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Dom Robinson reviews

Black Adder: Back and Forth

Distributed by
VCI

    cover
  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: SKY D05
  • Running time: 33 minutes
  • Year: 1999
  • Pressing: 2000
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 12 plus extras
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: None
  • Widescreen: 1.77:1
  • 16:9-enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras: The Cavalier Years, Baldrick's Video Diary

  • Director:

      Paul Weiland

    Producer:

      Sophie Clarke-Jervoise

    Screenplay:

      Richard Curtis and Ben Elton

    Music:

      Howard Goodall

    Cast:

      Blackadder: Rowan Atkinson
      Baldrick: Tony Robinson
      Melchett/Wellington: Stephen Fry
      George: Hugh Laurie
      Darling: Tim McInnery
      Elizabeth: Miranda Richardson
      Dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus Rex
      Nursie: Patsy Byrne
      William Shakespeare: Colin Firth
      Robin Hood: Rik Mayall
      Maid Marian: Kate Moss
      Royal Reporter: Jennie Bond


The Millennium Dome was a big mistake, but the only semi-good thing to come out of it was Blackadder: Back And Forth, a spin-off from the Blackadder series bringing things up to date setting it on New Year's Eve 1999, the supposed dawn of the new millennium, but sadly it didn't live up to the promise as it just wasn't funny enough, although for any fan it's definitely worth a look and there's a nice moment when Blackadder thumps Shakespeare on the nose and says it's for every schoolboy and girl for the next 400 years.

I mentioned the doomed Dome because it was the only place to see this one-off special until October 1st last year when it was screened on Sky One (albeit cropped to 4:3) and the plot, such as it is, finds Edmund betting Melchett (Stephen Fry), George (Hugh Laurie), Darling (Tim McInnery), Elizabeth (Miranda Richardson) and Nursie (Patsy Byrne) £10,000 that he can go back in time to get any item from any timezone. Whilst out and about he comes across Wellington (Stephen Fry, in an extra role, like many of the cast), William Shakespeare (Colin Firth), Robin Hood (Rik Mayall) and his Maid Marian (Kate Moss) - oh and not to mention the Dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus Rex)

This DVD also features Blackadder: The Cavalier Years - a 15-minute Comic Relief special set in 1648 - and Baldrick's Diary (30 mins), the latter also in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen like the main feature, a making-of featuring clips from "Back and Forth" and chat from the cast and crew as well as deleted scenes.

Note that both Back and Forth and Cavalier Years are rated PG, but Baldrick's Diary is the reason for the 15-cert.



Blackadder and Baldrick ponder where to go next.


I have one serious issue with the picture. While it's fine in terms of zero artifacts and being an anamorphic 16:9 widescreen transfer, someone's made a cock-up by giving everyone slightly-fat faces, like a 14:9-crop being stretched sideways to fill the 16:9 ratio. Adjusting the TV to "Just" resolves things to a slight degree. The extras show that the version used on the big screen was matted to a 2.35:1 ratio.

Whereas on TV this was shown only in Dolby Surround, the Region 2 DVD exclusively has both a Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtrack. The latter is better, of course, with sound effects used well in battle scenes, a space scene and when the dinosaur appears.

The only extras, are the aforementioned Cavalier Years and Baldrick's Diary, which are definitely worthy but I count the running time quoted atop this review as that of the main feature and not the extras.

There are 12 chapters through the 33-minute Back and Forth programme, the menus are nicely animated but only contain a sample of the main theme, but sadly there are no subtitles whatsoever.



The uninvited guest.


FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS



OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001

The following is a list of all the Black Adder DVDs reviewed online to date :

[Up to the top of this page]

DVDfever.co.uk - Est. February 25th 2000

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on:

  • Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
  • Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
  • Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
  • Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
  • Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
  • Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP