Talking Bottom

THE BOOK & The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival

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's home town of Droitwich as part of the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival, where we will be joined by a VERY special guest; Bottom director and producer Ed Bye!

We also chat about our upcoming series based around Rik Mayall's most iconic and best-loved characters.

The book Talking Bottom: A guide to The Cult Sitcom can be found to order at: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Slapstick Festival

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, during and after The Young Ones, the U.S. Young Ones pilot that may finally see the light of day, Ben's early memories of Rik at Uni and as they started working together, and the love and affection the world still has for Rik.

We'll talk about the book in next week's ep! Ooh, speaking of which; The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to order at: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Bottom: Exposed

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 order at: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Peter Richardson interview - The Comic Strip Presents...

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 Travellers Cheques, The Bullshitters, Four Men in A Car and The Hunt for Tony Blair. It's Peter Richardson!

Peter will be at the London BFI this month on 19th and 21st May for a series of screenings of The Strike, GLC: The Carnage Continues, Bad News Tour and Churchill: The Hollywood Years, plus Q&A's with some very special guests. In our interview, he chats about his favourite Comic Strip Presents episodes, scripts he still hopes to make, Rik and Ade's performances, meeting Rik, Ade and Nigel Planer, how he started in comedy, balancing acting with directing, guerilla filming, meeting Steve Martin, his favourite directors, his favourite character, TV commissioners and not being Mike in The Young Ones.

The conversation took place over Zoom so please forgive the occasional connection drop out.

"Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom" can be pre-ordered here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

 

Helen Lederer Interview (It‘s Lady Natasha Letitia Sarah Jane Wellesley Obstromsky Ponsonsky Smythe Smythe Smythe Smythe Smythe Oblomov Boblomov Dob!)

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 Smythe Smythe Smythe Oblomov Boblomov Dob. It's Helen Lederer!

Helen tells us about her early years getting into acting and standup, working as a social worker, feeling like an outsider on the alternative comedy scene, seeing The Dangerous Brothers, attitudes to comedy material changing, modern comedy, working as a writer, battling sexism, running Comedy Women in Print and her appearances on Bottom both as a harrangued Nurse AND as the Third Viscountess of Moldovia who very nearly takes Richie's cherry.

The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to order at: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Mark Searby interview

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 it, Rik's place in comedy history, unheard Bottom trivia, Rik filming Drop Dead Fred, seeing secret recordings of Rik's early stand up and which Rik roles Al Pacino should try playing.

The conversation took place over Zoom so please forgive the occasional connection drop out.

Mark's book can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rik-Mayall-Comedy-Mark-Searby/dp/0995793123

The book "Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom" can be found to order at: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Grenville Horner interview

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 started in the industry, working on series 3 of Bottom including creating the legendary cattle prod and ferris wheel, recreating Richie and Eddie's flat, photographing Hammersmith, being a pop star, faxing Stephen Fry and creating the look of Royston Vasey, for which he won a Royal Television Society Award.

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://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Jessica Mann interview

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 Dos Bros, Magic Grandad and the role of Charlene Nice, a member of the family that checks into Guest House Paradiso expecting a nice relaxing holiday and instead gets violently vomitingly sick. It's Jessica Mann!

Jessica discusses how she got started acting, auditioning for Guest House Paradiso, working with Rik, Ade and Simon Pegg, the fate of her body cast, drama vs comedy, missing the GHP premiere while in a Mcdonalds and exploding vomit tanks.

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://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Jon Plowman interview

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 the Beeb, he brought The Vicar of Dibley, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Goodness Gracious Me, Absolutely Fabulous, The Thick of It and The Office to our screens. He also produced (and had a small role in) series 3 of Bottom. It's Jon Plowman!

Over Plowman's lunch, Jon tells us about how he started in the industry, his time winging it as a reporter, having his arm broken by Rik Mayall in Texas, accidentally destroying pianos live on Wogan, warming up audiences, working with French and Saunders, being directed by Mel Smith, taking over producing duties on Bottom series 3, working with Rik and Ade, clowning and cartoon violence, building ferris wheels in studios, working with Jon Stewart in America, turning down Sacha Baron Cohen, commissioning The Office, comedy vs drama and bringing Ab Fab to TV.

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://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Lisa Maxwell interview (It‘s Lily Linneker!)

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; it's Lisa Maxwell!

Lisa discusses her training at Italia Conte and entry into entertainment, alternative comedy, auditioning for and losing out on the role of Daphne in Frasier, sketches vs sitcoms, working with Rik and Ade, Lily Linekar's life outside of the Bureau, studio recordings, helpful repeat fees, having "A wazzo pair of jugs" quoted at her, Bottom's enduring popularity and starring in The Bill (and hearing the "vomiting blood" line!).

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://t.co/G677or4Xgw