The Army Years , The King's Birthday , The Shakespeare Sketch and the pilot episode (which never was in England was sent).

music

The four seasons of the series were set to music by the English composer Howard Goodall . Each of the four Blackadder seasons (as well as the respective specials that were broadcast on television or appeared on DVD) received their own title composition , which, however, always adheres to the basic theme from the first season. Goodall adapts his music to the epoch in which the season plays. The music develops from heroic fanfares (1st season) to strings and flutes (2nd season), a harpsichord background (3rd season) to a blackadder version of The British Grenadiers (4th season). The special "Blackadder's Christmas Carol", based on Charles Dickens' Christmas story, varies the theme as a Christmas chorale , similar to the theme music from Rowan Atkinson's series Mr. Bean , for which Howard Goodall also composed the music.

literature

  • JF Roberts: The True History of the Black Adder. The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend. Preface Publishing 2012, ISBN 978-1-84809-346-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. BBC - Britain's Best Sitcom - Vote ( Memento from April 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ISBN 0-14-028035-9 .

Web links