Talking Bottom

Talking Bottom reaches the final episode of this special series on The Many Faces of Rik Mayall. Everyone knows Rik had the most expressive face but he had a voice to match, too. From The Wind in The Willows Toad to Jackanory. From Grim Tales to The Last Hurrah. Rik threw everything into his times in the audio booth, making each one unique, comedically brilliant and a masterclass in vocal performa...

Described by Man Down creator and star Greg Davies as "a force of nature" and "dream casting," Rik Mayall blessed us all with a final return to the world of sitcom, dropping in each week to steal the episode - and the show - every time. Richard Davies is the sadistic, prank-loving father of "Dan" (Greg) who loves nothing more than tormenting and publicly humiliating his adult son for his own amuse...

"Dog poo, dog poo, lovely lovely dog poo.” Move over, Harvey the rabbit. Get to buggery, Tyler Durden. This week Talking Bottom delves into Rik's foray into Hollywood, playing the world's best imaginary friend. He's violent, sweary, flicks snot into drinks and sinks houseboats. It's Drop Dead Fred! We chat about Rik as a film star, the psychology of imaginary friends and the film's re-evaluation a...

“The Comic Strip Presents…Mr Jolly Lives Next Door was the prototype… that was really the pilot for Bottom.” Peter Richardson summed it up perfectly in our chat with him. Our new podcast puts Rik Mayall’s role starring alongside the legendary Peter Cook as Mr Jolly’s neighbouring business owner “Dreamytime Escort” under the microscope, along with a character who shares distant DNA; Richard Dangero...

"You see, in the good old days, you were poor, you got ill, and you died!" After playing a series squalid losers, Rik finally poured all that charisma, sex appeal and Machiavellian cunning into Tory MP Alan B'Stard; money and power-obsessed serial adulterer and possessor of the largest majority in the House of Commons.  Talking Bottom chats about one of Rik's most enduring characters, where Rik wa...

"WOOF!!!” Following a brief appearance as "Mad Gerald" in the first Blackadder series, Rik returned in series two and four/forth as heroic, sexy, brave, top-level shagger Lord Flashheart. The character appeared in other similar guises in Blackadder Back and Forth as Robin Hood and then later in the Bombardier beer adverts. Talking Bottom get to grips with Flash’s costume, moustaches, attitude, Dar...

Following the success of The Young Ones Rik, Nigel and Ade were reunited as a disgusting trio in Filthy, Rich & Catflap. Penned by Ben Elton, the sitcom mirrored the group's own entry into the world of light entertainment - and lampooned their own success with sharp-tongued satire that sadly only lasted one series. Richie Rich is a talentless, egotistical wannabe who bridges the gap between Ri...

The hair... the tight trousers...the stepping in dogshit wearing just a sock on his foot... Bad News and More Bad News are two of "The Comic Strip Presents..." jewels in the crown, with Rik's Colin Grigson definitely a legend in his own mind. Talking Bottom dive into the character, his memorable moments and what makes Rik's performance so special. The Talking Bottom book is out now! “Oh God! This...

A quick one (ooh err) about our recent book launch in Hammer-smith, where we were joined at Rik's memorial bench by Godfather of alternative comedy, Producer Paul Jackson and Bottom actor legends Lee Cornes (Dick Head) and Roger Sloman (Mr Harrison), plus Bottom fans (including two who came all the way from The Netherlands!) and assorted press! Thank you to everyone who came down to collect their...

Once in every lifetime comes... one of Rik Mayall's most enduring and iconic characters. Starting life on stage reading crap poems and getting angry with the audience on shows like "Boom Boom, Out go the Lights" before graduating to student life in a sitcom that redefined the genre in "The Young Ones," for many, Rick is the character they picture when they think of Rik Mayall.  Talking Bottom dive...

It's a new series! Most actors are fortunate if they have just one role people love them for. Rik embodied so many iconic and memorable characters that people adore. Kicking things off is a look at one of his early incarnations - self-styled "Investigative Journalist" and son of Redditch, Kevin Turvey in "A Kick up the Eighties" and "The Man Behind the Green Door." The Talking Bottom book is out n...

“That was quite a LOCK IN, wasn’t it??” A short while ago our great mate Jeffers @PodcastoCatflappo asked to interview us about the writing process behind ‘Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom’ and what Bottom fans can expect to uncover when flicking through its weighty folds. Listen to our sickeningly lovely chat with the top bloke that is Jeff - and then give his podcast a listen and follo...

Talking Bottom is BACK and LIVE - and what better place to do our FIRST EVER live show than at the innagural Rik Mayall Comedy Festival in Rik's old home town of Droitwich? We were joined by legendary Bottom director and Producer Ed Bye at the Norbury Theatre on the very stage upon which Rik first ever performed and where he used to operate the lights.  To a sold-out crowd, Ed shared memories of d...

This ep sees an update on our book, Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom, snatched (ooh errr) from the jaws of defeat to be published on July 3rd. We wang on about why it took f*cking aaaages and how book backers can get their grubby hands on the book on July 3rd while others wait for their postman to unload his sack. We also chat about our upcoming live podcast on May 31st, on stage in Rik'...

Talking Bottom returns with a visit to the 2025 Slapstick Festival in Bristol, where Ange and Mat attended "That's Really Heavy, Man: The Comic Incarnations of Nigel Planer" (Nigel Planer in Conversation with Robin Ince) and "Rik! The Anarchic Genius of Rik Mayall" (Ben Elton and Nigel Planer, chaired by Robin Ince). The pair regale Paul with stories from the talks about Nigel's career before, dur...

Finally, a documentary about Bottom! A look at Bottom: Exposed - a fantastic retrospective of Bottom on UKTV channel Gold. The doc features contributions from load of people who worked on the sitcom, including Ade himself! We discuss the stories and facts unearthed by the programme, and how we came to pop up on it ourselves! The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to ord...

Our guest for this very special episode is a titan of entertainment and one of the key figures in the rise of alternative comedy in the UK. He's an actor, director, writer and comedian who created The Comic Strip and is the man behind The Comic Strip Presents...  series of shows and films that currently total 5 films and 42 episodes including Bad News, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, A Fistful of Travel...

This weeks guest is the First Lady of Bottom. She's a comedian, author and actor who was part of the Comedy Store scene and whose credits include The Young Ones, Absolutely Fabulous, Saturday Live, Girls on Top, One Foot in the Grave, Naked Video and Happy Families. But Bottom fans know her best as Moldovan Princess Lady Natasha Letitia Sarah Jane Wellesley Obstromsky Ponsonsky Smythe Smythe Smyth...

This weeks guest quite literally wrote the book on Rik Mayall. He's a journalist, writer, film critic and broadcaster who's worked for Heat, Entertainment Focus, New Empress Film Magazine, Screenjabber and BBC Suffolk. He's the author of biography "Rik Mayall: Comedy Genius"... It's Mark Searby! We discuss stories from Rik's life that Mark discovered while writing the book, how much work went into...

Imagine being able to literally create the world that Richie and Eddie inhabit. This week's guest has done just that, working as a Production Designer on series 3 of Bottom, plus on The League of Gentlemen, French and Saunders, Spiceworld, Episodes, Rev, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Roland Rat, Fat Slags and The End of the F***ing World. It's Grenville Horner! Emmy winner Grenville shares how he start...

Many of us grew up watching Rik and Ade's work. For many of us it was George's Marvellous Medicine and Bottom, for others The Dangerous Brothers and The Young Ones. But this week's guest got to grow up - for the duration of filming anyway - whilst working with Rik and Ade on the film Guest House Paradiso aged 9. She's an actress with a CV including Cider with Rosie, The Gathering, Casualty, Los Do...

Matt Lucas calls him "the Godfather of TV comedy" and he's certainly got one of the most impressive CV's in the industry. Since joining the BBC in 1980, he's been instrumental in producing the very best of British sketch comedy including A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Smith and Jones, French and Saunders, This Morning with Richard Not Judy, Little Britain and The League of Gentlemen. As a head honcho at...

We've inputted the data for this weeks guest and while her character in Bottom is a bit raggy round the edges, in real life she's an absolute cracker. She's a stage, screen and comedy veteren who's appeared in The Dark Crystal, In Deep, The Bill, The Russ Abbot and Les Dennis shows and at 27 landed her own prime time BBC1 sketch show. It's our favourite love bureau matchmaker Lily Lineker herself;...

To round off this special 30th anniversary series, we take a look at the moments that make the show special to you. Using the 100% scientific method of asking people on social media, we delve into the fans favourite series, episodes, lines, moments and characters. Oh god, there's so much to choose from! The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to order at: https://t.co/G6...

To accompany our episode on Waiting for Godot, we chat with Mark Young, a photographer who, in 1991 photographed Rik Mayall, Ade Edmonsdon and Christopher Ryan during their run of the show at the Queen's theatre, London. The conversation took place over Zoom so please forgive the occasional connection drop out. The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to order at: https:/...