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The Black Adder
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The Black Adder

The Black Adder

The Black Adder

1983 - 1983
Comedy, History
TV Series
3h 15m
Set in England at the end of the War of the Roses, we soon find out that the history we know is a Tudor fiction. In fact, Henry VII did not actually win the battle of Bosworth Field; he lost and though Richard III died in the battle, his nephew King Richard IV (who certainly was not smothered while still a boy in the Tower of London) reigned on for some years. The story focuses on Richard IV's younger son Prince Edmund, a sniveling coward who calls himself the 'Black Adder'. (imdb)
You've rated 0 of 7 episodes in this series

Directed by:

Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Richard Curtis
Richard-Curtis
46 total credits
Credits include: Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill and Bean
,
Geoff Posner
Geoff-Posner
12 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, The Young Ones, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Dinnerladies and Not the Nine O'Clock News
,
Martin Shardlow
Martin-Shardlow
3 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, The Foretelling, Born to Be King and The Archbishop

Writers:

Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Richard Curtis
Richard-Curtis
46 total credits
Credits include: Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill and Bean

Starring:

Jim Broadbent
Jim-Broadbent
116 total credits
Jim Broadbent might be most popularly known as Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter films, but this stage and screen character actor has had a long and excellent career. His big break didn't come until 1990, with Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet, with whom he would go onto enjoy many collaborations with.
,
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam-Margolyes
49 total credits
Credits include: Babe, Happy Feet, End of Days, James and the Giant Peach and Cats & Dogs
,
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Tim McInnerny
Tim-McInnerny
51 total credits
Credits include: Notting Hill, 101 Dalmatians, Sherlock, Johnny English Reborn and 102 Dalmatians
,
Frank Finlay
Frank-Finlay
53 total credits
Credits include: The Pianist, Lifeforce, The Black Adder, The Three Musketeers and A Christmas Carol
,
Brian Blessed
Brian-Blessed
50 total credits
Credits include: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Tarzan, Alexander, Flash Gordon and Much Ado About Nothing
,
Peter Cook
Peter-Cook
36 total credits
Credits include: The Princess Bride, Bedazzled, Supergirl, The Black Adder and Great Balls of Fire!
,
Rik Mayall
Rik-Mayall
56 total credits
Credits include: An American Werewolf in London, Drop Dead Fred, Blackadder Goes Forth, The Black Adder and Valiant
,
Tony Robinson
Tony-Robinson
26 total credits
Credits include: Blackadder Goes Forth, The Black Adder, Black-Adder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Back & Forth
,
Elspet Gray
Elspet-Gray
7 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, The Girl in a Swing, The Psychiatrist, The Queen of Spain's Beard and Witchsmeller Pursuivant
,
Robert East
Robert-East
2 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder and PAWNS
,
David Nunn
David-Nunn
1 total credit
Credits include: The Black Adder

Franchise:

Blackadder

Genres:

Comedy, History, Sitcom

AKA:

Blackadder

Countries:

Australia, UK

Language:

English

The Black Adder

1983 - 1983
Comedy, History
TV Series
3h 15m
Your probable score

Ratings & Reviews

Compact view
Compact view
Average Percentile: 61.17%
18 Mar 2018
50
35th
I don't have to like this if I don't want to.
05 Aug 2011
70
63rd
While not quite as bitingly funny as the series that followed, it's very good, and the volcanic presence of Brian Blessed adds some dramatic heft to proceedings.
07 May 2011
59
62nd
Hit-and-miss. Brian Blessed is awesome though and everyone should watch him hosting "Have I Got News For You" on youtube.
24 Feb 2011
68
71st
The Black Adder, the first in a saga of miniseries starring Rowan Atkinson (usually as a courtier) in period settings, is cruder than the 2nd, 3rd and 4th series. At first I did not appreciate it as much as them, but after re-watching it several times over the years it has grown on me. On occasion, it is able to elicit a hearty guffaw, and while the rest is just silly, it becomes fun once you settle into it.
18 Jan 2011
60
52nd
Considerably weaker than the following BlackAdder series, but still laced with a little bit of the brilliance that made what followed this weak start so good.
04 May 2021
60
44th
x0
08 Jun 2019
60
51st
It has its moments but I found it just as annoying as I did funny.
25 Sep 2015
95
98th
When I was younger, I used to view this as the poor season before the good ones started. Last time I rewatched it I was surprised to find out I rate it as highly as the rest now.
23 Mar 2015
70
82nd
Very good.
10 Feb 2015
70
79th
The writing, characters, story, and set direction are all highly superior to the series that follow
27 Oct 2014
50
15th
Terrible, but leads to greatness. Brian Blessed was good in it though
28 Jun 2014
50
27th
Don't dismiss Blackadder based on this first series. It gets soooooo much better from here.
23 Feb 2013
78
55th
Hints of the future brilliance of Blackadder are here, but they're often left to fall flat by everything else. Funny, but not a candle to the subsequent three series.
03 Nov 2012
70
53rd
Has the best intro...hahahahahahahahahahhahaa
27 Jul 2012
80
75th
Sets the stage for the improved format of the three series that followed. Still enjoyable, but I like the balance of witty and awkward struck by II, III, and IV as opposed to the almost-entirely-awkward humor of this one.
30 Apr 2012
70
60th
Often more irritating than amusing, but still showing the early signs of what the series would eventually become.
27 May 2011
0
8th
Ugh!
22 May 2011
5
81st
Has a few spotty patches, but comes into its own in good time. Standouts are a weasily role from Atkinson & Brian Blessed being his awesome, bombastic self.
06 Mar 2011
70
70th
The first entry in the Black Adder saga is very enjoyable but decidedly inferior to the sheer brilliance of the other three: this Black Adder is essentially a clueless, slimy moron, a differentiation that does make for several great moments but without matching the non-stop hilarity of his later incarnations. Still, the show boasts an excellent cast and hints more than once at the genius in the making: the characters gel more and more and the humour at times shows shades of vitriolic subversion.
15 Feb 2011
55
53rd
Amusing TV series.
The Black Adder - Season 1
Season 1 - Set in England at the end of the War of the Roses, we soon find out that the history we know is a Tudor fiction. In fact, Henry VII did not actually win the battle of Bosworth Field; he lost and though Richard III died in the battle, his nephew King Richard IV (who certainly was not smothered while still a boy in the Tower of London) reigned on for some years. The story focuses on Richard IV's younger son Prince Edmund, a sniveling coward who calls himself the 'Black Adder'. (imdb)

Cast & Info

Directed by:

Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Richard Curtis
Richard-Curtis
46 total credits
Credits include: Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill and Bean
,
Geoff Posner
Geoff-Posner
12 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, The Young Ones, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Dinnerladies and Not the Nine O'Clock News
,
Martin Shardlow
Martin-Shardlow
3 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, The Foretelling, Born to Be King and The Archbishop

Writers:

Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Richard Curtis
Richard-Curtis
46 total credits
Credits include: Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill and Bean

Starring:

Jim Broadbent
Jim-Broadbent
116 total credits
Jim Broadbent might be most popularly known as Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter films, but this stage and screen character actor has had a long and excellent career. His big break didn't come until 1990, with Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet, with whom he would go onto enjoy many collaborations with.
,
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam-Margolyes
49 total credits
Credits include: Babe, Happy Feet, End of Days, James and the Giant Peach and Cats & Dogs
,
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan-Atkinson
62 total credits
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians...(Wikipedia)
,
Tim McInnerny
Tim-McInnerny
51 total credits
Credits include: Notting Hill, 101 Dalmatians, Sherlock, Johnny English Reborn and 102 Dalmatians
,
Frank Finlay
Frank-Finlay
53 total credits
Credits include: The Pianist, Lifeforce, The Black Adder, The Three Musketeers and A Christmas Carol
,
Brian Blessed
Brian-Blessed
50 total credits
Credits include: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Tarzan, Alexander, Flash Gordon and Much Ado About Nothing
,
Peter Cook
Peter-Cook
36 total credits
Credits include: The Princess Bride, Bedazzled, Supergirl, The Black Adder and Great Balls of Fire!
,
Rik Mayall
Rik-Mayall
56 total credits
Credits include: An American Werewolf in London, Drop Dead Fred, Blackadder Goes Forth, The Black Adder and Valiant
,
Tony Robinson
Tony-Robinson
26 total credits
Credits include: Blackadder Goes Forth, The Black Adder, Black-Adder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Back & Forth
,
Elspet Gray
Elspet-Gray
7 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder, The Girl in a Swing, The Psychiatrist, The Queen of Spain's Beard and Witchsmeller Pursuivant
,
Robert East
Robert-East
2 total credits
Credits include: The Black Adder and PAWNS
,
David Nunn
David-Nunn
1 total credit
Credits include: The Black Adder

Franchise:

Blackadder

Genres:

Comedy, History, Sitcom

AKA:

Blackadder

Countries:

Australia, UK

Language:

English
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