TotalTelly.co.uk
Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV
Blackadder: Complete Series 1
The episodes collected here are: "The Foretelling", in which Richard III, played by Peter Cook in a brilliant parody of Olivier, wins Bosworth only to get in an unseemly argument about a horse; "Born to be King" in which Edmund, lumbered with providing bearded ladies, morris dancers and eunuchs for a festival, discovers some indiscreet love letters; "The Archbishop" in which after his father has the Archbishop of Canterbury killed, Edmund starts his intrigues again; "The Queen of Spain's Beard" in which Blackadder's father's international schemes call for Edmund to make a dynastic marriage to Miriam Margolyes as the Infanta of Spain, and Jim Broadbent plays a peculiarly irritating interpreter; "Witchsmeller Pursuivant" in which Edmund falls foul of the demonic witchsmeller, played with more gusto than is quite credible by Frank Finlay; and "The Black Seal", wherein Edmund assembles a group of villains as his personal retinue (Rik Mayall plays a mad prisoner). On the DVD: No extras here at all, aside from subtitles in English, SDH, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, and chapter points within each episode. --Roz Kaveney Throughout the ages men of flair, faculty and outstanding courage have contributed to England's glorious heritage. Others, like snivelling worm Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh (alias the Black Adder), the bitter and twisted son of a medieval king, have emerged from the dust of dodgy documents to claim their wrongful position in history. The Foretelling - With Peter Cook as Richard III from out of the swirling mists of the Dark Ages comes a lone horseman cursed from youth by a deformed haircut and sporting a particularly evil pair of tights. Born To Be King - Treachery, murder and Morris-dancing break out in all their full horror when an orange-faced stranger arrives at court. The Archbishop - The landscape is littered with dead Archbishops of Canterbury. Edmund's cunning plan is to get his deadliest rival appointed to the vacancy The Queen Of Spain's Beard - With Miriam Margolyes as Princess Maria, the King's international treachery gives the hideous Edmund a chance to press his clammy body against one of Europe's most eligible princesses. Witchsmeller Pursuivant - With Frank Finley as the repulsive Witchsmeller, the King is a bit under the weather with the Black Death. Witchcraft is diagnosed by the Black Adder and only one man can root it out. The Black Seal - With Rik Mayall as Mad Gerald, in a final gesture of defiance Edmund rides forth to seek out the Seven Most Evil Men in the land and return with them to seize the throne.
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £6.70 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
The classic first series of BlackAdder was slightly different to its successors--Ben Elton was not yet part of the writing team, and Shakespearean parody featured prominently. Rowan Atkinson was at his best as a would-be Machiavellian medieval intriguer while Brian Blessed plays his gloriously over the top blustering militarist father.
Editorial
Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital English
Dolby Digital
Colour Booklet
Danish\Dutch\English\French\Italian\Norwegian\Portuguese\Spanish\Swedish
Editorial
Synopsis
Behold the bad hair in this first collection of silliness! Here the slimy Edmund (Rowan Atkinson), Duke of Edinburgh (alias The Black Adder), emerges from the bowels of somewhere stinky to annoy historians. The collection includes "The Foretelling," "Born to be King," "The Archbishop," "The Queen of Spain's Beard," "Witchsmeller Pursuivant," and "The Black Seal."
Editorial
From the Back Cover
Starring Rowan Atkinson as The BlackAdder with Tony Robinson as Baldrick, Brian Blessed as Richard IV, Tim McInnerny as Percy, Elspet Gray as the Queen and Robert East as Prince Harry.
Fantastic!
Review date: 2008-08-06 Rating: 10 out of 10
It's a well known fact that this series is very different from the other Blackadders, but that doesn't mean its's not funny.
The action takes place in the middle ages where a sly/dim Blackadder wishes to become King with the help of a Baldrick (who is smarter than Blackadder) and Lord Percy (who is similar to how he is in series 2).
Blackadder gets into many funny situations, such as accidently killing the King, being trailed for wicthcraft, getting out of marrying an ugly princess and getting lock up with a madman played by Rick Mayall.
The series was also mainly filmed on location and looks brilliant. A lot of the comedy is physical and daft.
Rowan Atkinson gives a great performance, as does the rest of the cast including Brain Blessed as the King. Jim Broadbent also makes an appearance and of course there's Tony Robinson and the excellent Tim Mcinnerny.
This is one of the most underated British Comedy series. It's certainly worth a look!
Similar Products
- Blackadder: Complete Series 2 (Blackadder II)
- Blackadder: Complete Series 3 (Blackadder III) [1987]
- Blackadder: Complete Series 4 (Blackadder Goes Forth)
- Blackadder's Christmas Carol
- Fawlty Towers: Complete Series 1
Reviews
With many a cunning plan
Review date: 2008-06-26 Rating: 8 out of 10
The original series of the legendary comedy series `Blackadder' was of a very different style to the one that most fans know and love, largely due to the absence of writer Ben Elton and director Mandie Fletcher, who came on board from series 2 onwards. It is usually regarded as the weakest series. This may be accurate, however, it seems somewhat incomparable to series 2-4 and therefore may not be so much weak as it is distinct.
The production is has far more grandeur than the other series, and Elton's sharp but somewhat slapstick approach to comedy is absent. The main characters Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) were originally very different. Blackadder is a much nastier snake-like character and is almost impossible to warm to and Baldrick, in fact, is the more intelligent of the two! The storytelling and re-writing of history is tantamount to genius, and the cast is solid, including Elspet Gray, Robert East and the legendary Brian Blessed. There are also outstanding appearances from Rik Mayall, Miriam Margogles, Frank Finlay, and comic genius Peter Cook.
Those who are willing to give the series some time might discover that it actually includes some of the best episodes in the entire Blackadder catalogue. `The Archbishop' sees Balckadder, something of an atheist, unwillingly taking on the role of Archbishop of Canterbury: a job that has seen many predecessors supposedly coming to `tragic and untimely' ends through a series of ludicrous calamities. `Witchsmeller Pursuivant', arguably the best episode of the series, sees Blackadder on trial for witchcraft, with his prosecutor managing to convince everyone of his guilt based on evidence given by a silent horse, an old lady who claims to have given birth to a poodle, and the fact that Blackadder was once overheard offering a cat some milk!
The series did, in fact, coin some of the phrases that became well-known, most notably `I have a cunning plan'. The series was an excellent piece of work, and the fact that it was re-commissioned supports this claim. The real genius may have been yet to come, but this was a strong start that set the foundation for one of the most successful, longstanding and acclaimed sitcoms worldwide.
STILL AS BRILLIANT AS WHEN I WATCHED IT 25 YEARS AGO
Review date: 2008-05-31 Rating: 10 out of 10
IN MY EYES THIS VERY UNDERATED FIRST SERIES OF BLACKADDER BEATS THE OTHER THREE HANDS DOWN, AND IS STILL AS BRILLIANT AS I FIRST REMEMBER WATCHING IT WAY BACK IN 1983.
ROWAN ATKINSON IS AS EVER BRILLIANT AS THE SNIVELING PRINCE EDMUND , TO SAY HIS BROTHER PRINCE HARRY (ROBERT EAST)IS PREFERED BY HIS BLOOD THIRSTY FATHER RICHARD 1V (BRIAN BLESSED)IS AN UNDER STATEMENT .
THE EPISODES THAT REALY DO IT FOR ME ARE THE ARCHBISHOP AND THE BLACK SEAL, THE LATER IN WHICH EDMUND CASTS ASIDE HIS EVER FAITHFUL FRIENDS
BALDRICK (TONY ROBINSON) AND THE HALF WITTED PERCY (TIM MCINNERNY)TO FIND THE MOST SEVEN MOST EVIL MEN IN THE LAND (HIMSELF INCLUDED)AND SEIZE THE THRONE,CHARACTERS SUCH AS THREE FINGERED PETE, FRIAR BELLOWS,AND JACK LARGE ,A 3 FT HIGH HEAD BUTTING PSYCHO ("LANDLORD 6 LARGE BEERS....AND ANOTHER LARGE BEER")ARE AMONGST THIS BAND OF VILLIANS , WHO ONLY DOUBLE CROSS EDMUND IN FAVOUR OF EDMUNDS CHILDHOOD ENEMY THE THRUSH.
WELL I COULD GO ON AND ON AS IVE WATCHED THE SERIES A THOUSAND TIMES NEVER GROWING BORED WITH IT, SO JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES YOU WONT BE DISAPPOINTED.
The Foretelling
Review date: 2008-01-26 Rating: 10 out of 10
The original series of `The Black Adder' is, with the benefit of hindsight, the odd ball of the full series and yet I enjoyed it at the time and enjoy it still but for different reasons than I enjoy the sitcom's it led to. That Baldrick could be intelligent and leads the very stupid Edmund will jaw against fans of the latter series as will the cast with Edward IV or Brian Blessed enjoying a great amount of screen time.
Rather than be a sitcom at all `The Black Adder' has a thematic storyline which runs through the series as well as the episodic story lines that drive the comedy. The writing team here is Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis whom had written together since Oxford and throughout `Not the Nine O'clock News' with `additional dialogue by William Shakespeare'. This is no ideal boast borrowing from not only the obvious `Richard III', `Henry IV' and `Henry V' but surprisingly `Macbeth'. All in all this sets the Modern Medieval England perfectly and together with story lines about the black death, the crusades and witch hunts makes for a surprisingly fantastic series.
`The Foretelling' is possibly the best episode of the series with Peter Cook giving a wonderful turn as Richard III both with and without head. The final episode `The Black Seal' is also fantastic virtually jettisoning comedy for the sake of the story stitching up the hole in history Edmund opened by his late arrival at the field of honour in the opening story.
It get's two for paving the way
Review date: 2007-08-04 Rating: 4 out of 10
This first series in no way compares to the masterpieces that followed. Blackadder is dull and foolish in this, so there are non of his cunning witty jokes that provide the bulk of the laughs in the later series.
I am annoyed that part of my money went into this three-hour bore-fest when I bought the full Blackadder box-set.
Leave it alone. Get the other series.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Elspet Gray
Rowan Atkinson
Tim McInnerny
Brian Blessed
Tony Robinson
Creators:
Rowan Atkinson (Primary Contributor)
Brian Blessed (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503100124
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 1999-11-01
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 196 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1993-12
Language: English (Original Language)