| "Goodbyeee" | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder episode | |
 General Melchett catches Blackadder pretending to be mad. Melchett represents the "lions led by donkeys" perception of the war,[1] and is an amalgam of Douglas Haig and John French, among others. | |
| Episode no. | Series 4 Episode 6 |
| Directed by | Richard Boden |
| Written by | |
| Original air date | 2 November 1989 |
| Running time | 29 minutes |
| Guest appearance | |
"Goodbyeee", or "Plan F: Goodbyeee",[a] is the sixth and final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth and final series of British historical sitcom Blackadder. The episode was first broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 2 November 1989, shortly before Armistice Day. Apart from the one-off short film Blackadder: Back & Forth made a decade later, it was the last episode of Blackadder to be produced and transmitted.
The episode depicts its main characters' final hours before a major British offensive on the Western Front of the First World War, and Captain Blackadder's attempts to escape his fate by feigning madness; after he fails to convince General Melchett, and Field Marshal Haig's advice proves useless, he resigns himself to taking part in the offensive. "Goodbyeee" has a darker tone than other episodes in the series, culminating in its acclaimed ending in which the main characters are assumed to have died. The episode's theme of death ties in with the series' use of gallows humour, its criticism and satire of war, and its depiction of authority figures contentedly sending their subordinates to face the enemy, while unwilling to do so themselves.
Richard Curtis and Ben Elton wrote the episode, and further material was provided by cast members. The final sequence, which shows the main characters going "over the top", uses slow motion, as the programme's creators were unhappy with the result of the scripted ending. The enhanced scene has been described as bold and highly poignant.[4]
- ^ Stirling, Marie (20 September 2011). "'Haig is about to make yet another gargantuan effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin': Blackadder Goes Forth". New Histories. University of Sheffield. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Plan F – Goodbyeee". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ "Series 4: Plan F – Goodbyeee". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
- ^ "Blackadder Goes Forth". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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