Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth and last series of the British historical comedy show Blackadder, written by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. The show ran from 1983 to 1989, with every series taking place in a different historical time period. Blackadder Goes Forth, released in 1989, take place on the Western Front in WWI in 1917. Every episode tells a self-contained story, with the only throughlines being the war and the characters. Because of that, this review will focus on the overall themes and humor rather than plot. (Spoiler warning still applies, however.)
The central character is Captain Blackadder (played by Rowan Atkinson), a cynical and witty career soldier whose main interests are staying alive, getting away from the front, material comforts, mocking his incompetent and delusional superior, General Melchett (Stephen Fry), needling Melchett’s uptight assistant Captain Darling (Tim McInnerny), and doing as little work as possible with his two unintelligent associates, Private Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie). The sweet but simple Baldrick serves as Blackadder’s main lackey, while the enthusiastically patriotic puppy George mainly gets verbally kicked by Blackadder for believing in the noble cause of the war and emotionally abused by Melchett, who uses George’s faith in the British cause and his commanding officers to manipulate him. The five of them comprise the main cast alongside guest stars, and all of their performances are excellent.
The overall tone is irreverent and witty, leaning into absurdity with realism being cast aside for humor. Nothing is sacred here: war, sex, food, intelligence, heroism, nationalism, and scatological topics all become the topic of mockery and humor. Some of the humor may feel a bit insensitive or dated to a modern audience, such as the flippant suicide references or the extended joke about George’s drag performance successfully convincing Melchett and Darling that “Georgina” is a real woman, but most still land incredibly well. Most episodes have central conceit that the plot’s humor revolves around, such as the use of the “promiscuous dashing ace pilot” stereotype in the episode “Private Plane”.
WWI serves as the main focus of the show’s black comedy, and the commentary cuts razor-sharp. At one point, Blackadder is captured by the Germans, and George goes to Melchett because he wants to plan a rescue.
Melchett was responsible for the horrible death of Flossie, George’s pet rabbit, but paints his actions as being a mercy or necessary, and is now similarly responsible for the death of men like Blackadder yet uses the same rationale to justify his actions. While George does not see the hypocrisy, the audience does.
Blackadder himself constantly insults the war and the commanding officers. In the first episode, he arrives at General Melchett’s office and has this conversation.
The futility of much of trench warfare is emphasized, as well as the lack of understanding on the part of the commanding staff. Their tactics have never worked, but they repeat them over and over and over. They misunderstand the men as well, since no “stirring painting” is going to make men feel better about dying in the thousands. In fact, the men spend the entire show trying to get out of the war and avoid death. One of Baldrick’s plans for survival opens the entire show.
It is funny, yes, but also horribly sad if you think of the amount of time spent by Baldrick trying to come up with a plan to escape death, and the desperation that inspires men to do things like this.
The last episode shifts tonally from the rest of the show. While the first five episodes could really be watched in any order with minimal difficulty, the sixth episode should be watched last. The desperation used for humor becomes real as the men realize they’re going over the top, there’s nothing they can do to stop it, and they’re most likely all going to die. This is the last scene of the entire series.
After all the deeply dark comedy, the show turns around and hits the audience with the fact that the absurdity wasn’t very far from the truth of the hell of war. Despite the selfishness of Captain Blackadder and the ridiculousness of his companions, the audience has grown fond of them (at least I did).The comedy and fondness for the characters gets turned against you as you suddenly realize that it isn’t a joke anymore, that the war that has been built up as idiotic and futile for five episodes is still going to kill them. The characters remain their flawed selves to the last, but they are still people facing a very brutal end for reasons out of their control. Very strikingly, General Melchett is the only main character missing, driving home that he sent them to their deaths alone.
Overall, I really enjoyed this show. Full disclaimer, I grew up watching all of the Blackadder show in high school with my mom, so there is a nostalgia factor for me. Its very flippant, irreverent and edgy humor won’t be for everyone, since it contains a lot of sex and scatological jokes along with the war commentary, but I found it very entertaining. The acknowledgment at the end of the true cost of the war and the men who died in it really sold the series. I’d suggest this to anyone who loves black, irreverent comedy.