Blackadder the Third and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes. The complete scripts of the four television series were released in 1998 as "Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917", and later reissued by Penguin Books in 2009. Blackadder the Third Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC sitcom "Blackadder", written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series was set during the Georgian Era, and saw the principal character, Mr. E. Blackadder serve as butler to the Prince Regent and have to contend with, or cash in
Blackadder Goes Forth noted that the television series has become a pervasive view of the war in the public's perception of World War I, with Max Hastings calling the common British view of the war "the "Blackadder" take on history." Military historian Richard Holmes commented in his book "The Western Front": "Blackadder's aphorisms have become fact...A well turned line of script can sometimes carry more weight than all the scholarly footnotes in the world." Stephen Badsey, analysing trends in television programmes about the war, remarked that "Blackadder Goes Forth" as a popular comedy series was subject to particular criticism from historians, remarking that