Talking Bottom

Talking Bottom gets back on stage at the Norbury Theatre, Droitwich - joined by legendary producer and director Paul Jackson at The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival 2026 for a brilliant interview and selection of his favourite clips. FULL VIDEO VERSION HERE: https://youtu.be/anxCoVg07WE 

Paul, Ange and Mat chat for over an hour with the Godfather of alternative comedy, the man who got The Young Ones, Bottom and Red Dwarf made and on...

What a festival! In advance of our EPIC on-stage interview with legendary Young Ones, Red Dwarf and Bottom producer/director Paul Jackson at the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival dropping next week, including the video (yes, we've got a video!) version too, we run through what we got up to at the fest, where Talking Bottom hosted not one, not two, not four but three events!

Ange, Mat and Paul chat about their interview with Paul on stage ...

Hey, kids. It's doesn't matter what you are - Punks, Skins, Rastas, Mods, Rockers, Keith Chegwin even. Everybody everywhere; stop snogging and listen to me... this week it's all about the best charity single ever - the teaming up of The Young Ones and Rick's idol Cliff Richard to release their version of Living Doll and their performance of it on stage at Utterly Utterly Live!

Ange, Paul and Mat chat the history of Comic Relief, ch...

What do you do when you've ended your show after two series, leaving people in no doubt it's finished by killing off the characters, but the public is hungry for more and you've got a ton of brilliant unused gags? Release a book, of course! But fear not, this isn't a crap spin-off cash-in, it's authored by the writers of the show and is incredibly funny. It's Bachelor Boys: The Young Ones Book!

Mat, Ange and Paul discuss TV spin-of...

There's no business like show business and there's no shortage of TV execs trying to capture lightning in a bottle. In 1989, U.S. TV network Fox decided to take one of the most uniquely British sitcoms of the decade, put it in a blender and shotgun the remains into an American sitcom format. The results were... not good.

Paul, Mat and Ange dive headlong into the disastrous pilot, trying to glean the positives but turning up handful...

You asked and we delivered! Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom is now available as an audiobook, read by none other than Bottom's friendly pub landlord Dick Head himself - actor Lee Cornes! You can literally have Dick coming in your ears!

It's out NOW via your usual audiobook platforms. You can listen while driving, on the commute, doing heavy housework or simply having a wangle. Get your copy now or Dick will set the dawgs...

What a ruddy treat! The long-awaited Rik Mayall documentary "Rik Mayall: Magnificent B'Stard is out now on Sky Documentaries, PLUS Sky Arts is screening the brand-new "Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare and Unseen." It's a day of new Rik stuff!

Ange, Paul and Mat dive into the doc, looking at what new nuggets about Rik and his work have been shared. They chat about Rik's life, the impact of his quad bike accident and the immense legacy he...

Once in every lifetime comes a guest like this - someone who created and wrote one of the most influential, revolutionary and most-loved sitcoms ever, alongside her co-creators and co-writers Rik Mayall and Ben Elton. It's Lise Mayer!

Lise chats with Paul, Ange and Mat about the genesis of The Young Ones and the challenges faced to get a show full of unlikeable characters, a grotesque student setting and exaggerated situations to a...

All good things must come to an end and school' out not just for summer but for ever as it's the start of the summer holidays for the lads at Scumbag College AND the final episode of the show, ever, with the creators determined to end it all with a literal bang.

Ange, Mat and Paul wang on about celebrity death rumours, shooting film on buses, the boredom of summer, horrible families, 80's cheesy comedians, grasping landlords, Fluff...

The boys are surrounded by soggy tissues, and for once it's not for the reason you'd think - they've got the dreaded lurgy. Their efforts at recuperation escalate to violence in the streets while Neil's parents visit the fetid house. If only they were in a nice sitcom like The Good Life!

Mat, Paul and Ange splutter over competitive illness, breaking the 180 rule, Hyacinth Bucket, being polite to your friends' parents, speech impedi...

After a Dallas-style opening, the boys wake hungover to discover they have travelled back in time. And even more unbelievable; Rik seems to have "done it" with a girl!

Paul, Mat and Ange chat about Dallas, time travel, Rick graduating towards Richard Richard, French and Saunders, Hale and Pace and all manner of subjects before diving head-first into a fiendish quiz!

We're back at this year's Rik Mayall Comedy Festival this month do...

Filmed in Horror-vision! It's a terrifying tale this week as the boys have a body to bury, with a flashback to bath night revealing Rick's penchant for Cosmopolitan magazine, Neil's fetid bath, the arrival of a South African Vampire and the fact they've got a video. YES, WE'VE GOT A VIDEO.

Ange, Mat and Paul discuss video nasties, Hammer Horror, future Bottom references, celebs laughing at themselves, Jeremy Beadle's fake and real ...

It's freezing in the student house and all the furniture has already been burned. Someone needs to get a job and that some is Neil, who joins the filth while Rick, Mike and Vyvyan enjoy some remarkable good fortune until an explosive conclusion. 

Mat, Ange and Paul chat about filming angles, burning things, austerity (oh no, not politics even though The Young Ones literally rips into Thatcher!), stunts, risotto, Rik's pervy fa...

The boys are back and they smell - it's so long since they did any laundry that one of Vyvyan's socks has come to life. But a fruitless trip to the laundrette is soon overshadowed by their starter for ten; can they get to Manchester by tonight to represent scumbag College on University Challenge?

Paul, Ange and Mat return and discuss how The Young Ones found its confidence, quality guest stars, sticky bogies, train safety, bacon sa...

This week's guests are a pair of legendary comedians and actors who broke through on the alternative comedy circuit as a double act, going on to star in their own series and many other shows, including seven guest appearances on The Young Ones. One gave the order for Captain Blackadder to be shot in Blackadder Goes Forth while the other had his eye shot out by Eddie in Bottom. It's Mark Arden and Steve Frost, AKA The Oblivion Boys!

Biblical references abound as a huge flood engulfs London, trapping the students in the house. Everyone will be fine as long as no one drinks Vyvyan's potion - a cure for not being an axe-wielding homicidal maniac.

Ange, Mat and Paul chat about Monty Python, hated chocolates, the hell of living with flatmates, biblical links, C.S. Lewis, Chekov's Coca Cola can and the brilliant Frost and Arden. Plus; a quiz where the concept of a q...

It's party time in the student house, an opportunity to impress the other students and trendy lecturer, play with a toy mouse and telescope and to kill the Hippy. It's The Young Ones episode "Interesting." 

Mat, Paul and Ange talk parties, bringing a bottle, sexy press-ups, cool lecturers, studio injuries, tampons and "women's periods". Plus, contemporary reviews AND the fiendish Talking Bottom on The Young Ones quiz!

We're ba...

"Well I'm going to tell Thatcher that we've got a bomb!" Cold War fears manifest when a large (undetonated, obviously) nuclear bomb lands right in the middle of the house. To make matters worse, the TV detector man is at the door and the boys don't have a TV license!

Paul, Ange and Mat chat about nuclear paranoia, house shares, rancid bathrooms and more, plus a great quiz! Apologies for some issues with sound in this episode due to...

Guys! Guys! Look at us! Squabbling, bickering, like children! What's happening to us? We never used to be like this! This week's episode is all about one of The Young Ones most exciting episodes; "Boring."

Ange, Paul and Mat chat about exciting things, making scripts come to life, censoring difficult language when it's being used for satire, Madness, fakes hands and playing monopoly. Plus, a quiz!

We're back at this year's Rik Maya...