Review: The True History Of The Black Adder
The True History Of The Black Adder
by J.F. Roberts
Preface Publishing, 2012
For a large, varied group of people of all ages, from all walks of life, th
e cynical, quip-loaded history lampooning of BBC sitcom Blackadder is quite simply the best comedy ever made. Unmatched even decades later in terms of wit, plotting, memorable characters and above all gag rate, the Rowan Atkinson vehicle has quite rightly achieved a level of timelessnes reserved only for a few select comedy gems. Not bad for a show full of knob gags and turnips.
In The True History Of The Black Adder, Roberts gives not just a minutely detailed account of the show’s conception, creation, successes and failures, but a homily/eulogy on an entire era of British comedy. Beginning with the university drama geneses of the main players, the book follows the growth of these snotty students – the lowly likes of Richard Curtis & Ben Elton, John Lloyd, Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and a host of others – into a side-splitting comedy powerhouse, famous for obscenely tight gags and doing things with the word “bastard” that had never been achieved before or since, taking in the likes of Spitting Image, Not The Nine O’ Clock News, The Young Ones, and a host of other famous and well-loved comedy titles along the way.
The book is riddled with asides, footnotes, quirky connections and odd story moments that give flesh and bone and insight into the worlds of these characters and the people behind them. Whether it be the tale of Elton’s historian father, the reason Curtis hates blokes called Bernard, Stephen Fry’s stint in jail or Atkinson taking control of a troubled plane and guiding it to safety, The True History… throws up a wealth of things you didn’t know about the funny people who made the show about cunning plans and big codpieces.
But despite the huge scope of the tome, Roberts and his subjects, who guide the narrative with conflicting, nostalgic but always witty interviews, it never loses sight of its villainous, hilarious protagonist. Roberts catalogues the evolution of Blackadder from a piss-take of Errol Flynn epics with as much space between gags as there were between castles into one of the tightest, most efficient comedy vehicles ever with a neat combination of detachment and praise, allowing each of the cogs in the Blackadder machine to tell the truth of theirs and others’ contributions to the creation of such an iconic and long-lasting piece of art.
The end result paints a rich portrait, the behind-the-scenes tinkering, in-fighting and atmosphere is where the meat of the story lies, telling, Essentially, a tale of a bunch of hardcore perfectionists just happening to share a taste in comedy at a certain time and, with a little luck, capturing lightning in a bottle. The story behind the creation of Tony Robinson’s Baldrick character’s eminently quotable “I have a cunning plan” catchphrase is a good example of intelligence plus coincidence equalling comedy gold.
Sadly, the tale can’t help but lose some of its lustre towards the end, especially when recounting the big on budget but light on laughs Millenium Special Blackadder: Back and Forth – which serves as an abject lesson that sometimes, comedy is funnier with a laugh-track – and the cast and creators’ transitions away from the core group into individual success and failure on different scales, but it adds to the overall poignancy Roberts gives to the passing of a time of great comedy unlikely to be seen again.
The only drawback is a frankly unnecessary series of chapter prologues that pretend to be “uncovered documents” detailing the history of the Blackadder family in real-life British lore, but this is made up for by a sequel-baiting post-script that looks at what might have been, and still might be, for the exploits of Lord Edmund Blackadder, and the likes of future-set “Star Adder” and Russia-based “RedAdder” give meat to the claim Roberts and his contributors make that, while the original team are all still alive, there is always the chance that Blackadder will return.
Whether you’re interested in celeb stories, the ins and outs of boradcast television, a comedy buff, or just a fan of the show, then The True History Of The Black Adder is well worth doling out whatever currency you wish, be it pound, shilling, turnip or Euro, to delve into the history of one of TV-land’s greatest scoundrels.
7/10
[Words, Liam Kavanagh]
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
