Blackadder's Christmas Carol — Richard Curtis; Ben Elton

A BBC TV Christmas special plus a comic relief program, The Cavalier Years, starring Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Tony Robinson

Dickens classic tale of kindness, truth, and virtue is completely ruined by having a member of the Blackadder family involved. Ebenezer Blackadder is a decent, kind, and generous human being until he receives a visit from the spirit of Christmas, who shows him famous Blackadders from the Elizabethan and Regency period, along with his space-age descendant who becomes ruler of the universe.

Stuffed with deeply horrible people, and groaning with cartloads of seasonal bottom jokes, "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" manages to squeeze everything into a huge pie of entertainment that will satisfy everyone. And for second helpings, The Cavalier Years is set during the Civil War, during which Lord Edmund Blackadder tries to remain faithful to King Charles despite the fact that he's about to have his head cut off by bottom-breath Baldrick.