Blackadder Rides Again on BBC One
Rowan Atkinson and Co. Reminisce about Historical Sitcom
Sep 5, 2009
Blackadder is one of the most well known comedies on British TV history and Rides Again chronicled its history from middle-ages The Black Adder to the WWI trench based Blackadder Goes Forth using clips, a narration by fan John Sergeant and interviews with Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Miranda Richardson, Tony Robinson and others.
Unlike other nostalgia shows there weren’t any D-list credentials; Vernon Kay wasn’t on hand to do Baldrick impressions or Andrew Collins (star of I Love 1983) didn’t pop up to reminisce about his favourite bits, it was just the cast and crew talking frankly about their recollections.
This included revisiting the forgotten opening to the Blackadder saga. In the first five minutes Atkinson and series producer John Lloyd, the man behind the best comedy show currently on TV QI, drove to the castle in Northumberland that acted as the setting for the big budgeted and rather misguided series 1. It wasn’t bad just that the character was a slimy, cowardly buffoon miles away from the towering quick witted conniving genius that become synonymous with Blackadder.
Blackadder Over the Top Final Scene
The first series almost killed the show as the BBC would refuse to re-commission it citing poor ratings and sniffy reviews as reasons enough but as writer Richard Curtis points out in Blackadder Rides Again it was down to the determination of Lloyd and Atkinson and roping in the then popular Ben Elton help knock the second attempt into shape that eventually persuaded the head of BBC comedy to let them have another go. The rest is history. Literally.
Reassuringly Blackadder Rides Again wasn’t all about happy memories and did focus a little on cast members pedantically arguing about lines during the script reads. When watching one of his own long winded debates Atkinson states this was common place and not the worst example while Robinson refers to those moments as being a hard time for him.
It was also interesting to see how a poorly filmed “going over the top” death scene (where a “miffed” looking Atkinson sits up before the shot has ended) turned into one of the most poignant conclusions in TV history thanks to slow motion effects and clever editing.
Rowan Atkinson Back on TV
The similes, Rik Mayall’s scene stealing performance as Lord Flashheart, the clips of the pilot and happily glossing over the turgid Back & Forth millennium special were all good additions, the best part however was seeing the great Rowan Atkinson on the box again as it’s such a shame that his career has dissolved into making rubbish American comedies and the occasional Richard Curtis film. If he’s happy then fair enough, like John Cleese he’s earned the right to do terrible work in his later days.
Rides Again ended hightlighting the rumours and rumblings of what could have been a fifth series – set in the 60s, cavemen, etc – although Tim McInnerny rightly points out that people don’t want to see the cast as old men and want to remember the show for what it was years ago. It’s okay to churn out the occasional reflective trip like this that let us keep the memories, but please don’t bring Blackadder back and ruin it.
 |
