There have been many variations of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' over the years, and although I very much love a number of them it is the mean spirited, black comedy Blackadder's Christmas Carol that is by far my favourite.
For those of you who have never watched any of Blackadder, here's a brief background. The BBC series follows the bad fortunes of the Blackadder family from the dark ages through to World War I. Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) plays all of them; the Medieval Prince Edmund, the son of the King of England, plans to steal the throne. Then Edmund Blackadder the advisor to Queen Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) who thinks of cunning plans to marry her. Then further removed from power is Blackadder the valet to mad Prince George (Hugh Laurie) who plans ways to get rich. Then Blackadder the captain in the trenches in WWI who simply wants to stay alive. Through every incarnation he is joined by Baldrick (Tony Robinson) who is incredibly loyal to Blackadder, and so stupid that it is impossible to insult him. However, trying to insult him is a hobby of Blackadder.
Having a good knowledge of British history is the only way to get all of the jokes through the series, but in Blackadder's Christmas Carol, the only thing you need to keep in mind is that all of the Blackadders through the ages have been the nastiest of humans.
Ebenezer Blackadder, the owner of a moustache shop is the loveliest and kindest man in all of England. Poor but happy, he finds he is constantly taken advantage of by the poor and cunning. It is Christmas Eve and Blackadder and his servant Baldrick give away all their money, presents and food to the many guests who knock on the door.
During the night Blackadder is visited by the Spirit of Christmas who shows him the behaviour of his descendants and of his future family. Blackadder learns of their cruelty and how they are all rewarded in some way or other for their despicable behaviour. “Bad guys have all the fun” he exclaims.
He wakes up the next morning a different Blackadder. He is cruel and mean to everyone and ends up having Christmas dinner all to himself, leaving poor Baldrick with a wishbone. His only wish, “That there was some meat on this".
Along with the rest of the Blackadder series, this special shares an intelligent sense of humour. You’ll find everything from clever wordplay to creative insults all relating to Christmas. I watched this special in order to write this post and I forgot how incredibly funny it is. I laughed all the way through at the harsh insults and Dickens parodies. It’s a very clever Christmas special and has a cast of some of Britain’s greatest comedians including Jim Broadbent as Prince Albert, Miriam Margolyes as Queen Victoria and the usual Stephen Fry as Melchett. It’s a great twist on the beloved story and it’s definitely worth a watch.
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