Blackadder Goes Forth: Entire Historic Fourth Series (1989)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1989
Running Time	174:19 (Case: 173)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Richard Boden
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Rowan Atkinson Tony Robinson Stephen Fry Hugh Laurie Tim McInnerny
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$32.95	Music	Howard Goodall

    Usually by the time you get to the final series of a comedy the laughs are too forced, or the cast is too jaded and it just doesn't quite sit right. BlackAdder Goes Forth could have become another of those comedies except for one thing - the time period it was set in. World War One is the perfect theatre in which to base a comedy one last time. The desperation, the mud, disease, endless casualties, inept leaders and the almost insane optimism these men had is the stuff that defies logic but offers fertile ground for the comic. It is therefore a fitting finale for one of the most memorable of British comedy series and one which has stood the test of time.

    This time around, Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is a Captain in the army, stuck in the trenches in World War One. With him are his faithful retainer, now Private Baldrick (Tony Robinson), and alongside him Lt. George Barleigh (Hugh Laurie), the typical gormless fool with no brains and endless bravado. Also along for the duration are General Melchett (Stephen Fry), Blackadder's corps commander who is constantly trying to get him killed and Captain Darling (Tim McInnerny) who is always looking out for himself at everyone else's expense. Some of the old regulars make appearances, including Rik Mayall as Lord Flasheart, Adrian Edmondson as Baron von Richthoven and Miranda Richardson as Nurse Mary.

• Captain Cook - 29:15, 'I smell something fishy and I don't mean the contents of Baldrick's apple crumble' - Blackadder receives a new pistol he didn't ask for and realises that General Haig is planning a new offensive, so he cons his way into becoming the official war artist for King and Country, only to be duped by Captain Darling and General Melchett.
• Corporal Punishment - 29:27, 'No sir we didn't receive any orders and Captain Blackadder definitely did not shoot this plump-breasted pigeon' - A series of miscommunications lands Blackadder under arrest and facing a court-martial when he shoots General Melchett's favourite pigeon and makes a meal of it. Baldrick in the meantime sends the wrong letters off and Blackadder ends up with a sponge bag from the greatest legal mind in Britain and being defended by George.
• Major Star - 29:07, 'We're in the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun' - The Russians have revolted and General Melchett is worried about morale so decides to hold a concert party. He co-opts Blackadder, but things go astray when Melchett falls for his 'leading lady', George dressed in drag.
• Private Plane - 28:59 'Have you got any idea what it's like to have the wind rushing through your hair? (breaks wind) He has, lucky devil!' - A false air-raid leaves Blackadder of the opinion that all pilots are gits, but after Lord Flasheart lands in his trench he decides to volunteer for the 'twenty minuters' only to discover that that's the life expectancy of new pilots, not the time they spend in the air.
• General Hospital - 28:06 'What about you, have you got a man? Some fine fellow in an English country village? A vicar, maybe? Quiet, gentle, hung like a baboon!' - George gets injured by a falling bomb and is sent to hospital. General Melchett wants Blackadder to find a spy also in the hospital and Captain Darling doesn't trust Blackadder so Melchett shoots him in the foot.
• Goodbyeee - 29:25 'Gentlemen our long wait is nearly at an end. Tomorrow morning General 'Insanity' Melchett invites you to a mass slaughter' - The big push is on and Blackadder and his command must go 'over the top' at dawn. Attempting to claim insanity he puts his underpants on his head and two pencils up his nose and goes 'wooble'. Unfortunately, the Hero of Umboto Gorge hasn't counted on General Melchett who knows all the tricks and fails in his attempt to be repatriated. Just before dawn they are joined by Captain Darling who has been given a front line commission and over the top they go.

    The last episode is a fitting finale to a fabulous series that deserves a better treatment than offered on this disc. The humour is still as fresh today as it was all those years ago.

Video

    Most of this series comes from video footage and it shows. Occasionally, there is some film footage edited in, but for the most part you are confronted with the inadequacies of video.

    Originally made for TV, this is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and not 16x9 enhanced.

    There is only one way to describe this transfer: blurry. Edge enhancement has been used throughout but the basic lack of clarity makes it almost unnoticeable (13:28 in Captain Cook is a good example). A low grade master tape looks as if it was used for this transfer and the general darkness of all the episodes is a real shame. There was no noise evident, but that could simply be that it was hidden by all the other little problems. Shadow detail suffers from the lack of brightness as well, although the set for Captain Darling's office was less of a problem. All-in-all though, shadow detail could be called little more than average. Little grain is in evidence due to the use of video rather than film stock. Only during Private Plane can you see any grain, and during the opening credits.

    The colour is pretty abysmal throughout. Colour bleed is endemic and every episode exhibits so much of it it is hard to miss it (see Captain Cook - 3:01, 8:00 and Corporal Punishment - 19:07 for three prime examples). During the last episode, Goodbyeee, Blackadder's suspenders have a prominent red line of colour bleed throughout the episode. I thought I saw some occasional cross colouration, but I couldn't nail them down with any degree of accuracy, probably due to the oversaturation of red which made all the other colours look washed-out, except for the browns and sepias which didn't look totally natural as a result.

    Your normal film artefacts are restricted to the opening credits which have a fair few little nicks in them and the odd black and white fleck missing. Apart from this, only the flying footage in Private Plane has any other of the normal film artefacts on show. All episodes exhibit ghosting throughout which was very annoying and there appeared to be a constant haze over the picture.

    The subtitles were interesting and very precise, although whoever did them obviously doesn't know an aubergine from an oberjine, or floury from flowery. Neat little font, very readable, with only a few minor missed words in unobtrusive places.

    This is a dual layered disc, with the layer change separating the episodes and hence not at all obtrusive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio is slightly better than the video in that it has fewer problems and remains consistent throughout the disc.

    The only audio track on this disc is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track at 192 kilobits per second. For most of the time, the sound is concentrated in the centre speaker, although the laugh track can definitely be heard from both left and right channels.

    The dialogue was very clean throughout although there was one obvious overdub in Corporal Punishment during Blackadder's monologue about his defense lawyer, Bob Massingbird (7:35). Apart from this, the rest was easy to understand and the syncing looked spot-on.

    The musical score was by Howard Goodall, the same as on previous series and was infrequently heard, except for the opening and closing credits.

    There was no use of the surrounds or the subwoofer on this disc.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Scene Selection Animation & Audio

    The only version available in Region 1 is a super boxed set with all 4 series, plus the Christmas special, the Cavalier Years and some other tidbits.

    Blackadder is a classic British comedy that gets better with repeated viewings. Although not as funny as Series 2 or 3, the use of WW1 as a backdrop gives it a biting edge that brings it back on a par. It's just a pity that it isn't given a better presentation.

    The video is awful - not much better than VHS quality and a damned pity.

    The audio is a lot better - crisp, clean and without any major blemishes.

    Menus do not extras make!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall