A friend's husband was involved in the making of Blackadder. Her father, who'd fought in WW1 and 2, was absolutely furious that this moment was going to be part of the Blackadder satire. So her husband brought home a pre-broadcast copy and left it with him. They came back into the room at the end, and he was sitting there with tears rolling down his face. Got his blessing.
A comedy set in the trenches of the first world war sounds disrespectful from the outset but Elton and Curtis managed it with complete aplomb and no bias.....however, killing off all the main characters in the manner those brave soldiers actually died, in a comedy..... if they had in any way tried to include any hint of comedy would have been a fatal error.
You’ve stumbled upon one of the most adored and revered pieces of uk comedy in existence. Up until this episode ALL episodes of Blackadder were primarily for fun and laughs … but this one … was different , it was the very last scheduled episode and the way they treated the ending stands up even today , it paid great reverence to what was a ghastly part of human experience. Hats off to the writers and the cast …. It was just perfect !! 👍🏴
It was gutting to watch, made me very sad. The field of red poppies at the end was because the poppy is the symbol of our war dead, thanks to this poem by a Canadian war poet. In Flanders Fields In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Lt.Colonel John McCrae
Yeah, for those who dont know, the poem's author, who had lost a friend in the war, was inspired by the former batlefields and trenches where the once beautiful countryside had been trampled and set ablaze by weapons and artillery, which after the war had to be cleared of body parts, twisted metal and barbwire, leaving what people saw as muddy barren wastelands. But poppies are hardy plants and their seeds specifically grow in churned disturbed soil exposed to sunlight and bloomed in wild abundance across these former battlefields.
When this was originally filmed in 1989 the cast were worried that theiy might upset the remaining survivors of World War One. The veterans all said that they appreciated what they had done and how it was portrayed. I think that no matter how many times I watch the last scene, it will be any less poignant.
Tim McInnerny's silent acting in the trench is superb - hope, despair and resignation without a word spoken. My father's cousin was killed at Paschendaele, never found and remembered on the memorial at Tyne Cot with so very many others. The first male to be born after his death was named in his honour. His plain white headstone is in the Netherlands where his Lancaster was shot down 25 years on.
Yes. The moment it came out of Tim McInnerny's mouth, my heart sank, I have no idea how he did it without bursting into tears (knowing, of course, when the war ended). And his acting in the background is superb, especially when he closes his eyes--I like to think he was silently wishing for Doris to find a good man, and to fondly remember him from time to time.
I missed "1917" : i thought tim's character had lost all sense of time in the trenches( killing day after killing day etc.) Thus is mind not thinking rightly he thought he was in "1917".
The fact is, it was saved in the edit. Originally filmed at regular speed, it was all over almost instantly. That had shock value of its own, but just to slow it down added a degree of heroism to otherwise ordinary men put the whole thing in perspective.
yeah the actors were in a foul somber mood because of the subject matter and things were made worse by the chamber they were performing in, which was too dark, covered in objects with the pyrotechnics overdone to a point it was deafening and burning them.
It was a very sad ending to that series, we all had fun watching the series. But at the very end, it was a good reminder of what it was all about. And yes it made me think of my grandfather who also took part in that war and came home. And my father who took part in WW2, luckily he also came home. And I still and always will wear a Poppy on remembrance Day.
Always fill up when seeing this. My great grandfather who served in the 4th (Denbighshire) battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers was killed at the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, seeing this always reminds me of the courage and bravery of those boys who fought and died in the Great War.
My grandad also fought with Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders at Ypres. He was gassed but made it through. Doctors said he would never talk again because of the gas, but he did talk with a stammer. Mum said that despite all the horrors, he still stayed a kind and gentle man. His photo in his uniform and campaign medals is proudly displayed above the mantlepiece. He was so young. Shame I never got to meet him 😢
Something alot of people miss in this scene is the character of Captain Darling being turned completely on it's/his head. Throughout the whole series he's been one of the, if not the most, despised characters in the show. Then this final scene comes along and he's suddenly transformed into just another scared man, with hopes and dreams, that is now facing an almost inevitably horrible death. Even Blackadder, who up till this point has treated Darling as nothing but a joke treats him with genuine respect in these final moments. All of this is credit to Tim McInnery, who plays Darling. He's able to use a few short lines to completely transform the character into one the audience can't help but sympathise with. Also, watch his face in the background as Blackadder and Baldrick are talking. Even if he has no lines, the amount of expression portrayed is remarkable.
Very hard not to cry at the end, Always feel for those who went through this. Those that survived were never the same my Grandad a very kind quite man couldn't talk about it even after 50 years had past.
Less than??...yes there were 125,000 British soldiers killed but 420,000 British casualties, plus a further 200,000 French casualties and 500,000 German casualties all for a few feet of mud...I wonder how many of the casualties survived ...I'd think you'd get to way over 300,000 in the coming years of lives cut short because of what they experienced
My grandfather also fought in the battle of the Somme at age 16. His whole class at school joined up from Sheffield UK, only he from his class got back home alive.😢
My grandfather fought in Ypres and Somme. He was the only 'officer' (he was a sgt) left after Somme for his platoon. I cried my eyes out when I first saw this. To this day I get tears in my eyes when I watch this. The futility of war. Especially this one.
Tysheen finally reveals her subscriber count. Darling is the soldier's surname, so Blackadder always addresses him by his surname with wonderfully amusing comic delivery.
How I felt was how I always feel, I cried. My grandad was at Ypres and he was one of lucky ones who came home, he never spoke about it ever, many men did not because it was too painful and traumatic but I remember seeing a picture of him before he went to war and after upheaval came home and he had aged 20 years. My great uncle also went through the whole thing, he came home in 1918 and a year later died of Spanish flu leaving a wife and 4 kids. I think of them both when I watch this. Nobody really knows the hell those men went through so we can sit here and watch videos and cry, they all paid with their lives one way or another.
You just reminded me of an old patient I nursed back in early 80’s.. He told me Ypres battle was where he lost his hand..His name.~ Sam Sherratt just came straight back to me with that one word ‘Ypres’ RIP Sam.
When they set out to make a comedy about WWI. they were very aware that there were still people alive who had fought in the war. They expected a lot of anger if they got the tone wrong. Everyone involved wanted to end with a reminder of how horrific the loss of life had been, difficult to do in a comedy. This final scene ended an episode full of jokes and it was shocking and sad and a beautiful tribute to all who died. After the series ended, the reaction from WWI veterans was overwhelmingly positive. A lot of us watch this one around Remembrance Day.
I saw a brilliant performance of this and the two preceding episodes on 11 November 2016 in my local theatre and it was still very poignant. Brilliant but so sad .
" For the sorrow, the suffering, the Glory, the pain - the killing and dying were all done in vain. -for young Willie McBride it all happened again - and again,and again , and again, and again " - ( from the song The Green Fields of France ) by Eric Bogle ! The final scene in Blackadder - possibly one of the most poignant scenes in British Television History, described totally, the futility of War !
One of the most brilliant endings to a series ever. They made fun of the war all season but in the end they paid tribute to the brave men in those trenches that died for us all. It was so on point.
Do not agree that they made fun of the war, they highlighted the irony and stupidity of war and of the elite leaders, sending the common man to certain death.
This was the very end of Blackadder, You had to watch the series for this to make sense. The whole series was very funny but this ending hit hard and made you think about what those soldiers went through. Deeply moving.
It's as devastating today as when I first saw it air in 1989. It is hands down the best ending to any TV show ever made. It's respectful of the fallen and the veterans and reminds the viewer that the hilariously funny jaunt they were on had a sombre background story. Very sobering.
It was the last episode until the millennium special. They ended it in November too, which is when we have armistice day/poppy day for all that have been affected by war. The 11th hour 11th day of the 11th month is when all celebrate/mourn/remember them.
The thing is, you get to know all love the characters as you go through the series, so at the end it's like losing your friends . Couldn't have been a more perfect ending. ✌️♥️🇬🇧
Our theatre group perfotned this on stage in 2018. Part of the finale after the over the top scene at the end was an exercise where 4 main cast members previously in rehearsals wrote final letters home before the big push, then read them out and recorded them. This recording was played at the end. People left the theatre crying, it was an incredible performance of one of the greatest tv shows ever.
I’d been rolling around laughing like everyone else for years at the schemes and tribulations of Blackadder and his chums and even though I knew this episode was the last scheduled ever I just assumed it would be the same and for 90pc of the episode it WAS just the usual laughs …. But the ending HAD to pay final tribute to all who’s lives were wasted or shattered and by god they done a grand job. Like you I was left teary eyed and bereft at losing these characters from my life permanently and had been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to see how proud and patriotic men reacted when their time came to “go over the top” , almost certain in the knowledge they were going to their deaths . Wonderfully handled and rightly lauded in our country and abroad !! 👍🏴🇬🇧
@@kumasenlac5504 yep , spot on , I remember bring surprised at his admission when I watched it live , first time round , it was kinda outta character for him to admit to nerves . 👍🏴
This episode first aired in 1989 9 days before remembrance Day here in the UK, the day we remember those who gave their lives in past wars, 1989 was also the 50th anniversary of the start of WW2.
Its makes us all want to cry. Up until that moment, they were lauging and like all those soldiers. Then they all died. Makes me cry every time,all those men.... gone. 😭
The whole series was comedy genius. This is so poignant, loads of tears, when it was shown first Having the captains surname "Darling" is just brilliant It was the last Blackadder show, the last part. The end. By Darling saying that he wanted to go back showed that the men on the front were just ordinary men, conscripts. So many died, more than brave. Rest in Peace
But we've warned you since the first clip Tysheen! It was seen at the time as notoriously poignant. And you've still got Grandad's funeral on OFA Horses to watch, knowing the actor, Lennard, had died in real life also.
Just bad luck that you chose the final scene of the final episode of the final series and this is when the hilarity of the earlier episodes stopped,I'm afraid and this was the reality of World War 1.
It is exactly the way my great grandfather died on the 2nd day of the somme 1916. A major, he lead his men into battle and they all died almost immediately. My family have visited the somme and laid flowers, they truly were a great generation of men.
You have to think of the soldiers going over the tops of the trenches in ANY war of the fear that they felt. But they still did it TOTAL respect to them.
Pretty much sums up how the first few years of that war went. The Australian's when we first fought in France had some pretty horrendous losses. Our first fight at fromelles resulted in five and half thousand casualties from six thousand men engaged for a couple of ditches full of water captured. Followed by pozieres where we lost 30,000 men In 4 weeks for less then a kilometre of ground gained. It was slaughter on gently sloping farmland.
In British secondary schools, WW1 is an important part of the History syllabus. This surprisingly informative episode is often shown to them as a way of reinforcing their studies in an interesting way. Many schools in Southern England also do a day trip by coach to visit the area around Ypres in Belgium to see the WW1 battle sites, museums and military cemeteries. I once accompanied a party of 17 year olds who were shocked to find many of the buried soldiers were of a similar age to them.
I was 13 when i saw this first time round (i'm in my 40s now) and i still remember this. It had a massive impact on everyone at school. Amazing peice of television, especially after you've watched the whole series and emotionally invested in the characters. 😔
I watched this with my wife, when they went over the top she turned to me and asked what their chances were, I told her that the majority of them were dead or wounded within 30 yards. And yes i was teary watching it myself. Such a horrible waste.
I had many relatives who fought in WW1 (on both sides). Some survived but most didn’t. Watching the end of that episode 34 years ago was devastatingly emotional for just about everyone in the UK. A very powerful bit of comedy/tragedy that still makes me blub like a drain even today.
It’s a beautiful ending with the red poppies that grew after the war on Flanders fields due to the soil being made fertile with blood and bone. Quite chilling and serves as a reminder how awful that war was. We must never forget.
This was huge talking point when originally broadcast. A comedy has never performed such a poignant tragic part of history. The b/w field turning to coloured red poppies. It was superb. So good some history teachers actually used it in schools. Had so many brilliant writers in those days. Personally even many British shows are lacking- lack of money? Who knows. Loved your reaction. No I’d NEVER sign up for army or anything so frightening. This scene still affects me- absolutely brilliant. Cried originally whilst admiring the mastery of it. Gosh sorry this is so long!!!!!
The last scene of Blackadder Goes Forth in 1989, they returned for the millennium with Blackadder Back and Forth the last ever Blackadder, the cast said no to making anymore episodes.
This is amongst the most revered bits of UK TV ever. These characters had gone through several reincarnations at different points in history, but even they could not survive the pointless charnel house of WW1. Also Blackadder sheds his sarcastic self at last with "good luck everyone" showing he does actually care for his men.
Some wonder if Baldrick's final "cunning plan" was that they all use that splinter to injure their hands so they can say that they couldn't advance due to injuries
As far as I can remember this was indeed the end of the series, but they had four of them set in different epochs of history. By the way, did you recognize the tall guy next to Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr. Bean)? It's a young Doctor House!
They all died, so yes that was the end. Very interesting little bit, Baldrick who was notorious throughout all the Blackadder series for ‘cunning plans’ (which were always terrible) mentioned a splinter on the ladder and how someone could get a nasty injury from it. He then followed up with “I have a cunning plan sir” which we never got to hear. In WW1 Soldiers would often try to severely injure their hands to prevent themselves being sent ‘over the top’…..If that was Baldricks ‘cunning plan’ it could’ve saved Blackadders life.
I think this is how every season ends; Blackadder dies. Next season will be a new era and a new member of the Blackadder family tree. But it is over a decade since I watched any of them, so I can be wrong...
All you need to remember is the British list 59,000 casualties on the first day of the Somme, 20,000 of whom were killed. 1July 1916. The battle had 470,000 British casualties, 195,000 French casualties and 460,000 German casualties, 1July to 24,November 1916. One bloody battle in a war of bloody battles.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. -- John McCrae
I grew up watching the Black Adder series. My favorite was the series 1 medieval Black Adder. This is the last episode was great too, but it ended on a very sad note.
Blackadder Goes Fourth was a comedy show that spent its run mocking and laughing at the ridiculousness of WW1, the bizarre military choices and the way it impacted the lives of the men in the trenches... ...and in the final moments of the final episode...it went "You had fun laughing, right? Now remember...all of that stupid stuff we've had fun with these last few episodes...this is what it cost. It got most of the men in those trenches killed."
There's a running theme with Blackadder that at the end of every series everyone basically dies, however this one stands out because in the previous 3 series the end scene was always very silly. Blackadder Goes Forth was much more satirical in its criticism of WWI and, after watching the entire series of them all trying to somehow dodge "going over the top" in all sorts of crazy and whacky ways. But no matter how hard they try, they always end up back in the trench which builds up to that final episode. Also interesting is that if you watch all 4 series, Baldric (the scruffy one with glasses) is always coming up with "cunning plans" which are usually impractical and entirely nonsensical but they end up doing them anyway. The last episode that you just watched is (as far as I am aware) the only time Blackadder never bothers to listen to the plan. And thus all 4 end up leading the charge over the top to be mown down by machine gun fire and no matter how often you watch it, it hits you every single time. I would highly recommend you watch the entire series of Blackadder Goes forth, if not the preceding 3 series
They only did one take of them going over the top the director didn't like it and asked them to do it again the cast refused the pyrotechnics and smoke they used really scared them so with some clever editing we got one of the saddest but most beautiful endings to a series.
End of series, the going over the top. was filmed live in a separate studio, and beamed into the original studio for a live audience . THe Red poppy is symbolic to the British as initially MaCrae Wrote In Flanders Field In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. This was taken up my a American women which turn sparked interest in Europe and Britain, Noe in remembrance and commeration NEVER celebration of the War dead many wear paper poppies the proceeds going to veteran charities. The explosion nearly hurt the cast as they were to strong. The cast and crew did not expect the studio audience reaction complete silence except for on mans cough I like to think he was clearing his throat the lump that was there.
generally regarded as one of British TV's most iconic and stunning moments........the crazy humour of the rest the Blackadder TV series (after 3 previous seasons) made it one of British Tv's most loved sitcom series.....the sombre and sensitive way they handled the closing scene of this, the very last episode of the very last season, shook everyone who saw it and made it all the more memorable........a fitting microcosm of the Great War in all its facets..lots of silliness, daft humour, satire and ultimately, a harrowing, and sad finale.......brilliant! A poignant salute to the more than one million British servicemen who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1918....
Everyone ends up in tears and silent. You would be even more upset seeing it from the beginning, from being humoures to gut renching sadness of the realisation and futility of mans inhumanity to man.
Imagine your reaction if you had got to know these characters over a series of 6 episodes. Even Captain Darling, who has been seen as a priggish Yes Man to his General is revealed here as a decent chap simply hoping to survive and go back to an ordinary life. (And lastly Blackadder drops his posh accent as he won't be needing it again.) The finale was originally supposed to be in regular time, but the cast were so terrified by the pyrotechnics that they refused any further takes, so the slow motion was used to stretch it out, which made the gunfire and explosions more portentous. The main theme was overlaid in a slow tempo as a requiem and the final fade to the poppy field was an inspired improvisation after a trip to the picture archive. Finally there is birdsong....
I was born in 1948 my dad was 50 when i was born and my dad was born in 1898 so my dad was a sergeant with the Lancashire Fusiliars and was in the trenches during WW1. I was 6 when dad died and he told me nothing about WW1 though my older brother did tell me dad was gassed .I have special feelings about WW1 for some reason.
The power of the poppy in British culture is hard to measure. I'm a fairly callus individual but it reduced me to tears on two occasions. 1st being the end of Blackadder 4 and the 2nd time was when the last airworthy Lancaster (ww2 Brit heavy bomber) flew along the Mall, opened its bomb bay doors and a million poppies were dropped over Buckingham Palace. Looked like a giant wounded bird filling the sky with blood. Respect to the Vets who served so that my generation did not have to.
3:20 Rowan Atkinson's an Oxford Man. Stephen Fry who was not in this scene is a Cambridge man and an episode or two earlier his character had described Oxford as 'a complete dump' - there's a joke of an ongoing rivalry between Cambridge and Oxford, also about a rivalry between Eton and another boarding high school.
Was a big fan of Black Adder from the first season onwards, (Black Adder the 2nd being my all time favourite) It's among the most funniest TV I have ever seen elevating Rowan Atkinson as my goto comedian (Didn't quite gel with Mr Bean) The tradition of the Black Adder franchise is at the last episode of the season, the black adder character faces certain death but somehow survives against all the odds, but in Black Adder goes fourth, and the last of the series, we are left with the season ending final with Black Adder yet again facing certain death, but this time, we don't get to know if he survived and It was a poignant moment on British TV, where I believed many to most people were left with wet eyes and waiting til the very end of the episode to see if they survived, only to be confronted with the red poppies of the area in modern times.
The best comedies are the ones that can suddenly not be funny anymore. The ones that have you laughing along one moment and then very seriously sober up. This was the final episode of Blackadder goes forth It's as poignant and moving as the rest of the series was deeply, hilariously cynical and satirical. In the words of a great war poet by the name of Private S. Baldrick: 'Here the words I sing Wars a horrid thing So I sing sing sing Ding a ling a ling'.
I tear up when I watch this, just as I did when I saw it the first time. The series was so funny, then this poignant finale to the series came as such a shock.
The generation that was born during that war is gone now too. That ending is devastating, the history of WWI is devastating...The boys that fought were often young and taunted for cowardice if they didn't go...If they were frightened or had a breakdown in the trenches they were shot for cowardice too...
All that brilliant silliness obviously because it's a comedy Then it suddenly becomes very serious, Then you realise when they "Go over the top" that did actually happen to real people OUR SOLDIERS 🇬🇧and we know now that hardly anyone would survive that, And then the field of poppys at the end in remembrance of all that died, So unbelievably emotional, If you have never cryed or teared up watching this then there is something wrong with you, Obviously that was the last episode of that particular series which was clearly written about WWI the ending gives you an idea of what it was really like for our soldiers🇬🇧 though in reallity it was 1000× worse, At the Going Down of the Sun WE WILL REMEMBER THEM😢🇬🇧
The end of Blackadder kinda sums it all up. Hundreds of years of Blackadder bloodline was extinguished in a heartbeat for a futile attempt to fight a 21st century war with 20th century tactics. That imaginary bloodline represents all the actual families that in fact were extinguished in that senseless war. Very powerful scene indeed, if you stop to think about it.
It was, as most wars are, a futile waste of lives. My great Grandfather and his brother, both regular soldiers before WW1 were dead by the end of January 1915, aged 29 and 27. Both left behind wives and two daughters each. The scale of the losses was such that there were very few villages in the whole of the UK, which did not lose sons or daughters (lots of nurses died too). Even after the war had ended, it blighted the lives of so many of the survivors. When I was a kid in the '60s, I lived next to a retirement home and so many of the old men had limbs missing, or terrible scars. My Great Grandmother not only lost her husband, but her brother, who was killed in 1916 at the Somme (60,000 casualties in one day), and in the 'flu epidemic that followed the end of the war, which killed more people than the war did, one of her children. Twenty years later, we were at war with Germany again. As the US General John Pershing, who opposed the armistice, prophetically said. Unless we march through the Brandenberg gate, the Germans will never believe they were defeated. During the Blitz in 1941, my Grandmother was illl and confined to bed, so during the air-raids, my mother would sit inside the metal cage called an Anderson shelter, in the house, trying to comfort her three younger brothers and sisters while the bombs fell (the town was a prime target because of the Marconi radio factory). The raids killed hundreds every night. She was 8 years old. After one big raid, my father, who also lived in the town, called at his friend's house to walk with him to school, and the whole row of houses was gone. He was 13 years old. Three years later, his big brother was killed in the fighting in Normandy. We complain about our lives so much these days, we can have no idea of the Hell those generations went through.
There are 53 "Thankful Villages" in England which have no memorial to WW1. Fourteen are 'Doubly Thankful' and also have no WW2 memorial. No Thankful Villages have been recorded in Scotland or Ireland.
@@kumasenlac5504 The soldiers from Ireland who served in the British Army were often not well-received on their return. The harsh retaliations for the Easter uprising saw to that. But then, half of my family is Irish, so that's another story.
@@KBJ58 I'm interested to see the punishment for conspiring with the enemy and armed rebellion and insurrection in times of war being described as harsh. What did they expect ?
We were shown this whole episode in history class as a fun lesson before the holidays. I remember the end scene had quite a strong effect on everyone. What it must be like when you are trying to keep it together but knowing that death was almost certainty.
My Grandfather was in the 1st World War We have a photo of him in uniform, it shows 4 strips on his sleeve by the cuff They are not to show rank they are to show the amount of times he was injured, bullet and shrapnel wounds , he went over the top at Eypres and the Somme he was discharged in the end because he was gassed It’s not until you are an adult you realise what soldiers on both sides went through I only knew a very sickly man who spent most of his time on a sofa taking medicine for his gas damage
