Blackadder
Another important figure of British humour is Rowan Atkinson. Although his character of Mr Bean is better known abroad, here we will take an interest in the Blackadder series. Blackadder is the anti-hero Rowan Atkinson performed in the historical sitcom of the same name, which was aired during the eighties on BBC One.
The plot takes place at different periods, each of the four series focusing on, and even rewriting, an important stage of British History. The first one is set in the Middle Ages, during, and in the aftermath of the Battle of Bosworth Field. The second one is then set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the third one during the period of the Regency, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and finally the last one is set in the trenches during the First World War. Blackadder, although his first name is always Edmund, is actually four characters, each one belonging to a different generation of the same family. Little by little, this family’s social status decreases whereas each generation gives way to a Blackadder smarter and shrewder, distinguishing him from the very first Edmund who was quite unintelligent. Nevertheless, we find the same traits in his personnality, whatever period it is. Indeed, Edmund Blackadder is always ambitious, opportunist, cynical, sarcastic and mean with everyone, especially with his servant Baldrick who accompanies him through the ages and whose intelligence evolves in the opposite way of his master’s.
Besides the four series, there are several specials, sketches that were performed for particular occasions and which action takes place in other eras of history. As in the two first series there was a lot of allusions to the works of Shakespeare, it became necessary to make Shakespeare meet a member of the Blackadder family. We chose then to present you the Shakespeare sketch. Here is the script:
[Blackadder is looking through some papers. There's a knock at the door.]
Blackadder: Come
[The door opens, and a man steps in.]
Blackadder: Bill! Bill, good to see you. [They shake hands.]
Shakespeare: Sorry I was late - the traffic was a bitch!
B: Good to see you. Well, the play's going well, isn't it? Looks like we've got a bit of a smash on our hands.
S: Well, it, er, seems to be OK, yeah.
B: They always seem to go for the ones with the snappy titles: `Hamlet'. Perfect! Perfect.
S: Act Three may be a bit long, I don't know...
B: Act Three may be a bit long... In fact, generally, I think we've got a bit of a length problem.
S: Oh?
B: It's five hours, Bill, on wooden seats, and no toilets this side of the Thames.
S: Yeah, well, I've always said the Rose Theatre is a dump, frankly. I mean, the sooner they knock it down and build something decent, the better.
B: Exactly. So that's why I think we should trim some of the dead wood.
S: "Dead wood"?
B: Yeah, you know: some of that standup stuff in the middle of the action.
S: You mean the soliloquies?
B: Yeah, and I think we both know which is the dodgy one.
S: [getting upset] Oh? Oh? Which is "the dodgy one"?
B: Erm... "To be ... nobler in the mind ... mortal coil ..."; that one. It's boring, Bill. The crowd hates it -- Yawnsville.
S: Well, I don't know about that. It happens to be my favourite, actually.
B: Bill, you said that about the avocado monologue in `King Lear', and the tap dance at the end of `Othello'.
S: Absolutely not! You cut one word of that, and I'm off the play.
B: Bill, Bill... the King has got his costume change down to one minute. Hamlet's out there ranting on about God-knows-what in that soliloquy of yours, and Claudius is already in the wings waiting to come on with that very funny codpiece -- waiting!
S: [very upset; stands] All right, all right, you can just cut the whole speech altogether!
B: Bill, Bill, Bill... Why do we have to fight? It's long, long, long. We could make it so snappy...
S: "Snappy"?
B: Yeah, you know: give it some pizzazz. How's it begin, that speech?
S: [sits] "To be."
B: Come on, come on, Bill.
S: "To be a victim of all life's earthly woes, or not to be a coward and take Death by his proffered hand."
B: There, now; I'm sure we can get that down!
S: No! Absolutely not! It's perfect.
B: [preparing to write] How about "To be a victim, or not to be coward"?
S: [shrugs] It doesn't make sense, does it! To be a victim of what? to be coward about what?
B: OK, OK. Take out `victim'; take out `coward'. Just start "To be, or not to be."
S: You can't say that! It's gibberish!
B: But it's short, William, it's short! Listen, it flows: "To be, or not to be; that is the question." D'de, d'de de de, d'de d'de de de! OK?
S: You're damn right it's the question -- they won't have any bloody idea what he's talking about!
B: Well, OK, let's leave that and go on. "Blah blah blah blah blah, slings and arrows" -- good! action; the crowds love it -- "take up arms" -- brilliant -- "against those cursed doubts that do plague on man" -- eugh... Getting very woolly there, Bill. Plague's a bit tasteless at the moment -- we've had letters, actually. "...and set sail on a sea of troubles" -- this is good: travel; travel's very popular. So let's just take out the guff and see what we've got. "...to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take up arms against a sea of troubles"! Good!
S: I resign. [stands]
B: Bill, it's brilliant!
S: It's absolute crap! What is he talking about? He's going to put on a bow and arrow and potter down to the seaside? This is Prince Hamlet, not King Canute! He might as well kill himself if that's the best idea he can come up with.
B: Creative thinking, Bill! Hamlet; perhaps he should top himself!
S: In Act One?
B: Well, yeah, well, look we must think about bums on seats, Bill. Let's face it: It's the ghost that's selling this show at the moment. Joe Public loves the ghost; he loves the swordfights; he loves the crazy chick in the see-through dress who does the flower gags and then drowns herself. But no-one likes Hamlet -- no-one.
S: [disgusted] All right, then, I'll kill him off for you. [picks up paper and quill] Ermm... [reads] "Aye; there's the rub. To die, to sleep..." [writes] "Whoops! (Hamlet falls off the battlements)" [puts down paper and quill]
B: Bill, Bill, Bill; I can see, I can see you're annoyed. I'm sorry. Hamlet has his moments. The mad stuff is very funny. It really is hysterical. But all I'm saying, Shakey, is let's just shorten this one terribly dull speech.
S: ...and all I'm saying is no. You cut one word, and you can take my name off the credits.
B: All right. I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll trim this speech, and you can put back in those awful cockney gravediggers.
S: The both of them?
B: Yeah.
S: And the skull routine?
B: Yep -- the whole sketch.
S: All right, then; you've got a deal -- and we'll see which one history remembers. [turns to leave]
B: Bill, I love you!
[WS exits]
B: Tempermental git!
Typical for Blackadder, the history is once more rewritten. It is even so revised that Shakespeare comes to depreciate what in reality is his own work. Thus the funny part comes from incongruity, which can also be noticed with the language used by the two protagonists. The informal words they employ, like “bitch”, “snappy”, “dump”, “pizzazz”, “guff”, etc. are totally unexpected for Shakespeare is the greatest writer of the English literature and his name is usually associated with poetry. Here his name suffers from a lack of respect as Blackadder calls him with the diminutive “Bill” and even “Shakey”—not to mention the final reply! There is also a certain disrespect towards Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, since Blackadder allows himself to criticize this “sketch” and to suggest big changes. It is from this gap between the expected and the unexpected that the comedy arises. Thus, British humorists don’t hesitate to parody the greatest names of their own culture and history... much to our delight!