A sad farewell to a comedic genius. Rik Mayall has died unexpectedly at 56.
His fans will celebrate the groundbreaking The Young Ones and remember with relish his scene-stealing and virile Lord Flashheart (woof!) in Blackadder — as I do — and these were great.
But for me, I will always remember his Alan B’Stard, beautifully described in the first episode of The New Statesman (below) as ‘a Thatcherite toy-boy’. To glimpse such deep cynicism in a politician was, yes, funny, but also oh-so-pointed.
RIP.
– P
I remember discovering the Young Ones while at uni in the 2000s, almost 20 years after it first aired. It may have been almost 20 years old, but it still blew my mind.
A sad day that he’s gone.
Yes. “Ground breaking” is a cliché … but they were!