The Young Ones. Image shows from L to R: Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson), Neil (Nigel Planer), Mike (Christopher Ryan), Rick (Rik Mayall). Copyright: BBC
The Young Ones

The Young Ones

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Two
  • 1982 - 1984
  • 12 episodes (2 series)

Hippy Neil, nerdy Cliff Richard-obsessed Rick, psychopathic punk Vyvyan and smooth Mike share a squalid and collapsing student house together. Stars Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan and Alexei Sayle

Press clippings

Nigel Planer returns to The Young Ones house 41 years after series began

The Young One's Nigel Planer has returned to the show's famous student house in Bristol, 41-years after the iconic BBC sitcom fist aired.

Geraint Llewellyn, Daily Mail, 18th December 2023

How The Young Ones responded to a road crash and appalled Steve Martin

Peter Richardson has revealed how The Young Ones helped to save a stricken scooter rider after a horrific crash, how he sought to cast Matt Lucas as Boris Johnson in a Comic Strip movie and how he shocked Steve Martin with his method approach to shooting a riotous scene in The Supergrass.

British Comedy Guide, 23rd November 2023

British comedy's US disasters

As media continues to become more globally inclusive (largely thanks to the rise of streaming services) the idea of remaking anything to fit another culture is gradually becoming more of an outdated concept. But in the past, American TV producers have repeatedly tried and failed to remake many beloved British sitcoms with terrible consequences.

Jazzy Janey, The Comedy Blog, 2nd September 2023

Nigel Planer: 'I made as much from one episode of Blackadder as from all of The Young Ones'

The West End star on divorce, getting recognised and making money on a Second World War barge.

York Membery, The Telegraph, 14th August 2023

From Python to The Young Ones, how British comedy and music became forever linked

As he releases a new book looking back at the history of British comedy, writer David Stubbs explains how it's always found an unlikely friend in music.

David Stubbs, Rolling Stone, 2nd August 2023

Freeze-Frame Gonna Drive You Insane, Part 1

The flash frames in Series 2 of The Young Ones are one of those odd bits of sitcom trivia which are seemingly widely known about... but not really widely understood.

John Hoare, Dirty Feed, 27th January 2023

How The Young Ones changed comedy for ever

With flying eclairs, falling beds and exploding buses, the anarchic antics of Rick, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike shoved alternative comedy into the mainstream. Forty years on, we ask the show's creators how they pulled it off.

Phil Harrison, The Guardian, 12th November 2022

Bonus-packed The Young Ones coming to Blu-ray

Iconic early "alternative comedy" sitcom The Young Ones has been comprehensively restored for a new Blu-ray release, which is to be packed with new and never-seen extra features.

British Comedy Guide, 28th October 2022

BBC Four to repeat comedy classics

To link in with the celebrations of 100 years of the BBC, from Saturday 22nd October BBC Four will begin broadcasting classic episodes of sitcoms and sketch shows.

British Comedy Guide, 14th October 2022

100 BBC TV gamechangers

The Sooty Show, Goodness Gracious Me and Hancock's Half Hour have been named amongst 23 comedy titles in a BFI list of the 100 most important television programmes from the BBC, as the broadcaster marks its 100th anniversary.

British Film Institute, 28th April 2022

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