After the bad reviews of the first season, the series was almost canceled. They gave it a chance on the condition that it transforms into a standard studio sitcom with a much lower budget. Despite, or perhaps thanks to this, the series flourished and spawned a second season that secured its cult status.
Atkinson gave up writing and was replaced by Ben Elton, who did a fantastic job. While the first season had a unique story in which Blackadder tries to seize power, here each episode brings a separate story in which our anti-hero tries to get out of awkward and potentially deadly situations. The medieval malicious incompetent is inherited by an intelligent and cynical descendant, placed at the court of Elizabeth I. For the counterweight, there are Baldrick (Tony Robinson), who is transformed into a dirty and extremely stupid servant (To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?), and Lord Percy (Tim McInnerny), a simple but irreparably optimistic and loyal sidekick. On the other hand, we have Elizabeth, a childish and spoiled queen, who uses people as toys and cuts off heads if they are not to her liking. Miranda Richardson performed this role with unforgettable charm and stole every scene in which she appears. She also has two sidekicks, played by the excellent Stephen Fry and Patsy Byrne. In two episodes also appears Hugh Laurie, an indispensable part of the cast for the rest of the series. The characters are more complex and diverse than in the first season, and the humor is more natural, intelligent, and incomparably funnier.
9/10
Atkinson gave up writing and was replaced by Ben Elton, who did a fantastic job. While the first season had a unique story in which Blackadder tries to seize power, here each episode brings a separate story in which our anti-hero tries to get out of awkward and potentially deadly situations. The medieval malicious incompetent is inherited by an intelligent and cynical descendant, placed at the court of Elizabeth I. For the counterweight, there are Baldrick (Tony Robinson), who is transformed into a dirty and extremely stupid servant (To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?), and Lord Percy (Tim McInnerny), a simple but irreparably optimistic and loyal sidekick. On the other hand, we have Elizabeth, a childish and spoiled queen, who uses people as toys and cuts off heads if they are not to her liking. Miranda Richardson performed this role with unforgettable charm and stole every scene in which she appears. She also has two sidekicks, played by the excellent Stephen Fry and Patsy Byrne. In two episodes also appears Hugh Laurie, an indispensable part of the cast for the rest of the series. The characters are more complex and diverse than in the first season, and the humor is more natural, intelligent, and incomparably funnier.
9/10
- Give the place a more family atmosphere.
- The family atmosphere? This is meant to be a place of pain and misery and sorrow.
- That's what I mean, Sir.