The Young Ones – 1982
Perhaps not so young as this show turned 40 earlier this month
Perceived by many at the time as the birth of alternative comedy The Young Ones was the cult BBC comedy classic that surprisingly only ran for 12 episodes over 2 series between 1982 and 1984. It made household names of it’s stars and writers.
Combining traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick and surrealism The Young Ones took sitcom in a whole new direction..
The show also featured surreal elements, such as puppets playing talking animals or objects. Confusion was added with lengthy cutaways to scenarios not involved in the main plot.
Eleven of the twelve shows featured a musical guest performing either in the house or the street. This was done to enable the BBC to classify the program as variety as that attracted a bigger budget than sitcoms.
As is common with many programs some of these performances were cut from future video releases and repeats for reasons of copyright.
Summary
Stories were set in a squalid house where the students lived during their time at Scumbag College. The show featured the antics of the four very different students as they went about their day to day lives.
Clips
[AdSense-A]
[AdSense-A]
[AdSense-A]
Cast
Adrian Edmondson – Vyvayn Basterd
Rik Mayall – Rick
Nigel Planer – Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye
Christopher Ryan – Mike The Cool Person
Alexei Sayle – The Landlord
Details
Channel: BBC2
Written By:
Rik Mayall
Lisa Mayer
Ben Elton
with additional material from Alexei Sayle
Original Transmission Dates: 9th November 1982 – 19th June 1984