Product Details

• Actors: Rowan Atkinson, Brian Blessed, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Elspet Gray
• Format: Box set, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 8
• Studio: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• VHS Release Date: October 17, 1995
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (214 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303631991
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,342 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the best comedy series ever to emerge from England, Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of World War I. In his pre-Bean triumph, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson played all five versions of Edmund, beginning with the villainous and cowardly Duke of Edinburgh, whose scheming mind and awful haircut seem to stand him in good stead to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury--a deadly occupation if ever there was one. Among tales of royal dethronings, Black Death, witch smellers (who root out spell makers with their noses), and ghosts, Edmund is a perennial survivor who never quite gets ahead in multiple episodes. Jump to the Elizabethan era and Atkinson picks up the saga as Lord Edmund, who is perpetually courting favor from mad Queen Bess (Miranda Richardson) and is always walking a tightrope from which he can either gain the world or lose his head. Subjected to bizarre services for her majesty (at one point, Edmund is asked to do for potatoes what Sir Walter Raleigh did for tobacco), Edmund--as with his ancestor--can never quite fulfill his larger ambitions. The next incarnation we encounter is in late-18th-century Regency England. This time, Blackadder is a mere butler to the idiotic Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie in a brilliantly buffoonish performance) and is caught in various misadventures with Samuel Johnson, Shakespearean actors, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and William Pitt the younger. With a brief stop in Victorian London for a Christmas special, the series concludes with several episodes set during the Great War. The new Edmund is a career Army officer, but a scoundrel all the same. Shirking his duties whenever possible and taking advantage of any opportunity for undeserved reward, this final, deeply sour, and very funny Blackadder negotiates survival among a cadre of fools and dimwits. No small mention can be made of Atkinson's supporting cast, easily among the finest comic performers of their generation: besides Laurie and Richardson, Stephen Fry, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

469 of 477 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete Set - A must have, July 2, 2001

By 

Thomas H. Uphill "uphillian" (Princeton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Adder: The Complete Collector's Set (DVD)

If you are reading this, then you already love Black Adder, so I'll answer my biggest question before I bought these: "What's on the DVD's?"

Each series gets it's own DVD.

The fifth is a single episode from 1999 called "Back and Forth". Unfortunately the "Making of Back and Forth" is better than the episode. Luckily the "Making" is included on the disc.

Each series has biographies for the principle characters (Rowan and others have the same biography on each disk). These are read by Tony Robinson (Baldrick).

Each series has a short history of the principle events from that series episodes, these are also read by Tony. The blurbs are short but informative and interesting.

Series Three has the Christmas Carol on it as an extra feature.

The box has a few pictures and a short text on each series. That's about it for Extra Features.

It is definitely a complete set. All the Black Adder material I've ever seen is on these disks. The episodes are crisp and clean, a good transfer.

I would have liked to see some interviews with Tony and Rowan and possibly the script from the "Lost Pilot", other than that, this is a great Box Set, definitely worth the price of admission.

110 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Comic Genius!, August 24, 2004

By 

Jeffrey Rickel (Palm Harbor, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Adder: The Complete Collector's Set (DVD)

I'm a big fan of British comedy and consider Black Adder to be the greatest of them all, and that's saying something. The British have produced some great ones: Benny Hill, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Ab Fab - and those are just the most famous titles. There are numerous other great shows out there, yet Black Adder is a cut above them all. It's very witty, hilarious, and expects the viewer to have knowledge of British history.

This set includes just about everything (there are bits and pieces not on the five discs). Let's review all of them.

Black Adder I is set at the end of the 15th Century and is based on the premise that Henry Tudor was a liar, that Richard III was a good King and was succeeded by his nephew, who became Richard IV. The first series is the weakest of the lot, though it is still quite good and contains two of the entire series best shows. The first two episodes (The Foretelling and Born to be King) are funny, but do not contain the side-splitting laughs common to the series. The show really hits its stride in the third episode, The Archbishop, one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. The success continues through the fourth and fifth episodes (The Queen of Spain's Beard and Witchsmeller Pursuivant), though the show dips in the final episode a bit. Brian Blessed is terrific, though can be a bit much at times. Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson do great jobs, as they would throughout the series.

Black Adder II is set in Elizabethan times. Many would claim it to be the funniest of the four series, and that argument can most definitely be made. I, however, think that each successive series gets better. Every episode in the second series is a winner; every single episode is a stand out. Miranda Richardson is terrific as Queenie and Stephen Fry is smashing as Melchett. I honestly can't pick any favorites the rest of the way through. The second disc also contains Black Adder: The Cavalier Years which is also excellent, though short. It was done for Comic Relief and is set in the last days of Charles I (Stephen Fry was excellent in this role).

Black Adder the Third improves upon its predecessor. Hugh Laurie takes up permanent residence in the cast (he guest starred in the final episode of series 2) and does a brilliant job - better than McInnery did as the dimwitted Percy. Laurie plays the Prince of Wales, George - son of the infamous Mad King George. This Black Adder is no longer a Lord or Prince of the realm like his ancestors, he is now a servant. Once again, each episode is a gem. We also see McInnerny and Fry in guest appearances (Fry shines as the Duke of Wellington in the final episode), as well as Robbie Coltrane (now of Harry Potter fame as Hagrid). This disc also features Black Adder's Christmas Carol. Though funny, it jumps around quite a bit. the twist is that it features the lone good Black Adder. Don't want to give away too much here. It's funny but not as focused as the whole series.

Black Adder Goes Forth is the final entry. It is the most crass of all the series and the darkest. I find it to be the funniest as well. There's a lot more toilet humor and Baldrick, who has gotten progressively stupider as the series has gone on, is hilarious. Tim McInnerny is back, though not as Percy but as Darling. The Darling jokes do get a bit old, but Stephen Fry as Melchett is excellent.

The fifth disc contains Black Adder Back and Forth. This suffers from the same problem as Christmas Carol, it's unfocused and not as sharp as the series shows. It does have its moments, but Black Adder functions best when it remains in one period and established the characters.

Throughout the whole series, Rowan Atkinson is superb. He is the greatest comedic actor in Britain at the moment and hysterical to watch. Each Black Adder is a bit different, beginning with the whimpering Edmund Blackadder in series one to the very sharp and intelligent Edmund of the last series. Edmund gets sharper as the series gets on -and the character get more bitter as well.

These DVDs also have some helpers for those not familiar with the history of the time periods depicted. I would, however, advise those unfamiliar with the periods to do some research into the history of the time so they can get a better understanding of many of the jokes.

All in all, a great package of one of the greatest comedies every produced. Hours of enjoyment can be found here with plenty of replay value.

63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The benchmark of Britcoms on DVD. Too good not to have., May 4, 2002

By 

Ben Rowland (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Adder: The Complete Collector's Set (DVD)

If you are a Blackadder fan, chances are the you have seen all of these episodes countles times. The amazing thing is that, like Fawlty Towers and Monty Python, these episodes are always fun to watch over and over again. Rowan Atkinson is at his best, while support from Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, and Miranda Richardson make this series on of the best to ever come out of the UK.

But this review isn't about the episodes themselves, it is about this particular DVD set, so here goes:

The layout of the DVD set is nice and neat (the casing is cardboard, more durable casings would have been nice). It folds out into 5 sections, each containing a DVD with their respective series. Series 1-4 are included, as well as the 1999 special "Back and Forth", which is a reunion of sorts, about Blackadder and Baldrick building a time machine. Not the best Blackadder outing, but a laught riot nonetheless. Each DVD has special features, including all the specials including "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" and the rare sketch "The Cavalier Years". Other extras include cast bios and historical footnotes (read by Tony Robinson), karaoke singalong, trailers, and other neat stuff. The interactive menus make getting to your desired episide easy.

The only complaint I have is the lack of cast interviews, outtakes from the series itself, and behind-the-scenes specials. The only such things are on "Back and Forth" and a Richard Curtis interview. But all that aside, this is the jewel of my DVD collection, and will provide many ours of entertainment in the future.