Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988)

A very funny inversion of both 'A Christmas Carol' and the other Blackadder shows. Here, "Ebenezer Blackadder" is as kind and generous as a man can be, the opposite of every Scrooge (and other Black Adder) we've seen. But then he gets a visit from the ghost of the Christmas spirit, who shows him how awful and selfish his various ancestors were. On the other hand, they don't seem to be taken advantage of quite the way he is... A spirited, funny, and black satire, with terrific work as usual from the whole group; Rowan Atkinson. Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane, Miriam Margolies and Jim Broadbent. Quite a cast! It doesn't all work, and the very ending is a bit predictable, but there lots of laughs and twisted humor along the way.

If I had to sum up Blackadder's Christmas Carol, I'd say it was Dickens' traditional festive parable turned unashamedly inside out. We know of Edmund Blackadder's selfish, self-centred nature so what better way to approach the tale of seasonal personal epiphany than by turning the good man into an evil one.Edmund is set to spend another year with no money at all - and this is the only Blackadder I've seen, incidentally, where Baldrick is nearly on the same social footing (Edmund calls him "Mr. Baldrick") - until he is visited by the Christmas Spirit (brilliantly played by Robbie Coltrane. I particularly like the way the Spirit's plan to praise Edmund by showing the evil deeds of his ancestors backfires so badly, but I will reveal no more.It's not only Dickens' characters who get parodied here ("Mrs. Scratchit, Tiny Tim is seventeen stone and built like a brick privy! If he eats any more heartily he will burst") but that most iconic of nineteenth century figures, Queen Victoria herself. It is well known that she and her husband Albert truly loved each other and poor Albert is so enthusiastic about the presents he buys that he can keep nothing secret.It is a great tribute to Rowan Atkinson and Ben Elton that I can think of few other writers and actors who can parody a certain time in history so well. Refreshingly entertaining in an entirely different way to most seasonal TV.

It is tradition that all successful comedy programmes/sitcoms should have a Christmas Special, and this was no exception. Rowan Atkinson plays Ebenezer Blackadder, but there is a twist, because Blackadder is usually nasty, they decide to twist the story of Scrooge. So he is a generous man who gives to the poor, but hardly saves anything for himself, or Baldrick (Tony Robinson). One night he is visited by the Spirit of Christmas (Robbie Coltrane) who mentions about Blackadder's past relatives, and how terrible they were. So he shows him Lord Edmund Blackadder (from Blackadder II), Edmund Blackadder (from Blackadder the Third), and future Esq./Cmdr. Edmund Blackadder. The ghost convinces him that if he is bad, he can become rich and powerful like his relatives, so he does! Is this a happy ending? Also starring Miranda Richardson as Queen Elizabeth I/Asphyxia XIX, Stephen Fry as Lord Melchett/Lord Frondo, Hugh Laurie as George, the Prince Regent/Lord Pigmot, Miriam Margolyes as Queen Victoria, Jim Broadbent as Prince Albert and Patsy Byrne as Nursie. Rowan Atkinson was number 18 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, he was number 24 on The Comedians' Comedian, and he was number 8 on Britain's Favourite Comedian, Edmund Blackadder was number 3 on The 100 Greatest TV Characters, and he was number 3 on The World's Greatest Comedy Characters, and this special was number 9 on The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments. Very good!

SPOILERS Every Christmas it is the same thing. You wake up on Christmas Day, you spend the day with family and you eat Turkey. Every year as well, we always have at least one version of Charles Dickens' classic novel "A Christmas Carol". Talking about the transformation over night of Ebenezer Scrooge from nasty to nice, the tale is one of the most well known around.In 1988 however, we had an alternative to life. A spoof of Dickens' novel saw the light of day. Poking fun at the story and fitting it into the Blackadder family, we were given a Christmas present to remember.In Victorian London, one of the nicest men around was Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson). A kind businessman who constantly gave money and food away to the poor, Blackadder and his associate Baldrick (Tony Robinson) were short of money, but happy none the less. On Christmas Eve however, Blackadder was visited by the Spirit of Christmas (Robbie Coltrane) and things were about to change.This retelling of the classic tale but in a sort of reverse is brilliant because it allowed us to see new sketches for the Elizabethan and Georgian Blackadders. Bringing back all the old characters, Melchett (Stephen Fry), Queen Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson), Nursie (Patsy Byrne) and Prince George (Hugh Laurie), this episode also granted us a view into the future with the two ways the Blackadder family might evolve.Not without flaws, this episode did contain the incredibly annoying character of Millicent (Nicola Bryant), but written that way, it's difficult to really fault the character. Likewise the three fat orphans and their master Beadle (Denis Lill). Ultimately though, whether these characters are irritating or not, it is so good to see the old ones return, as well as a spirited performance (get it?) by Robbie Coltrane as the Ghost of Christmas, that all the negative characters are forgiven.All in all, "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" is brilliant. Funny throughout, it reminds us of why we love the series and it continues to entertain after multiple viewings. Well worth getting a copy of.