The day of the big push arrives.
It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed this episode given the subject matter, but there are moments of top drawer comedy for a large percentage of it, but when it ends with that powerful sequence I always get a lump in my throat.
This is the episode when the writing of Curtis and Elton transitions from hilarious to poignant. I feel it starting to change from the early scene when Baldrick starts questioning the futility of war and the look Blackadder gives Melchett who explains why he won't be joining his men in battle. A real sense of impending doom kicks in as we see Melchett give the pen-pushing Captain Darling his commission for the front line. Everything from the moment Darling arrives in Blackadder's trench onwards is heartbreaking to watch. Four great comic actors wonderfully portray the final moments of these characters condemned to death in one of the most tragic wars in history.
Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny and Stephen Fry are all brilliant.
A fitting end to what is for me the greatest comedy series in BBC history.
It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed this episode given the subject matter, but there are moments of top drawer comedy for a large percentage of it, but when it ends with that powerful sequence I always get a lump in my throat.
This is the episode when the writing of Curtis and Elton transitions from hilarious to poignant. I feel it starting to change from the early scene when Baldrick starts questioning the futility of war and the look Blackadder gives Melchett who explains why he won't be joining his men in battle. A real sense of impending doom kicks in as we see Melchett give the pen-pushing Captain Darling his commission for the front line. Everything from the moment Darling arrives in Blackadder's trench onwards is heartbreaking to watch. Four great comic actors wonderfully portray the final moments of these characters condemned to death in one of the most tragic wars in history.
Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny and Stephen Fry are all brilliant.
A fitting end to what is for me the greatest comedy series in BBC history.