Review of Blackadder 2

Introduction

The complete second series arrives on DVD, only a year after the first. Plenty of time for the BBC to learn the lessons from the last disc, and really impress us this time.

The characters here are generally better than the first series, and have changed somewhat. Edmund Blackadder is more like the Edmund Blackadder that we have come to know, and Baldrick has changed since the first series. Only Percy really remains the same. Stephen Fry makes his debut as Melchett, and Miranda Richardson is fantastic as the queen.

The regulars are backed up by a great guest cast, which includes a typical Tom Baker performance from Tom Baker, a typical Rik Mayall performance from Rik Mayall, another good guest appearance from Miriam Margoyles (no Jim Broadbent to accompany this time) and Hugh Laurie`s first appearance in the series.

Video

So have the BBC learned the principal lesson of the last disc ? No, not really. Once again they`ve tried to cram 175 minutes of old TV footage onto a single DVD. It`s not a good idea.

There were rumours flying around that this would be a 2 disc set to prevent this problem. But no, once again it seems that too much has been crammed in which has led to a compromise. The video itself has been cleaned up, and for the most part looks quite good, but there are many little niggles that catch the eye. Still better than VHS though.

Audio

A DD2.0 track is on offer, which is simply the old mono track played back over both channels. This is perfectly adequate and does the job fine. You weren`t expecting any work for your subwoofer from a TV comedy set in the Elizabethan era were you?

Features

None, nada, nil, zip. Another lesson not learned. Mind you, cramming extras on this disc would probably have led to a further compromise in image quality.

Oh, the menus are a bit nicer than the first series.

Conclusion

Like I said in my review of the first disc, as a sitcom it is still excellent, as a DVD it is not so hot.

Definitely an improvement on the first series disc wise and content wise. It`s difficult to pick standout episodes here as they are all good.

As before, one for Blackadder fans, not for people who want to show DVD off to its full capability.