Blackadder: The Cavalier Years
by Richard Curtis & Ben Elton; dir. Mandie Fletcher (BBC, 1988)
This 15-minute Comic Relief special is by far the best of the Blackadder one-offs. Though Stephen Fry’s King Charles is a bit laboured, Rowan Atkinson plays Blackadder Version 2.5 with sardonic, simile-prone precision, ably supported by Tony Robinson as the dogsbody Baldrick.
The Death of Stalin
dir. Armando Iannucci (2017)
Though not always historically accurate or in good taste, The Death of Stalin is very well acted and a rare example of black comedy done well, being both damnably funny and yet carrying the same serious undertones as, say, Blackadder Goes Forth.
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
by Steven Moffat; dir. Douglas Mackinnon (BBC, 2015)
The 2015 Christmas Special takes a lighter approach than its predecessor, and not since Blackadder II has a severed head been played for such laughs. Peter Capaldi captures something of each of the first four Doctors while Alex Kingston nails her swansong.