Blackadder
Captain Cook
TV Flash files “Captain Cook” as a desk essential hour — Blackadder (1983–1989) on BBC One, season 4, episode 1, aired 1989-09-28, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E01: listed hour 19 of 24 in the Blackadder guide, first listed hour of season 4. It aired 1989-09-28 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Duel and Duality” (S03E06). Next is “Corporal Punishment” (S04E02).
Essential hour: “Captain Cook”. Captain Cook is Goes Forth's first trench: the last series' open, the floor not yet dropped out of the joke.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Edmund cheats to win a competition to be named Official War Artist, thinking it's his ticket out of the trenches. So he's furious when his reward turns out to be going into no man's land to sketch the German positions.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Captain Cook sit in the Blackadder guide?
S04E01 is listed hour 19 of 24 — first listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 1.
When did Blackadder S04E01 air?
Captain Cook aired 1989-09-28 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I watch in historical order?
The series eras escalate: medieval, Elizabethan, Regency, then the trenches. Start anywhere for the snark; finish in the mud. Goes Forth's last episode still drops the floor out of the joke.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Rowan Atkinson's historical snark escalator: medieval, Elizabethan, Regency, then the trenches. Baldrick's cunning plans, Hugh Laurie's upper-class vacancy, and a final Goes Forth episode that still drops the floor out of the joke. Peak 1980s UK comedy export — start anywhere, but finish in the mud. Tony Robinson's dogsbodies are the secret engine.
The escalator is the form. BBC, 1983–1989 across four series eras: cunning antihero Blackadder schemes through English history with idiot sidekick Baldrick — medieval snark to a WWI gut-punch. Blackadder is Rowan Atkinson with Tony Robinson, plus Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in rotating upper-class vacancy, from Richard Curtis, Atkinson, and Ben Elton. Escalating quality across series; global cult via PBS and video. Baldrick's cunning plans as eternal meme. If you came for a blotter item about a finale that still…
Filed against
- Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder
Rowan Atkinson’s Edmund Blackadder rode a historical snark escalator from medieval to the trenches — Baldrick’s cunning plans, a Goes Forth closer that still drops the floor — then traveled without a translator as Mr. Bean’s almost-silent…
- Tony Robinson as Baldrick
Tony Robinson’s Baldrick turned Blackadder’s historical snark escalator into cunning plans that never were — medieval, Elizabethan, Regency, then the trenches. Rowan Atkinson’s sneer needed a servant with a turnip for a scheme. TV Flash…
- Stephen Fry as Melchett / various
Stephen Fry’s Melchett bellowed Blackadder’s historical snark — upper-class vacancy beside Atkinson’s insult escalator, a Goes Forth closer that still drops the floor — then entered The Dropout’s turtleneck scam as prestige limited-series…
- Hugh Laurie as George / Prince Regent
Hugh Laurie’s George / Prince Regent made Blackadder upper-class vacancy a blood sport — 1980s catalog historical snark, then House stretching the instrument into a cane, Vicodin, and a whiteboard America could not quit. TV Flash files…