Blackadder Back & Forth

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. This is no way classic Blackadder – the story is a mix of Blackadder trademark sarcasm and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. 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. Robinson is good as Baldrick because his character never changes. 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.