In recognition of the fortieth anniversary of The Black Adder (which means it's perilously close to my fortieth as well), why not take a quick look at my complete, exhaustive historical coverage of the whole bloody saga at Television Heaven?
Showing posts with label Blackadder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blackadder. Show all posts
Thursday, 15 June 2023
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
Blackadder at Television Heaven
All five of my reviews on the Blackadder saga are now available at Television Heaven, covering the entire story from beginning to end, with the Christmas and New Year specials up just in time for the festive season. Links are below!
The Black Adder - the first series and the pilot episode
The Specials - Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder Back and Forth (plus a round-up of the sketches)
If you fancy watching the short form and sketches, there's a YouTube playlist here for you right here, even including a Children in Need appearance that ties into Blackadder the Third.
Monday, 3 August 2020
The Black Adder at Television Heaven
Please enjoy my analysis of The Black Adder, the first series and unscreened pilot episode of the beloved British sitcom saga at Television Heaven.
Blackadder II will be coming soon, followed by monthly articles on the remaining series and specials.
Monday, 23 December 2019
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Rest in Peace, the People's Poet
On Monday, Rik Mayall was found dead. We're all still reeling from this. The first I knew about it was about five minutes after the news broke, my good friend and former Bottom-watching companion Andy texting me as soon as he found out. Then came the barrage of other messages as we all tried to confirm that it was just a rumour, or a hoax, or the silly old bastard playing a prank. But it wasn't. Rik is dead, and we still don't know what happened.
I didn't know Rik Mayall, of course, but he was one of those people who was part of the background of my life. His earliest TV work predates me, so he was already a fixture by the time I was old enough to be aware of such things. Spike Milligan called him "the arsehole of British comedy," something I'm sure Rik found hilarious. And arsehole he was, creating grungy, oily, offensive characters who were as subversive as they were unforgettable. Most often partnered by his best friend and comedy partner Ade Edmondson, (together they were The Dangerous Brothers) Rik was the face of alternative comedy throughout the eighties and nineties. The Young Ones was too early for me to fully appreciate, since its anarchic approach had already had an impact on British comedy by the time I was watching. Even so, nothing ever really approached the chaotic freeness of The Young Ones.
I didn't know Rik Mayall, of course, but he was one of those people who was part of the background of my life. His earliest TV work predates me, so he was already a fixture by the time I was old enough to be aware of such things. Spike Milligan called him "the arsehole of British comedy," something I'm sure Rik found hilarious. And arsehole he was, creating grungy, oily, offensive characters who were as subversive as they were unforgettable. Most often partnered by his best friend and comedy partner Ade Edmondson, (together they were The Dangerous Brothers) Rik was the face of alternative comedy throughout the eighties and nineties. The Young Ones was too early for me to fully appreciate, since its anarchic approach had already had an impact on British comedy by the time I was watching. Even so, nothing ever really approached the chaotic freeness of The Young Ones.
I'm sure Rik would have taken some comfort in knowing that he outlived his nemesis, Bloody Thatcher, by a good year. While Rick, he's Young Ones persona, was an anti-Thatcher anarchist, or at least wanted to be, he was far from being Rik's strongest weapon against the hated Tories. Alan B'Stard, the lead character from The New Statesman, is described on Wikipedia as "a selfish, greedy, dishonest, devious, lecherous, sadistic, ultra-right wing Conservative back-bencher," which more-or-less describes most Conservative back-benchers. A fixture of the late eighties and early nineties, The New Statesman returned as a stageshow in 2006, the new Tory government making it as relevant as ever. Just watch this, and see how close Cameron and crew are to B'Stard's way of thinking:
The New Statesman wasn't written by Mayall, Edmondson or their usual collaborators, Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. More often than not, it was some combination of these four who would create the comedy masterpieces. And more often than not, Rik was called Richie, since there's no point wasting creative energy on thinking of new names all the time. He was Gertude "Richie" Rich in Filthy, Rich and Catflap (Ade was Catflap), and most notoriously, Richard Richard in the insane classic sitcom Bottom. Rik and Ade's three series as disgusting flatmates Richie and Eddie will remain some of my most adored comedy material for the rest of my life. It's a shame Andy and I never pulled our fingers out and did our own amateur staging of our favourite Bottom episode, 'S'Out, especially as my younger self looked an awful lot like Rik's younger self. If you're wondering what I look like, a young Rik Mayall isn't a bad estimate.
We saw, along with fellow Bottomers, the last two of the five live shows, with Rik sweating his arse off on stage as he and Ade dealt out appalling violence to one another. I even got a heckler kicked out (I believe they may have shot him, but that might just have been a sound effect.) Rik's Bottom will always be one of my favourite things to watch. However, even more wonderfully awful, more notorious, more adored, was his other best known character, Flashheart. As Lord Flashheart in Blackadder II, Squadron Leader the Lord Flashheart, the Flying Ace in Blackadder Goes Forth, and their assured ancestor Robin Hood in Blackadder Back and Forth, Rik was absolutely, utterly magnificent. It's almost impossible to credit that this man, the most desirable man who ever lived, was in fact the same as the least desirable, the perpetually un-shagged Richie. Only Rik could produce two polar opposites so memorably. Still, it's worth remembering his uncredited first appearance in the series, as Mad Gerald in the final episode of The Black Adder.
There were so many other characters, from Fred of Drop Dead Fred to Professor Adonis Cnut, the only good thing in Believe Nothing. Rik upstaged everyone, in everything. Even his occasional straight roles were memorably weird, and usually came with a smutty name, such as his occasional role in Jonathan Creek, Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke. And then there were all his many, many voice roles, always unmistakable. He was cut out of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, though, which just shows what a shit director Christopher Colombus was. He was even supposed to be the villain in the unmade Doctor Who movie The Dark Dimension, although it sounds like he would have been wasted in that too.
In 1998, Rik went and nearly killed himself in a quad bike accident. Seeing him lying prone on the ground by his bike, his wife thought he was joking, but fortunately realised soon enough to get him to hospital for urgent attention. He spent five days in an induced coma, and then some considerable time adjusting to life with an injured brain. Nonetheless, he and Ade wrote the script for the Bottom movie, Guest House Paradiso, while he was in hospital. He returned to acting first with voice work and later onscreen and on stage (Pryke was his first post-crash screen role.) There were rumours of a new series of Bottom, based on the "Hooligan's Island" in the last few years, but Rik and Ade said that they just couldn't work together anymore. Later interviews suggest Rik just wasn't up to the scripting process. Plus, Ade was warned about doing himself serious damage if he kept on with those violent stunts.
We don't yet know how he died. It was possibly something to do with his injury; he remained on daily medication for injury induced epilepsy for the rest of his life. He will be missed by two generations of comedians and fans. Tributes have poured in for him, but the last word should go to his co-conspirator, Ade:
"There were times when Rik and I were writing together when we almost died laughing. They were some of the most carefree, stupid days I ever had, and I feel privileged to have shared them with him. And now he's died for real. Without me. Selfish bastard."
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Those we lost in February
February draws to a close, and we head into March (or, alternatively, Troughton Month heads into Pertwee Month), and while I have had a good February overall, as evidenced in my previous post, the worlds of comedy and telefantasy have not been so happily served. February has turned out to be quite a shocker, with no fewer than four very notable individuals being taken from us.
The one that made the biggest splash in the media was, of course, the sad passing of sitcom legend Richard Briers, aged 79. For all his many, many years in both comedic and straight acting, he will always be best remembered as Tom Good. This news somewhat overshadowed the death of Elspet Gray, who was lost the very next day. Elspet Gray, the Lady Rix, died aged 83, and played a great many roles in her long and varied career, including parts in Fawlty Towers and The Black Adder - she played the queen in both the original pilot and the first full series, there named as Gertrude of Flanders. Her death did cast a sad shadow over the stage version of the classic historical comedy I saw with friends late in the month.
Gray was, with her husband Baron Rix,and their children Louisa and Jamie Rix part of a family that was a major part of British comedy in the 20th century. Another actor, this time born into an acting dynasty was Robin Sachs, who died earlier in the month, aged just 61. He'll be best remembered as the villainous Ethan Rayne, Giles's rival in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but played numerous roles in various US telefantasies including Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5 and even Galaxy Quest (rather brilliantly, he was underneath a ton of lurid green rubber as the evil alien General Sillar).
Beyond acting, but still in the realms of telefantasy, we also lost Raymond Cusick, a hugely respected designer who worked on the earliest Doctor Who productions. His most famous creation was, of course, the Daleks, having taken a very vague description from scriptwriter Terry Nation and turned it into a design classic. He was criminally unrecognised as the true creator of the Daleks, a sci-fi icon; Nation got 50% of the rights, while Cusick, a BBC employee, got a small bonus. Such are the ways of the BBC. Cusick was 84 when he died, and oddly enough, when the news broke I was in his home town of Horsham.
Four people who contributed to some of the most wonderful television I have ever enjoyed, and all of whom were linked in peculiar and unexpected ways. Cusick's last credited work on Doctor Who was on the epic serial The Daleks' Masterplan, although it's possible he performed some design work on the following serial, The Massacre. This story included among its cast one Leonard Sachs, already father to Robin. Almost twenty years later, Sachs Sr. played Borusa in Arc of Infinity, alongside Elspet Gray as the Time Lady, Thalia. Briers didn't appear in Doctor Who until 1987, in a ridiculous turn as the villainous Caretaker/Kroagnon in Paradise Towers. He later appeared in the second series of Torchwood; Robin Sachs made a brief appearance in the fourth.
Briers never appeared in Blackadder, but he did appear opposite Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean. Gray was supposed to return as Thalia in The Five Doctors, but was unavailable, the character Flavia being created to replace her. That special episode of Doctor Who featured Lalla Ward, albeit only in archive footage; she played Helga, the twin sister of Robin Sachs's character Heinrich, in the movie Vampire Circus. Her one time husband, Tom Baker, also appeared in the archival footage in The Five Doctors, and would later appear in Monarch of the Glen as Donald MacDonald, brother to Hector MacDonald - played by Richard Briers. Briers's co-star in The Good Life was the wonderful Felicity Kendall, who later starred with Elspet Gray in Solo, playing mother and daughter. Baker and Ward appeared together in Destiny of the Daleks, battling Cusick's legendary monsters, and in the next story, City of Death, they briefly encountered John Cleese, who was of course the lead in Fawlty Towers when Elspet Gray made her appearance, and has created and appeared in so many series and films I suspect he could be linked to all four of the departed with ease.
Any more intriguing links between these fine artists? Any anecdotes or unusual information? I'd love to hear more about them all. I raise a glass to them all.
The one that made the biggest splash in the media was, of course, the sad passing of sitcom legend Richard Briers, aged 79. For all his many, many years in both comedic and straight acting, he will always be best remembered as Tom Good. This news somewhat overshadowed the death of Elspet Gray, who was lost the very next day. Elspet Gray, the Lady Rix, died aged 83, and played a great many roles in her long and varied career, including parts in Fawlty Towers and The Black Adder - she played the queen in both the original pilot and the first full series, there named as Gertrude of Flanders. Her death did cast a sad shadow over the stage version of the classic historical comedy I saw with friends late in the month.
Gray was, with her husband Baron Rix,and their children Louisa and Jamie Rix part of a family that was a major part of British comedy in the 20th century. Another actor, this time born into an acting dynasty was Robin Sachs, who died earlier in the month, aged just 61. He'll be best remembered as the villainous Ethan Rayne, Giles's rival in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but played numerous roles in various US telefantasies including Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5 and even Galaxy Quest (rather brilliantly, he was underneath a ton of lurid green rubber as the evil alien General Sillar).
Beyond acting, but still in the realms of telefantasy, we also lost Raymond Cusick, a hugely respected designer who worked on the earliest Doctor Who productions. His most famous creation was, of course, the Daleks, having taken a very vague description from scriptwriter Terry Nation and turned it into a design classic. He was criminally unrecognised as the true creator of the Daleks, a sci-fi icon; Nation got 50% of the rights, while Cusick, a BBC employee, got a small bonus. Such are the ways of the BBC. Cusick was 84 when he died, and oddly enough, when the news broke I was in his home town of Horsham.
Four people who contributed to some of the most wonderful television I have ever enjoyed, and all of whom were linked in peculiar and unexpected ways. Cusick's last credited work on Doctor Who was on the epic serial The Daleks' Masterplan, although it's possible he performed some design work on the following serial, The Massacre. This story included among its cast one Leonard Sachs, already father to Robin. Almost twenty years later, Sachs Sr. played Borusa in Arc of Infinity, alongside Elspet Gray as the Time Lady, Thalia. Briers didn't appear in Doctor Who until 1987, in a ridiculous turn as the villainous Caretaker/Kroagnon in Paradise Towers. He later appeared in the second series of Torchwood; Robin Sachs made a brief appearance in the fourth.
Briers never appeared in Blackadder, but he did appear opposite Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean. Gray was supposed to return as Thalia in The Five Doctors, but was unavailable, the character Flavia being created to replace her. That special episode of Doctor Who featured Lalla Ward, albeit only in archive footage; she played Helga, the twin sister of Robin Sachs's character Heinrich, in the movie Vampire Circus. Her one time husband, Tom Baker, also appeared in the archival footage in The Five Doctors, and would later appear in Monarch of the Glen as Donald MacDonald, brother to Hector MacDonald - played by Richard Briers. Briers's co-star in The Good Life was the wonderful Felicity Kendall, who later starred with Elspet Gray in Solo, playing mother and daughter. Baker and Ward appeared together in Destiny of the Daleks, battling Cusick's legendary monsters, and in the next story, City of Death, they briefly encountered John Cleese, who was of course the lead in Fawlty Towers when Elspet Gray made her appearance, and has created and appeared in so many series and films I suspect he could be linked to all four of the departed with ease.
Any more intriguing links between these fine artists? Any anecdotes or unusual information? I'd love to hear more about them all. I raise a glass to them all.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
February Fun
So, yes. February. In principle, I can't stand February. In England, at least, it tends to be the coldest, shittiest month, full of snow, sleet, sneet, and any other kinds of ice-cold precipitation. The other day, actual flakes of ice fell from the sky, crunching underfoot like crisps (ice crispies, if you will). It's a horrible month, and I curse the fates for choosing it to hold my birthday.
Still, as Februaries go, this was a pretty good one, with a good birthday. The weather held off for the most part, so I haven't had my plans scuppered by the usual inability of the rail network to cope with even the lightest covering of snow. At the very beginning of the month I had a week off, and used it well, visiting my very good friend Sekai in London, and my sister Becca and her gentleman Jim in Reading. Much fun was had, only slightly marred by the vicious man-flu that attacked both me and my sister over that weekend. Friday night that week was spent, on my part, shaking in bed with delirium, talking to people who weren't there and sobbing quietly to myself. My brain isn't in tip-top condition at the best of times, and it takes only a relatively mild fever to set it cackling and gibbering to itself.
Nonetheless, fun was had. Chinese food, fine ales, charming coffee shops - just the ticket. From Reading, sister and gentleman and I took to the road and visited the Living Rainforest in the small settlement of Hampstead Norreys. It's a wonderful place, a big shed full of jungle, managed by volunteers as an educational trust. Birds happily saunter around the complex among the visitors, while monkeys, tortoises, enormous monster cockroaches and one very laid back crocodilian live safely in enclosures. It's a very cool place.
Since then, I have enjoyed some other things, beyond stewing at work. On the 20th two fine friends and I went to Fareham to see Interalia Theatre (they of the Doctor Who stageplays) perform Blackadder on Stage. Two hours of classic Adderism, one episode from each series. Sean Ridley made a rather young and handsome Blackadder, but was absolutely spot on in the role, giving a snidely snivelling performance as the original Black Adder and a sardonically charming turn as his three successors. The rest of the cast were also excellent, particularly Nick Scovell channelling the ghost of Stephen Fry as Melchett (yes, I know Stephen Fry is still alive, which just goes to show what an achievement this is), the rather gorgeous Alexandra Maclean who made a perfect Queenie, a smashing Shadow and and a brilliant Bob, and Paul Denney as a boisterous, roisterous Flasheart. But really, they were all terrific - and what's more, following the format they can do five more performances!
And then it was birthday time. I was taken out for two birthday lunches (one on the day itself, one the day after, I'm not an animal), and went to see the excellent 2-Tone/Ska tribute band Mainly Madness and got some skank on. I got clothes and books and films and sweets, and a dinosaur projector torch. I'm so glad they still make those things. I used to have a Ghostbusters one, but the dinosaur version gives it a run for its money.
My greatest contrafibularities to all involved in a fine month. Thank you all.
Still, as Februaries go, this was a pretty good one, with a good birthday. The weather held off for the most part, so I haven't had my plans scuppered by the usual inability of the rail network to cope with even the lightest covering of snow. At the very beginning of the month I had a week off, and used it well, visiting my very good friend Sekai in London, and my sister Becca and her gentleman Jim in Reading. Much fun was had, only slightly marred by the vicious man-flu that attacked both me and my sister over that weekend. Friday night that week was spent, on my part, shaking in bed with delirium, talking to people who weren't there and sobbing quietly to myself. My brain isn't in tip-top condition at the best of times, and it takes only a relatively mild fever to set it cackling and gibbering to itself.
Nonetheless, fun was had. Chinese food, fine ales, charming coffee shops - just the ticket. From Reading, sister and gentleman and I took to the road and visited the Living Rainforest in the small settlement of Hampstead Norreys. It's a wonderful place, a big shed full of jungle, managed by volunteers as an educational trust. Birds happily saunter around the complex among the visitors, while monkeys, tortoises, enormous monster cockroaches and one very laid back crocodilian live safely in enclosures. It's a very cool place.
Since then, I have enjoyed some other things, beyond stewing at work. On the 20th two fine friends and I went to Fareham to see Interalia Theatre (they of the Doctor Who stageplays) perform Blackadder on Stage. Two hours of classic Adderism, one episode from each series. Sean Ridley made a rather young and handsome Blackadder, but was absolutely spot on in the role, giving a snidely snivelling performance as the original Black Adder and a sardonically charming turn as his three successors. The rest of the cast were also excellent, particularly Nick Scovell channelling the ghost of Stephen Fry as Melchett (yes, I know Stephen Fry is still alive, which just goes to show what an achievement this is), the rather gorgeous Alexandra Maclean who made a perfect Queenie, a smashing Shadow and and a brilliant Bob, and Paul Denney as a boisterous, roisterous Flasheart. But really, they were all terrific - and what's more, following the format they can do five more performances!
And then it was birthday time. I was taken out for two birthday lunches (one on the day itself, one the day after, I'm not an animal), and went to see the excellent 2-Tone/Ska tribute band Mainly Madness and got some skank on. I got clothes and books and films and sweets, and a dinosaur projector torch. I'm so glad they still make those things. I used to have a Ghostbusters one, but the dinosaur version gives it a run for its money.
My greatest contrafibularities to all involved in a fine month. Thank you all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)