Bottom (TV series)

Bottom
GenreSitcom
Created by
Starring
Opening theme"BB's Blues" by The Bum Notes
Ending theme"Last Night" by The Bum Notes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes18
Production
Production locationsStudios TC1 & TC8, BBC Television Centre, London[1]
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC2
Release17 September 1991 (1991-09-17) –
10 April 1995 (1995-04-10)[2]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Bottom is a British sitcom created by Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson that ran for three series on BBC2 from 1991 to 1995. It focuses on Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson), two unemployed, crude, and perverted flatmates living in Hammersmith, London, who aspire to better themselves. Bottom became known for its chaotic, nihilistic humour and violent slapstick comedy.[3] In 2004, Bottom was ranked 45th in a BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom.[4]

Mayall and Edmondson had worked together since the mid-1970s, and developed Bottom as an extension of their own relationship and their on-screen characters in The Young Ones and Filthy Rich & Catflap, their earlier BBC sitcoms. In addition to the series the pair completed five stage show tours between 1993 and 2003, and adapted the sitcom into a feature-length film, Guest House Paradiso, released in 1999. A spin-off series featuring various Bottom characters, Hooligan's Island, was cancelled in 2013. Mayall's death in the following year ended plans for a revival.

  1. ^ "Bottom... GAS - Rik Mayall Scrapbook". 7 July 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Bottom". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 December 2004. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  3. ^ "British Sitcom Guide - Bottom". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  4. ^ "BBC - Britain's Best Sitcom - Top 11 to 100". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2008.