The Almost Complete Scriptbook (Blackadder - The Whole Damn Dynasty ! - Richard Curtis)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Blackadder - The Whole Damn Dynasty ! - Richard Curtis
Date:	23/03/04 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The classic scripts from all 24 episodes

Disadvantages: Does not include the one-off specials

The four series are preceeded by fully detailed cast lists, and the pleasant 'additions' to the book are the frequent articles inspired by episodes and characters between some episodes. These include double page spreads on topics such as "Medieval Medicine," the options of which are apparently 1. herbs, 2. leeches, 3. saw it off, "Duties of an Underscrogsman" and the hilarious "Baldrick's Family Tree." The book ends with a very useful and entertaining list of "Blackadder's Finest Insults"- usually following the 'stickiest situation since sticky the stick insect got stuck to a sticky bun' formula, and a brief history of the BBC?s Comic Relief, to which some of the book's profits go toward.

This book of the collected scripts for all four Blackadder series, titled The Black Adder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth respectively, was an inevitable and important release which was handled incredibly well.

For a start, the book is illustrated and themed to suit each relevant series, with interesting introductory designs and production photographs to each episode and small illustrations within the text to keep the pages interesting. The scripts of the Blackadder series were incredibly well written, despite the occasional obvious joke and the poorer quality of the first series before Ben Elton satirically aided the writing process, and reading it allows a long-time fan to remember famous lines, or newer fans to appreciate episodes and series they have yet to come across. This book kept me entertained on a very uninteresting family holiday several years ago.

Aided by a large number of black and white and colour photos, and very impressive covers on the hardback version, this book unfortunately falls short of perfection only due to the Blackadder episodes that it 'misses'; Blackadder and Baldrick's transitions between each series are described in detail, although no mention is made of the Blackadder specials "The Cavalier Years," a fifteen minute civil war Comic Relief special from the late 1980s, or "Blackadder's Christmas Carol." Considering that these special one-offs could conceivable fit into Blackadder's continuity between the third and fourth series, the fact that they receive no mention is something which maybe ought to have been remedied, although the lengthy scripts already contained certainly make the book an essential purchase to anyone who loves to quote great programmes. And there are certainly few modern comedies which even come close to rivalling the whole damn Blackadder dynasty.

It has also been very helpful in providing modern day comedy quips about the Great War for my eventual A-level English Literature exam. I hope to get some Iron Maiden lyrics in there as well. I would also recommend the complete Blackadder series on DVD, one of the finest comedy series of all time.

Summary: Scripts from all four series of Blackadder