Blackadder Goes Forth

Blackadder Goes Forth
Title screen of Blackadder Goes Forth featuring Rowan Atkinson
Written by	Richard Curtis Ben Elton
Directed by	Richard Boden
Starring	Rowan Atkinson Tony Robinson Hugh Laurie Stephen Fry Tim McInnerny
Theme music composer	Howard Goodall
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer	John Lloyd
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	28 September (1989-09-28) – 2 November 1989 (1989-11-02)
Related
Blackadder's Christmas Carol Blackadder: Back & Forth
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC1. The series placed the recurring characters of Blackadder, Baldrick, and George in a trench in Flanders during World War I, and followed their various doomed attempts to escape from the trenches to avoid death under the misguided command of General Melchett. The series references famous people of the time and criticises the British Army's leadership during the campaign, culminating in the ending of its final episode, in which the soldiers are ordered to carry out a lethal charge of enemy lines.^[1]

Despite initial concerns that the comedy might trivialise the war, it was acclaimed and won the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Series in 1989.^[2] In 2000 it was placed 16th by industry professionals in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute.^[3] However, some historians and politicians have criticised it for presenting an inaccurate view of the war, reinforcing the myth of "lions led by donkeys".^[4][5]