As part of our War and Remembrance collaboration with Wessex Scene, this is the sixth in a series of Nostalgic News pieces looking at music, TV shows, films and literature that are celebrating big anniversaries this year. Blackadder Goes Forth began being broadcasted on 28th September 1989.
Rowan Atkinson is perhaps best known for his role as Blackadder, in a franchise that goes through multiple periods of history, from Tudor England to a Christmas special surrounding Y2K. But the fourth series of the show, entitled Blackadder Goes Forth, is set during the First World War.
Here, Blackadder is a Captain on the Western Front and viewers are shown a much darker setting than in previous series, and with its usual panache and black comedy, Blackadder Goes Forth covers the First World War with flair and humour, which makes the final episode that much more heartbreaking to watch as the main characters are sent “over the top” at the Somme.
From well-known aspects of the war, to the use of messenger pigeons and executions by the British army during the conflict, Blackadder Goes Forth provides a look on the First World War with satire and an anti-war message.
Watch a clip from the show below:
