Comedy,History
United Kingdom
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of the British sitcom Blackadder, first aired on December 23, 1988. The episode parodies Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and follows the familiar story of Ebenezer Scrooge, with a twist.
Pleasant Ebenezer Blackadder (played by Rowan Atkinson) is a kind and generous soul who runs a charity for the poor on Christmas Eve. However, he is visited by the Spirit of Christmas who shows him visions of his ancestors - all of whom are cruel and heartless misers. The Spirit also shows him visions of his descendants - all of whom have inherited his kind and generous nature.
Fearing that he will become a disappointment to his descendants, Blackadder changes his ways and becomes a cruel and miserly shopkeeper. He fires his loyal employee Baldrick (played by Tony Robinson) and mistreats everyone who enters his shop. He even charges Tiny Tim (played by Miriam Margolyes), a poor girl with a bad leg, for the privilege of looking at his wares.
As the story progresses, Blackadder is visited by other spirits who show him the error of his ways. However, he remains stubborn and unwilling to change until a final vision of a future in which he dies alone and unloved. Realizing the error of his ways, Blackadder decides to become the kindly and generous man he once was.
The story ends with a parody of the ending of A Christmas Carol, as Blackadder wakes up on Christmas Day a changed man and rewards his loyal servant, Baldrick, with a promotion and a pay raise.
