Episode
GuideReview:Set in the trenches
of France during the Great War, this series played heavily on hindsight; "It'll
all be over by Christmas" was a genuine belief in the months between August
and December of 1914. In the series, only Captain Blackadder understands that
1918 is perhaps a more likely ending. We are treated to generals who would
happily sacrifice 50,000 men in order to "move their drinks cabinet a few
yards closer to Berlin", and soldiers who - against the evidence of their
eyes - believed what they were told. The Great War was supposedly 'the war to
end all wars'; and of course, it wasn't - but it was the last war in which men
in their thousands died trusting foolish and ignorant officers (though it was
not until Viet Nam that such officers would be regularly shot by their men). A
difficult place to build a comedy, but it is a testamnt to the writers' skills
that they pulled it off; a hilarious invention that never disrespected the sacrifice
of those who experienced the real thing. So far as I'm aware, there were
never complaints about the series - but plenty of compliments! Credits:
| Rowan Atkinson | Captain Edmund Blackadder |
| Tony Robinson | Private Baldrick |
| Hugh Laurie | George | | Stephen
Fry | General Melchett | | Tim McInnerny |
Captain Darling | | 
| 
