I saw your Bottom on TV last night: Legacy of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's groundbreaking comedy

The alternative comedy legends were already sitcom veterans, having revolutionised TV comedy with phenomenal cult hit The Young Ones and lampooning the world of light entertainment with the less successful Filthy, Rich and Catflap. But if those shows represented their teens and 20s, Bottom was the evolution of their TV characters into stagnating 30s, with a generous dollop of the spectacular violence and jeopardy they perfected with their aptly named “Dangerous Brothers” act, which involved Rik beating Ade and setting him on fire.

Originally titled “Your Bottom”, with the stars hoping that people discussing the show would say “I saw your bottom on TV last night”, negotiations with the BBC saw them compromise with simply “Bottom”, representing not only the fart gags and toilet humour that became synonymous with the show, but also representing the status of their characters at the bottom of life’s heap. Richard Richard and Edward Elizabeth Hitler were two losers on the fringes of society, enduring miserable existences on a pittance, both seeking solace wherever they could get their kicks; booze, 'birds' and each other’s balls.

With legendary Red Dwarf director Ed Bye at the helm, Bottom won a British comedy award and quickly became a cult hit. Audiences rooted for the hapless pair as they navigated life in a dark and depressing Hammersmith where roadkill was repurposed in kebab shops, human kidneys were sold on the black market and the local school got involved in an annual riot. The post-pub snack of choice for Eddie was a block of lard (“Because I’m too drunk to cook”), washed down with a bottle of cooking oil. The result was an inevitable explosion of vomit all over deadbeat Richie.

Described by Rik Mayall as “an all-out attack on existence itself”, the characters were filled with existential angst about wasting their lives as they frittered away the time playing “put a bit of Sellotape on the fridge” and seeing who could hold the most custard in their underpants. Bottom merged razor-sharp scripts filled with nihilism with the best and most extreme forms of physical comedy live action TV has ever seen. With Rik and Ade performing their own stunts Richie and Eddie crashed through ceilings, mercilessly attacked each other with frying pans and even chopped off limbs. Topping their previous efforts in The Young Ones, they set new limits of what was possible in a studio sitcom as they farted flames, fell from Ferris wheels, blew up their neighbour’s kitchen and frequently got electrocuted. In three decades, no other comedy has pushed slapstick to such a level. The only modern comparison is the consequence-free world of animations where anything can be safely drawn and rendered with no real sense of danger.

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The memorable cartoon style violence in Bottom means the quality of the writing is often overlooked. But it is more than just fights and fart jokes. It reflected 90’s life under a Tory government and snuck political jokes in amid the slapstick. Eddie’s dole being cut off after being told his £11.80 savings “should see me for the next three months” was bitingly satirical and still rings true today with benefits constantly a trending news topic. The sharp, timeless writing means Bottom still find new devoted fans today as younger viewers rediscover sad lonely virgin Richie, desperate to finally get his end away and violent alcoholic Eddie, desperate to get to the sale on at the chemists; “Old Spice; 25p a bottle!”

The set-up of two adults forced to live together is more relevant than ever to modern audiences stuck in house shares well into their 30s and unlikely to ever get on the property ladder. It’s a wonderfully stark contrast to the hugging and white-toothed optimism of shows like Friends and The Big Bang Theory. Instead, Bottom was influenced more by the grim poverty-stricken reality of Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour. Richie and Eddie were British sitcom underdogs ratcheted up to the nth degree; when they entered our lives there was an air of hopefulness, the aching possibility that sex could be just around the corner – all they needed was a leg up to get a leg over, either in the form of pheromone sex spray or just some hard cash gained by stealing and pawning a disabled veteran’s valuable wooden leg. Amid the grot and filth of their fetid flat they maintained a respectable look; suit, shirts and ties, as though about to head to a job that didn’t exist and improve their miserable lot.

The stars' performances as Richie and Eddie held nothing back. Rik Mayall exuded a manic energy as he whirled around the set like a Dervish and rode a wheelchair at speed down a flight of stairs then smashed through a door. Ade Edmondson was fearless as Eddie, falling from rooftops, crashing through conservatories and yes, of course, being set on fire. It was performance without ego, where the actors pushed themselves to play the roles as sad, foul and perverted as possible. Richie and Eddie’s constant motivation was to not just satiate their base needs but to gorge themselves silly on them. However, in classic sitcoms style these efforts were always thwarted.

Despite being constantly overlooked by “best sitcom” lists, Bottom’s popularity meant fans kept coming back for more. It ran for three series from 1991 until 1995 and spawned an epic five live shows that toured the nation playing to sold-out arenas. Richie and Eddie even graced the big screen in their movie Guest House Paradiso, which saw them poisoning a hotel full of guests before finally realising their dream of escaping somewhere exotic with a constant supply of booze and sex.

Bottom still enjoys a huge following today thanks to repeats, DVDs and a renewed life on streaming platforms. Adoring fans tweet quotes, swap memes on social media, dress as the characters at Halloween parties and converge on the Rik Mayall bench in Hammersmith to pay their respects. Bottom-themed conventions sell out and themed pub quizzes see die hard devotees test their knowledge. There’s even a podcast about the show, aptly named “Talking Bottom” and a fully crowdfunded book about it.

Bottom stands out as a unique jewel amid the gold of British comedy. Rik and Ade’s fearless ingenuity produced the nearest thing the world has to a live action Tom and Jerry cartoon. On the one hand it’s a classic sitcom about two people trapped together who need each other but can’t stand each other. On the other hand, it’s Laurel and Hardy on steroids, strapped to a rocket and fighting the Three Stooges with petrol bombs and chainsaws. It pulls back a dank curtain, giving us a stark glimpse of the human condition at its darkest moments, then invites us to laugh at it and smash it over the head with a frying pan.

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