"Yes, I shall certainly choose revolutionary France for my holiday again next year." - Baldrick

As we continue in our historical perspective on the Scarlet Pimpernel and its moulding (note the British spelling) of my life, we zoom forward to the early 1990's.  In this chapter of the story, the sister that wasn't involved in the repetitive viewing of the movie plays an integral part.  (Although her comment to the last blog entry was that she "came home over summer!" and that yes she was a party of the viewing.  My bad, remember, I was only 13 at the time, and I can barely remember yesterday!)

Picture the scene.  It's my birthday.  Or maybe Christmas.  I don't remember that part exactly.  Either way, Haley integrally gets me the video(s) of a heretofore unknown (to Rose at least) British television show - Blackadder.  As I recall the story, she tried to get me the first season, but it was on back order or something, so she gave me the third season first, I don't recall why or if the second season wasn't an option.  Eventually she got me all four seasons.  Again, I had never heard of it, but she assured me I would enjoy.  So I settled down on a cold winter's night (or hot summer's evening, depending on when this took place), and my life was transformed.

The show, starring Rowan Atkinson as the eponymous character, Blackadder.  In the first season, set in the 1480's, he's Prince Edmund, second son of the King.  In the second season, set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), he's Edmund, Lord Blackadder - an adviser to the Queen.  By the time the third season comes around, set in the late 1700's and early 1800's, Blackadder is now butler to Prince George,
the Prince Regent, played by Hugh Laurie.  If you're a fan of House, but have never seen Hugh Laurie as Prince George, be warned, the characters are NOTHING alike.  (See pics below this paragraph.)   The fourth and final season takes place during World War I, and Blackadder is just a Captain in the trenches on the western front. 










In each season he has this servant/underling/general dogsbody named Baldrick ("I'm having dung for dinner tonight!") who usually in each episode will come out with "I have a cunning plan..." and usually the plan is incredibly stupid - for example, at one point when they are in prison, his plan for them to escape is:  

Baldrick:  We do .. nothing.
 
Blackadder:  Yep, that's another world-beater.

Baldrick:  Wait, I haven't finished.  We do nothing until our heads have actually been cut off...

Blackadder:  ... and then we spring into action?

Baldrick:  Exactly!  You know how, when you cut a chicken's head off, it runs round and round the farmyard?

Blackadder:  Yes-s-s-s-s....

Baldrick:  Well, we wait until our heads have been cut off, then we run round and round the farmyard, out the farm gate, and escape.

As you may or may not know, the Brits don't have the usual 20-ish episodes in a season like we do.  Therefore, each season of Blackadder consists of only six 30-minute shows.  I would kill for there to have been more!  The third season is my all-time favorite.  I'm not sure if it's because it is the best, or because it was my first exposure to it, or what, but although I own the entire Blackadder collection on DVD (having bought them to replace the VHS's that Haley got me 20+ years ago), the only season I have bought and downloaded to my iPad for the occasional comfort-viewing, is season 3.

I realize that all of this has had nothing to do with the Scarlet Pimpernel, but bear with me.  Episode 3 - Nob and Nobility takes place during the time of the French Revolution and it seems the English people are enamoured with the Scarlet Pimpernel (or, as Baldrick calls him, the "Scarlet Pimple").  Our hero, Blackadder, doesn't understand, commenting, 

...What has this fellow done? -- apart from pop over to France to grab a few French knobs from the ineffectual clutches of some malnourished whingeing lefties, taking the opportunity while there, no doubt, to pick up some really good cheap wine and some of their marvelous open-fruit flans...  Doesn't anyone know? We hate the French! We fight wars against them! Did all those men die in vain on the field at Agincourt? Was the man who burned Joan of Arc simply wasting good matches?

So Blackadder ends up making a bet with some of Prince George's idiot friends that he can sneak into France and rescue an aristocrat, and show up with him at the French embassy ball.  However, Blackadder doesn't intend to actually go to France ("...it's incredibly dangerous there!"), he intends to hire an obviously French aristocrat who's down on his luck to pretend that he rescued him.  Blackadder and Baldrick spend the following week enjoying themselves - Baldrick points out that he "... shall certainly choose revolutionary France for [his] holiday again next year."  Then they go to find their "rescued" French person - hilarity ensues and they end up jailed by an "evil [French] revolutionary", during which time the aforementioned conversation regarding Baldrick's "cunning plan" to get them out takes place.

This looks like I can either stop here and finish up in part three, or I could wrap it up too quickly in this entry.  I'm going with the first option so...

TO BE CONTINUED......