I couldn’t really do a UK comedy thread without including these guys. They have been mentioned here and there throughout the thread and since they never had a sketch show, I thought I’d have them here instead. It’s a Christmas miracle, buckle in, it’s a long one- BAM!

BONUS: Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson
Richard Mayall and Adrian Edmondson met at Manchester University where they studied Drama. It was here where they also met Lise Mayer and Ben Elton, two people who would become important later. Mayall and Edmondson started performing under the name 20th Century Coyote and they became a hit at clubs, especially the Comedy Store in London. It was there they met some more up and coming comics such as Alexi Sayle, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson. Together they formed The Comic Strip, a group of alternative comedy performers housed in a new club in London. As well as his act with Ade, Rik performed as Kevin Turvey, a nerdy character that got regular TV slots in the 1981 show A Kick Up The Eighties and a poet called Rick. Mayall also appeared in movies such as An American Werewolf in London and Shock Treatment (the sequel to the Rocky Horror Picture Show). In 1982, however, things were about to get better for both Rik and Ade. New TV station Channel 4 was launching and became interested in bringing The Comic Strip to the small screen. Peter Richardson signed a deal to produce some one-off specials with himself as the main writer (with Pete Richens another member of the group). Around the same time, The BBC wanted a piece of the Alternative Comedy pie and commissioned a series to be written by Rik and his then girlfriend Lise Mayer. With the scripts being touched up by Ben Elton and with producer Paul Jackson in charge for the BBC, the show became The Young Ones. Taking Mayall’s poet character, Rick and with Edmondson as punk Vyvian, Nigel Planer as hippie Neil and Peter Richardson as cool dude Mike, the show was about 4 students living in a squalid house. Not long before shooting was to commence, Richardson bailed after disputes with Paul Jackson.  In turn, Jackson hastily hired non comedian Christopher Ryan as Mike and filming for the show went ahead. The very first episode of the Comic Strip Presents starring Richardson, Edmondson, French and Saunders aired on Channel 4 on November 2nd 1983, the very first episode of the Young Ones aired on BBC 2 one week later. Here is a clip with some familiar faces (from series 2)

The BBC originally baulked when they first saw the show but were so desperate to compete with the youth orientated Channel 4 that they decided to air it after all. A collection of sketches full of slapstick violence and surreal non sequitur moments disguised as a sitcom, the show featured a music performance from bands such as Madness (twice) and Motorhead. This was a genius move by Paul Jackson as it made the show ‘variety’ rather than ‘light entertainment’ according to BBC guidelines so it got a larger budget. Which was a good job as the scripts were very outlandish and pretty big in scope using special fx and puppet work. After a year gap, The Young Ones returned in 1984 bringing its total episode run to 12. They had the chance to do another series but declined stating that Fawlty Towers only lasted a dozen episodes and if it is good enough for John Cleese, it is good enough for them. The year after The Young Ones ended, Ade marries Jennifer Saunders and both he and Jen joined Rik in the sitcom Happy Familes written by Ben Elton. In 1986, Channel 4 wanted a new live comedy show in the vein of hit US show Saturday Night Live. Hiring a host of comedy stars, established and up and coming, Saturday Live would feature Rik and Ade as their 20th Century Coyote characters now christened The Dangerous Brothers….

One Dangerous Brothers sketch was so anarchic for Channel 4 that they banned it, pissing Rik and Ade off no end. They didn’t return for series two when the show was renamed Friday Live due to its change of night. The duo went their separate ways for a year but teamed back up again along with Nigel Planer for Ben Elton’s sitcom Filthy Rich and Catflap. A scathing attack on showbiz, the show featured Rik as Richie Rich, an out of work actor, Planer as Ralph Filthy, Rich’s agent and Ade as Edward Catflap, Rich’s violent minder who doesn’t really care about Rich’s safety. Despite a promise in the last episode’s end credits by a BBC continuity announcer that the show would return (I remember hearing it back in the day), it never did. After the end of the show, the pair worked separately again on occasion.  Rik got praise (and a lot of ratings) for his role of evil Member of Parliament Alan B’Stard in The New Statesmen. During this time, Ade appeared in a stage performance of The Rocky Horror Show as Brad. In 1991, the pair reunited for a show on BBC 2 playing Richie Richard (Rik likes his own name) and Ade as Eddie Hitler in Bottom….

Running for three series, the show was a ratings success for the channel and featured the two as friends…well, I say ‘friends’ but I think it is safe to say that Eddie and Richie just barely tolerate each other. This is out of necessity, however, as nobody else will have them, so they are stuck with each other, forever fighting and screwing each other over. They got the idea for the show after starring together in the stage show Waiting For Godot. Bottom was seen as a cruder version of the play and obvious character comparisons can be made to the stars’ previous incarnations. Richie is basically an older Rik from the Young Ones and Eddie is the slightly milder version of Edward Catflap. Only just as violent. The third and final series aired in 1995 and the BBC declined a fourth but by then, Rik and Ade had been touring venues across the UK with Bottom: The Live Show. As the live material was not owned by the BBC, the video releases were produced by a different company and contained far harsher language that is allowed in the TV version. Five Bottom stage shows were toured between 1993 and 2003 and each one was released on home video. Here is a bout of one-upmanship from the first live show-

Following the 1997 live show, Rik and Ade wrote and starred in their first movie together, Guest House Paradiso. The film marked the directorial debut of Edmondson and despite the fact it was basically just a big screen Bottom (the characters had the same first names but different surnames) the film was mauled by critics. And, in my opinion, rightfully so. I saw it in the cinema when it was released in 1999 and was really disappointed, it seemed so lazy and not really funny. Still, it introduced me to a young actor called Simon Pegg, so it wasn’t all bad. The 2003 Bottom live show marked the final time Rik and Ade worked together. Ade was getting fed up with comedy and wanted to concentrate on other projects, especially music. They went their separate ways and despite a brief appearance together in a show for Comic Relief, they haven't worked together since. Earlier this year, the pair announced they were going to write and star in a new series of Bottom but soon after, Ade stated that plans had been scrapped. He claimed that when he and Rik tried to work together, they remembered why they stopped doing so in the first place. Shame, really.....

Fun Fact: There was supposed to be a second series of the Ben Elton sitcom Happy Families, so much so that the BBC allocated a budget for it when the first ended. It didn’t happen, though, so producer Paul Jackson took the money to finance a sci-fi sitcom called Red Dwarf….

Fun Fact 2: Ade’s nickname at university was Eddie Monsoon which is also a name for an alter-ego of his at the comic strip. Jennifer Saunders took this name for her character Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous.

Not so fun fact: In 1998, Rik Mayall had a crash on his quad bike on the grounds of his home. He was in a coma for days and doctors were worried he had brain damage. He fully recovered however and he and Ade have joked about the accident during the Bottom live shows after the event. The script for Guest House Paradiso was written in part while Rik was recovering.