Well, I think that Harry was meant to seem a bit of a bore and a goody-two-shoes, and always preoccupied with trivialities, like the drains. As the heir to the throne, he made a pretty stark contrast to his father (Brian Blessed) – that was funny in and of itself. Like in the first episode, the speeches by uncle, father, and him to their men going into battle. I loved that bit.
And I agree that Witchsmeller definitely had some good lines (like the “Clever Jake” bit), but overall I didn’t find it as sharp as the others in that set.
Oh, and while Edmund is not as clever in series I as in the others, he’s not really “the dumb one” in that series. That honor belongs to Percy.
I can’t really add much to the above, but I would recommend watching them in the original order. The character continuity properly begins in series two, but series one is definitely a must see.
Personally, I wish I had not seen the 1999 special, Blackadder: Back and Forth. Not that it is utterly terrible, but I found it rather disappointing due to high expectations. The characters did not feel right to me and the whole thing seemed rather forced. I much preferred it when the brilliant conclusion to series four was my final memory of the show.
Personally, I like the first series, but I can see how others would not. No way to know unless you watch it. It is definetely very different from the last three series. You can skip *Blackadder: Back and Forth * IMO-- it just wasn’t very good.
It was something of a disappointment and missed a lot of the Blackadder “edge”, but I still think it’s required watching once you’ve seen all the rest. It had its good moments and it was kind of fun to see the conclusion of it all.
Mostly what others have said. The first series is different from the next three. And the specials generally aren’t as good as the original series.
Also don’t worry about watching the episodes within the series in any particular order. There’s very little continuity between episodes (and virtually no attempt to make a connection with real history - Blackadder III had episodes set during the Reign of Terror in 1794 and during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815). The big exception is that you should watch the last episode (Goodbyeee) last.
Even though its a mixed reception to series I, it’s worth the entrance fee just for Brian Blessed eating a Horses leg, and the bit where he comes back from the Crusades and shouts 'WAR! BLOOD! FIGHTING! RUMPY PUMPY!'
In fact anything BB does rules, apart from his attempts to climb Everest. Last I saw him, he was talking about going into Space. Seriously.
Me, too. Christmas Carol is one of my favorites in the whole set. The other “specials” don’t match it in quality, but that is definitely a must-see. (But only after seeing Blackadder II and III, as somebody else said, since Christmas Carol involves flashbacks to those settings).
Gimli: “And the lord said love thy neighbors as thyselves… unless he’s an orc! In which case, KILL the bastard! Slit their gizzards! There will be blood… BLOOOOOOD! tonight!”
After the battle of Helm’s Deep…
Legolas: “I’ve got 37…”
Gimli: “I slaughtered 3,000 orcs! All thanks to my trusty fruit knife!”
Ah yes, Brian Blessed. He makes the first series MUST SEE viewing. His interactions with Atkinson are just classic. They really cast that role perfectly.
