Remembering Rik Mayall

Bambi. The first episode of Series 2. Broadcast on BBC2 on 8th May 1984.

It’s probably the most famous half-hour The Young Ones ever did, and when you look at who was in it, it’s not hard to see why.

Sitting directly below Scumbag College on the University Challenge set were Footlights College — Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, and Ben Elton. Griff Rhys Jones was the host. You also had Robbie Coltrane, Tony Robinson, Alexei Sayle, and Mel Smith making appearances. Oh, and Motörhead playing “Ace of Spades” in the living room just for good measure.

It was an absolute collision of British comedy talent. Almost every significant name from that era crammed into one chaotic, joyful, completely unhinged episode.

Everyone knows the gr***de, the cheating, and the giant éclair. It’s an episode that is burned into the memory of anyone who watched it.

If you had to pick one moment from Bambi that still makes you laugh out loud, what is it?

Rik Mayall once sat down and worked out, point by point, exactly why he was better than Jesus.

He had data. He had receipts. And frankly, the argument is airtight.

Which bit got you? 👇

Eddie, you stupid b-stard. You actually think I believe you, don’t you? Waltzing in here at half past ten this morning, stinking of Old Spice and whatever you’ve been drinking since Tuesday, with that ridiculous smug look on your fat, stupid face.

You spent the night at Ethel Cardew’s. Ethel Cardew. The woman who looks like she’s been hit repeatedly with a shovel and enjoyed it. I mean, it’s disgusting. It really is.

And you expect me — Richie Richard, the Hammersmith Casanova, a man who has to practically fight the ladies off with a stick — to sit here and listen to this? While you are out there supposedly getting your leg over with Ethel Cardew? It makes me want to be physically sick, Eddie. Right here, on the carpet. Not that you’d notice — you’d probably just drink it.

It’s a lie, of course. It’s a desperate, grubby little lie from a desperate, grubby little drunk. You probably just passed out in someone’s front garden and couldn’t find your way home. But oh no, not Eddie. Eddie’s been with a woman.

I hate you, I hate you, I hate you — why don’t you crawl away and die in a ditch somewhere, you b-stard.

That’s right, peasants! Before the stadium tours, before the Baftas, before I was officially recognized as the most gorgeous man on television, there was the Devil Fish Horn Club.

Just me, Ade, and a desperate need to show off in front of people drinking warm pints. “Comedy’s answer to Frankie Goes to Hollywood” they called us. Well, we wrote that bit ourselves, obviously. But it was true! We were bringing you the shocks and thrills of big screen entertainment, live on stage!

And look at the billing: Burke ‘n’ Head. The greatest comedy double act of our generation. We were catching bullets in our teeth! Fired from Clint Eastwood’s big gun! Or at least, that was the plan until someone realized we couldn’t afford a gun, let alone Clint Eastwood. So we settled for dicing with death with an egg in Russian Omelette. Much more dangerous, frankly. You try getting raw egg out of a cheap suit.

It was pure, unadulterated chaos. No script, no safety net, and absolutely no respect for authority. Just two brilliant young men changing the face of comedy forever, while simultaneously being entirely crap.

What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done for a laugh? (And don’t say ‘watch Bottom series 3’, because that was pure genius).

If you zoom in you can see Rik Mayall’s favourite comedians and TV shows.

It’s a great little snapshot into what shaped him — the humour he grew up on, the influences behind that unmistakable energy, and the things he genuinely loved away from the spotlight.

From Monty Python’s Flying Circus to The Pink Panther Show, you can see the kind of comedy that clearly fed into his own style. Bold, silly, unpredictable… and completely his own when he brought it to life.

There’s also something quite telling in the smaller details. His biggest fear was not making people laugh — which says everything about how much he cared about what he did.

And one of the best bits… he always wanted to meet Little Richard — and he actually managed to do it.

A proper insight into a man who gave us so many unforgettable moments on screen.

The eternal struggle of Richard Richard. A man of immense, untapped potential, simply waiting for the world—and a girlfriend—to recognize his undeniable greatness. Or perhaps he really is the new Messiah, and we’ve all just been too blind to see it.

It’s the sheer confidence that gets you. The absolute, unwavering belief that he is God’s gift, completely at odds with the tragic reality of his existence. Rik played this delusion so perfectly, making us laugh at the pathetic desperation while somehow, inexplicably, rooting for him. The transition from unearned arrogance to the crushing realization of “April Fools” is a masterclass in physical and emotional whiplash.

Which of Richie’s disastrous attempts at romance is the absolute worst?

He was a visionary. A poet. A philosopher of the highest order. Then he touched a hot kettle.

That was the genius of Rik Mayall. He didn’t just play the fool. He played the arrogant, delusional fool who genuinely believed he was the smartest man in the room. Richie Richard was a man whose mind was constantly writing a sweeping historical epic, while his body was starring in a slapstick disaster.

The whiplash between his grand, Shakespearean gestures and his complete inability to boil water was terrifyingly fast. No one else threw themselves into the punchline with that much violence. He made the physical comedy just as loud as the dialogue.

Which of Richie's grand delusions is your absolute favourite?

Poor Richie, all he wanted was the love of a good woman... well not even a good one, any old one would do.

The beautiful photo of Rik that his daughter Rosie posted after he passed away.

He must have been such a wonderful, fun father, and his children seem like lovely, genuine and humble people.

Rik had three children — Rosie, Sidney, and Bonnie — with his wife Barbara.

I believe Rosie is really into her art and creating her own pieces, judging by what she shares online.

She looks just like her mother too!

Look at those prices, a bargain back then.

It would have been amazing to see Rik Mayall in his early days. I saw him in Bottom Live in the early 2000s, which was incredible, seeing him and Ade in full flow like that.

To have watched him doing other live shows in the 80s must have been something else.

What’s your favourite live performance of his that you’ve seen on TV or online? Or maybe you were lucky enough to see him live yourself.