Blackadder Remastered - The Ultimate Edition

I purchased this for £9.91 in total, and it was worth every penny. I used to watch Blackadder when it was first aired on TV as a child and always loved it. I am a fan of intelligent, witty humour with a load of childishness thrown in and wackiness. I like; Red Dwarf Bottom The Young Ones Spaced League Of Gentleman Spitting Image Alan Partridge and anything with Reeves and Mortimer plus others... Absolute bargain for the complete collection. I enjoyed the first two series the most on DVD, and although I watched them alone, I was often crying with laughter. :D Every single actor is top notch. I work in theatre and these actors are stupendous - N.B every budding actor should watch and learn! Lots of bonuses and actually more interviews than are stated on the back of the box set- i.e Miranda Richardson is also featured in an interview although that is not stated on the box set index. I did find Rowan Atkinson's interview to be so boring that I couldn't watch it all the way through- it really appeared as though he was just doing it for the sake of adding the bonus interviews to the box set, and getting paid as opposed to a sense of nostalgia and wanting to be a part of the whole Blackadder thing again.. Hugh Laurie's interview was nice to watch though- although he did have to suddenly rush off because the Blackadder team had caught him in Hollywood and he had limited time. These are just my opinions though, and I'm only comparing them to other box set bonus interviews that I have seen that were more entertaining. I think maybe the actors were called in too late to reminisce so none of their memories were fresh enough to really give enough credence and sincerity to their time spent working on the show, which is a shame. I would've preferred interviews done nearer the time of Blackadder TV transmissions. The actors get older and even they change....not just aesthetically. It was obvious, before Tim McInnerny even said it in the interview that he has a hang up about his appearance now (how he's aged), which was quite sad. :( Another quibble with this (that has nothing to do with Blackadder the series itself or the seller) is on one of the bonus DVD's where Miranda Richardson is featured in the 'Costumes Revisited' section. The way she manhandles the intricately made, beautiful costumes she once wore leave a lot to be desired. She is very disrespectful to the masterpieces she touches willy nilly. Tony Robinson could do with showing an ounce or two more of respect also when he finds his old costume and tries it on. He even says that back in the time of filming Blackadder he 'took it for granted'. I'm glad Tim McInnerny doesn't agree with him when he aims his comment to him expecting him to agree. Maybe some of the actors become a little bit full of their own self importance over time and don't appreciate the hard work and dedication that went into making all of their intricate costumes.... and also Tim needs a dose of self confidence and not to be so hard on himself. Wonderful series, and expertly made. I laughed the most at a scene (won't give too much away ) where Hugh Laurie is being apprehended and slapped about a lot under the guise of Blackadder. Absolutely hilarious.

I bought this to replace some ageing VHS sets of the four series. One of my better decisions. This box set is compact, well-presented and possessed of some good extras - I particularly enjoy 'Blackadder Rides Again', but honourable mention must be made of Blackadder: The Cavalier Years. The picture quality is surprisingly good considering that by the time this came out some of the archival footage was almost thirty years old. It's not historically accurate. But then it never pretends to be. It's deliberately set in a seamless alternate reality where Richard of Shrewsbury won at Bosworth Field and follows the adventures of descendants of his clueless younger son, Edmund the Black Adder. Of course, along the way it created some slightly annoying myths - particularly in Blackadder Goes Forth, where generals appear at the front only to spout total nonsense about cutting their hair. But as it is firmly shown as a fictional portrayal, that allows it more latitude in my eyes to play fast and lose with the facts than say, The White Queen, which pretends to be one step below a docudrama (or of course Shakespeare's histories - I have always enjoyed the mischievous 'additional dialogue by William Shakespeare' credit in the first series). What really sets this apart as a comedy that is likely to endure and age as a fine wine does is that it is magnificently written, superbly cast and brilliantly acted, never taking itself too seriously. The first series is hit and miss from that point of view, even though as it is the medieval one I have the softest of soft spots for it. But the other three are quite magnificent. The casting is deliberately picked to spoof or invert popular notions or historical reality - Prince George as 'the walrus...[who is] as thick as a whale omelette' played by the slender, highly intelligent and in all other ways personable Hugh Laurie. Rowan Atkinson will surely never find a role that surpasses his performances in this, particularly in the second and fourth series where it is simply impossible to find comedic fault with his deft portrayal of a cynical, deceitful, cowardly and cruel character. Tony Robinson as his faithful sidekick also does very well at playing the yokel idiot. They do so well I simply can't see who else would ever have made a success of them. On the other hand, there are one or two faults. Particularly surprising and disappointing is the strange decision to cut the remark Baldrick makes in Blackadder's Christmas Carol about 'nailing up the dog.' There seems no logic to it. If they were afraid it would somehow offend Christians, they should have cut the entire episode - which after all, not only features a dog playing Jesus, but Mr Blackadder firmly rejecting all Christian virtues on the basis that they don't matter and that bad guys have all the actual fun, an argument that reduces the Ghost of Christmas (a majestic turn by Robbie Coltrane) to spluttering incoherence. Otherwise, they should just have left it in. I always wince whenever I come to that cut, because I miss the punchline and the framing lines feel somehow lacking. I also feel a few opportunities were missed to play a bit with links between the series. In the accompanying book, the history of the family away from the series was sketched out - in the series, it is almost never mentioned (a brief and scarcely audible line at the start of the closing jingle in Head, series 2, being the only one). I found that actually knowing the sketchy lives of Cardinal Blackadder, Blacadda, Bad Reek and the rest did add a lot to my enjoyment of it. Maybe that's just the geeky history side of me coming out, but three short two-minute monologues by Atkinson, playing a suave and sinister scion of the dynasty (Professor G. R. Blackadder or King Edmund III) boasting about his ancestors would have been quite something. Failing that - which would, I appreciate, have been expensive and difficult - even just PDFs of the linking stories, a la the Sharpe series, would have been worth it. So perhaps not quite the ultimate edition, but a glorious romp through alternate history. And perhaps one day generations yet unborn will review Blackadder, not as an historical document but as one of the true landmarks in British entertainment history, played out by not just one but several of the great heroic actors of the age!

Excellent quality. Highly recommended.

Item was delivered quickly, packaging was superb, as usual. Picture quality does not reach HD quality obviously but is way better than I remember it to be on VHS :-) No glitches or similar discovered as of yet after having watched Season 2 and 3 (don't like 1 at all). As one of the previous reviewers already mentioned, I enjoyed some of the humour more (especially season 2) when I was younger. I'm German and I remember this series to be one of my first TV series/movies that I watched in English language. So you could say that it helped me develop a better understanding of the English language (after having discovered that what I had learned in school did not really enable me for real life conversations). And after haven't seen this for many years I still tremendously enjoy it. And even better, my son of 17 takes to it too! Overall I would recommend this product and would buy it again, especially for this price.

Got it. Wrapped and in pristine condition. Smashing!

At long last a digitally remastered boxset of the complete Backadder collection jammed packed with extras has finally been released to the delight of the series' long term fans who had been lobbying for such a release for some time. It is about such a brilliant and iconic comedy series (which had been voted the second best ever comedy series, after `Only Fools and Horses') is given a re-mastered release. However despite everything, this beautifully packaged set falls a little short of expectations, hence the four stars in this review. Firstly let us examine the good points. The picture quality on this boxset is superb (as one would have expect) and the episodes never looked better than this. The sound quality too had been greatly improved. The extras are also very good. First up are the commentaries which are very lively and informative. It would have been great if all the episodes had a commentary track but of course (taking into account of the availability of the actors as well as the budget) this was always going to be impossible. What you get is three commentaries each for series two and three, only two commentaries for series four and surprisingly no commentaries at all for series one which is very annoying. There are actually eight commentaries in all comprises provided by four `teams' of commentators: Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and John Lloyd, Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny and finally a one man commentary team comprising of Stephen Fry. Each `team' provide two commentaries each. The two lone commentaries by Stephen Fry tend to be informative as he is commentating on his own (and without a moderator). The other commentaries are full of merry banter since it was undertaken by a team of actors, producers and writers commentating together. Then there are the fabulous interviews with the various actors, writers and production teams that worked on the series as they recollect their memories in making the shows. These are very informative and provide a unique insight into the series' history. The hour long documentary while not new is also informative and very interesting to watch. Rounding of the extras is a ten minute feature on the costumes as four of the actors pay a visit to the costume department and rummage through the costumes that they and their colleague wore on the show. This was mildly amusing. Now for the downside. When producing this collection there are two very glaring mistakes that undermines the quality and impact of this boxset and it is this reason why I have given it four stars instead of five. Firstly episodes two, three and four in first series disc (`Born to be King', `The Achbishop' and the `Queen of Spain's beard') are placed in the wrong order. This is a very obvious flaw and makes the production of this boxset very amateurish indeed. One wonders how the BBC could make such an error after the hard work they had invested in making this DVD collection. The second mistake is the most unforgiving of them all: the omission of the pilot episode. This is the real reason why I am giving this collection only four stars. The pilot episode is a standalone untransmitted production that was produced for the BBC executives to access the series suitability. It was later reworked and evolved into the second story of the first series, `Born to be King', with different actors playing Baldrick, Prince Harry and the King. In this early version Rowan Atkinson plays a more intelligent Blackadder whose character was a complete contrast to the rather dim and clueless incarnation that appeared in the original series (and much more akin to the Blackadders of the second series onwards). Not only has this episode had never been broadcast on television before but it has also never been released commercially either on video or DVD much to the disappointment of the series' many fans. Poor quality bootleg copies of this episode had been exchanging hands for years and can even be viewed on Youtube. Why this episode is not included on this boxset is a mystery, especially when one considers the many pirated copies that had been floating around. Since it is this production that had launched the series it has a sense of sentimental value for long term fans and would have made an excellent extra, perhaps the highlight of all the bonus features. After all the hype of associated with this remastered collection, the pilot episode's omission makes mockery of all expectations. All in all, despite the obvious flaws, this is a wonderful collection that is beautifully packaged and is a must for all fans of great British comedy in general and for all fans of Blackadder in particular. It is just a pity that it had the potential to be even better.

This is a re-buy. I can't believe that I gave my 1st copy away, some years back. Blackadder is a classic, up with Fawlty Towers etc. I have been doing a rewatch with friends online and the 1st thing that struck us was how good series1 actually is. It had a bad press back in the day, which I always went by. It goes to show you should trust your own instincts and ignore critics, most of whom, these days, don't like a sitcom to have jokes in it or to be funny even! It has been brilliant seeing the development of the main character and his assorted cohorts throughout the ages. The acting is always superb - Rowan Atkinson has even gone up in my esteem - and the writing is clever. I have laughed until it hurts. It is worth checking the correct running order out for series 1 online because this differs from the order in which it was shown originally. These episodes are individually dated, so it makes more sense to follow the timeline. Apart from that, this collection is perfect. It includes all the specials made. I can't recommend this box set highly enough. And I am not giving it away interfrastically ever again.

Great collection of all the blackadder series, plus extras.

Alter Klassiker von Rowan Atkinson. Kann mit modernen Auflösungen nicht mithalten, das ist aber auch nicht der Zweck der Edition.

good DVDs, good price

I always liked Atkinson for his Mr Bean character and I'm very happy to have found this old sitcom. Very funny to watch even today, in my opinion. A timeless classic. The behind the scenes are also very interesting. If I have to find a problem, it's that sometimes the subtitles do not match the dialogue cutting off some parts, especially in scenes where the characters talk very fast. Not a big deal, but still.

Excellent. Perfect product in timely fashion for a low price.

Une bonne série