Blackadder

It is no secret that television influences the formation of our attitudes and outlooks on life. We can pretend that it is not so, in a fit of imagined originality compared to `ordinary` people, but in that case it would be self-deception. There is nothing wrong with that in itself because television, like everything else, has a wide range of (lack of) quality. Quality, at least when it comes to sitcoms, I would say remains on this side of the Atlantic, and quantity on the other.

Perhaps the famous statement of a film director that ``In Hollywood they never throw away the trash, they just put it on TV`` is partly true. It is certainly true when it comes to the influx of trash in the form of local TV shows and series from third world countries. Although in that case it is not Hollywood who is to blame, but Bollywood. If anything from television has influenced the creation of my views, then it is the British TV series Blackadder (known in these parts as Crna Guja, according to the Croatian-Serbian translation).

The series can be said to be a sitcom, but beyond that - it is not suitable for classification. That Blackadder is the best product of the eighty-year British tradition of television production is an axiom! And whether it is the best TV series of all time is still an open question. Although not for me, it has long been clear to me that it is the best of all time. As an idea, it was born in the minds of screenwriter Richard Curtis and actor Rowan Atkinson, who were later joined by Ben Elton. The idea was realized by producer Johnny Lloyd, naturally for the BBC. 28 episodes were filmed, 24 `regular` episodes in four seasons, a pilot episode and three `specials` in the period from 1983 to 1999.

The genre varies from season to season.

The first series takes place in the late Middle Ages, at the court of King Richard IV, where his son Edmund is at the center of events. An irritating and almost androgynous figure, the Black Snake tries to fulfill the false prophecy of three female spectators and become king. His sidekicks are Lord Percy, a naive aristocrat of modest intelligence, and Baldrick, a cunning peasant and the only descendant of the unfortunate encounter between a certain swineherd and a bearded woman. These three remain permanent characters throughout the series, the others appear more as decoration.

The second season is set in the time of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, where Edmund and his friends try to survive and get rich in the circle of the totally neurotic queen and her entourage, the spoiled first Lord Melchit. Here we have a major character departure in Edmund, who is no longer a miserable and miserable creature with a shrill voice, but a man of his age, a seducer, a conman and with a noticeable increase in mental abilities compared to his ancestor. What went into Edmund's head, the scriptwriters probably borrowed from Baldrick's head, which becomes completely empty, something above the minimum requirements for not being mentally retarded. But even as such, Baldrick manages to make a lot of problems for himself and Edmund. Percy...is Percy again.

The third season takes place during the Napoleonic Wars, Edmund is a little physically different than before but constant in his endless attempts to provide himself with wealth. He is back in the circle of power, albeit only peripherally as the butler of the Prince of Wales. Baldrick is in love with a turnip, and Percy is taking a break. But here is the Prince of Wales, the English heir to the throne and son of the mad King George. Inheriting his father's weak mental frame, the prince becomes the target of Edmund's attempts to achieve success and wealth, and all this culminates in Edmund's accession to the throne...

The fourth season is also the most mature, script-wise. A series with a strong anti-war message that takes place in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. Blackadder is now a less resigned figure who sharpens and refines his potential for cynicism, irony and sarcasm to the extreme limits. As a lower-ranking officer, he is not at all inclined to heroic outbursts, he is just trying to survive and nothing more. But that itself is damn difficult. Especially with Baldrick as an assistant. And George. Who is not a prince this time, just a non-commissioned officer. Percy is gone again, although he transcends into the character of Captain Darling, scribe to General Melchit - who is in turn a caricatured figure with hereditary status in society and military-tactical abilities equal to those of a drunken Orangutan. As such - he is a mortal threat to the ordinary soldier who is supposed to die carrying out some idiotic order. The ending of the series is tragic, a memory of millions of lost young lives that in the eyes of the state were not worth more than half a square meter of conquered territory. Per man...

The pilot episode and special episodes deal with other topics, unrelated to the main series, but in the same spirit. Especially the Christmas one. The main role and the bearer of the series is Rowan Atkinson, the legend of world comedy and doyen of satire, cynicism, irony, sarcasm and metaphors with sexual connotations. Known to the wider audience as Mr. Bean, a role that brought him millions of pounds. Behind the character of poor Baldrick is Tony Robinson, an unremarkable actor who gained a small but significant reputation with his role in Blackadder. He was encountered later in the alleys of cable television, more precisely on the History Channel where he hosts shows about archaeology and history. George is played by Hugh Laurie, today a big TV star thanks to the brainchild of the Black Snake - Dr. House. Percy is Tim McInerney, an obscure English actor who may not even remember ever acting...

The legends of British acting - Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson - also have significant roles in the series. By no means a sitcom that makes you chuckle or burst out laughing, the humor in Black Snake works with restraint, like a time bomb that can usually be activated during a conversation with an unintelligent person, with an idiotic superior or any imposed authority. And a person can also spontaneously remember a phrase, like, for example, while waiting in line to pay bills...

If you have ever made such a mistake in your life and have not watched the series - immediately head to the nearest Torrent tracker and atone for that sin. And if you have watched it and `didn't like it' then I don't know what else to say except - Lord have mercy on your soul.

(Roger Mortis, 098)