Blackadder (TV Series) Witchsmeller Pursuivant (1983) User Reviews

A classic Blackadder episode, Witchsmeller Pursuivant is a great success!

[general-melchett · 9/10 · 31 August 2006]

"Let him be tried tomorrow!"

Witchsmeller Pursuivant is a truly great Blackadder episode. It is funny, yet strangely moving in a way when Edmund's mother and the young Princess Leia come to meet him in his jail cell. All of the characters keep their humour right up until the end, and there are no boring long dialogue scenes in this movie, save the trial, which isn't really boring. However, in this episode, Baldrick is not as smart as he was, and Blackadder starts to act more mature and intelligent on this one. The Blackadder episodes in this series have continually got better, and Witchsmeller Pursuivant is a strong link on the chain. It should have got a 10, but only gets a 9 because it is just not humorous or dramatic enough to scrape that perfect mark. Even so, it is a good, clever episode, and is one of the highlights of Series 1.

But the creme-de-la-creme of Series 1 is going to be the next episode. But before then, Witchsmeller Pursuivant leaves us satisfied with good humour and a clever plot, and a particularly evil bad guy to remember...

The Great Grumbledook goes to court.

[zacpetch · 9/10 · 2 December 2014]

The penultimate episode of the first series sees our antihero get falsely accused of witchcraft. It's an excellent topic to poke fun at being set in medieval times and the show does a great portrayal of the obvious bias seen at such events.

The secondary plot is left to take a backseat serving only as the reasoning for the witchsmeller to be called upon: The Plague. It is a dreadful disease so to poke fun at it is a rather nasty and unpleasant decision so it's just as well it only features as a setup and not as the subject matter of the storyline.

The illness has got King Richard IV in its horrible grip and because Brian Blessed plays the role it makes him shout a lot a try to stab everyone who approaches. Naturally, Harry gets Edmund to check in on him to keep himself safe and when he has to leave a meeting to go see his dad he goes in full body armour. Leaving Edmund to chair the meeting leads to some great comedy as he just repeats everything his brother said and this time nobody agrees, despite having just praised Harry for exactly the same things. The lords believe the plague to be the fault of witchcraft and they all call upon Edmund to find someone who can help them to come find the witch(es) responsible.

Edmund is in a peasant village where he's just learnt that the wichsmeller has had killed the woman "Clever Jake" came to find on suspicion of witchcraft. Edmund promptly insults the witchsmeller, by calling him such things as Old Big Nose, only to see him awaiting him at the castle. Edmund is promptly tricked into leading everyone to think he's a witch and is put on trial.

Frank Finlay is incredible in his role as the episode's eponymous villain and his putting Edmund on trial - with Percy and Baldrick too - is a wonderful set of scenes with his and Rowan Atkinson's characters bouncing abuse off each other in that truly unique and clever manner that only British sitcoms can do. It all makes for some comedy gold and a memorable experience.

The trial is what makes up the bulk of the episode and sees the witchsmeller try to incriminate him by claiming his cat drinks blood, he impregnates women with poodles, his horse can talk (who he kills) and that a duck from Taunton has its spirit in him. "DO YOU SEE THE SON OF Satan IN THIS COURTROOM?" he yells, and to highlight the stupidity of the attendees of the court (the hair proves it) there is someone with red skin and horns on his head that they don't notice. It's the sort of joke that series one can get away with that we don't get later on; later episodes are just not atmospheric enough for this sort of joke but series one can do it well.

The trial ends with a guilty verdict of course and the three are sentenced to death at the stake, having been shaved (or given extremely unconvincing bald caps) and locked up overnight in a cell. Here the Queen shows up and it's nice to see Edmund's child-wife (imagine the BBC doing that nowadays!!!) again following her all too brief appearance in "The Queen Of Spain's Beard" but she doesn't get very much to do here either.

It's a good episode, probably the second best of series one after "The Archbishop", and it plays host to what is easily the greatest of all Blackadder's enemies from any episode. Not to be missed. 8.5/10

Witches? Please, tell me more

[tenshi_ippikiookami · 7/10 · 18 December 2016]

"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" keeps the high quality with another funny episode, an episode that plays to humanity's unfounded beliefs of magic and gods, and how easy it is to control the gullible masses.

In a very silly way.

The plague is ravishing around England, and Edmund gets picked up as a witch. A WITCH!, that talks to his horse, gives bloody milk to his cat and well, you know, all things witches do. Edmund (and Percy and Baldrick) will try to keep alive in any way possible. As always.

The dialogue flies and the banter is as good as in all the other episodes of the first season, but there are not so many jokes and sometimes is almost impossible to hear what the Witchhunter... smeller says. It is a little repetitive in the 'Edmund is a witch', which makes the episode's rhythm falter a little bit, but it shows in a hilarious way how people can be easily controlled (when they want to be).

The Witchsmeller sentences you to trial by laughter.

[BA_Harrison · 26 December 2009]

What better subject for crazy medieval comedy The Black Adder than a witch trial? Anyone with the slightest knowledge of these matters will know that they were pretty ridiculous affairs, with the prosecution often levelling completely unfounded and preposterous claims against totally innocent victims, and utilising hysteria, superstition, fear and ignorance to sway the outcome.

This sheer lunacy of these terrible trials provides Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson with some absolutely hilarious material, and a very memorable performance from Frank Finlay as the loathsome Witchsmeller Pursuivant who accuses Edmund of being a witch, results in this being one of the funniest episodes of the series.

Witchsmeller Pursuivant also features a terrific ending, with Edmund, Percy and Baldrick sentenced to be burned at the stake, but receiving a little last minute help from an unexpected source.

You gotta like this one...

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 31 May 2010]

The episode begins with both plague breaking out AND the King becoming raving mad. What can account for this? Witches, of course!! So, it's up to the Witchsmeller Persuivant to root them out and stoke up the bonfires.

I loved how throughout the episode, obviously evil people are overlooked by the mobs looking to burn at the stake. First, a guy in a cape with glowing red eyes is ignored, then later a guy who looked EXACTLY like Satan was missed. And who, then, does the Witchsmeller determine is the witch who is responsible for all the calamities using his impeccable logic?! Edmund, of course, and it looks like it's the bonfire for our wimpy and rather amoral hero. Will he avoid death and if so, how? Tune in and see in this incredibly silly and well made episode.

"...a man who propagates poodles!"

Important episode with some great dark humour

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 21 January 2021]

The King has the plague and they send for the Witchsmeller Pursuivant to investigate.

This is a very strong episode that lampoons the witch trials of the Middle Ages, with the conformity, corruption, moral panic and mass hysteria that goes along with it.

The plot is silly but fascinating, with something that is essentially quite frightening being presented in a half-hour comedy episode. Just thinking about people being executed in this manner is pretty shocking and it's important that it's preserved in a piece of important popular culture such as Blackadder.

As with most subject matter Blackadder looks at it from a darkly humorous perspective. How do you make a subject like this funny? You put funny characters at the centre of it and put you on their side. Considering the material, the humour is excellent. Not all the jokes land, but it is amusing enough to make you remember it.

The trial is brilliant, particularly the women who keep fainting at the horror of every accusation the Witchsmeller keeps throwing at Edmund. The sight-gags are strong, especially the obvious evil characters lurking in the background that nobody notices. The final resolution to the plot is also very enjoyable.

I think this is one of the most important Blackadder episodes in the entire show as the subject has been relevant throughout history right up to today. It's not as extreme, but there are still multiple examples of individuals tried and convicted by entities where evidence is either circumstantial or non-existent. Organisations are pressurised into disconnecting themselves with people for expressing opinions or going against the grain in highly emotive or politicised circumstances, which for me is all in the same vein.

There are a number of great performances in the episode but Rowan Atkinson and Frank Finlay dominate.

For me it is an 8.5/10 but I like to round upwards for IMDB.

Edmund: Prince of Darkness?

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 24 December 2014]

The Black Death is spreading throughout the kingdom; even the king is unwell... there can only be one explanation: witchcraft! Edmund disagrees but others demand that the Witchsmeller Persuivant is brought in to hunt down the head witch. Some may consider his methods extreme; if you survive his test you are clearly a witch and must be burnt. Edmund is challenged to take a less fatal test; this is rigged and he is declared a witch. He is given a brief trial but inevitably he is sentenced to death… unless somebody can come up with a cunning plan he, along with Baldrick and Percy, will burn at the stake.

Given the plot about the Black Death and witchcraft I was pleased that this didn't feel like a rip off of certain scenes in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'; of course it helps that here the protagonist is the one accused of witchcraft not just an onlooker. The Witchsmeller's various tests and his conduct of the trial are hilarious with everybody taken in by his tricks and dubious witnesses; Frank Finlay is delightfully over the top in the role. It was also nice to see Edmund's young wife appearing again. A few of the special effects have dated a bit but that just adds to the charm. Overall another fine episode in this under rated series.

Law

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 2 April 2020]

I like how the trial was rigged and biased and he killed blackadders horse