"Blackadder II"
Beer (1986)

Director:

Mandie Fletcher

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Blackadder II" (1986)

Original Air Date:

13 February 1986 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Blackadder finds himself hosting a drinking competition on the same night he is entertaining his puritanical relatives.

Plot Keywords:

Beer | Breasts | Turnip | Drinking Competition | Inheritance

Cast

Rowan Atkinson	...	Lord Edmund Blackadder
Tim McInnerny	...	Lord Percy Percy
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Stephen Fry	...	Lord Melchett
Patsy Byrne	...	Nursie
Miriam Margolyes	...	Lady Whiteadder
Hugh Laurie	...	Simon Partridge
Roger Blake	...	Geoffrey Piddle
William Hootkins	...	Freddie Frobisher
Daniel Thorndike	...	Lord Whiteadder

Goofs:

Continuity: When Edmund is given the red wine, he opens the cupboard door and throws it in, spilling it all over the floor. Elizabeth knocks at the door and it cuts to a shot of Percy knocking in reply to the knock at the door. When it cuts back, the drink on the floor has gone.

Quotes:

Lady Whiteadder: Chairs! You have chairs in your House?
Blackadder: Yes, well...
[she slaps him twice]
Lady Whiteadder: Wicked Child! Chairs are the work of Belezabub! At our house Nathaneal sits on a spike!
Blackadder: And yourself?
Lady Whiteadder: I sit on Nathaneal! Two spikes would be an extravagance.

"Beer" is very good - one to be reckoned with!

Beer is probably the most wild out of all the Blackadder Series 2 episodes - lots of shouting and disorder in it. The way Blackadder switches between parties during the main part of the episode is brilliant - he is a character that shall be remembered for his extreme intelligence and cunning. From the start, we knew that an episode that involved a drinking contest would be wild - and Beer definitely lives up to this title. It is probably the most hilarious and immoral of all the episodes - only missing out on a 10 because it just wasn't rowdy enough, and should have had more scenes outside Blackadder's house. But this is only one minor nag - the episode is very well-written, and Blackadder's constant cool and brains make it very fun to watch. On the whole, Beer is very good - funny, well-written and rowdy and fun to watch - Blackadder meets "The Young Ones". Spiffing, but not quite top-hole. One to be reckoned with! 9/10