A Television Legend
The Young Ones wa
s a BBC2 show, the first series of which was shown on successive Tuesday evenings between 9 November and 14 December 1982. Oh my Lord, yes 1982! Written by Ben Elton, Lise Mayer and Rik Mayall the series was just the thing to be watching as a young lad – my brother and I made sure that mother was safely ensconced in the kitchen with the ironing – or maybe she chose to keep out of the way!
The show starred Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Christopher Ryan, Nigel Planer as students (P)Rick, Vyvyan, Mike (The Coolperson) and Neil Pye. Alexei Sayle also appeared as their landlord, supposed eastern European immigrant, Jerzei Balowski.
The show was actually quite an ensemble piece, with cameos from such (alternative) comedy luminaries as Fry and Laurie, Tony Robinson, Robbie Coltrane, Hale and Pace(!), French and Saunders, Frost and Arden, Terry Jones (’has anyone done the stiffy joke’), Ben Elton, Mel and Griff, Lenny Henry. Emma Thompson even put in an appearance! Then there was the music from seminal 80’s performers like Motorhead (If you like to gamble, baby I’m your man’), Madness (who did two shows), Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Ken Bishop’s Nice Twelve, The Dammed plus Rip, Rig and Panic (which included Neneh Cherry) and Amazulu.
Of the six episodes in the first series, my favorite is the pilot and first episode, Demolition. It was first shown on BBC2 on Tuesday 9 November 1982. The storyline of this episode is fairly simple. The Council has decided to knock down the boys’ house, so Vyvyan (Ade Edmondson) decides that he needs to to do it first from the inside. Rick (Rik Mayall) decides to hang himself from Neil’s crucifix which in turn is mounted on the front of the house.
Nigel Planer’s character Neil (greatest ambition, suicide) plans to insert himself into the cavity wall (and pretend to be thermal insulation), whilst Mike (Christopher Ryan) attempts to head the Council off at the front door by seducing its female representative (an excellent cameo by Maggie Steed). Unfortunately for all involved, the Council was unable to complete the job before an aeroplane crashed into the house.
Earlier on we had been treated to our first visit from Alexei Sayle’s thoroughly obnoxious Jerzei Balowski and we had also met Vyvyan’s vicious Glaswegian hamster SPG (Special Patrol Group – dropping the nut for Glasgow a good 6 years before Rab C. Nesbitt, lol!)
