Talk:The Young Ones (TV series)

I moved the content from the disambiguation page, reorganising it slightly in the process. I'm not convinced that the last paragraph is correct. I thought they only recorded "Living Doll" with Sir Cliff (in fact, I've got the record), but they used "The Young Ones", sung by themselves, as the theme tune to the programme. Is that not right? Deb 22:10 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

You're right about that. Bagpuss 22:31 Feb 9, 2003 (UTC)

Yes you are right. The last fact is incorrect. See the Comic Relief page, where I added the Comic Relief singles. Mintguy

What was this show?

From the article:

"famous bands would play, for no apparent reason...by including the groups, the show qualified as light entertainment and therefore got a higher budget than a mere sitcom."

then near the end

"The reason bands appeared in the first place was because it categorised the show as Variety rather than Entertainment and consequently got a larger BBC budget."

So which exact categories were they using the bands to get from and to? Does it really need to be said twice? Boffy b 15:18, 2004 Sep 18 (UTC)

To my knowledge, BBC allowed a bigger budget for variety shows than the typical "sitcom" shows. By having a live band they were able to classify themselves as variety and therefore ask the BBC for a larger budget. It would seem it would be classified as a variety show, only by the strictest definition pertaining to the BBC. It would really just be a comedy where the creators used a loophole to get a bigger budget.--Skeev 19:04, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, the BBC category the show was shooting for was "Light Entertainment."DegreeAbsolute 06:12, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Peace Studies

I've made a slight change to Neil's information. It did say "non-existant Peace Studies degree". I don't know if this is meant to reter to "then" (i.e. when the series was made) or not, but this degree does exist and I know people who've graduated with it! Bradford University at the very least was doing it about 8 years ago when I was there, and in fact had a Peace Studies department.

Perversely, they studied war for 4 years. Go figure. IainP (talk) 12:07, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Reminds me of 1984. The Ministry of Love is all about War.

Peace studies was indeed a Degree course in Early 1980s Britain, as there was a small number of them in my University (Poly it was called then) onfortuntaly life imitates art and they were all exactly like Neil!!. 217.44.63.245 19:40, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

No, the Ministry of Peace (Minipax) is all about War in 1984 :) See Ministries of Oceania - Man in shack (talk) 02:27, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

short film featuring young ones cast!!!!!!

can ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME if they remember a show, or short film, which i saw on MTV after an episod of the Young Ones, probably in '89, featuring definately Rik and I think Ade and Nigel. it WAS NOT FUNNY. it was desperately dark and the guys were involved in some sort of anthropology dept. recreation of early human existance. they lived in a little tee pee out on the quad of the college or something. I think someone got killed in the end a la Lord of the Flies.....It's been bugging me for YEARS!!! HELP!!! mojojo33@yahoo.com

Hello Mojo: no need to shout. Sounds like you're thinking of "Summer School", an episode from Season One of The Comic Strip Presents. Nigel, Rik and Adrian were all in the cast, and the plot fits what you remember: an experimental Iron Age settlement on a University Campus. While it was a comedy, it was a lot darker in mood and less slapstick than the Young Ones. potatoscone 11:29, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Cameo Role

One cameo role that is not mentioned in the list on the main page is of the psychopath who appears for no apparent reason in a blank background shot by himself in Summer Holiday. He mutters - whilst staring and gesticulating wildly - something like 'I went to me neighbours house to borrow his drill, but he weren't in, so I broke in and ate his fish tank! Ha-hah, you won't catch me with me trousers!'.

Anyone know who was the actor who played that role? Martyn Smith 11:58, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like Mr Brian Damage, played by Alexei Sayle DavidFarmbrough 08:55, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

No, it wasn't him. Brian Damage was a character 'within' the show wasn't he? The character above appeared out of nowhere, in his own scene, wasn't played by Alexei (it was an actor who doesn't appear anywhere else in the series), and didn't have any connection with any other part of the show. Wasn't Brian Damage the character who didn't like anybody being 'sar-cah-stic'? Martyn Smith 10:49, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, that's Brian. I know who you mean - he sort of slide-cuts in, says his peice (no-one laughs and then he's gone - but I can't find any info on who he is. I'm guessing he;s some shite alternative comedian.--Crestville 13:04, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

The episode he appears in is Cash, between the scenes where Vyvyan announces his pregnancy and Mike bites off all his fingernails in the hallway with worry. I can't remember his name, but I'll dig out the DVD and find out... Bentley Banana 11:40, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Oh this is going to be very annoying. I've got the DVD here, and the credits are all in one big chunk. Unless you indervidually eliminate all the names from the 'With' credit section, I think we're stuffed. - Treen

First of all, that scene does not occur in Summer Holiday, instead it's in Cash. The guest star credits are all like that, making it difficult to identify roles... however I am 90% certain the psychopathic nudist cameo is played by none other than Nigel Planer! A similar actor inversion occurs in Bomb when the DHSS lady is watching "Dicky and Dino" before telling off Rick, who's there to send a telegram to "Thatcher." Dicky is none other than Rik Mayal and Dino is Nigel Planer. If you watch the extras disc which shows clips from The Outer Limits and The Comic Strip, you'll see Nigel's non-hippy appearance is very much like the psychopath nudist. He also plays Famine in the the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse scene in Interesting. -Keith Savage

It's not Nigel Planer, it's a totally differant actor. I think eveyone knew Dicky and Dino were Planer and Mayall - stuff like that happened regularly - but this was certainly a differant actor.--Crestville 12:53, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

images

I recently bought the dvds of the young ones and on at least a few episodes (i havent watched them all yet) there are images put in for maybe 10 frames, for example in the episode 'nasty', the is an image of someone making pottery with a potters wheel. Is this just on the dvds or on the program itself? Does anyone know anything about this? Raemie 12:53, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

There is some info on this in the article. They were shown on the orginal arings, removed for repeats and restored on the DVD :)--Crestville 17:11, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, i really should start reading more carefully. Raemie 12:35, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

They were on the vhs releases as well.

I remember this - one or two very strange blipvert/subliminal inserts in shows in the second series, one featuring a bird (maybe a parrot or similar). Who was behind this? What was it all about? Shows you how much freedom they had.

Vyvyan's T-shirts

For being a such a hardcore punk rocker, Vyvyan didn't wear a lot of punk rock bands on his t-shirts, did he? I remember him wearing t-shirts for Whitesnake, Motorhead, KISS, and Rush. Can anyone remember any others?

Vyvyan's Denim Jacket

His jacket had the words VERY METAL on the back. Not very punk really!! Chilkoot

:How so?--Crestville 15:58, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

His so called "punk" image, I think, is satirising what a punk really was. It was just making satire out of the character and the stereotype. You know, an ironic punk.

I disagree. Very Metal, despite their name, were actually a hardcore punk band in the same vein as Exploited or Black Flag. So, it actually goes quite well with his punk image. Eugenespeed

The Young Ones Stage Show

Whilst watching a Comedy Connections programme on The Young Ones tonight on BBC 1 it mentioned that there was a Young Ones theatre tour. Could anyone with any knowledge of this add any information relating to this and was it ever released on video or broadcast on television? --Wrh1973 22:11, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Series ended too early?

I recall a recent interview with Alexei Sayle where he commented that he thought that it was a mistake to end the programme after only 12 episodes, apparently with the justification that "Fawlty Towers did it and finished on a high, so we will too". Personally I'm inclined to agree, and think it's a shame they didn't do a third series. Anyway, my feelings aside, would this be worth a mention in the main article? Can anybody else remember the interview in question? Chris 11:17, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Better to leave the party too early than too late. As John Cleese Anyway, you've got Filthy Rich and Catflap, Bottom and all of the The Comic Strip Presents... as worthy successors.--Crestville 11:24, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

The Comic Strip Presents... was technically not a successor to TYO. It was started in 1982, the same year as TYO. Filthy Rich and Catflap, while still starring 3 of the 4 boys from TYO, was very much a Ben Elton thing in my opinion, and missing the depth of humour that TYO had. Bottom is probably the best example as a "successor" series, with Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmundson writing, directing and starring, thought it doesn't have the variety format of TYO. - Man in shack (talk) 02:19, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

The show went out on such a high that if they made a third series I don't think it could match up to the second. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.240.155.95 (talk) 00:40, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Location

Is there anywhere that says it's set in North London? There's one episode (can't remember which but I think it's the second season) where a sign says Carshalton. Timrollpickering 03:39, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

It is in the last episode "Summer Holiday", on the estate agent's sign outside the house after Belowski evicts them. Of course this means the estate agent is based in Carshalton. Danny Darko (talk) 00:49, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Rick

203.213.7.130 has just reverted all the mentions of 'Rick' to 'Rik' again. While the actor is called Rik Mayall, the character is called Rick. (It's the basis of the 'He spells it with a silent P' joke in 'Bambi'.) See photograph from 'Bambi'here --> [1] Spugmeister 14:36, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Someone did it again. I've reverted their change. Mark Grant 21:34, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

SPG

I've just reverted a change and forgotten to put why in the hitory- SPG is from Glasgow and says, 'Oh, is that right? I'm a Glaswegian'. It's not said very clearly which is what probably led to the mix up Spugmeister 22:34, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Neil's album

Planer, as "Neil the Hippy", re;eased an LP, with cover versions of, amongst others, songs by Caravan. Members of Caravan were the session musicians used. There were one or two singles, also. Anyone know more about this? Andy Mabbett 20:42, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

True. The album was called "Neil's Heavy Concept Album", and was preceded by a single, a cover of Traffic's "Hole in My Shoe", which was a big hit in the UK in the summer of 1984. He also did a song called "Hurdy Gurdy Mushroom Man", not to be confused with Donovan's song.

A pretty shameless cash-in, like "Neil's Book of the dead" - all of this is referred to pretty scathingly in the Bachelor Boys book.

Comic Relief: Cliff?

"At the 1986 live Comic Relief television performance they gave a live performance, but with Bob Geldof accompanying instead of Cliff. This version with Geldof was released on LP and on video."

Am I going mad, or is this cobblers? I'm pretty sure Cliff was in the live performance. Moreover, I have no memory of Geldof appearing on stage with the Young Ones. Why else would Rick have said, "remember, Cliff's in the building, and we don't want anyone saying 'penis'".

Radio times cover

When the second series started in 1984, TYO got the front page of the Radio Times - very unusual for a BBC2 show and a stronbg indicator of its impact. It also shows how, no matter what anybody says, the BBC were right behind it once it was up and running.

Social Impact?

A good detailed article, but it would benefit from some discussion of its impact/role in Britain in the early 80s. Whilst Alternative Comedy had been around for quite a while, this is probably its 'big splash' on TV. Also, it is seen as one of those generational dividers - where your parents hated it, and that was part of the attratction. I'm happy to put some general comments in if there's nothing else doing.

cheers.81.145.241.103 17:32, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Vyvyanpic.jpeg

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BetacommandBot 03:18, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Rikpic.jpeg

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BetacommandBot 03:24, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Rick's accent/speech impediment ?

There is a slight Elmer Fuddish quality to Rick's pronounciation - Rs being pronounced like Ws ("that'd be pwetty stewpid"). Does anyone know if this is supposed to imitate some accent or speech impediment?

It's called a Rhotacism, much like Jonathan Ross's speech impediment.GuanoLad 11:24, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

All four of them are Cliff Richard fans

I know this isn't popular knowledge, but the reason such disparate characters share a flat together is because all four of them are fans of Cliff Richard. That's why the show is called "The Young Ones", it's why the book was called "Bachelor Boys", it's why the last episode was called "Summer Holiday", why they all sung "Living Doll" with him, and it's why in episode one, when Rik asks Vyv "Why isn't Cliff Richard boring, clever trousers?", Vyvyan's answer is to be lost for words and push Rik into the lentils. My cite is an interview with the creators from back when it was first broadcast, which is unfortunately impossible to link to. - GuanoLad 21:59, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't call Vyv resorting to violence him being, 'Lost for words', that's just his typical response. Next you'll be saying he re-named SPG 'Cliff Richard', not to piss off Rick, but because he's really a massive fan! Just because it's a common theme throughout the show, doesn't make them all fans.

Oh Cliff, sometimes it must be difficult not to feel as if you really are a cliff, when fascists keep trying to push you over it. Are they the lemmings, or are you Cliff? Or are you Cliff? Spugmeister 13:27, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:YOUNG ONES.jpg

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BetacommandBot (talk) 08:58, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Original research

Removed the following;- Its original research, and needs to be referenced. Apologies if the way I did this isn't encyclopedic. but yeah. No original research, gotta source stuff 58.7.0.146 (talk) 21:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

They can also be seen as a family; Mike is the father, Neil the mother (as he says himself, "My function 'round here, I might as well be your mothers",) Vyvyan the son and Rick the daughter (particularly shown in the episode "Nasty"). It is also possible to see the four characters as representatives of four decades: Mike the 1950s Fonzie-style ladykiller; Neil the 1960s hippy; Vyvyan the 1970s punk; and Rick the 1980s sociology student.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 03:24, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

DVD Cuts

Being the obsessive compulsive that I am and considering how iconic the Young Ones is, I would like to catalogue the edits made on each of the DVD releases for the main page. I believe the Region 1 "Every Stoopid Episode" and "Extra Stoopid Edition" releases are the same as their corresponding UK releases, with different box art, special features and menus. This is what I've got so far:

Episode number	Episode name	2002 Series One BBCDVD1136 / 2003 Series Two BBCDVD1171 (R2) Every Stoopid Episode (R1)	2007 Complete Series One & Two BBCDVD2236 (R2) Extra Stoopid Edition (R1)
Season 1
1	Demolition	No information.	No information.
2	Oil	Scene in the cellar where Vyvyan is headbutting the floor is shortened, ommitting background music.	No information.
3	Boring	In the opening sequence, "Good Day Sunshine" is replaced by sound of birds singing.	No information.
4	Bomb	No information.	No information.
5	Interesting	No information.	No information.
6	Flood	No information.	No information.
Season 2
1	Bambi	No information.	No information.
2	Cash	Musical interlude "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is cut.	No information.
3	Nasty	Scene where Neil sings "The Sound of Silence" in the bath is cut.	Scene with the two teddy bears on Rick's bed is cut.
4	Time	No information.	No information.
5	Sick	No information.	No information.
6	Summer Holiday	No information.	No information.

Danny Darko (talk) 23:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

I've heard, though have not yet confirmed, that the complete box set is uncut. In particular, this includes the sequence of Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve performing the Dylan Cover "Subterranean Homesick Blues". - Man in shack (talk) 02:07, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Surnames

Are the surnames legit? I don't remember any of them having surnames, and Mike's especially seems suspect. Yes, he occasionally referred to himself as "Mike, the cool person" but I don't think counts for anything. 4.237.204.249 (talk) 20:36, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

There's been a running edit war over the names for quite some time. Neil's is definitely 'Pie' because it was in the episode 'Sick' but I don't know about the rest. I think Mike's comes from a book that followed the show. Vyv's I'm not sure on and Rick's is definitely NOT 'Britain' as people keep trying to add. Spugmeister (talk) 20:06, 24 September 2008 (UTC)