Blackadder's Christmas Carol

A fantastic idea, this one. Take the old chestnut 'A Christmas Carol', give it a shake-up, and turn it on its head.

Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson in fine form as ever) is a good guy, who gives away anything to anyone, and is truly chock-full of the Christmas spirit. Time for the Spirit of Christmas (a rip-roaring turn from Robbie Coltrane) to work his magic, invoke the spirits of Ebenezer's ancestors and descendants, and inform him of the errors of his ways.

We're reminded of Blackadder's former incarnations, in Tudor and Regency times, and of the cunning plans and twists of the long-gone relatives. We meet again with the likes of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), Nursie (Patsy Byrne), and Prince George (Hugh Laurie). And of course the Cratchit character - Baldrick, who else! - suffers more and more as the story unfolds.

A scary turn from Miriam Margoyles and Jim Broadbent (Victoria and Albert), and a mind-boggling look into the distant future completes the transformation.

Not shown often enough, this is a real plum-pudding of a piece.

A very funny inversion of both 'A Christmas Carol' and the other Blackadder shows. Here, "Ebenezer Blackadder" is as kind and generous as a man can be, the opposite of every Scrooge (and other Black Adder) we've seen. But then he gets a visit from the ghost of the Christmas spirit, who shows him how awful and selfish his various ancestors were.

On the other hand, they don't seem to be taken advantage of quite the way he is...

A spirited, funny, and black satire, with terrific work as usual from the whole group; Rowan Atkinson. Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolies and Jim Broadbent. Quite a cast! It doesn't all work, and the very ending is a bit predictable, but there lots of laughs and twisted humor along the way.

A grand reversal of "The Christmas Carol".

Very funny, but *perhaps* viewing the BlackAdder series is a prerequisite so you know the characters. (Well at least the first 3 series.)

Amanda Richardson does the switch from Elizabeth I to the future perfectly.

And BlackAdder's progression, vs. Baldrick's progression are shown well.

An annual event here!

Very funny. British humour at its best once again. The reversal of the christmas carol is a brilliant idea with good imagination put into it. The other added bonus this one off episode offers is that it goes back to the past era's used in the series in small snip-its and shows us once again how the cunning Lord and the money obsessed butler spent there christmases (usually involving beating baldrick up) plus a view of the blackadder family in the distant future. definately check this out. 9 out of 10.

This is one of two individual "film episodes" of Blackadder, separate to the series, although each of the two films has references to the series.

Out of Blackadder Back and Forth and this, I prefer Back and Forth, but this is still a hilarious delight to watch. At the beginning, Ebenezer Blackadder is the opposite of Ebenezer Scrooge, being nice to everyone - even Baldrick, surprisingly enough. He is so kind he ends up giving away all their Christmas presents and food for the next day - and their mini Christmas tree (the people who do this include Queen Victoria and Albert, who dress up as peasants to meet Blackadder). That night, the ghost of Christmas past, present and future comes to meet Blackadder and congratulates him for being very nice - unlike his ancestors. The ghost shows Blackadder some things that have happened and will happen, transforming Blackadder in unusual ways...

The cast:

The lovely, kind Blackadder (:-O ???): Rowan Atkinson. The sweet, brainless Baldrick: Tony Robinson. Lord Melchett: Stphen Fry. The happy, bumbling Queen Vicky: Miriam Margoyles. The silly Albert: Jim Broadbent. The jolly, magical ghost of Christmas past, present and future: Robbie Coltrane. + people from the second and third parts of the series.

I recommend this to anyone who likes Blackadder, anyone who likes good humour and people who like Christmas! Enjoy! :-)

8 and a half out of ten.