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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A textbook for Blackadder., 24 Aug 2003
This book is basically a review of the TV show Blackadder. Each episode gets its own little review, and mini-essays about each seasons are also included. The essays are good -they are easy to read and put these shows in their context- a low budget but very popular TV show. They also contain a few little stories that are funny, such as how famous jokes were actually improvised. If I was a schoolboy taking an exam in Blackadder this would be priceless, and would get full marks. But I'm not- I'm a casual fan who has seen all the 24 episodes. Whilst this book serves to refresh my memory of the show it fails to go any deeper. The episode reviews themselves basically report what happens in each episode and tells us the funniest jokes. I also reports what each character did. I felt that this book was missing the point somewhat. Anyone reading it will have seen the episodes and would be familiar with the plot and jokes, so why repeat them? I would have loved to see a lot more commentary on the episodes and the references to various historical events. A show like Blackadder is crying out for some decent historical comedy, perhaps put into the context of the 1980's (when the show was made.) Sadly this book doesn't provide that, which is such as shame as I was expecting it. At the very least the authors should have explained the significance of various jokes (as funny as a Shakespearian comedy etc) rather than simply repeating them. This strikes me as somewhat lazy and ineffective- the jokes are only fun when heard from the characters themselves. Furthermore this book fails to provide any critical opinion on the shows. Sadly the authors don't tell us what they enjoyed or hated about the various episodes, and as such the book seems somewhat mechanical and souless. That said, it is not a bad book, and is probably most useful for casual browsing, such as when travelling on the bus to work or when using the bathroom. I think about 2.6 stars should fit, so I'll say 3.
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