Has anybody besides me realized that the apparent source for the character of Edmund Blackadder was Edmund, the scheming bastard son of Gloucester in "King Lear"? That out of the way, I must admit that I love all four "Blackadder" series (including the much-maligned first), but this is my favorite. "Blackadder" may be full of anachronisms and frequently gets names and dates wrong, but as Brechtian social commentary it couldn't be more true. As in all four series, "Blackadder II" cuts through the hypocritical platitudes of official history and presents the harsh realities of life in Elizabethan England, with its religious intolerance, official oppression, and vast gap between the haves and have-nots. This is no Renaissance Faire view of "Merry England": here is a world of dirt and grime, where old men urge their daughters to become prostitutes, where sadistic bishops cheerfully practice usury (organized religion, in all Blackadder series, is generally a tool of oppression), people are convicted and beheaded on insufficient evidence, and aristocratic fools play games with people's lives. My favorite episode is the one where Edmund is appointed Lord High Executioner and addresses his staff: "I am the newly appointed minister in charge of religious genocide." Despite the fast-and-loose approach to history, all four Blackadder series look authentic: costume and set design is always right on target; indeed, I've seen few Shakespearean productions that looked as good as "Blackadder II." Rowan Atkinson's Edmund bears more than a passing resemblance to Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow--an intelligent man trapped in a world less evolved than he--and Tony Robertson is brilliant as always as Baldrick, the Common Man reborn throughout history. Miranda Richardson's Queen Elizabeth I may not be the best screen portrayal of the Virgin Queen, but she's certainly the funniest, and Stephen Fry's Lord Melchitt is perfect as the irritating voice of authority. A word of advice to college students: don't bother to take British history; just rent all four "Blackadder" series and watch them over the weekend before finals. You may get the facts wrong, but your professor will have a good chuckle over your essay exams.
Review of Blackadder II
