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Adrian Edmondson

Date of birth: 24-01-1957

The son of an armed forces teacher, Edmondson attended Yorkshire’s Pocklington School, before going on to study drama at Manchester University, where he met Rik Mayall and formed the partnership that was to become Twentieth Century Coyote. The pair took a show to the Edinburgh Festival in 1977 and on to London’s fledgling alternative comedy scene at the Comedy Store Comic Strip.

The comedians from that latter venue went on to make The Comic Strip Presents shows for the new Channel 4, and Edmondson starred in their 1985 feature film Supergrass.

That year, he also married fellow Comic Strip performer Jennifer Saunders and the couple now have three children: Eleanor, Beatrice and Freya.

His most famous role is of Vyvyan in The Young Ones, written by co-star Mayall, Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. And in 1983, Adrian toured with Mayall in Kevin Turvey and The Bastard Squad, and their double act The Dangerous Brothers was also a regular strand of Saturday Night Live.

Other credits with Mayall include Filthy, Rich and Catflap, three series of Bottom and the subsequent live tour and in 1991 appeared in the West End production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot.

And solo he appeared in Lawrence Marks and Maurice Gran's Snakes and Ladders, Doctors and Nurses and Jonathan Creek. In 2005, he joined the cast of hospital drama Holby City.

In 1996, he wrote his first – and so far only – novel The Gobbler. And he has directed pop videos for The Pogues’s Fiesta, Zodiac Mindwarp’s Prime Mover and 10,000 Maniacs’ Like The Weather.

He has more latterly been touring the UK with his band The Bad Shepherds; and in 2014 appeared in the West End play Neville's Island.

Adrian Edmondson to explore his Bottom

New retrospective for the Gold channel

Adrian Edmondson is to give his first-hand account of how he and Rik Mayall made Bottom in a new two-hour programme.

Bottom: Exposed is being made for the Gold channel and will also feature previously unseen footage as well as contributions from cast, crew and famous fans, plus narration from Stephen Fry.

Adrian Edmondson said: ‘A long time ago, deep in the mists of time, two blokes – I was one of them, Rik Mayall was the other – decided to make a career out of beating the shit out of each other.

‘It was a tempestuous, an anarchic and occasionally quite a dangerous time – we both required hospital treatment on occasion – but above all, it was bloody good fun.

‘We made each other laugh, and luckily for us, we made audiences laugh. This programme seeks to get to the bottom of why it worked.’

Rik and Ade on park bench in Bottom opening credits

Bottom ran for 18 episodes across three series from 1991 to 1995, and spawned five successful stage shows.

Those taking part in the retrospective include producer and series director Ed Bye, former cast members Helen Lederer, Kevin McNally, Roger Sloman, Lisa Maxwell and Paul Bradley, and celebrity fans such as Chris McCausland and Maisie Adam.

Matt Crook, executive producer on the new show, said: ‘[Bottom] was such a huge show and has never had a documentary until now, so we feel incredibly privileged and excited to be given this opportunity by UKTV to work with Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall’s estate to celebrate one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.’

And Gold’s Jason Dawson, said: ‘With reams of unseen footage and contributions from beloved alumni and famous fans, audiences are in for a treat.’

Bottom: Exposed will air later this year.

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Published: 9 Feb 2024