TV Review: Blackadder Goes Forth
The year is 1917, the place, somewhere in France. British troops are dug into trenches, not too far from the German troops in their trenches. This particular part of the front line is the location of Captain Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson.) Experience has taught him that the British strategy of sending men “over the top” in waves to assault the German lines just results in dead soldiers, and the captain has no interest in dying. He hatches scheme after scheme to get himself away from the front lines, or at least delay the fatal charge.
In this effort, Captain Blackadder is badly assisted by his second, Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie), an upper-class twit who believes all the propaganda about honor and glory, and the company batman (military servant), Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson) who is profoundly stupid but does the best he can. They try to outwit the mad General Melchett (Stephen Fry) who thinks that using the same tactic that has failed eighteen times in the past will surely trick the Germans this time, and Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny) a rear echelon bureaucrat who is determined to kiss up to the general in order to stay safely behind the lines.
This was the fourth and final series of Blackadder, each short (six episodes) season using mostly the same actors in similar roles in different times, as though they were reincarnations. Blackadder himself seems to improve somewhat over the ages–his first incarnation is both very evil and stupid, and slightly lessens those qualities in each subsequent variant. Captain Blackadder is bright (but not quite bright enough) and his goal isn’t particularly wicked (not dying) but retains much of his ancestors’ contempt for everyone around him and skill at insults.
Many of those insults are quite funny, and there are many other laugh out loud moments as the characters react to the situations they find themselves in. I did not care as much for the gross-out gags involving Baldrick’s cooking (he ran out of real coffee in 1914.) And to be honest, since the show aired in 1989, rape jokes have lost much of their luster.
The treatment of World War One is satirical, focusing on the futility and loss of life it entailed, and the divide between the courage of the soldiers and the poor leadership of the commanding officers. Some historians feel the series went too far with this, and warn that this is after all a work of fiction.
Especially striking is the final episode, “Goodbyeee”, in which the Big Push is ordered at last. The mood turns more somber as Captain Blackadder’s plans to escape fail one by one. Lieutenant George realizes that all his friends are dead and he doesn’t want to die himself. Baldrick asks the obvious question, “why can’t we all just go home?” and no one can give him a good answer. Even Captain Darling is ordered into the charge as General Melchett fails to understand that this “reward” for loyal service is the last thing Darling wants.
In the final moments, the soldiers leave the trench and go into battle–their fate is left unsaid, but the screen fades to a field of poppies, symbolic of the fallen of WW1. It’s a bleak ending for a comedy.
The cast is excellent, and the writing good (despite some gags falling flat.) I’d recommend watching all the Blackadder series in order, but if you have a special interest in World War One, this part stands on its own.
And now a video about poppies:
