Blackadder's Christmas Carol

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Blackadder Episode
Blackadder's Christmas Carol

Blackadder in Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Air date 23/12/1988
Writer(s) Ben Elton
Richard Curtis
Director R. Boden
Guest star(s) Robbie Coltrane
Miriam Margolyes
Jim Broadbent
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Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third (1987) and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), and narrated by Hugh Laurie. Produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on BBC One on Friday December 23 1988, and has been repeated several times since.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Victorian moustache shop owner Ebenezer Blackadder is the nicest man in England. He is everything that Ebenezer Scrooge was by the end of the original story. He is generous and kind to everybody, and sensitive to the misery of others. As a result, everybody takes advantage of his kindness, and all but Mr. Baldrick view him as a victim, although even he is slighty more cynical than his ancestors. His business turns no profit, all his earnings going to charity and to con artists, and he lives a lonely, miserable life.

All this changes when the Spirit of Christmas makes the mistake of calling round to congratulate him for his ways. The spirit lets him see shades of the past, the lives of his ancestors Lord Blackadder and Edmund Blackadder, the butler of the Prince Regent. Instead of being convinced that he is better than them, he grows to admire them and their wit. He asks the spirit to show him what could happen if he became like them. He sees a vision of a distant future where his distant descendant Admiral Blackadder is a successful, if ruthless, official of a Universe-spanning Empire about to marry the similarly ruthless and insanely ambitious Queen Asphyxia XIX, both planning to conquer the Universe. Ebenezer asks the Spirit what will happen if he stays kind. As an answer, he sees an alternate vision of the same future era where his descendant is a semi-naked slave of the incompetent Admiral Baldrick.

Ebenezer makes his decision, proclaiming, "Bad guys have all the fun." He wakes up a different man: bitter, vengeful, greedy for money, and insulting to everyone he meets. Although he is now more in control of his life, he misses a golden opportunity when he insults two strangers who had come to reward him for his reputed generosity. These are Queen Victoria and her Prince Consort, Albert. The episode ends with Ebenezer looking startled over his brushing-off of the royal couple, yet we are left with the impression that his newfound cunning will enable him to rectify the situation to his (and his descendants') advantage.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia

  • A notable face absent from this episode is Tim McInnerny. Presumably having declined to appear as Lord Percy Percy in the Blackadder the Third, he declined to appear as him again in this episode, or as any other character.
  • There is an edit towards the beginning of the episode, after Baldrick talks about the dog in the Nativity play. Blackadder asks him "Weren't the children upset?" and Baldrick responds "Nah, they loved it. They want us to do another one at Easter. They want to see us nail up the dog." Most of this line is cut from video and DVD releases, but it is still present when transmitted on television.

[edit] External links

Blackadder
Blackadders Other Characters The Series

In chronological order

The Black Adder

Blackadder II

Blackadder the Third

Blackadder Goes Forth

In chronological order
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