Review of Black Adder, The

Introduction

So the first (and probably not the best in my opinion) Blackadder comes to DVD. This was the only Blackadder series which Rowan Atkinson had a hand in writing. Fans of the later series may take a while to warm to this one, but it is worth it !

The characters who you know and love from the later series are different here. Mr. S. Baldrick in particular is completely different (despite still being played by Tony Robinson). It does take a bit of getting used to.

There is also an appearance by the late, great Peter Cook. He doesn`t have much to do, but does it in his own style.

Video

The image quality is average, but considering the age of the programme and the way it was filmed, it has come up ok.

I`m sure that if the BBC had wanted to spend more money cleaning it up and improving it, they could have done, but this was one of their first releases.

There are quite a few artefacts here and there, but I think that you can live with them as this is no Hollywood blockbuster.

Audio

The sound is ok too (2 channel stereo) - again this is to be expected considering the age. You`re not going to get a DTS mix of Blackadder !

Nothing here to challenge your home cinema system, no music other than the original version of the theme which open and close each episode.

Features

No extras to speak of, just nice looking menus with access to each episode, and specific scenes. This is a real shame as there must be some outtakes or unused bits or something lying around !

Maybe this will be rectified in the next release (Blackadder II in case you weren`t sure). With Rowan Atkinson on the set there must have been some great moments caught on camera sometime during filming !

Conclusion

As a sitcom it is still excellent. As a DVD it is not so hot. However, it`s the comedy that`s the important thing.

The standout episodes have to be "The Queen of Spain`s Beard" featuring several scene stealing perfomances from Jim Broadbent and Miriam Margoyles, and "Witchsmeller Pusuivant".

And of course you also get Brian Blessed in his typical booming shouting role. He obviously enjoyed himself with this one.

Overall then, one for Blackadder fans, not for people who want to show DVD off to its full capability.