Blackadder: Back & Forth

Old BBC shows are lovely, so low-budget and witty and strange.

To a lover of literature and history like myself, Blackadder stands as possibly the funniest sitcom of all time. Like Doctor Who, it was cheap, but I didn't give a fig...it was simply ten times cleverer than anything on American television, and I loved it. At first, I was dubious about this millennium special - I didn't think that Blackadder really needed a big-budget makeover, special effects, etc. But in the end, "Back and Forth" served its purpose for me. I laughed. Lots. Maybe I would've liked a little more wit and a few less sight gags, but so what? It's been ten years since the original Blackadder went off the air, and it's unreasonable to expect that a new special will emulate the old show exactly. And in addition to the new material, there's plenty of nostalgic jokes on hand (e.g. "I have a cunning plan"...why do people complain that this was recycled here? Can you image Blackadder WITHOUT this line?).

Like the recent big-budget Doctor Who and Asterix films, this was criticized by fans who were disappointed that it wasn't 4 stars all the way...but a general audience can forgive the odd flaw and accept this for what it is, a delightful reunion of great British comics for one last episode of a great show.

This being hyped as the last Blackadder story is a great end to a very funny series. The plot has Edmund Blackadder trying to con his friends (played by series regulars Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie Miranda Richardson, and Tim Mcinnery) by claiming he has built a time machine on the eve of the new century, the year 2000. That opening alone is a tip of the hat to the classic George Pal film, "The Time Machine" where Rod Taylor as George does the same thing at the turn of the century the year 1900. But what Edmund thought of as just a con turned out to be a real time machine, put together by his usually incompetent servant Baldrick. The two travel thru time and change history in hysterical ways to funny to mention here. The ending is classic and will have you applauding at the end.

My favorite series of Black Adder was a tie with the "Blackadder III", and "The Blackadder Christmas Carol", but now this one surpasses them. I can't believe the comments that I read on this site, who didn't like it or felt it was far from the best, because I thought they have done a great job with this show. I think it might be that they would rather had a full series on TV and not have to pay to see it at the Millennium dome as they had to. I just saw this on my local PBS station and I now want to go out and buy the tape of it. I recommend this show to all fans of Black Adder and of good time travel stories as well. It's a hoot.

Ten years after the fourth and final Blackadder TV series, we have this, a one-off Blackadder TV movie. Not as good as the TV series, but still fairly hilarious. The writing isn't as clever or the dialogue as biting as before and the plot relies on hijinks too much.

Still, quite entertaining and worth the watch.

Unlike quite a few people on this website I enjoyed this a great deal. I found it hilarious, exciting and surprising (including the dinosaur bit and the squashed Wellington bit). Great fun all the way and well worth watching, if I do say so myself.

This is a single episode of Blackadder, set in 1999 + many other times in history! The day before the millennium, Blackadder plays a prank on his companions, he shows a time machine and says he will bring back anything from the past for each person. Baldrick and Blackadder, with various "promised" items and find themselves really and truly travelling back in time! Hilarious happenings await...

The cast:

The cynical, intelligent Blackadder: Rowan Atkinson. The stupid, adorable Baldrick: Tony Robinson. + Various actors playing different parts such as Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson.

I recommend this to people who love the theme of time travelling + Blackadder and for people who like fun, mixed humour. Enjoy! :-)

As nice as it is to see a reunion of the entire cast of the Blackadder franchise, this is only so-so entertainment(and poor Byrne, getting such forgettable lines). It's interesting to see this as produced as something other than a sit-com, with well-done cinematography, special effects and editing. The plot isn't bad, and the concept allows for the writers to mock time periods that they hadn't before, and while this freedom puts the pressure on them to utilize it, they do so most of the time. The story does drive this one so much that little room is left for laughs, unfortunately. Pacing is solid. The production values are quite high. Everything looks great and we believe that we are where and when we are told to be visiting. Acting is all good. The "guests" are magnificent. Atkinson is marvelous as always as the cynical, greedy and self-righteous Edmund. The comedy is fair. Too much reliance on sight gags, and silly, occasionally violent, humor(even some of the gross-out material of the latest season, what gives?), though, and so little(though there is still a note-worthy amount) of the verbal comedy that we know and love this series for. As we are by now used to from these, the shortcomings throughout history is poked fun at through matter-of-factly stating in a satirical manner. This has some of the clever wit of previous productions, but not as much as we're used to. On the plus side, the excellent theme song returns, with a new, fitting text. The DVD comes with the Cavalier Years and Baldrick's Video Diary, that expands into a making-of featurette with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews(with every performer, very cool) and deleted scenes. It's fairly informative. A final goodbye to those that we've come to know and love, but could have been rather a bit better. I recommend this to all fans of the title character. Just don't expect the greatness as we've become used to from his side. 7/10