Black Adder V - Back and Forth Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't be teased: BACK AND FORTH isn't a fifth series of BLACK ADDER. It might be CALLED "BLACK ADDER V", but it's no such animal. It's a special, one-off film, much in the tradition of BLACK ADDER'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Like that predecessor, it takes the basic BLACK ADDER elements and uses them to its own purposes.
If this were truly the fifth series of BLACK ADDER, we'd expect to see the familiar cast of characters put in a single time period for a few episodes of mirth in the context of that time. Instead, perhaps inspired by Rowan Atkinson's own trip in the TARDIS, this is BLACK ADDER meets DOCTOR WHO.
The comedy, here, comes from sending Blackadder and Baldrick on a search for historical artifacts in a faulty time machine. As might be expected, they can't quite work the controls, so they go through the titular "back and forth" movements through time, meeting up with familiar faces from the series' (and Britain's) past.
It's great fun--much, much better than A CHRISTMAS CAROL at making multiple time zones work. Heeding the rampant criticism of A CHRISTMAS CAROL's "future" scene, writers Curtis and Elton have Blackadder only barely venturing into the future, here. Happily, they place Blackadder firmly in the past, with a wider range of actual historical (or at least legendary) figures than ever before. Blackadder's sharp criticism of historical greats like Shakespeare, Wellington, and Robin Hood will leave you laughing. But the best part is perhaps the ending, which holds unique satisfaction for long-time BLACK ADDER fans
Still, it's not a five-star effort. Just as in BLACK ADDER'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the need to visit all these time zones means that the characters along the way don't get the attention they deserve. Writers Curtis and Elton are guilty here of taking the easy historical joke from each time period and then running like hell. It's not a HUGE sin, because the jokes are very, very good--but there's nevertheless a sense that Curtis and Elton would've done better by simply choosing one epoch and staying there.
Also, I think that while this filmed production has higher production values than its siblings, it's not necessarily the better for it. In particular, I would've traded all the sumptuous location shots for a studio audience. As a television series, BLACK ADDER had a very syncopated, rhythmic prose; as a film, it's missing the punctuation of a studio audience's laughter. It's not just that it's minimally less enjoyable to watch without the laughter, it also affects the actors somewhat. In some scenes, the actors just slightly lack the timing and the energy they've had on other BLACK ADDER projects.
Laying these two objections to one side, however, you really should get this film. While I think some of its humor is vastly improved by having seen the television series--and even better enhanced by knowing some British history ---converts to the cult of The Black Adder could certainly do worse than to start here.

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The Blackadder cast returns after a 10 year absence for this special.The new 21st century Lord Blackadder and his scabby, but loyal, servant Baldrick wreak havoc as they tumble through the past in a time machine, with disastrous consequences.

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