Lesson 4.2.1.18

4.2.1.18 Blackadder Goes Forth by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton Quiz: AQA English Literature A, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson 4.2.1.18, Blackadder Goes Forth by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA English Literature A (7712), Unit 2: Texts in shared contexts, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. In what year was Blackadder Goes Forth first broadcast?

    • 1975
    • 1989
    • 2002
    • 1964

  2. Who wrote Blackadder Goes Forth?

    • Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
    • Susan Hill and Anna Hope
    • Ian Hislop and Nick Newman
    • Peter Whelan and David Haig

  3. Which character is the cynical captain at the centre of the series?

    • Captain Darling, the weary and nervous officer who serves beneath the cynical captain
    • General Melchett, the pompous senior officer whose orders send the men to their deaths
    • Private Baldrick, the loyal and dim servant whose cunning plans fail time and again
    • Captain Edmund Blackadder

  4. Who is the loyal but dim private who accompanies Blackadder?

    • George
    • Baldrick
    • Melchett
    • Darling

  5. Which senior officer is the target of Blackadder's mockery in the series?

    • Private Baldrick
    • Lieutenant George
    • Captain Darling
    • General Melchett

  6. How does the final episode end?

    • The men are court-martialled for desertion
    • The men celebrate peace at a victory dinner
    • The men return home to England in a train
    • The men go over the top at 11am on 11 November 1918

  7. Which term describes the comedic technique of mocking the futility of war?

    • Tragedy
    • Ode
    • Elegy
    • Satire

  8. Which view of WW1 does Blackadder Goes Forth most strongly challenge?

    • The idea that the generals were brilliant strategists
    • The idea that the Armistice was signed in 1914
    • The idea that trench life was comfortable
    • The idea that the Western Front was in Africa

  9. Why does the final episode's ending matter for the series' tone?

    • It ends with a poignant, comic and tragic sense of waste
    • It ends with a lengthy musical number that brings the whole cast on stage together
    • It ends with a happy celebration of victory, in which the men raise their glasses to peace
    • It ends with a jump forward to the Second World War, which the characters watch approach

  10. Which concept describes using humour to explore serious subjects?

    • Ode, a lyric form that addresses a person, object or idea with formal praise
    • Pastoral, a form that idealises rural life and the innocence of the countryside
    • Black comedy
    • Melodrama, a form that uses heightened emotion and sensational plot to move audiences

  11. Which contextual factor does the series reflect in its portrayal of officers?

    • Class-based leadership and privilege in the officer corps
    • Abolition of the army in favour of volunteer groups run by the local councils
    • Compulsory female service in the army, in which women led the men in battle
    • Equal promotion for all ranks, with every soldier rising according to merit alone

  12. Which WW1 setting is the series' main stage?

    • The Eastern Front
    • The Western Front
    • The Gallipoli peninsula
    • The Italian Front

  13. Which concept describes the comic repetition of a catchphrase or motif?

    • Soliloquy
    • Dirge
    • Running gag
    • Tableau

  14. Which aspect of the series reflects the era of its making, the late 1980s?

    • Its satire of class and authority in a 1980s context
    • Its focus on medieval knights who ride out to joust in the courts of royal kings
    • Its use of Elizabethan verse, delivered in long speeches by the leading characters
    • Its use of silent-film techniques, with title cards and exaggerated facial expressions

  15. Evaluate: how does comedy shape the audience's response to war?

    • It has no effect on how the war is perceived, since the audience already knows the facts
    • It removes any sense of tragedy from the war, leaving the audience with only laughter
    • It invites laughter but also highlights tragedy and waste
    • It makes the war seem heroic and glorious, celebrating the courage of those who fought

  16. Which statement best describes the relationship between the series and the historical record?

    • It replaces history with fantasy only
    • It ignores all historical settings
    • It uses real historical settings to satirise military leadership
    • It presents a strictly accurate documentary of the war

  17. Which broader cultural point does the series support?

    • Comedy avoids all political themes
    • Comedy belongs only to stage farce
    • Comedy can address national trauma and remembrance
    • Comedy is unsuitable for historical subjects

  18. Which character is famous for the catchphrase 'I have a cunning plan'?

    • Darling
    • Melchett
    • George
    • Baldrick

  19. Which actor played Captain Blackadder?

    • Stephen Fry
    • Michael Palin
    • Hugh Laurie
    • Rowan Atkinson

  20. Which comic technique pairs the officers' incompetence with the men's suffering?

    • Pure slapstick with no victims, in which every character escapes harm in the end
    • Extended soliloquy, in which a single character reflects at length on the nature of duty
    • Pastoral idealisation, in which the trenches are shown as a peaceful and idyllic place
    • Juxtaposition of comic and tragic tones

All AQA English Literature A quizzes