Blackadder: Back & Forth

Blackadder Back and Forth was, or seems to be, meant as a collector's film for fans of Blackadder, and also as a fun reunion for the actors at the millennium. That is, it started out with the same motif as the other Blackadder series: just to have fun and be funny. Though Back and Forth is only funny as an addition to the other Blackadder's, not by itself. All the other series' could be funny on their own. This movie isn't a disappointment if you realize that it's just a wrap up put together for fun at the turn of the millenium, it wasn't meant to be like the other Blackadders, and it certainly isn't. It's a mere following of some of the characters throughout time, which is funny in itself, especially the part with the Romans and the short skirts.

The only real disappoint I had was the loss of Percy Percy. Even in the "Making of a Blackadder" they seemed to avoid talking about Percy Percy deliberately. I think it's great to see Tim McInnerny as more than one role in the series: Darling and Percy (and Smedly), because he's such a terrific and underrated actor, but I loved him the most as Percy and I miss that character. I know he doesn't want to be pigeon-holed as just one character, and he shouldn't be, but it would have been great to see both Percy and Darling in one film.

I'm all for another series to be made provided it doesn't come out like the film. It was good to watch but definately did seem to have lost the wit and Hilarity of the series. I loved the series and found series 2, 3 and 4 to be the funniest. Blackadder is the very greatest tv sitcom in the world and is definately as good as Fawlty Towers. Lets just hope the writers, Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, have a cunning plan for a new series if there is to be one. Overall i'd give it 7 out of 10 but don't let this stop you from viewing the series.

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.

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.

Blackadder and his faithful servant Baldrick build a fake time machine from original plans in order to fool their friends into thinking that they went back in time and collected artifacts, thus winning a big bet. However they travel back in time and accidentally change history – wiping out the very characters they claimed to have met.

This special was made for show in the millennium dome, however it was also shown on BBC recently. This is no way classic Blackadder – the story is a mix of Blackadder trademark sarcasm and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The time traveling element is amusing and is also an excuse for some very funny scenes (Robin Hood, Jurassic Park moment) but other bits don't work as well (the current-time dinner party is weak given the cast, and the Blackadder II bit isn't very funny and just shows how good the series was). The dialogue lacks the sharp, cruel sarcasm that the other 4 series had – it tries to do it but it isn't as fresh as it once was…I guess that's the real effect of time!

Atkinson is good as Blackadder – but he never seems comfortable with this incarnation as he did with previous ones…perhaps because it is an one-off creation. Robinson is good as Baldrick because his character never changes. Of the rest of the talented cast only Rik Mayall is really funny – the rest (Fry, Laurie, Richardson etc) are all weak and never as good as they were in their roles in the 4 series. However nice cameos from Colin Firth and Kate Moss make it interesting.

Overall it's worth a watch – but don't expect to be anywhere near the height of the original 4 Blackadder series.