The Blackadder franchise find its form... and my, how it fits. Highly satirical, witty, clever and biting sitcom that derives much of its humor from the way things were in the time it is set in. The plots remain unlikely, but they work better and are just generally funnier and of greater interest this time around. The pacing receives a needed lift, making this season an awful lot lighter and easier to sit through. It helps that every single line of dialog, every occurrence, is hilarious. Honestly, almost no jokes or gags fall flat in this. As with the others, the half-hour length varies, with some going a bit over, unlike the American productions where such will mean 22 minutes sans commercials. They update the theme song to the time period this is set during, with a soprano commenting on the events of the episodes(all of them of impeccable quality, and relatively distinguished from one another) at the end of each, instead of the deep-voiced, proud tone of the original show. While the credits sequences are simpler than those of the first, due to budget, it doesn't make a negative impression. Every acting performance is marvelous. Richardson as the childish queen is spectacular. Fry is a solid addition, as is Byrne, as the utterly insane Nursie. The characters are well-written and memorable. The main cast is one that you don't mind returning to. Edmund and Baldrick switch personalities... and the level of sarcasm goes through the roof, as well as that of the verbal, compared to how it was in the '83 series. Atkinson moves as far away as he can from his Bean character, an incredibly welcome change. Here, he's nasty and cruel. And he's considerably more successful in his schemes than he was before. Some of the silly bits, sexual material and even a tiny bit of gross-out stuff is retained(and occasionally than not feels out of place, among all the banter). Definitely worth watching for fans of the first, of British comedy in general and/or Rowan. One to watch if you fall under any of those categories. 10/10
Review of Blackadder II
