Blackadder - Back And Forth / The Cavalier Years / Baldrick's Diary (2000)

Average rating

(72%)

Starring:	Rowan Atkinson \| Tony Robinson \| Stephen Fry \| Hugh Laurie \| Tim McInnerny \| Miranda Richardson \| Patsy Byrne \| Colin Firth
Director:	Paul Weiland
Studio:	CINEMA CLUB
Run time:	81 mins
Genres:	Comedy
Languages:	English
Subtitles:	None
Released:	September 15, 2003
Also available on:

After 12 years away from the small screen, the Blackadder cast are reunited to see out the 20th century. Lord Blackadder and his faithful companion Baldrick continue their historic warping of all that is sacred in Great Britain, But whilst the legendary Blackadder series were each confined to a particular era, this feature-length special allows them to fumble through history courtesy of a time machine. Also includes the behind-the-scenes featurette, "Baldrick's Diary."

Highest rated reviews

19 out of 24 people found the following review helpful:

I have a cunning plan...

Billy Bridgen from Doncaster, England, 16th March, 2006

For Blackadder fans like myself who grew up with the original series and memorised every line and put-down, this DVD will be like visiting an old friend but wondering if it was worth the trip. Blackadder - Back and Forth was commisioned as an attraction for the ill-fated Millennium Dome and unfortunately, turned out to be just as shoddily cobbled together at the last minute as the Dome was. Spending cash on big sets and special effects was never what Blackadder was about. It was about amazingly funny banter, perfect sarcasm and original characters. There are a few excellent moments in this 'short film' - (loved Napoleon's 'whoopsie' Officers at the battle of Waterloo) but I feel a little let down. Baldrick's Diary is like a broken pencil... pointless. The only real gem on this DVD is The Cavalier Years. Part of 'Comic Relief' night, this was originally shown on tv in short sketches as part of a charity telathon and i'm sure all Blackadder fans will love seeing this again. All in all, this purely is one just for real fans of Blackadder. Those of us who still live in the hope of a new Blackadder series.

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9 out of 13 people found the following review helpful:

How to spoil a classic British comedy.

Ian White from Ayrshire, 3rd August, 2004

In the present day Blackadder and Baldrick have invented a time-machine and travel through history causing 'comedy' havoc with the likes of Napolean, Roman's and dinosaur's.

In my mind, all but the first series of Blackadder will always be remebered for its quick witted dark comedy and excellent use of dialogue and character.

What we have here, in the one off episode shot ten years after the series', seems like a first year media student's attempt at a Blackadder revival. Gone is the black humour and well plotted story and in its place is a series of childish skits in the different era's travelled to.
Atkinson's Blackadder is this time a fairly 2dimensional bland version without the cruel edge which went toward making the character so popular. Atkinson and Robinson seem half asleep and a little melancholy as they go through yet another series of cunning plans and long-winded put downs. It's as though they read the script after signing up and are devastated at the quality of this final(?) installment.

Incredibly disappointing!

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Most recent reviews

1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Loved it

splodge from from Portsmouth, 20th June, 2008

The Dome was a dire waste of taxpayers’ money, although I think this and Peter Gabriel’s acrobatic show justified the price of admission (well, we did get cheap tickets!). So it was good to see Back and Forth again, if only to be reminded how gorgeous Kate Moss was back then! I loved the gags in this. Maybe it wasn’t as dark as the last series, but then neither were the other series. If you don’t titter when you hear Stephen Fry say “Darling”, perhaps you’ve had a sense of humour bypass. I think all the actors played they parts as well as ever, apart from Tony Robinson, who seemed rather fed up of being the fall guy again. The point about Blackadder is the variety of humour in it. There was the downright silly – such as the dinosaur pants-waving or Baldrick stuck down the toilet (just loved the extra touch of a time machine with two loos!); the clever wordplay, such as in the Hadrian’s Wall sketch; the absurd xenophobia against the “orange hedge” of Scotsmen and the post-modern irony of Blackadder getting Shakespeare to autograph a manuscript. I could go on, but if you didn’t find any of those funny, maybe you’re welcome to dross currently on the box such as My Family. This was fun to watch in 2000, and was fun to watch again – it’s a shame the Beeb haven’t shown it, but then it was made for Sky. Also, loved the Cavalier Years, which I hadn’t seen before. Baldrick’s Diary was utterly pointless, although I seem to remember the BBC was obsessed with showing ‘video diaries’ at the time, so maybe it seemed topical back then.

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