''Bottom'' is a British sitcom created by

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...

and

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series ''The Young Ones (TV s ...

that ran for three series on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

from 1991 to 1995. It focuses on Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson), two unemployed, crude, and perverted flatmates living in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London, who aspire to better themselves. ''Bottom'' became known for its chaotic,

nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...

humour and violent

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

comedy. In 2004, ''Bottom'' was ranked 45th in a BBC poll for ''

Britain's Best Sitcom ''Britain's Best Sitcom'' was a BBC media campaign in which television viewers were asked to decide the best British situation comedy. Viewers could vote via telephone, SMS, or BBC Online. This first round of voting was conducted in 2003, after ...

''. Mayall and Edmondson had worked together since the mid-1970s, and developed ''Bottom'' as an extension of their own relationship and their on-screen characters in '' The Young Ones'' and ''

Filthy Rich & Catflap ''Filthy Rich & Catflap'' is a BBC sitcom produced in 1986 and broadcast in 1987. The series featured former '' The Young Ones'' co-stars Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as its three title characters. It was written by Ben Elton ( ...

'', their earlier BBC sitcom. In addition to the series the pair completed five stage show tours between 1993 and 2003, and adapted the sitcom into a feature-length film, ''

Guest House Paradiso ''Guest House Paradiso'' is a 1999 British slapstick film, slapstick black comedy film written by and starring comic duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, Adrian Edmondson, who also directed in his film directorial debut. The film is a Spin-off (med ...

'', released in 1999. A spin-off series featuring various ''Bottom'' characters titled ''

Hooligan's Island ''Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island'' is a live stage show that was recorded at the Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol, in 1997, written by and starring Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, Adrian Edmondson. This is the third instalment of five live shows ba ...

'' was cancelled in 2013. Mayall's death in the following year ended plans for a revival.

Cast

Main characters *

as Edward "Eddie" Elizabeth Hitler. Edmondson described Eddie as "a very strange kind of mellow" version of Vyvyan from ''The Young Ones''. He is "a man with no morals and a devious tiny-time entrepreneur." *

as Richard "Richie" Richard He is "an old-fashioned moralist, hypocrite and small-minded virgin." Recurring characters * Steven O'Donnell as Spudgun (1991–1995) *

Christopher Ryan Christopher Ryan (born Christopher Papazoglou; 25 January 1950) is a British actor best known for his roles as Mike TheCoolPerson in the BBC comedy series '' The Young Ones'', Dave Hedgehog in the BBC comedy series ''Bottom'', Tony Driscoll in t ...

as Dave Hedgehog (1991–1995) *

Lee Cornes Lee Cornes is an English television actor and writer born in Worcester. A stand up comedian since 1980, he was a regular compere at London's Comedy Store throughout the 1980s and won best Stand Up Comedian at the Charrington London Fringe Awa ...

as Dick Head (1991–1995) *

Roger Sloman Roger Sloman (born 19 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work in theatre, film, and television. Early life and education He grew up and was educated in South East London. He trained to be a teacher and then went to East 15 acting sch ...

as Mr Harrison (1991–92)

Premise

Eddie and Richie are two pathetic, misogynistic, slobby flatmates living in a filthy, damp flat at 11 Mafeking Parade in

, London. Mayall described them as "unemployed survivors". They spend their time concocting desperate schemes to convince women to have sex with them, including buying sex spray, forging money, and pretending to be aristocrats. Their plans are never successful, however, and the stress of their miserable lives can cause them to become irritable with each other. Whenever tensions hit a breaking point, Richie and Eddie end up fighting (albeit in a comical, Tom and Jerry-style, with adult themes). Both men are immature. Richie is a

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

; he is insecure and clueless on how to talk to women. Despite being a penniless slob, he occasionally projects a pompous sort of snobbery in an attempt to impress others and boost his

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

; he is

sexually frustrated Sexual frustration is a sense of dissatisfaction stemming from a discrepancy between a person's desired and achieved sexual activity. It may result from physical, mental, emotional, social, and religious or spiritual barriers. It may also deri ...

and obsessed with losing his virginity. Eddie, the more popular of the two, enjoys drinking regularly, and often secretly steals family heirlooms and cash from Richie, although he occasionally has inventive moments, like building a cash forger, an electric toilet, and a time machine. Eddie's friends the

gormless {{Short pages monitor In March 2011, the duo made a surprise reunion when Edmondson took part in ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The programme ...

''. A pre-recorded segment ended with Mayall hurling a custard pie in Edmondson's face. Mayall appeared again, this time live on stage, to abruptly end Edmondson's performance by hitting him several times with a frying pan. In the final, Mayall returned once again to drop a ton weight upon Edmondson. In the following month, Edmondson revealed that he and Mayall had conceived an idea for a sitcom. "Rik and I have an idea for a sitcom for when we are very, very old. We want to set it in an old people's home 30 years hence. It will be like 'Bottom', but we will be hitting each other with colostomy bags!" In August 2012, the BBC announced that it had commissioned a series based on the ''Hooligan's Island'' stage show, where Eddie and Richie cause havoc on a deserted tropical island, set to air in 2013. However, the show was scrapped just two months later. Edmondson said "it wasn't working" and wanted to pursue other projects. Mayall tried to have Edmondson reconsider, but he "put his foot down and said, 'It's not going to work mate.'", and wanted to wait ten years until they were older. Mayall died on 9 June 2014, putting an end to any future ''Bottom'' projects.

Episodes

Many of the episodes' names are meant to be a humorous suffix to the word "bottom".

Series 1 (1991)

Series 2 (1992)

Series 3 (1995)

'*' = Episodes featuring only the two main characters
'+' = Episodes not set in the flat

Awards and nominations

DVD releases

In 2004, a DVD featuring a compilation of violent scenes from Mayall and Edmondson throughout their career, including scenes from ''Bottom'', was released as ''Mindless Violence: The Very Best of the Violent Bits''.

References

Sources *

External links

* Comedy Guide * * *
''Bottom''
at British TV Comedy Guide * *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottom (Tv Series) 1991 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings 1990s British black comedy television series 1990s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Metafictional television series Poverty in television Slapstick comedy Television shows adapted into films Television shows adapted into plays Television shows set in London Unemployment in fiction Virginity in television Television series by BBC Studios