Black Adder: The Complete Series

But it's by the second season that the show hits it's stride.. and from there, it delivers 18 of the funniest half hours ever on TV. 

Playing a petulant and slightly disturbed Queen Elizabeth I, Miranda Richardson delivers a knock out performance, and Stephen Fry comes in and delivers punches that hit you when you don't expect it.  There is NO episode of season 2 that won't have you laughing.  I've always found Richardson's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I as a spoiled and maybe slighly demented monarch as far more interesting and likely to be realistc as compared to recent portrayals.  I know, I know, film lovers look for the drama and stately manner, but Richardson's slightly warped Queen Elizabeth I is so spot on with the viewpoint of many in the period that it's tongue in cheek nature is unbelievable comedy for a British com.

Season 3 again leaps farther forward in history, finding Edmund Blackadder as a sort of chief-of-staff to foppish Hugh Laurie (known now as Gregory House :)  arch duke.  The show moves at a clique as Blackadder is able to lampoon those above him and below him for classism.  This season has some of the classic moments, and Hugh Laurie so fills his role that moments with him are drop down funny.  When Hugh & Stephen Fry are re-united on the screen, sparks fly and laughter follows.

Season 3 offers one of the best moments, as Edmund twists those above him, tormenting the first writers of the dictionary and challenging his peers to think about how to advance...

Season 4 provides something that is hard to explain.  Focused around WWI, Season 4 rotates between wildly funny, and incredibly somber.  The writers of season four managed to provide puncuations on the fact that like it or not, classism played heavily in WWI, and luck of the draw determined who lived & died.  Small details were held perfectly in place.  Hugh Laurie's character recounting how he and his friends all inlisted at once, troops who struggle with what they have, and the constant coniving to get out of it.

Blackadder ends with one of the most stunning heartfelt moments in any comedy; I've always viewed the ending of Blackadder as maybe the most perfect ending to any sitcom, I still believe that is true.

The set also includes extras, including the Christmas Special and skits as performed throughout it's run.