TV The final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth is regularly trotted out as one of the greatest moments in TV history. You remember, almost the whole cast clambering out from the trenches into no man's land only to be shot down by enemy fire. But was it actually all that good? Off The Telly lifts the lid: "Call me mealy mouthed, but the actual realisation of the trenches, and in particular, the battlefield at the end of the final episode is atrocious. If you want to explore the true horror of the First World War (in lieu of providing 30 minutes of decent comedy) then it would seem only reasonable that you make a real fist of it, and actually show it for all its worth. Perhaps I have been spoiled by the stunning realisation of the same conditions in such dramas as The Monocled Mutineer, and should not demand equivalent production values from a sitcom, but then I come to expect it due to the seriousness of the point that Curtis and Elton are trying to make."

No comments: