Blackadder

Everyone knows Mr Bean, perhaps the most recognizable (almost) silent comedy character post Chaplin's "The Tramp", even if a lot more basic and "grosser." When something gets so popular it becomes part of the cultural fabric it's sometimes easy to dismiss. Mr Bean's original TV series were so much better than any of the movies.

But what is even more surprising is that, having created this iconic silent character, Rowan Atkinson also excelled at one of the wittiest characters in British TV, that of Blackadder. It had been decades since I had last seen the show and I had forgotten some of the details but not the broad strokes. As its four seasons follow four distinct characters in four distinct time periods (each a descendant of the next), what is curious, and a detail I had forgotten, is that their standing within their own universe is different. In the first season, Blackadder is the cowardly second son of Richard IV, and he intends to become king. In season two, he's now a witty and sarcastic Lord councillor to Elizabeth I, and he intends to put down his archrival Lord Melchett as the Queen's favourite. Then in number 3, he's now a butler to the oaf Prince George, future King George IV, and he intends to become rich to escape this ghastly life. Finally, in the last season, he's a captain during WWI, and he intends to survive or escape war.

It's hard to say which is the best as they're so different. The fact that it revolves around historical reenactment and not a character that's set in stone allows for a lot of variety in terms of episodes, which pretty much are all classics (just 6 episodes each season - plus a few specials with characters in different eras).

Often we are doomed to think "oh, if they ever did another season..." but, like many classic shows, there'a certain quality in it being a complete finite piece, even if (almost) everyone's still alive. A product of its time, sure, but also the fact that it was what it was, warts and all, and the episodes that do exist become a lot more special for it.