Born to Be King

The second episode of "The Black Adder" has our "beloved" Edmund in trouble as his lands are given to McAngus, his father's commander. Edmund will try to get rid of McAngus and get his lands back.

This second episode keeps the same structure of the first, with lots of humor and silliness permeating every frame of the episode, but it falls short of the greatness of the Black Adder's introduction that we had the chance to enjoy in the first episode. Atkinson's and everyone's acting is still really good and the timing for the jokes amazing (even though Brian Blessed shouts a little bit too much...), but the jokes are not as good and some moments feel way too long. The dialogue also lacks the bite of the previous episode, and some times falls into the juvenile (well, something normal in this series).

Nonetheless, "Born to be King" is another awesome proof of how funny this series was.

"Let's see the Black Adder wriggle out of this one!"

This episode was better than The Foretelling, and also introduced us to some new faces. The slapstick was stronger, and the humorous lines were done with more vigour. Edmund is still a weed and a wimp in this one, but it only serves to make it funnier. However, his sharp wit and expertly delivered nasty comments are what really gives the later series their kicks.

Born to be King improves on the weaknesses of The Foretelling and gave me a more humorous viewing, but Blackadder's excessively long dialogue scenes in his quarters still aren't that funny. On the whole, it is a relatively good episode, and shows how much Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson have developed their humorous writing since The Foretelling. However, the episodes still get funnier from here. It gets an 8 out of 10 rating from me, only losing out from a 9 because it still hasn't got the right deliveries of certain lines.

Episode 2, Born To Be King, was originally shown as episode 4, and is a remake of the un-aired pilot, which featured a slightly different cast; it sees Prince Edmund (Rowan Atkinson) plotting revenge against a wild Scottish warrior, McAngus (Alex Norton), who has been granted ownership of Edmund's lands by Prince Harry (Robert East) as reward for his bravery in battle against the Turks. However, slimy Edmund alters his plan to kill Douglas when he discovers that the man is in possession of letters written by his mother, the Queen, which cast doubt over Harry's lineage.

Baldrick (Tony Robinson) dressed as a bearded woman; a troupe of jumping Jews (including a young Angus Deayton); an entertainer by the name of Jerry Merriweather, whose chickens lay eggs; Edmund offering a collection of wigs, codpieces and a grundlestretcher (whatever that may be) in exchange for his life: just some of the amazingly silly and utterly hilarious moments cooked up by writers Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson for this sidesplitting episode of The Black Adder. No opportunity to mock medieval history is missed, with the terminology used by the Queen in her racy love letters being the highlight of the show, (especially with Edmund relishing every last salacious word).

Edmund looks to dispose of this father's comrade in arms McAngus.

I enjoyed this episode for the wicked plot, funny dialogue and excellent performances.

The story is an amusing example of Edmund's greedy ambition going badly wrong whilst providing some background on lineage. It's presents a number of comical situations that work well with the characters involved.

I found the humour to be stronger than The Foretelling with characters and dynamics a bit more settled and the dialogue quite a bit stronger. Right from Brian Blessed's hilarious opening line, for me there were a lot more moments when I experienced involuntary laughter. I particularly enjoyed Edmund's reaction to the prospect of handing over some of his land to McAngus and the banter between the Queen and her Lady In Waiting.

Rowan Atkinson mixes silliness and nastiness to great effect and shows signs of the sharper, cynical and more contemptuous character he becomes in later series. Other strong performances include Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny and Alex Norton.

For me this is an 8.5/10 as the punchlines are delivered with better timing than usual for series 1.

I like the bit how his cunning plan backfired on him