Blackadder Back & Forth

Plot synopsis:
The film opens at Blackadder Hall where the present day Lord Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is entertaining guests on New Year's Eve, 1999. As a scam, Blackadder informs them he has invented a working time machine and wagers £10,000 each that he can bring back anything they ask for. His guests – Archbishop Melchett (Stephen Fry), Archdeacon Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), Viscount George (Hugh Laurie) and Lady Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) – announce that, if Blackadder is to win, he must bring back a genuine Roman centurion's helmet, the actual wellingtons worn by the Duke of Wellington on the day he won the Battle of Waterloo, and a really smelly pair of 200-year-old underpants. Blackadder intends to scam his guests by dredging the items from his personal store. However, he is stunned to discover that the time machine, built by Baldrick (Tony Robinson) after plans by Leonardo da Vinci, actually works.
The pair first land in the Cretaceous Period, where they are attacked by a massive Tyrannosaurus. Baldrick uses his underpants to beat back the dinosaur, who takes one sniff and falls over dead. Lord Blackadder muses, "Fascinating. One of history's great mysteries solved. The dinosaurs were, in fact, wiped out by your pants." When attempting to reset the dials to return to the present, Baldrick reveals that this is impossible, as he never got round to writing the dates on them (meaning their first destination is 2 watermelons and a bunch of cherries).
After configuring the dials on instinct, Blackadder and Baldrick land back at Blackadder Hall at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, with Nursie (Patsy Byrne) and Lord Melchett at her side (in homage to Blackadder II). The Queen, mistaking him for his ancestor, Lord Blackadder, decides that "Edmund" is not grovelling enough and orders his beheading, unless he has a present for her. Blackadder first offers a supermarket loyalty card, upon which the Queen screams, "Kill him!" He then offers her a Polo mint, which the Queen proclaims to be "the tastiest thing in the history of the world". She rewards him with her crown, then orders him away to bring back more mints on pain of having his head crushed "like an egg".
On his way back to the machine, Blackadder literally runs into William Shakespeare (Colin Firth). After giving the Bard a ballpoint pen and receiving his autograph, Blackadder punches him in the face, remarking, "That is for every schoolboy and schoolgirl for the next four hundred years!" Blackadder tells Shakespeare that his plays are nothing but people "in stupid tights... talking total crap," then kicks him in vengeance for Kenneth Branagh's "endless, uncut, four-hour version of Hamlet". Stunned, Shakespeare asks, "Who's Ken Branagh?" Blackadder smugly retorts, "I'll tell him you said that, and I think he'll be very hurt!"
Then, Blackadder returns to the machine and tries very hard to remember how the dials were set. He then sets the dials and is happy until the time machine materializes into a space battle. Blackadder quickly realizes that they may have gone too far and resets the dials again. After that, Blackadder and Baldrick land in Sherwood Forest and are captured by Robin Hood (Rik Mayall, in similar character to Lord Flashheart). However, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws of his lifestyle. Blackadder smugly reminds the Merry Men that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor in the forest with no toilet facilities, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides," waiting for the next cash installment. Enraged, the Merry Men promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. Then Maid Marian (Kate Moss), smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sex with him. Baldrick later comments that "poof in tights" Will Scarlet was equally friendly. Before leaving, Blackadder takes Robin's hat as a trophy.
A further attempt to reconfigure the dials results in the time machine landing at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. After the machine squashes the Duke of Wellington (Fry) just before he reveals his plan for defeating a flamboyant Napoleon Bonaparte (Simon Russell Beale), Blackadder steps out just long enough to steal the Duke's boots to win his bet.
One last attempt to set the dials right lands them at Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. The wall is being guarded by Blackadder's centurion ancestor, with a Roman-era Baldrick as his shield-carrier (reminiscent of Blackadder Goes Forth). After stealing the helmet of a Roman-era George, Blackadder and Baldrick escape just ahead of a charging wall of Braveheart-style Scotsmen wearing woad.
Back in the time machine, Blackadder is becoming more discouraged about ever going home, but Baldrick comes up with "a cunning plan". Baldrick mentions that dying men have their lives flash before their eyes and that, if Blackadder was about to drown, he might remember how the dials were originally set. Blackadder agrees with this, but instead almost drowns Baldrick in the time machine toilet. As Baldrick's life flashes before his eyes, he remembers how to set the dials to return home.
Back in 1999, the party guests are very impressed by his trophies, but due to Blackadder's interference with history, Robin Hood is completely unheard of, William Shakespeare stopped writing plays and is instead credited as the inventor of the ballpoint pen, and Britain has been ruled by the French for two hundred years following Napoleon's victory at Waterloo. Horrified by the sight of a traditional garlic pudding and Archdeacon Darling wearing a tutu and ballet slippers, Blackadder leaps back into the time machine, screaming, "We've got to save Britain!"
This is accomplished by encouraging Shakespeare, flattering Robin Hood, and preventing the death of the Duke of Wellington (presumably, Baldrick has now labeled the dials, making the machine more controllable). They then return home to collect Blackadder's winnings from the amazed partygoers. After Melchett comments what damage an "unscrupulous" person could do with a time machine, Blackadder perks up. He tells his friends to go upstairs and watch the New Year's festivities on television, assuring them he'll soon return. He and Baldrick set off again in the machine to put his "very, very, very cunning plan" into action.
The four guests sit down to watch the broadcast of the royals and the prime minister arriving at the Millennium Dome. Blackadder – now the absolute monarch King Edmund III – steps from a limousine and is joined by Prime Minister Baldrick. The King is married to the beautiful Marian of Sherwood (Kate Moss). BBC correspondent Jennie Bond gushes about the King's 98% approval ratings, the success of Baldrick's cabinet, and the dissolution of Parliament. The film ends with the Blackadders having finally triumphed, with their descendants having become the rulers of Britain and millennia from now, the ruler of the entire universe.

Tags: cult, comedy, psychedelic, entertaining, historical

Review:
Old BBC shows are lovely, so low-budget and witty and strange.To a lover of literature and history like myself, Blackadder stands as possibly the funniest sitcom of all time.
Can you image Blackadder WITHOUT this line?).Like the recent big-budget Doctor Who and Asterix films, this was criticized by fans who were disappointed that it wasn't 4 stars all the way...but a general audience can forgive the odd flaw and accept this for what it is, a delightful reunion of great British comics for one last episode of a great show..
It isn;t as good as any of the series episodes of Blackadder (though it is better than the Christmas Carol special).However, by the average standard for comedy, this is still enjoyable.
I suppose I liked it for the most part for the nostalgia value - 10 years after the last official episode, we see my favorite British comedians reunited (worth the price alone): Rowan Atkinson, Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie...
I was lucky enough to be in London during this show's run at the Millennium Dome, and now am proud to own it as part of the new DVD Blackadder set.There are some great gags, and (for fans of British comedy) some great appearances.
I think it's great to see Tim McInnerny as more than one role in the series: Darling and Percy (and Smedly), because he's such a terrific and underrated actor, but I loved him the most as Percy and I miss that character.
Blackadder and his faithful servant Baldrick build a fake time machine from original plans in order to fool their friends into thinking that they went back in time and collected artifacts, thus winning a big bet.
However they travel back in time and accidentally change history  wiping out the very characters they claimed to have met.This special was made for show in the millennium dome, however it was also shown on BBC recently.
The time traveling element is amusing and is also an excuse for some very funny scenes (Robin Hood, Jurassic Park moment) but other bits don't work as well (the current-time dinner party is weak given the cast, and the Blackadder II bit isn't very funny and just shows how good the series was).
The dialogue lacks the sharp, cruel sarcasm that the other 4 series had  it tries to do it but it isn't as fresh as it once wasI guess that's the real effect of time!Atkinson is good as Blackadder  but he never seems comfortable with this incarnation as he did with previous onesperhaps because it is an one-off creation.
Of the rest of the talented cast only Rik Mayall is really funny  the rest (Fry, Laurie, Richardson etc) are all weak and never as good as they were in their roles in the 4 series.
However nice cameos from Colin Firth and Kate Moss make it interesting.Overall it's worth a watch  but don't expect to be anywhere near the height of the original 4 Blackadder series..
This being hyped as the last Blackadder story is a great end to a very funny series.
The plot has Edmund Blackadder trying to con his friends (played by series regulars Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie Miranda Richardson, and Tim Mcinnery) by claiming he has built a time machine on the eve of the new century, the year 2000.
Even though a lot of people on this forum seem to think this is rubbish i think this is a great blackadder ( although not as good as the TV series i admit ), It is funny and tries to incorporate a family audience to blackadder, I saw the film @ the Dome when i was just 10 and i was laughing my head off.
There are a phew mistakes with crew visible but it is a nice short film to end the blackadder series.The crew all seem to have had a great time making the film and it was a good send off after the killing off the characters in series 4, it shows them all as very good friends and Rowan Atkinson @ his cunning best..
Great fun all the way and well worth watching, if I do say so myself.This is a single episode of Blackadder, set in 1999 + many other times in history!
The day before the millennium, Blackadder plays a prank on his companions, he shows a time machine and says he will bring back anything from the past for each person.
+ Various actors playing different parts such as Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson.I recommend this to people who love the theme of time travelling + Blackadder and for people who like fun, mixed humour.
Its genius was manifold: it was painfully hilarious, even if some of the more elaborately syntactical dialogue now seems ill-advised; it had as its hero, as all great comedies ('Fawlty Towers', 'Seinfeld', 'The Simpsons') must, an absolute monster, an affront to decency, morality, humanity, yet our only sympathetic centre in a world of idiots and grotesques; it embodied a general post-war ethos which saw history, not as a linear narrative of progress, the eradication of disease, the greater happiness of people, the perfecting of institutions, but as an unchanging circle of tyranny, caprice and greed; it placed in history a man of modern sensibilities, and made fruitful mileage out of the gaping gap between our time and the past; it was a timely, devastating satire on Thatcherism, on a government whose me-me-me capitalism would seek to deny history and its consequences, figured in the character of Edmund, whose scams of survival and wealth are continually undone by the forces of history.
it was also lucky to have available some of the country's most expert comedians just before they became undone by acclaim, predictability, expectations and ego.So, even before this 'movie', 'Blackadder' was a time travel comedy, Edmund being definitely one of us.
When I heard that this was appearing on TV I looked forward to it with relish as I thought it would be a bonus after the generally excellent quality that the 1980's Blackadder series provided.However, despite one or two good moments this was a major disappointment.
What made this series so good was its wit (the Shakespeare bit is an exception) and that is unfortunately lacking from this effort.The best thing that resulted from watching this was looking for Blackadder material on the Web and finding the full script to the hilarious 'Blackadder's Christmas Carol'.
Atkinson, as the soul and the title of the series, challenges himself on all sorts of personas, from gullible to being cunning as a fox, his necessity on greed and humility is the fabrication of the history itself.Robinson is the apt supporter of his, on every literal sense where every now and then brilliant actors like Laurie and Fry invests their talent in, to raise the bar.
Blackadder is much more than a mere series or a period sitcom, it has memories of ours and theirs childhood that makes it long last.Blackadder Back And ForthIt swoops in all the seasons with jumping from one scene to another and reminiscing all the signature acts by installing a time travel concept and even though it is less humorisc, it still is fun to see these characters have a big dinner table conversation..
I saw it at the Dome and I have to say that I felt it was an unstructured, rushed and messy affair.The main story is that Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) tries to play a practical joke on his 'friends' by pretending that he has built a time-machine to the exact specifications of Leonardo Da Vinci.
However, he discovers that Leonardo's machine does in fact work and he is transported to the Jurassic era, facing a T-Rex. The rest of the story follows the attempts of Blackadder and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) to get back to their own time, visiting a number of periods of history on the way.
This storyline, which could be used as a synopsis for an entire series, is squashed into a feature only about 40 minutes long, with each period visited given only about 5 minutes.As for the humour - this feature follows on from where Blackadder Goes Forth finished off.
Compared to the first two series of Blackadder, this film is complete dross with little in the way of characterisation or subtlety.The film was used at the Dome, presumably to represent British humour at the outset of the Millennium.
When you consider how many classic comedy series Britain produced in the 70's and 80's (including Blackadder and Blackadder II), the timing of the new era couldn't have been worse..
Just like any other Rowan Atkinson project, if you give him a good script and top-notch characters to work with, he will do a brilliant job and make the program memorable.
The episode looks a heck of a lot more modern than the old Blackadder series - and the idea to have Blackadder and Baldrick sailing through time in a newly-built time machine in order to win a bet is one that is original and fits well with Blackadder's historical background.Blackadder brings modern life into the Elizabethan era in an extremely funny way (he shows a Tesco Cashcard to Queen Elizabeth I - absolutely hilarious), beats up William Shakespeare, kills the Duke of Wellington and Baldrick's pants wipe out the dinosaurs.
All of these outrageous moments are successfully incorporated into the plot rather than them just being there for humorous effect - and that is what makes this episode great, as Blackadder sets off on his adventures.
It is not much of a valuable addition to any Blackadder collection, except that it is a part of history, in it's own little way.I watched it in the Millennium Dome, and for that reason was impressed with it, whilst being greatly disappointed at the same time..
You basically just get this vague impression that something funny happened, "Oh yes, this is a joke, ha, ha." This is a pity, as the material is just as funny as usual.Also, you get the impression that they were trying to make a series out of it, but in the end, just settled on editting it all together for a movie, so in a lot of ways it feels rushed.
A lot of ingenuity (Hailed from Cambridge?) and acting was superb.The fact that most of the best actors from the last three series (Tim McInnery, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie; etc) was cast is what makes it the supreme last Blackadder.I have not added a spoiler warning because I think this is what everyone needs to know about before watching..
I can imagine it is difficult trying to resurrect a character one hasn't played in at least a decade, but at the same time, there might have been potential to play, say, Queen Bess a bit differently, perhaps play her as the older Queen, with the lead poisoning definitely setting in.I know Tim McInnerny didn't want to play Percy anymore, but I wonder what laughs they could have gotten if they had maybe drawn a connection between Percy and Darling in one of the tableaus.Blackadder, however, seems to continue his progression as a more confident character, getting to be more and more the straight-man in a lot of the gags.
I would have liked to have seen Richard somehow reincarnated, or maybe if Robin Hood had let out Mad Gerrold's trademark cackle at one point...Altogether, it was great fun to see what the show could do with a greater budget, but at the same time there was an uneasy feeling the cast and crew were doing it more for old time's sake than to try to create a new installment of this comic saga..
When I got the video of this it was good to at last see some fresh blackadder material but it was unfortunately quite below the standards of the series I had grown to love.
It is not the best Blackadder story, but with the added bonus of a budget probably larger than all the series put together and all of the Original cast members (Atkinson, Robinson, Fry, Laurie, McInnerny, Mayall, Richardson and Patsy Byrne back as Nursie!) plus some subtle references to the series it will please the fans.
And I must say - I was positively surprised, as I had heard a lot of critical remarks about it.BA Back and Forth is a brilliant ending to one of the best comedy shows in television history.
It wraps it all up beautifully, and fans of the BA series can't help but laugh at the many in-jokes and cliches, despite having heard them a lot of times before.If you are a fan of Prince/Lord/Butler/Captain Edmund Blackadder and haven't seen this 33-minute special - call your video rental, buy it on DVD or start making a lot of phone calls to the programme managers at your local TV-station!.
Released long after on video and DVD, "Blackaddr Back and Forth" probably felt like a great way to reunite, but ultimately it has little going for it and should never have been made.To celebrate the turn of the century, Lord Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) invited his closest friends to join him for a meal.
Using a copy of Leonardo Di Vinci's actual blueprints of a time machine, Blackadder has servant Baldrick (Tony Robinson) build a copy for a prank.
Travelling through time, Blackadder attempts to get home only to learn that time travel has potential consequences.Written by Tony Curtis and Ben Elton, this half an hour long episode probably seemed like a good idea originally.
Unfortunately however, this reunion of original staff might have been fun to make, but it's not particularly good to watch.Firstly, ignoring the issue of a Blackadder being witty and intelligent any time before the pathetic wimpy Edmund of the first series, the short scene at Hadrians Wall is incredibly mediocre.
With the notable exception of Bob, there is no woman that has really been good enough for Blackadder, and by adding Kate Moss to the mix, it just doesn't feel right.To try and say something nice about this woeful mistake, the appearance of Colin Firth as William Shakespeare is a definite plus.
Only on team for a short time, he doesn't necessarily need to put in the greatest of performances, but the way in which Blackadder insults the great bard and pokes fun at Kenneth Branagh is definitely a highlight.Sadly, apart from the short scene involving Shakespeare, there is little else positive to say about "Back and Forth".
There's a lot more to it than this--with probably the best ending of any Blackadder series.
This movie is quite fun, as you see all the cast reunited (Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson).
The jokes (like the clotted cream one) seemed a bit forced at times to me.However, Blackadder Back and Forth wasn't bad.
(Dual and Duality is one of the funniest TV episodes I have ever seen.) I also liked how Baldrick's underpants wiped out the dinosaurs.The only bit of history that Blackadder and Baldrick didn't change!.
This short reformation of the Blackadder gang came ten years after the final series, and was put together to run in the ill-fated Millennium Dome, that Greenwich white elephant opened to celebrate the arrival of the 21st century.Blackadder has built a 'time machine' which he has put together to impress his appalling dinner guests.
Taking Baldrick with him he plans to bring back an array of disgusting items to prove he's been away - of course, it is initially a scam, but ...Through their time travel, our heroes manage to change the course of history in more than one epoch - Edmund steals Maid Marian from Robin Hood (an OTT Rik Mayall with more than a whiff of Flashheart about him); he convinces Shakespeare - a morose Colin Firth - not to be a writer (and punches him for all the boring plays he wrote); he causes Napoleon to have slightly different fortunes than history dictated (Napoleon played by the stage actor Simon Russell Beale); and so on.All the usual cast are back - alongside Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson there's Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny, and Hugh Laurie.
Richard Curtis and Ben Elton's wonderful comedy sitcom characters have returned after ten years to do a special final edition to the saga (the final member of the Blackadder family, to date).
Rowan Atkinson as Lord Edmund Blackadder and his friends George (Hugh Laurie), Melchett (Stephen Fry), Darling (Tim McInnerny) and Lady Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) sit down to dinner to celebrate the New Year, new Century and Millennium.
It's after Baldrick and Blackadder get into the machine and pull a lever that they do actually time travel, but it was meant to be a prank!
Blackadder Back and forth is a brilliant film where favourites of the TV series' get together for New Years Eve. Blackadder and Baldrick use a time machine to win a bet between the group, however change time in the process.
Basically if you consider watching this, it is probably not the first time you have come across Blackadder.
Anyway, the entire time traveling plot and what Blackadder did in these different periods was entertaining to watch.
The bad news is that we probably didn't need it.Edmund tricks Elizabeth, Melchett, George and Darling (whatever happened to Percy?) with a fake time machine, built by Baldrick, to celebrate the millennium.
If you want a good Blackadder special try the Christmas episode or comic relief short instead..
Blackadder and Baldrick are out to fool dinner guests by pretending to go back in a time machine that Baldrick made from following some DiVinci plans, and in the process taking them for a bit of money, 10,000 British Pounds each.
Needing to put history straight, they used the time machine one more time, but when they finally returned, they also set things up for Lord Blackadder to become King of England.