?An Excellent Read through History ? dramatised?   July 29, 2001

For a Blackadder fan this surly is a must. It should be in every library and in every drama club! It's a lot of fun acting and there's so many to choose from - you'll never get bored! It's a jolly good read too!


Giving this the mental equivalent of a standing ovation!   July 25, 2001
  4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Throughout the annals of history one dynasty--a singular lineage of crossbred loons--has been at the fore of the British revival. This family bears the name of Blackadder, and they are doomed by heriditary curse to suffer being a git for all of eternity. We all know Edmund Blackadder and his loyalist village idiot Baldrick, as they clamber through the menacingly black Dark Ages, the silly fickleness of the Elizabethan times, surviving the insanity of being Regency peasantry, and finding themselves stuck in a squalid dug-out on the last platoon against an encroaching WWI German army, with nothing to protect themselves with but some unclean spoons and a dead homing pigeon. Some of Blackadder, as we all know, is so utterly hilarious that if it'd be any funnier, we might as well have our ribs removed. Chroniclers Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd have put together this plump alternative history to the days of yore: "Blackadder (1485-1917): The Whole Damn Dynasty." In it we see all 24 scripts in a superbly well-presented way, plus casting lists, scores of intricate illustrations and photographs, extensive introductions and prefaces, and heaps of extra bits, thingummies and wossnames. In it, you'll find what happened after "1066 and All That" in a satirically funny way, lampooning such works as Will Cuppy's "The Complete Fall and Decline of Practically Everybody". We see how medicinal condiments helped to heal medieval sicknesses (apply leeches, burn 'em off, saw the sore part off, etc.), and we even get a glance of one of the misappropriated pages of Dr Johnson's rare dictionary. Any Blackadder fan would be as happy as a Frenchman with a pair of self-removing trousers with this brilliant book which is as cunning as a fox who has just been made Professor of Cunning at Oxford University. All the proceeds go to the charity Comic Relief, and if it weren't enough by itself, there is an independent section featuring all of Blackadder's finest insults. After "The Black Adder", "Blackadder II", "Blackadder the Third" and "Blackadder Goes Forth", go and seek out the "Blackadder Back And Forth" video to complete your collection. And try and avoid fierce winds; faces with mile-wide smirks set in concrete look amusingly silly.


Pure Genius   October 18, 2000
If you ever wondered whether anything could equal Python, then this is it. This book is a collection of pure genius and is re readable hundreds of times, and you'll still be playing out the scripts afterwards. Buy it. BAAAAAAAh!


Marveleous   September 28, 2000
If one have ever wondered if reading the script would be as funny as watching the show, I can only assure them, that it certainly does the show credit. Perhaps not as funny, but admirably funny. It is as funny in another way. It is a completely different experience, yet enlightening and enrichening at the same time.


As cunning as entering a one legged tortoise ina 2 leg race   August 31, 2000
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

At the begginging there was the creation of Earth, and some guy mentioned in the bible a lot. Then there were great men, like Nelson, and Churchill, but before all that was something that was even better than them.. Blackadder. This book contains every little detail and will make you howl out loud. It is as cunning as lord nelson entering an I spy contest. If you a fan of Blackadder or not, this is a must read, with all the little extras like photos of Melchett and vomit proof pages with Baldrick on them...everyone can enjoy this masterpeice. After reading this you'll be as pleased as someone who had just bought the mona lisa for a fiver.

But beware...what lies within these pages wil make you think twice about doanting to RSPCA...yes Baldrick.