Blackadder: Back & Forth
Encyclopedia
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 short film based on the BBC
mock-historical comedy series Blackadder
that marks the end of the Blackadder
saga. It was commissioned especially for showing in the specially built "SkyScape" cinema, erected southeast of the Millennium Dome
on the Greenwich peninsula
in South London
.
The film follows Lord Edmund Blackadder and his idiotic servant, Baldrick, on a time-travel adventure that brings the characters into contact with several figures significant to British history. In a 1999 interview, Richard Curtis described it as "an irreverent trek through British history – a time travel adventure story consisting entirely of people who are either rude or stupid." Rowan Atkinson
and Tony Robinson
reprised their roles as the series' core characters Blackadder
and Baldrick
, respectively.
In an interview, Atkinson admitted that "Bringing Blackadder to the big screen has always been an ambition." Joining Atkinson and Robinson are other main cast members from the last three series, Stephen Fry
, Hugh Laurie
, Tim McInnerny
and Miranda Richardson
.
. Due to the increased budget, it is the only Blackadder story to be shot entirely on film and with no laugh track
, although one was added for the 2002 BBC screening. It is also the only Blackadder to be filmed in widescreen
; 2.20:1 aspect ratio
for cinema showings, and 16:9 (1.77:1) for the DVD and television screenings.
The film was co-financed by Sky Television
and the BBC, with sponsorship from—among others—Tesco PLC
, with Blackadder trying to sell his loyalty card to Queenie.
(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 wager
s £30,000 that he can bring back anything they ask for. His guests – Archbishop Melchett
(Stephen Fry
), Archdeacon Kevin Darling
(Tim McInnerny
), Lieutenant George
(Hugh Laurie
) and Lady Elizabeth
(Miranda Richardson
) – announce that, if Blackadder is to win, he must bring back a Roman centurion
's helmet
, the Duke of Wellington
's boot
s, 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 underpants!". 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.
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. The Queen, mistaking him for his ancestor, Lord Blackadder
, decides to behead him, unless he has a gift 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 breath mints on pain of having his head smashed in.
On his way back to the machine, Blackadder literally runs into William Shakespeare
(Colin Firth
). After receiving the Bard's 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, which will cause untold suffering for untold generations of youths, are nothing but people "in stupid tights
... talking total crap
," then kicks him in vengeance for Kenneth Branagh
's 4 hour Hamlet
film. 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
). However, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws with his lifestyle. Blackadder smugly reminds the Merry Men
that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor with no toilet, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides," waiting for the next cash instalment. Enraged, the Merry Men promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. Then Maid Marian
(Kate Moss
), smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sexual relations with him. 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 Battle of Waterloo
and squashing the Duke of Wellington
(Fry) just before the fighting begins. Blackadder steps out of the machine only long enough to steal the Duke's boots to win his bet.
One last attempt to set the dials aright lands them at Hadrian's Wall
in Roman Britain
. Intriguingly, the wall is being guarded by Blackadder's centurion ancestor, with a Roman-era Baldrick as his shield-carrier. After stealing his ancestor's helmet, Blackadder and Baldrick escape just ahead of a charging wall of Braveheart
-style Scotsmen
wearing blue face paint.
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 Bonaparte'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. 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.
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 rating
s, the success of Baldrick's cabinet, and the abolition of Parliament
. The film ends with the Blackadders having finally triumphed, with their descendant having become the ruler of Britain and millennia from now, the ruler of the entire universe.
The cast reunited most of the regulars of series two to four of the television series, who each played a variety of different incarnations of themselves, in a similar fashion to Blackadder's Christmas Carol. The cast also included a number of cameos from British actors and celebrities.
, a dispute broke out between Sky television and the BBC over who had the right to screen the one-off special after the Millennium year. Sky television claimed that they had paid £4 million for exclusive rights while the BBC argued that it was absurd that the channel from which the programme originated would not be screening it and that "The stars agreed to do it on the basis that it would be on BBC One." The film was shown at the SkyScape cinema eight times a day throughout the celebratory year 2000, after which it was aired on television, first on Sky in 2001
and then on BBC One
on Easter Sunday in 2002.
. All of this material, together with Blackadder's Christmas Carol
, was later included on Disc 5 of the Blackadder Remastered: The Ultimate Edition DVD box set. The DVD release includes the laugh track.
The film was nominated for "Best Situation Comedy" at the British Academy Television Awards 2001
.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
mock-historical comedy series Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
that marks the end of the Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
saga. It was commissioned especially for showing in the specially built "SkyScape" cinema, erected southeast of the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
on the Greenwich peninsula
Greenwich Peninsula
Greenwich Peninsula is an area of South London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.The peninsula is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, between the Isle of Dogs and Silvertown. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the south-east is Charlton.The peninsula lies...
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
.
The film follows Lord Edmund Blackadder and his idiotic servant, Baldrick, on a time-travel adventure that brings the characters into contact with several figures significant to British history. In a 1999 interview, Richard Curtis described it as "an irreverent trek through British history – a time travel adventure story consisting entirely of people who are either rude or stupid." Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. 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...
and Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
reprised their roles as the series' core characters Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder is the single name given to a collection of fictional characters who appear in the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder, each played by Rowan Atkinson. Although each series is set within a different period of British history, each character is part of the same familial...
and Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
, respectively.
In an interview, Atkinson admitted that "Bringing Blackadder to the big screen has always been an ambition." Joining Atkinson and Robinson are other main cast members from the last three series, Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
and Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
.
Production
Blackadder: Back & Forth was produced almost 10 years after the final episode of the Blackadder television series, but re-united almost the entire cast and writers of series 2–4 of the television programme, with the exception of the original series producer, John LloydJohn Lloyd (writer)
John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...
. Due to the increased budget, it is the only Blackadder story to be shot entirely on film and with no laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
, although one was added for the 2002 BBC screening. It is also the only Blackadder to be filmed in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
; 2.20:1 aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
for cinema showings, and 16:9 (1.77:1) for the DVD and television screenings.
The film was co-financed by Sky Television
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
and the BBC, with sponsorship from—among others—Tesco PLC
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, with Blackadder trying to sell his loyalty card to Queenie.
Plot
The film opens at Blackadder Hall where the present day Lord BlackadderEdmund Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder is the single name given to a collection of fictional characters who appear in the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder, each played by Rowan Atkinson. Although each series is set within a different period of British history, each character is part of the same familial...
(Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. 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...
) is entertaining guests on New Year's Eve, 1999. As a scam, Blackadder informs them he has invented a working time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
and wager
Wager
Wager can refer to:* Gambling* A scientific wager* A legal wager under the Roman legal system* WAGR syndrome - a rare genetic syndrome-Given name:*Wager Swayne , American military Governor-Surname:...
s £30,000 that he can bring back anything they ask for. His guests – Archbishop Melchett
Melchett
Melchett is a family line of fictional characters appearing in the British television sitcom series Blackadder, played by Stephen Fry. There were two main Melchetts: Lord Melchett and General Melchett.- Blackadder II :...
(Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
), Archdeacon Kevin Darling
Kevin Darling
Darling is the name of several fictional characters played by Tim McInnerny in the British mock-historical sitcom Blackadder. Introduced in its fourth iteration, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Kevin Darling is main character Captain Edmund Blackadder 's intellectual peer and bitter rival; while...
(Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
), Lieutenant George
George (Blackadder character)
George was a supporting character that appeared in various adaptations of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, played by Hugh Laurie. Each series saw a different incarnation of the character, because each was set in a different period of history. He was most prominently featured in the third and fourth series...
(Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
) and Lady Elizabeth
Queenie
"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
(Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
) – announce that, if Blackadder is to win, he must bring back a Roman centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
's helmet
Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
, the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
's boot
Wellington boot
The Wellington boot, also known as rubber-boots, wellies, wellingtons, topboots, billy-boots, gumboots, gummies, barnboots, wellieboots, muckboots, sheepboots, shitkickers, or rainboots are a type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots...
s, 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
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
(Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
) after plans by Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, actually works.
The pair first land in the Cretaceous Period, where they are attacked by a massive Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. Baldrick uses his underpants to beat back the dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
, 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 underpants!". 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.
After configuring the dials on instinct, Blackadder and Baldrick land back at Blackadder Hall at the court of Queen Elizabeth I
Queenie
"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
, with Nursie (Patsy Byrne
Patsy Byrne
Patsy Byrne is an English actress.-Biography:She was educated at Ashford School for Girls, and attended the school around the same time as Lorna Fendall, and Joanna Brough, daughter of Arthur Brough...
) and Lord Melchett at her side. The Queen, mistaking him for his ancestor, Lord Blackadder
Lord Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Lord Blackadder is the main character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. He is played by Rowan Atkinson.The second series is set in Elizabethan England, and Edmund is a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I...
, decides to behead him, unless he has a gift for her. Blackadder first offers a supermarket loyalty card, upon which the Queen screams, "Kill him!" He then offers her a Polo mint
Polo (mint)
Polos are a brand of sweets whose defining feature is the hole in the middle. The peppermint flavoured polo was first manufactured in the United Kingdom in 1948 by employee John Bargewell at the Rowntree's Factory, York, a range of flavours followed...
, 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 breath mints on pain of having his head smashed in.
On his way back to the machine, Blackadder literally runs into William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
(Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
). After receiving the Bard's autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
, 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, which will cause untold suffering for untold generations of youths, are nothing but people "in stupid tights
Tights
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name....
... talking total crap
Crap
Crap may refer to:*Crap, a slang word for feces, also used to describe something substandard*Craps, a casino dice game*Crap Grisch, a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, situated near Vals in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland...
," then kicks him in vengeance for Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
's 4 hour Hamlet
Hamlet (1996 film)
Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...
film. 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
Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is a Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, that is famous through its historical association with the legend of Robin Hood. Continuously forested since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423 hectares surrounding the village of...
and are captured by Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
(Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
). However, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws with his lifestyle. Blackadder smugly reminds the Merry Men
Merry Men
The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who followed Robin Hood, according to English folklore. An early use of the phrase "merry men" occurs in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk", which survives in a manuscript completed around 1450. The word "merry" in this and other...
that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor with no toilet, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides," waiting for the next cash instalment. Enraged, the Merry Men promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. Then Maid Marian
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
(Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
), smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sexual relations with him. 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 Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and squashing the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(Fry) just before the fighting begins. Blackadder steps out of the machine only long enough to steal the Duke's boots to win his bet.
One last attempt to set the dials aright lands them at Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
. Intriguingly, the wall is being guarded by Blackadder's centurion ancestor, with a Roman-era Baldrick as his shield-carrier. After stealing his ancestor's helmet, Blackadder and Baldrick escape just ahead of a charging wall of Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
-style Scotsmen
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
wearing blue face paint.
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
Life review
A life review is a phenomenon widely reported as occurring during near-death experiences, in which a person rapidly sees much or the totality of his or her life history in chronological sequence and in extreme detail. It is often referred to by people having experienced this phenomenon as having...
and that, if Blackadder was about to drown
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
, 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
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
stopped writing plays and is instead credited as the inventor of the ballpoint pen
Ballpoint pen
A ballpoint pen is a writing instrument with an internal ink reservoir and a sphere for a point. The internal chamber is filled with a viscous ink that is dispensed at its tip during use by the rolling action of a small sphere...
, and Britain has been ruled by the French for two hundred years following Napoleon Bonaparte'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. 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
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
festivities on television, assuring them he'll soon return.
The four guests sit down to watch the broadcast of the royals
Genealogy of the British Royal Family
The recorded genealogy of the British Royal Family traces back to the early Middle Ages. Although there is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the Royal Family, and different lists will include different people, those carrying the style His or Her Majesty or His or...
and the prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
arriving at the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
. Blackadder – now the absolute monarch King Edmund III – steps from a limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
and is joined by Prime Minister Baldrick. The King is married to the beautiful Marian of Sherwood (Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
). BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
correspondent Jennie Bond
Jennie Bond
Jennifer "Jennie" Bond is an English journalist and television presenter. She worked for fourteen years as the BBC's royal correspondent. She has most recently hosted Cash in the Attic and narrated the five series programme, Great British Menu.-Early career:She was educated at St...
gushes about the King's 98% approval rating
Approval rating
In the United States, presidential job approval ratings were introduced by George Gallup in the late 1930s to gauge public support for the President of the United States during his term. An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an...
s, the success of Baldrick's cabinet, and the abolition of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. The film ends with the Blackadders having finally triumphed, with their descendant having become the ruler of Britain and millennia from now, the ruler of the entire universe.
Cast
- Rowan AtkinsonRowan AtkinsonRowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. 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...
as Lord Blackadder, King Edmund III and Centurion Blaccadius - Tony RobinsonTony RobinsonTony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
as BaldrickBaldrickBaldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
, Prime MinisterBaldrickBaldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
and Legionary Baldricus - Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
as Flavius Melchett, General Melchius, Lord Melchett and the Duke of Wellington - Hugh LaurieHugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
as Major GeorgeGeorge (Blackadder character)George was a supporting character that appeared in various adaptations of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, played by Hugh Laurie. Each series saw a different incarnation of the character, because each was set in a different period of history. He was most prominently featured in the third and fourth series...
and Consul GeorgiusGeorge (Blackadder character)George was a supporting character that appeared in various adaptations of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, played by Hugh Laurie. Each series saw a different incarnation of the character, because each was set in a different period of history. He was most prominently featured in the third and fourth series... - Tim McInnernyTim McInnernyTim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
as Archdeacon DarlingKevin DarlingDarling is the name of several fictional characters played by Tim McInnerny in the British mock-historical sitcom Blackadder. Introduced in its fourth iteration, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Kevin Darling is main character Captain Edmund Blackadder 's intellectual peer and bitter rival; while...
, Duke of DarlingKevin DarlingDarling is the name of several fictional characters played by Tim McInnerny in the British mock-historical sitcom Blackadder. Introduced in its fourth iteration, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Kevin Darling is main character Captain Edmund Blackadder 's intellectual peer and bitter rival; while...
and Duc de DarlingKevin DarlingDarling is the name of several fictional characters played by Tim McInnerny in the British mock-historical sitcom Blackadder. Introduced in its fourth iteration, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Kevin Darling is main character Captain Edmund Blackadder 's intellectual peer and bitter rival; while... - Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
as Lady ElizabethQueenie"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
and her relative Queen Elizabeth I - Patsy ByrnePatsy ByrnePatsy Byrne is an English actress.-Biography:She was educated at Ashford School for Girls, and attended the school around the same time as Lorna Fendall, and Joanna Brough, daughter of Arthur Brough...
as NursieNursieNursie is a fictional character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder II. She was played by Patsy Byrne and appeared in all six episodes. She also appeared in two of the Blackadder specials; Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth... - Rik MayallRik MayallRichard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
as Robin HoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
(aka Lord Flashheart) - Kate MossKate MossKate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
as Maid MarianMaid MarianMaid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion... - Colin FirthColin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
as William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"... - Simon Russell BealeSimon Russell BealeSimon Russell Beale, CBE is an English actor. He has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation."-Early years:...
as Napoleon - Jennie BondJennie BondJennifer "Jennie" Bond is an English journalist and television presenter. She worked for fourteen years as the BBC's royal correspondent. She has most recently hosted Cash in the Attic and narrated the five series programme, Great British Menu.-Early career:She was educated at St...
as Royal Reporter
Screening rights dispute
In 1999, before Back & Forth had been premiered at the Millennium DomeMillennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
, a dispute broke out between Sky television and the BBC over who had the right to screen the one-off special after the Millennium year. Sky television claimed that they had paid £4 million for exclusive rights while the BBC argued that it was absurd that the channel from which the programme originated would not be screening it and that "The stars agreed to do it on the basis that it would be on BBC One." The film was shown at the SkyScape cinema eight times a day throughout the celebratory year 2000, after which it was aired on television, first on Sky in 2001
and then on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on Easter Sunday in 2002.
Rating, awards and DVD release
Because of the film's intended audience (it is rated PG rather than 15) a number of scenes were cut from the final edit. Some of these were later shown in a corresponding "making of" documentary called Baldrick's Video Diary which was produced to accompany the DVD release, which also featured the Comic Relief special Blackadder: The Cavalier YearsBlackadder: The Cavalier Years
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years is a 15 minute one-off edition of Blackadder set during the English Civil War, shown as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on Friday 5 February . The episode included series regulars Rowan Atkinson as Sir Edmund Blackadder, Tony Robinson as Baldrick, and Stephen Fry...
. All of this material, together with Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth , and is narrated by Hugh Laurie...
, was later included on Disc 5 of the Blackadder Remastered: The Ultimate Edition DVD box set. The DVD release includes the laugh track.
The film was nominated for "Best Situation Comedy" at the British Academy Television Awards 2001
British Academy Television Awards 2001
The 2001 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday May 13, 2001. The ceremony took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London.-Winners:*Best Actor**Winner: Michael Gambon — Longitude...
.
External links
- Blackadder: Back and Forth at Blackadderhall.com