Talking Bottom

Series 3 round up

Ok we're actually back really this time, look I haven't got my fingers crossed or anything. Talking Bottom returns with the season 3 round up!

Mat, Paul and Angela talk about what they've discovered about the show, Jiffy condoms, humourous riots, Mafeking, people's reaction to the podcast and the passion many have for the final series.

We're back with a shorter series from next week while the world hunkers down.

Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

April Fools Episode - Catastrophe

Bonk! April Fools! Sorry... this was a wind up. There are, sadly, no series 4 episodes knocking about the place.

Richie and Eddie return via unusual and messy means, finding the flat in disgusting condition and the toilet still blocked with Eddie's medical experiment. A visit to the Lamb and Flag sets them right and they quickly alight on a money making scheme to keep their new landlord off their backs. But Richie's family history soon comes back to haunt him with Eddie proposing only one solution; drink.

Angela, Paul and Mat return to discuss the legendary series four episode that Rik and Ade shot but was never broadcast, the other series four scripts, cheating death,BBC commissioning processes, the ever changing layout of Hammersmith, Rik and Ade's other work in the noughties and the weight of Malibu. Plus the Talking Bottom quiz returns with ever more fiendish questions.

Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E6 - Carnival

It's the annual carnival/riot and all of Hammersmith is ablaze. Richie and Eddie use the distraction to nip out and steal a king's ransom of Malibu and a BBC TV camera. Richie has a plan: use the camera to achieve fame and fortune, first as a daytime chat show host but soon deciding that some hilarious video accidents will pry some cash out of Beeeadle. But a discovery of a nudie sex tape of the Prime Minister means a new blackmail opportunity: sandWICHES!

Paul, Mat and Angela bollock on about riots, Aswad, Eddie's sexual fantasies, Richie's TARDIS trousers, home video shows, fire stunts, 90's politicians and the BBC announcing a 4th series of Bottom. Plus the series concludes with... The Talking Bottom Quiz!

Talking Bottom will return soon with a series 3 round up, an ep on Guest House Paradiso and ones on the live shows.

Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E5 - Finger

Richie and Eddie acquire psychopathic Welshman Cannonball Taffy O’Jones’ car keys following a cricket match playing for the Shepherd’s Bush Spudulike Irregulars (second eleven). This is their chance to steal his honeymoon weekend and see how much booze they can put away at the Marveloso Splendido Hotelo. There’s only one drawback - they have to pose as a newly married couple.

Mat, Paul and Angela mull over British holidays, odd title choices, swanky posh hotel names, nazi-based sitcoms, Richie and Eddie as a married couple and getting kicked in the bollocks. Plus; the Talking Bottom quiz!

Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E4 - Dough

Eddie has been holed up in his room for days and Richie has nearly wanked himself blind through boredom. But the fruits of Eddie's labours are worth it: he's been forging money. With Spudgun and Hedgehog in tow they head to the Lamb and Flag to test out the pornagraphic doodles, soon finding themselves in the firing line of forger Skullcrusher Henderson. There's only one solution: enter the pub quiz and cheat!

Angela, Paul and Mat talk about Richie's reading habits, Star Wars actor Mark Hamill loving Bottom, crotches on fire, drinking pernod and re-using condoms. Plus: the fiendishly difficult Talking Bottom quiz!

Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E3 - Break

Richie and Eddie are planning their holiday to sunny Doncaster - all Richie has to do is lose a shitload of weight. Luckily they got a Luftwaffe book of exercises and a vacuum cleaner for some DIY liposuction so Richie can fit snugly into his thong. Soon, Eddie is legless - first thanks to a chainsaw wielded by Richie and later because he's in the pube with the holiday monkey. Will they build up enough strength to lift the fridge off the floor and get a look at Des Lynam's todger?

Paul, Mat and Angela discuss iTunes screeners, alternative takes, drinking the contents of the drip tray, cartoon violence, shaky sets and musical stings. Plus: the Talking Bottom Quiz!

The book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom is available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E2 - Terror

Trick or ruddy treat! It's Halloween and for Richie and Eddie this means an opportunity to don fancy dress and make some cash (no sweets) to fund a party. But they can't even keep their meagre haul of apples with razor blades in due to the local kids robbing and kicking the shit out of them, and a faulty cattle prod soon means Richie is down to his last pair of tights. But things look up as the party gets into full swing complete with homebrew, exploding carrots, sprouts mexicane and an attempt at raising the devil in exchange for an eternity of shagging.

Mat, Paul and Angela ruminate on Halloween costumes, child actors, double entrendres, which Bottom series fans fall in love with, and how a man with kids can possibly be a virgin. Plus: the Talking Bottom quiz Halloween edition!

The book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom is available here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

S3E1 - Hole

Richie and Eddie are back and have reached their three quid limit with a ride on the tallest ferris wheel in western Europe. But they've been annoying, vomiting on and stealing the clothes of the other fairground users and soon find themselves trapped 350 feet in the air with hardly any booze left and the ride scheduled to be blown up in the morning. Can they attract attention and make it to the other side of this one? Heck, maybe even raise some kids?

Angela, Paul and Mat discuss Bottom returning after three years off the TV with a stage show in between, the relative qualities of the differing series, Richie and Eddie's families, reincarnation, cheating fate and Richie's phenomenal upper body strength. And the Talking Bottom quiz returns with nightmare questions due to this being an episode set entirely in a ferris wheel carriage!

Here is the clip from the 1993 British Comedy Awards we talk about at the end, where Richard Wilson fumes while Rik wins best comedy actor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-WezUT1Y4c

The book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available is here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Series 2 round up

With series 3 starting next week, Talking Bottom takes a look back at series 2; what we learned, emails from listeners and reflecting on our interview with the legend Ed Bye. Plus several non-series 2 discoveries including why Richie's belt misses his front trouser loop and a reading from the original script for the episode Apocalypse, complete with its original title!

The book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available is here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw

Ed Bye interview

Talking Bottom is honoured to be joined by the legendary Ed Bye, no less than the director and producer of Bottom series 1 & 2! His CV reads like the cream of British comedy, with credits including The Young Ones, Filthy, Rich and Catflap, The Full Wax, The Detectives, Kevin and Perry Go Large, Canned Carrot, Lenny Henry in Pieces, The Vicar of Dibley, Not Going Out, My Family, Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders and 40 (forty!) episodes of Red Dwarf.

We probe Ed about, amongst many other things, his journey into the world of TV and light entertainment, his first impressions of Rik and Ade, the genesis of Bottom and its production from the pilot through the series, avoiding BBC censorship, studio filming, fight choreography and injuries, sound effects and special effects, modern British comedy, losing Rik and a first hand account of how Bottom's opening credits came about.

The book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom available is here: https://t.co/G677or4Xgw