 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2008) |
| "Major Star" | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder episode | |
| Episode no. | Series 4 Episode 3 |
| Written by | Ben Elton, Richard Curtis |
| Original air date | 12 October 1989 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Gabrielle Glaister | |
"Major Star", or "Plan C: Major Star", is the third episode of Blackadder Goes Forth , the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder . It originally aired on 12 October 1989.
Blackadder is feeling bored, so George suggests a Charlie Chaplin film to cheer him up, but Blackadder declines, citing his hatred of Chaplin. Baldrick gets a newspaper reporting that the Russian Revolution has started and the Russians have pulled out of the war as a result. George is initially delighted, until Blackadder reminds him that the Russians were their allies, and Blackadder is dismayed, since it will mean "three-quarters of a million Germans leaving the Russian Front and coming over here with the express purpose of using my nipples for target practice!" Blackadder decides to desert but is stopped when General Melchett arrives in the trench as he ironically needs Blackadder to help him shoot some deserters. Melchett, reminding Blackadder of the French army mutinies the previous year, and the recent Russian uprising, is determined to prevent the same thing happening in the British Army. To prevent an uprising, he asks Captain Blackadder to organise a cabaret to boost the men's morale, something that Blackadder eagerly accepts when a possible tour is mentioned (which would allow him to leave the trenches). Melchett also asks his driver, Corporal "Bob" Parkhurst, to aid Blackadder. Blackadder immediately notices that "Bob" is a woman in disguise, something of which Melchett remains entirely unaware; however, Bob persuades Blackadder not to reveal the truth.
The show, which features Baldrick's Charlie Chaplin impression (featuring a dead slug called Graham as Baldrick's "moustache"), which Melchett thinks is a slug-balancing act, and Lieutenant George's drag act, "Gorgeous Georgina", is a success on its first night, but unfortunately Melchett falls in love with "Georgina", takes her to the Regimental Ball, and proposes to her. Worst of all, George accepts because he feared he may have been court-martialled for disobeying a superior officer.
Blackadder is called to Melchett's office, and it is revealed the marriage is to take place that Saturday and that Melchett wants him to be his best man. Consequently, Blackadder informs Melchett that there is something wrong with Georgina. At first Melchett is worried she may be Welsh, but Blackadder then informs him of Georgina's "death" from stepping on a cluster of landmines. At first, Melchett mourns deeply for his "perfect woman", but seconds later, he recovers by saying "Oh well. Can't be helped. Can't be helped". He then refuses to continue the show, citing that Georgina was "the only good thing about it", but Blackadder says he has already found a new leading lady. These words place Blackadder in "the stickiest situation since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun".
George's suggestions as to who to replace him as leading lady are rejected by Blackadder as being "too short", "too old" or "too dead". Baldrick offers to take up the role, but Blackadder quickly dismisses the idea (in truth, Baldrick's plan was to marry Melchett and be a Trojan Horse – or "frozen horse" as he refers to it as – to bring down the aristocracy). He then realises he has had a leading lady in his presence all the time and replaces George with Bob. In spite of Bob's more convincing and better received "drag" act, and Baldrick's now seemingly "feeble impression of Buster Keaton", Melchett proclaims the second night's show a "disaster", recognising Bob and still not realising she is a woman, and immediately stops any possibility of a tour (and Blackadder leaving). He instead declares that with the arrival of the Americans into the war, morale will be boosted by "endless showings of Charlie Chaplin films" (with Blackadder as projectionist at a personal request from Chaplin himself, much to his annoyance). Captain Darling revels in Melchett's displeasure with Blackadder, causing Blackadder to offer him a "liquorice allsort" (Baldrick's slug), which he accepts.
Blackadder is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series was set in a different historical period, with the two protagonists accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, e.g., Melchett, Lord Percy Percy / Captain Darling and George.
Edmund Blackadder is the single name given to a collection of fictional characters who appear in the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder, each played by Rowan Atkinson. Although each series is set within a different period of British history, all the Edmund Blackadders in the franchise are part of the same familial dynasty. Each character also shares notable personality traits and characteristics throughout each incarnation. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4, Edmund Blackadder was ranked third on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC1. The series placed the recurring characters of Blackadder, Baldrick, and George in a trench in Flanders during World War I, and followed their various doomed attempts to escape from the trenches to avoid death under the misguided command of General Melchett. The series references famous people of the time and criticises the British Army's leadership during the campaign, culminating in the ending of its final episode, in which the soldiers are ordered to carry out a lethal charge of enemy lines.
Blackadder II is the second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986. The series is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and sees the principal character, Edmund, Lord Blackadder, as a Tudor courtier attempting to win the favour of the Queen while avoiding execution by decapitation, a fate that befell many of her suitors.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol, a one-off episode of Blackadder, is a parody of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third (1987) and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), and is narrated by Hugh Laurie. Produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on BBC1 on 23 December 1988.
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 British science fiction comedy short film based on the BBC period sitcom Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga. It was commissioned for showing in the specially built SkyScape cinema erected southeast of the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich peninsula in South London. The film follows Lord Edmund Blackadder and his idiotic servant, Baldrick, on a time travel adventure that brings the characters into contact with several figures significant to British history.
"Goodbyeee", or "Plan F: Goodbyeee", is the sixth and final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth and final series of British historical sitcom Blackadder. The episode was first broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 2 November 1989, shortly before Armistice Day. Apart from the one-off short film Blackadder: Back & Forth made a decade later, it was the last episode of Blackadder to be produced and transmitted.
"Corporal Punishment" or "Plan B: Corporal Punishment", is the second episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. It was first broadcast on BBC1 on 5 October 1989. In the episode, Blackadder faces a court-martial, and later an execution by firing squad, for shooting a carrier pigeon.
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode.
"General Hospital", or "Plan E: General Hospital", is the fifth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.
"Head" is the second episode of the BBC period comedy Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.
"Chains" is the final episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Power-mad and self-professed "master of disguise", Prince Ludwig the Indestructible kidnaps Lord Blackadder and Lord Melchett. They escape his clutches but Prince Ludwig infiltrates the palace during a fancy dress ball. The episode was recorded 14 July 1985.
"Beer" is the fifth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. In the episode, an embarrassing incident with a turnip, an ostrich feather and a fanatically Puritan aunt leads to a right royal to-do in the Blackadder household. The episode marks Miriam Margolyes's second and Hugh Laurie's first ever Blackadder appearance with Laurie going on to appear in every subsequent episode of the show.
"Money" is the fourth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.
George is a supporting character who appeared in various adaptations of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, played by Hugh Laurie. Two series saw a different incarnation of the character, because each was set in a different period of history. He was most prominently featured in the third and fourth series. The character was added to the series as a replacement for the Lord Percy Percy character, who did not appear in the third instalment because Tim McInnerny, the actor playing him, feared being typecast.
"Duel and Duality" is the sixth and final episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder the Third, the third series of Blackadder.
"Private Plane", or "Plan D: Private Plane", is the fourth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.
"Captain Cook", or "Plan A: Captain Cook", is the first episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil and arguably the best friend of the lead character. Each series of Blackadder is set in a different period in British history, and each Baldrick character is a descendant of the Baldrick from the preceding series. Just as Blackadder exists in many incarnations throughout the ages, so does Baldrick; whenever there is a Blackadder there is a Baldrick serving him. They are all portrayed by Sir Tony Robinson.
