The Black Adder (1983)

The first incarnation of The Black Adder isn't very good, but the ones that followed it definitely are. I wouldn't argue with anyone that says it ought to be skipped entirely in favour of the superior Blackadder II (1986). The only niggle I would have is that the viewer will miss out on Brian Blessed being awesome. The man with the giant's voice gets all the best scenes, and he chews them up fervently. If someone was to make a compilation consisting of just those moments, then that person would be your friend.

It's an alternative history comedy set during the Middle Ages (the years 1485 – 1498) in which Richard III is succeeded by Richard IV after the Battle of Bosworth Field. His son, Edmund Plantagenet, is the Black Adder (Rowan Atkinson), a weasely, snivelling little prick who wants desperately to be King but doesn't have the stones to go about it in the correct manner.

The character does get bolder and more viscously sarcastic as the series nears its end, but the forced, exaggerated facial expressions don't get any less irritating; it's like watching an early ancestor of Mr Bean, only worse.

William Shakespeare gets a writing credit on every episode. I suspect he'd have approved, given the nature of some of the comedy.

6 episodes, approx 30 mins each.

2 Hessian underthings out of 5