Tag: Ben Elton

Blackadder – 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the classic historical sitcom Blackadder, and a new Complete Collection Blu-ray was released in December to mark the milestone. I was too busy to look through it at the time, but I finally got around to it recently, so this is my extensive review of the series and all the bonus material.

The show features the brilliant Rowan Atkinson in the title role of Edmund Blackadder, whose cynical and scheming nature causes him to look down on other people, especially his servant and inventor of ridiculous ‘cunning plans’ Baldrick, played by Tony Robinson. There’s also an impressive roster of co-stars and guest stars, most notably Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson & Rik Mayall, who all had multiple roles in the show.

All of the series and specials are set in different historical periods, so it always feels fresh and different. Each period is represented by exquisite costumes and beautiful sets, along with enjoyable variations of Howard Goodall’s theme tune. All of the episodes were written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, except for the first series where Richard had teamed up with Rowan instead. As great as Rowan is, bringing Ben on board really gave the series the shot in the arm it needed. And John Lloyd (best known for producing QI these days) was the producer for every episode except the pilot (which sadly isn’t in this set) and the millennium special.

Front cover of Blackadder The Complete Collection, 40th Anniversary Edition, with small text at the bottom saying that it's on Blu-ray for the first time, plus all new extras. An ornate gold border has a circle in each corner, with a photo of Blackadder from each of the 4 series.
Back cover of the Blackadder 40th anniversary Blu-ray set, with a brief description of the series, a list of the new extras, and credits for the series and specials.

Thanks to the sterling efforts of Richard Latto and his colleagues – who also compiled the excellent Young Ones Blu-ray in 2022 – the episodes have been remastered for this new Blu-ray edition, alongside all the old extras ported over from the previous Ultimate Edition DVD set (even though it’s not mentioned on the packaging), and a huge treasure trove of new bonus material as well. A lot of hard work has clearly gone into this collection, it’s very impressive.

So this is my review of the four series, the specials and the bonus material in the box set, as well as the pilot and documentary that were on Gold last year to celebrate the anniversary. As usual, I’m not sponsored or affiliated with anyone involved in the show or the Blu-ray production, and these are all my own opinions, so I hope you enjoy!

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The Young Ones – 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review

Once in every lifetime, comes a show like this. The anarchic sitcom The Young Ones crashed on to our screens in November 1982, followed by a second series in 1984. And for its 40th anniversary they’ve brought out a special Blu-ray edition of both series, which is the first time it’s been released in that format, so I eagerly snapped it up.

The episodes are uncut, and there’s a ton of bonus material that’s been unearthed and produced by Richard Latto, with lots of brand-new extras in addition to those carried over from the previous DVD. Some of the new material also gives credit to TV playout director John Hoare, who writes extensively researched articles about The Young Ones and other comedy shows on his Dirty Feed blog, which are genuinely fascinating to read.

So this lengthy post contains my reviews of the episodes and the bonus material in the set (which in short is awesome). And it isn’t sponsored or gifted, I’ve got no connection with anybody involved with the show, I’m just a big fan. I hope you enjoy!

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October 2022 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you’re all doing well despite everything going on in the world at the moment. Here in the UK, Liz Truss having to resign after a disastrous 45 days as our shortest-serving Prime Minister was certainly quite astonishing to witness, and now it remains to be seen if new PM Rishi Sunak can start to get things back on track and last at least as long as she did!

Still, despite all that chaos, I’m doing well, I’m happy to say. My redundancy certainly hasn’t left me twiddling my thumbs, as I’ve been very busy indeed this month. The fact that I’ve been invited to contribute to various disability and accessibility projects, some of which I’ve been paid for, has shown that I’m still very much in demand for my skills and opinions, and I’ve continued to socialise with friends as well of course. So I still have a sense of purpose and don’t feel at all lonely, bored or cast aside in any way despite my job loss, and I still have financial stability for the time being.

So I’m enjoying the career break, and there’s plenty to cover this month, including the aforementioned disability projects, virtual reality games, stand-up comedy shows, a museum visit, a seaside trip, an overseas holiday, TV shows and music releases. So I hope you enjoy this bumper roundup post and video!

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