Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Wyatt
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is a 43 minute Christmas special from over 25 years ago. Well.. what can I say: The whole thing is very British from start to finish, but only rarely actually funny. But this perception may also be because I was never a great fan of Rowan Atkinson's humor. However, I love Stephen Fry and don't mind Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent. It's a pretty different version of Charles Dickens' famous "Christmas Carol". The film's director is not particularly known, but the writer is. It's the man behind the very successful "Love Actually".The worst thing about this one is probably the really annoying audience laughter. They are really losing it about unfunny sequences like the "subtle plans" part or also think it's funny to talk about peeling one's tangerines. They really burst out with laughter on that one. Or when Atkinson's character has a fist as a present for the other guy near the end and just keeps hitting him repeatedly. Absolutely not funny at all. Fairly embarrassing try-hard humor, in fact. There are lots of spectacular costumes in here, but the script really leaves me wanting for more. A lot more. The best thing for me was maybe the catchy Blackadder melody in Christmas fashion. Everything else is very forgettable here. Not recommended.
Alex_Hodgkinson
This episode had basically everything you'd want from a Blackadder episode. I mean, all I've seen so far is some quality humour and characters, but this episode had everything. It had nostalgia to the older seasons because we visited older characters and events, it had a tremendously good story which is basically the opposite of 'A Christmas Carol', it had great new characters including a completely different Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) and it had a ton of hilarious Blackadder jokes.Honestly this is my favourite episode so far. Maybe the length had something to do with it as well; it did add more time for development and plot. I didn't expect this one to be so good, as it has a relatively low rating for a Blackadder episode. It's not a perfect TV episode by far, but in my opinion it's a perfect Blackadder episode.One last thing to add is that I found the entrance of Robbie Coltrane's character, the Spirit of Christmas, highly amusing. It was almost exactly like Hagrid's entrance in Harry Potter, and it even has the same actor, but it is years before Harry Potter. I just found this little thing great and wanted to point it out for the benefit of whoever reads this.
Jackson Booth-Millard
It is tradition that all successful comedy programmes/sitcoms should have a Christmas Special, and this was no exception. Rowan Atkinson plays Ebenezer Blackadder, but there is a twist, because Blackadder is usually nasty, they decide to twist the story of Scrooge. So he is a generous man who gives to the poor, but hardly saves anything for himself, or Baldrick (Tony Robinson). One night he is visited by the Spirit of Christmas (Robbie Coltrane) who mentions about Blackadder's past relatives, and how terrible they were. So he shows him Lord Edmund Blackadder (from Blackadder II), Edmund Blackadder (from Blackadder the Third), and future Esq./Cmdr. Edmund Blackadder. The ghost convinces him that if he is bad, he can become rich and powerful like his relatives, so he does! Is this a happy ending? Also starring Miranda Richardson as Queen Elizabeth I/Asphyxia XIX, Stephen Fry as Lord Melchett/Lord Frondo, Hugh Laurie as George, the Prince Regent/Lord Pigmot, Miriam Margolyes as Queen Victoria, Jim Broadbent as Prince Albert and Patsy Byrne as Nursie. Rowan Atkinson was number 18 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, he was number 24 on The Comedians' Comedian, and he was number 8 on Britain's Favourite Comedian, Edmund Blackadder was number 3 on The 100 Greatest TV Characters, and he was number 3 on The World's Greatest Comedy Characters, and this special was number 9 on The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments. Very good!
Theo Robertson
Edmund Blackadder is one of the greatest characters British television has ever produced . He`s cruel , selfish and oh so cunning and it`s a bit of a shock to see him undergo a character change and be the kindest man in all of England . But don`t worry , in this reworking of Dickens A CHRISTMAS CAROL Blackadder soon turns into the anti hero we all know and hate
This is a side splitting Christmas feast for fans of the BLACKADDER series and we get flashbacks to series two and three of the historical sit-com and a glimpse of how the show might have looked if it continued into the space age . To be honest I don`t think a science fiction version of BLACKADDER would have worked well but I did find the concept interesting and highly amusing at the same time .Don`t worry if you watch it in the height of summer , you`ll still find it funny