"Blackadder Goes Forth"
Major Star (1989)

Director:

Richard Boden

Writers:

Richard Curtis (written by) &
Ben Elton (written by)

TV Series:

"Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989)

Original Air Date:

12 October 1989 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

Blackadder sees an opportunity to escape the trenches by organizing a variety show as entertainment for the troops.

Plot Keywords:

War | Cunning Plan | 1910s | Historical | WWI

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Captain Edmund Blackadder
Tony Robinson	...	Private S. Baldrick
Stephen Fry	...	General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett
Hugh Laurie	...	Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh
Tim McInnerny	...	Captain Kevin Darling
Gabrielle Glaister	...	Driver Parkhurst

Goofs:

Factual errors: Almost certainly done for comic effect, nevertheless the sequence of events in this episode is wrong. At the beginning, Baldrick is delighted to announce that "the Russian Revolution have started", and that the Tsar is dead and the masses "have shot all their nobs". At the end of the episode, General Melchett cancels the concert party because the Americans have joined the war. In actual fact, the Americans declared war on Germany in April 1917, and the Bolshevik Revolution (to which Baldrick refers) was in October that year, with the Tsar being murdered in August 1918. However, although there was a proto-revolution in February 1917, this was not the Communist overthrow which the script clearly implies.

Quotes:

Captain Darling: We received a telegram from Mr Chaplin himself at Sennet Studios: Twice nightly filming of my films in trenches: excellent idea stop. But must insist that E. Blackadder be projectionist stop. P.S. Don't let him ever... stop.

Movie Connections:

Featured in TV's 50 Greatest Stars (2006) (TV)

Major Star - another great episode!

Major Star may not be as good as Corporal Punishment or Captain Cook, but it is a well deserved 10/10, and is hilarious and fresh as well. Though cross-dressing has already been tackled in other Blackadder episodes, the idea to bring it into World War I is one that needs to be done carefully, or it will look stupid. But it has been done well here, and another star of an idea is to have General Melchett fall in love with George - who is dressing up as a girl under the name of Georgina. Though we never actually see the two together (a slight disappointment, especially as the entire episode revolves around them), Blackadder and George's conversations help keep everything in check, and we actually do feel a sense of love between them. Blackadder is once again horrible about everything - not even Charlie Chaplin, the hero of early film-making, is free from his nastiness. We do see less of Baldrick in this episode, and he isn't exactly at his wildest and stupidest, though every character has his day, and in this case, it's Lt. George's day. Once again, the girl called "Bob" who thinks she is a man shows up - we last saw her in Series 2. Though she isn't particularly significant in the story, her role was effective, and the whole episode would not have worked without it. The episode revolves around a talent show, and Baldrick is in it - doing a rubbish Charlie Chaplin impersonation (with a costume consisting of only a black bowler hat and dead slug). Yes, once again, Blackadder tries to stay away from the things that the episode revolves around, and just keeps us updated by speech, but that doesn't matter, because with an episode this good and well-written, you're probably going to be having too much fun to notice them anyway.

On the whole, Major Star is a very good episode, but it, and the previous two, will be no match compared to the next three episodes, which will actually get us prepared for the end. Still a spiffing job, though. Well done! 10/10