| The Young Ones | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | |
| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "The Young Ones" written bySid Tepper andRoy C. Bennett performed by the cast |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Paul Jackson |
| Running time | approx. 35 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | 9 November 1982 (1982-11-09) – 19 June 1984 (1984-06-19) |
The Young Ones is aBritish sitcom written byRik Mayall,Ben Elton, andLise Mayer, starringAdrian Edmondson, Mayall,Nigel Planer,Christopher Ryan, andAlexei Sayle, and broadcast onBBC2 for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on the lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often includedanarchic, offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers.
The Young Ones helped bringalternative comedy to British television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers. The show became a notable icon of 1980s British popular culture, and it received its own game and a home-media release while becoming the first non-music-related programme to appear onMTV in the United States in 1985. The show was voted number 31 in the BBC'sBest Sitcom poll in 2004.[1]
In the early 1980s, much of the programme's cast performed onLondon's comedy club circuit, gaining significant popularity atThe Comedy Store[2]—Alexei Sayle was the prominent act, drawing attention as the manic, aggressivecompere;Adrian Edmondson andRik Mayall worked together in the troupe20th Century Coyote and later became the double actThe Dangerous Brothers; andNigel Planer worked in the double act "The Outer Limits" alongsidePeter Richardson.[3] All principal members later opted to make their own club as The Comedy Store became popular, and they formedThe Comic Strip in theRaymond Revuebar club in Soho withFrench and Saunders andArnold Brown.[4] The new club proved immensely popular amongst London's comedy venues and brought the group to the attention ofJeremy Isaacs, head of the newChannel 4.
Richardson opted to bring the group to television in a project entitledThe Comic Strip Presents... and began negotiations with the new channel to secure a deal for a series of six self-contained half-hour films, in which the group would perform as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. Channel 4 agreed to the deal and aired the programme on the channel's opening night on 2 November 1982. In response to this, the BBC opted to recruit the group for its own comedy projects, and it began negotiations with Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in a sitcom that would operate on a similar broadcast arrangement, under the title ofThe Young Ones, which alludes to and subverts thesong of the same name, written bySid Tepper andRoy C. Bennett and performed byCliff Richard andThe Shadows, which had become aNo. 1 UK hit single in 1962. The group agreed to join the project and work proceeded on the sitcom, with Mayall co-writing the scripts with his then girlfriendLise Mayer,[5] andBen Elton (who had attended theUniversity of Manchester with Mayall and Edmondson).Paul Jackson was installed as a producer,[6] but his presence led to him clashing with Richardson, forcing the latter to abandon the project.[3] As a result, his replacement was Christopher Ryan, the only member of the group who was not a stand-up comedian. According to Jackson, the finished project was met with complete disbelief by the BBC, but the recent arrival of Channel 4 led the broadcaster to air what had been created a week after its opening night, on 9 November.[7]
To help make it stand out, the group opted to combine traditional sitcom style with violentslapstick,non-sequitur plot turns, andsurrealism. These older styles were mixed with theworking and lower-middle class attitudes of the growing 1980s alternative comedy boom, in which all the principal performers except Ryan had been involved. In addition, it was also decided that every episode, with the exception of one, would feature a live performance by a band, includingMadness,Motörhead, andThe Damned. This was a device used to qualify the series for a larger budget, as variety shows attracted higher fees than comedy at the time.[8] Episodes were generally produced to be over 35 minutes long, though were edited to half-hour when later repeated on theBBC orsatellite channels.
The programme focuses on the lives of four undergraduate students whoshare a house in squalid condition (with the fictitious address of 15 Credibility Street), while attending their studies at the fictional Scumbag College,London.[2]
The content of the episodes could be classified as acomedy of manners,[9] because of its take on British culture, political climate and social backgrounds during the 1980s. A particular example of this is the second series' use of "flash frames", in each episode, to mock the public's fear of subliminal messages in television and music.[10]The Young Ones was more notable for its use of violent slapstick, which Edmondson and Mayall had been using in their double-act routines, the use of surreal elements such as puppets playing the role oftalking animals or objects (in a similar manner toThe Goodies), use of lengthycutaways with no relation to the episode's plot,[11] and frequent breaches of thefourth wall for comedic efforts, either to break a punchline to a joke or make a plot point obvious; in several occasions, Sayle used this element to break from his character and address the audience in his real-lifeLiverpudlian accent.
Rik Mayall once jokingly said that the household was effectively a nuclear family, with Mike as the father, Neil as the mother, Vyvyan as the rebellious son, and Rick (with a pig-tail) as the daughter.[12]
The Young Ones had a regular cast of five:
Alongside the main cast, the programme also featured a variety of guest appearances, including comedians, actors, and singers, who each took on the role of a supporting character in an episode's plot or cutaway elements. Notable guests on the programme included Ben Elton,Dawn French,Jennifer Saunders,Hale and Pace,Stephen Fry,Hugh Laurie,Mark Arden,Stephen Frost,Jools Holland,Mel Smith,Griff Rhys Jones,Anthony Sharp,Terry Jones,Chris Barrie,Helen Lederer,Keith Allen,Paul Merton,Paul Bradley,Pauline Melville,Tamsin Heatley,Ronnie Golden,Roger Sloman,Lee Cornes,Helen Atkinson Wood,Norman Lovett,Lenny Henry,David Rappaport,Robbie Coltrane,Tony Robinson,Andy De La Tour andEmma Thompson.[13]
In the United States,The Young Ones started airing on MTV (edited for content) on 5 June 1985.[14] The show also ran onPBS,USA Network'sNight Flight,Comedy Central in 1994, and BBC America in the early 2000s.
In New Zealand, the show premiered late at night on 23 August 1985, afterTVNZ purchased the broadcast rights.
In the Netherlands, the show was aired in 1985 by public broadcasterVPRO.
In theBasque Country, public broadcasterETB1 began airing the show in 1985 inBasque language with the nameGazteak (The Young Ones) with great success among Basque younger audiences.[15]
InCatalonia, public broadcasterTV3 began airing the show in February 1986 on a Sunday evening slot. The show became very popular and got several re-runs in successive years. In 2016, Nigel Planer appeared in a show involving foreign travellers visiting Catalonia. One of the characteristics of the Catalan dubbing is that Vyvyan speaks with a thick Catalan rural accent, totally opposed to his urban environment in the series.
InGalicia, it was shown on regional channelTVG with great success among younger audiences.[16][17]
In Sweden it was calledHemma värst and was first broadcast in October 1985 by the public broadcasterSveriges Television.
The series' opening theme song featured the cast singing Cliff Richard and The Shadows's UK No. 1 song "The Young Ones" (1961), the title song from thefilm of the same name. Throughout the series there are many references to Richard, as Mayall's character is a devoted fan.[18]
The theme over the end credits was written byPeter Brewis, who also created theincidental music on many episodes.[19]
In 1984, after the second series, Planer (in character as Neil) reached No. 2 in the UK charts with a version ofTraffic's "Hole in My Shoe". The accompanyingNeil's Heavy Concept Album, a loose collection of songs and spoken comedy, included appearances byThe Young Ones alumni Dawn French and Stephen Fry.[20]
In 1986 the cast sang "Living Doll" with Cliff Richard andHank Marvin forComic Relief. The song, a reworking of his 1959 hit, reached the top of the UK, Australian, and New Zealand Charts.[21]
Eleven of the twelve episodes had a musical guest performing in the house or street. By including the groups, the show qualified as variety rather thanlight entertainment by the BBC and was allocated a bigger budget than a sitcom. Groups that appeared includedAmazulu,Ronnie Golden,Dexys Midnight Runners,Motörhead,The Damned,Nine Below Zero,Rip Rig + Panic, Ken Bishops Nice Twelve, Radical Posture,John Otway andMadness, who appeared in two episodes. The one episode that featured no musical act still fulfilled the variety criteria by including alion tamer whose presence also directly contributed to the plot.[18]
Some of these performances were omitted from DVD release forcopyright reasons. Some musical acts were also edited out for similar reasons on some satellite reruns. On the 2007 DVD release, all the music acts are restored uncut.
In the first six episodes of the series, a person whose face is covered by hair appears in the background of some scenes, such as to the left when Neil gets hit by Vyvyan with a kettle in "Bomb". In the episode "Demolition", the person appears slumped against the back wall when Rick is watching TV. These rumours of a mysterious fifth housemate have been the subject of fan speculation on the internet.
In 2016, journalist Peter Farquhar sent members of the cast and crew email enquiries about this unnamed character. Writer Ben Elton replied, saying "I have no idea what you are talking about I'm afraid..." By contrast, one of the directors of the series, Geoff Posner, said that he and Paul Jackson "thought it would be fun to have some ghostly figure in the background of some scenes that was never explained or talked about..."[22]
During an event at the Bristol Slapstick Festival 2018, Adrian Edmondson was asked about the fifth housemate during an audience question session, and named the person playing the 'fifth housemate' as his university friend Mark Dewison. Mark also played a speaking role as Neil's friend (also called 'Neil') during series one episode "Interesting". He emerges from Vyvyan's full vacuum cleaner bag and ends up being shoved into the fridge by Rick. However, Dewison and the fifth housemate appear together in the same shot towards the end of the episode. In a documentary,How the Young Ones Changed Comedy, that aired in 2018 onGold, series co-writer Lise Mayer said she believed the housemate had arrived to a party at the student house at some point in the past, and had never left.[23]
Although the series was set innorth London, many external scenes were filmed inBristol, namely the suburb ofBishopston, where the student house is situated at the top of Codrington Road. Other locations include the Fascist Pig bank, the launderette and the army careers office, all around the corner on Gloucester Road. The pub in which Vyvyan's mum works, the Kebab and Calculator in the series, was the Cock of the North (since renamed the Westbury Park Tavern) in Northumbria Drive, Bristol.[24] A brief scene in a pharmacy was filmed outside GK Chemists, later taken over by Lloyds Pharmacy, in St Johns Lane, Bedminster. The shop was renamed "OK Chemists" for the scene, in which Mike goes to buy cough medicine, but orders £180 worth ofDurex condoms instead—"Force of habit".
As of 2024, Rotten Tomatoes reports five positive reviews.[25] The series was also praised byIan Hislop.[26]
The end of the series was not the last appearance ofThe Young Ones. For the British charity television appeal Comic Relief, the four recorded a song and video for Cliff Richard's "Living Doll", accompanied by Richard and Shadows guitaristHank B. Marvin. Alexei Sayle was not involved, as he felt collaborating with Richard was against thealternative ethos of the show, but had already achieved chart success in 1984 with "'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?".
In 1984, Planer released an album of music and skits in character as Neil, entitledNeil's Heavy Concept Album. Musical direction was byCanterbury scene keyboardistDave Stewart. It featured Stewart's alumsBarbara Gaskin,Jakko Jakszyk,Pip Pyle,Gavin Harrison,Jimmy Hastings and Rick Biddulph. "Hole in My Shoe", a single taken from the LP, reached number 2.Soulwax used "Hello Vegetables" to kick off their Radio Soulwax mix "Introversy."[27]
The program became a cult hit in the United States afterMTV began broadcasting edited versions of the episodes during the summer of 1985.Conan O'Brien cited the show as one of his influences during a Q&A at theOxford Union.
At the 1986 Comic Relief stage shows, The Young Ones performed "Living Doll" live (following a short skit which involved Rick doing a comic song about showing his underwear and bodily parts, before being ejected from the group by Mike, and Vyvyan supposedly having backstage sex withKate Bush with Neil as hiscontraceptive). The skit climaxed with Neil claiming Cliff Richard could not perform with them as he was "doing time" (themusical Time was premiering the following week) andJohn Craven had been booked as a replacement, only for Cliff to then appear. However he was only available to appear on the second night of the run, withBob Geldof replacing him on the other two nights.[28]
On one occasion, Edmondson, Mayall and Planer as their "Young Ones" characters did a parody of the song "My Generation" byThe Who.
Mayall, Planer, and Edmondson reunited in 1986 for the Elton-writtenFilthy Rich & Catflap. The series had many of the same characteristics asThe Young Ones as did Mayall and Edmondson's next sitcomBottom. Ryan, for his part, was regularly recruited to play roles on associated series (such asHappy Families,Bottom andAbsolutely Fabulous). Mayall, Edmondson and Planer have also appeared in episodes ofBlackadder.
Both series were repeated consecutively over twelve weeks in early 1985, but went unrepeated for four years, when the second series was shown on BBC2. In the mid-1990s all twelve episodes ofThe Young Ones were shown on BBC2 in a 30-minute revised format, missing scenes and dialogue. The series was also shown on digital channel UK Gold throughout the 1990s. A mix of both the edited and unedited versions was shown in the 2000s (decade) onUKTV G2 andParamount Comedy 1.
DVD releases were initially very basic: Only the US "Every Stoopid Episode" edition featured excerpts from existing documentaries, and no extra footage was included. Musical references proved difficult to clear so "The Sounds of Silence" (one line) and "Subterranean Homesick Blues" were excised from the US editions. A new DVD release of all episodes ("Extra Stoopid Edition") was launched in November 2007, containing new documentaries and two commentary tracks. This edition restores the line from "The Sounds of Silence" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues". The music video "Living Doll" featuring Cliff Richard has not been included on any edition, and neither is the live performance done for comic relief in 1986.[28]
A pilot episode was filmed of an American version ofThe Young Ones, titledOh, No! Not THEM!. It featured Planer as Neil andJackie Earle Haley,[29] and had aclaymation opening credit sequence. TheFox network did not pick up the series. It was produced byDavid Mirkin.[29]
Robert Llewellyn wrote in his bookThe Man in the Rubber Mask (1994):
The Young Ones was taken over the Atlantic in the mid eighties, and Nigel [Planer] was the only member of the British cast to go. He had experienced a fairly hideous time, worried sick that he was going to have to stay there for six years with a group of people he hated who managed to makeThe Young Ones into a sort of grubbyBenny Hill Show. He was hugely relieved when the pilot was a flop and he was released from his contract.
 | This sectioncontains alist of miscellaneous information. Please helpimprove it byrelocating relevant information into other sections or articles.(February 2024) |
In the episode "Bambi", the housemates appeared onUniversity Challenge, where they played against Footlights College,Oxbridge, a reference to theFootlights drama club atCambridge University. The Footlights College team was played by show writer Ben Elton and three actors who were once members of the real Cambridge Footlights: Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, the last of whom had actually appeared on the quiz show while at Cambridge. The episode title is a reference to the show's presenter,Bamber Gascoigne, impersonated by Griff Rhys Jones.[30]
In the episode "Sick", the quartet enter a scenario parodyingThe Good Life, after Neil's mother says the sitcom should be more likeThe Good Life and Vyvyan has an outburst against it, saying, "It's so bloody nice!Felicity 'Treacle' Kendal andRichard 'Sugar-Flavoured Snot' Briers! What do they do now?! Chocolate-bloody-button ads, that's what! They're nothing but a couple of reactionary stereotypes, confirming the myth that everyone in Britain is a lovable middle-class eccentric. And I! Hate! Them!"[31]
Mayall and Edmondson elaborated on some of the series' concepts later in their sitcomsFilthy Rich & Catflap (written by Elton, with additional material by Mayall) andBottom (written by Mayall and Edmondson. Christopher Ryan also appeared as Dave Hedgehog).
Most of the regular cast (and several of the guests) also appeared in Channel 4 andBBC2'sThe Comic Strip Presents comedy shows. All four main actors went on to gain reputations as both dramatic and comic actors.
In 1988, while playing main characterAlan B'Stard during a brief skit of his political sitcomThe New Statesman on the BBC's Comic Relief telethon, Mayall switched characters to become Rick again and deliver a brief lustful turn to camera on the subject of "Cecil Parkinson and a whip". In the same year, Planer and Edmondson revived the characters of Neil and Vyvyan, albeit grown up and wearing standard clothes, in an advert forFriends Provident.
Planer played an older Neil on an in-house BBC promotion for the international channelBBC Knowledge ("I haven't got a TV, I used it for firewood") in 1999 and a commercial forCastrol a year later.
In 1990,ITV puppet seriesSpitting Image made reference toThe Young Ones when four members of theMargaret Thatcher cabinet reminisced about their younger days, with all four playing oneYoung Ones character each:Cecil Parkinson as Mike,Douglas Hurd as Vyvyan,Michael Heseltine as Rick andGeoffrey Howe as Neil.
The 2006SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Chimps Ahoy" featured Mayall, Ryan and Planer as guest stars, playing a trio ofchimpanzees who come to inspect the progressSandy Cheeks has made with her inventions.
When originally broadcast, episodes were shown on BBC2 Tuesdays at 9 pm.
| Ep | Title | Musical performance | Original air date | Director | Ratings (millions) | Chart (BBC2 Top Ten) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Demolition | Nine Below Zero performing "11+11" | 9 November 1982 (1982-11-09) | Paul Jackson | N/A | Did not chart[citation needed] |
| 2 | Oil | Ronnie Golden performing "Coo Coo Daddy Long Legs" Radical Posture (withAlexei Sayle) performing "Dr. Martens Boots" | 16 November 1982 (1982-11-16) | |||
| 3 | Boring | Madness performing "House of Fun" | 23 November 1982 (1982-11-23) | Geoff Posner | ||
| 4 | Bomb | Dexys Midnight Runners performing "Jackie Wilson Said" | 30 November 1982 (1982-11-30) | |||
| 5 | Interesting | Rip Rig + Panic (withAndrea Oliver) performing "You're My Kind of Climate" | 7 December 1982 (1982-12-07) | Paul Jackson | 3.55[32] | Joint 6th |
| 6 | Flood | No musical performance, but alion tamer does perform to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" byTight Fit | 14 December 1982 (1982-12-14) | 3.3 | 6 |
| Ep | Title | Musical performance | Original air date | Director(s) | Ratings (millions) | Chart (BBC2 Top Ten) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bambi | Motörhead performing "Ace of Spades" | 8 May 1984 (1984-05-08) | Paul Jackson | 4.35 | 3 |
| 2 | Cash | Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve performing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" Alexei Sayle performing "Stupid Noises" | 15 May 1984 (1984-05-15) | 4.9 | 2 | |
| 3 | Nasty | The Damned performing "Nasty" | 29 May 1984 (1984-05-29) | 4.05 | ||
| 4 | Time | Amazulu performing "Moonlight Romance" | 5 June 1984 (1984-06-05) | 5.0 | ||
| 5 | Sick | Madness performing "Our House" | 12 June 1984 (1984-06-12) | 5.05 | ||
| 6 | Summer Holiday | John Otway performing "Body Talk" | 19 June 1984 (1984-06-19) | Paul Jackson Ed Bye | 4.2 | 3 |
The series achieved a larger audience through 1980s repeat screenings than it did on first run. Repeats of the programme in the 1990s, when the series was considerably older and less topical, fared less well. As Bambi was also screened during a BBC1 Comic Relief evening (not included below), it was the most-repeated episode, with six repeat screenings from 1985 to 1999. The repeat details of the series up to 2000 were as follows:
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) | Chart (BBC2 Top Ten) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 May 1983 (1983-05-05)[33] | Demolition | N/A | Did Not Chart[34] |
| 12 May 1983 (1983-05-12) | Oil | 2.50 | 10 |
| 19 May 1983 (1983-05-19) | Bomb | 3.90 | 6 |
| 26 May 1983 (1983-05-26) | Boring | N/A | Did Not Chart |
| 2 June 1983 (1983-06-02) | Interesting | 3.60 | 4 |
| 9 June 1983 (1983-06-09) | Flood | N/A | Did Not Chart[35] |
| 18 March 1985 (1985-03-18) | Demolition | 5.90 | 1[36] |
| 25 March 1985 (1985-03-25) | Oil | 5.65 | 3[37] |
| 1 April 1985 (1985-04-01) | Bomb | 5.35 | 5[38] |
| 15 April 1985 (1985-04-15) | Boring | 5.70 | 7[39] |
| 22 April 1985 (1985-04-22) | Interesting | 6.50 | 6[39] |
| 13 May 1985 (1985-05-13) | Flood | 4.80 | 1[40] |
| 29 April 1985 (1985-04-29)[41] | Bambi | 4.30 | 2[42] |
| 20 May 1985 (1985-05-20) | Cash | 6.05 | 1 |
| 10 June 1985 (1985-06-10) | Nasty | 5.90 | 3[43] |
| 17 June 1985 (1985-06-17) | Sick | 6.0 | 2 |
| 24 June 1985 (1985-06-24)[44] | Time | N/A | N/A |
| 1 July 1985 (1985-07-01) | Summer Holiday | 6.45 | 3 |
| 29 April 1989 (1989-04-29)[45] | Time | 5.40 | 3.[46] |
| 29 August 1989 (1989-08-29)[47] | Bambi | N/A | N/A |
| 5 September 1989 (1989-09-05) | Cash | 4.94 | 2[48] |
| 12 September 1989 (1989-09-12) | Nasty | 4.94 | 2[49] |
| 19 September 1989 (1989-09-19) | Sick | 4.8 | 2 |
| 26 September 1989 (1989-09-26) | Summer Holiday | N/A | N/A |
| 20 August 1995 (1995-08-20)[50] | Demolition | 2.66 | 9*[51] |
| 16 September 1995 (1995-09-16) | Oil | ||
| 23 September 1995 (1995-09-23) | Boring | ||
| 30 September 1995 (1995-09-30) | Bomb | ||
| 16 November 1995 (1995-11-16) | Interesting | ||
| 23 November 1995 (1995-11-23) | Flood[52] | ||
| 30 November 1995 (1995-11-30) | Bambi | ||
| 7 December 1995 (1995-12-07) | Cash | ||
| 14 December 1995 (1995-12-14) | Nasty[53] | ||
| 21 December 1995 (1995-12-21) | Sick | ||
| 30 December 1995 (1995-12-30) | Time | ||
| 25 July 1997 (1997-07-25) | Sick[54] | N/A | Did not chart |
| 4 September 1998 (1998-09-04) | Bambi[55] | 3.16 | 5 |
| 1 January 1999 (1999-01-01) | Demolition | 2.93 | 21 |
| 29 January 1999 (1999-01-29) | Oil | 2.95 | 10[51] |
| 15 January 1999 (1999-01-15) | Boring | N/A | Did not chart in Top 30 |
| 22 January 1999 (1999-01-22) | Bomb | 2.49 | 30 |
| 29 January 1999 (1999-01-29) | Interesting | 2.93 | 21 |
| 5 February 1999 (1999-02-05) | Flood | N/A | Did not chart in Top 30 |
| 12 February 1999 (1999-02-12) | Bambi | 2.53 | 24 |
| 19 February 1999 (1999-02-19) | Cash | 2.55 | 25 |
| 26 February 1999 (1999-02-26) | Nasty | 2.55 | 23 |
| 5 March 1999 (1999-03-05) | Time | 2.86 | 23 |
| 19 March 1999 (1999-03-19) | Sick | 2.33 | 23 |
| 26 March 1999 (1999-03-26) | Summer Holiday | 2.34 | 23[56] |
Both series ofThe Young Ones have both been released on DVD individually and in a special edition boxset in both regions 2 and 4. Region 1 has two boxsets, one with certain sequences removed due to licensing issues, the other uncut. The entire series is also available for download oniTunes. The series was released on Blu-ray on 28 November 2022 in region B.[57]
| DVD Title | No. of Discs | Year | Episodes | DVD release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||||
| Complete Series 1 | 1 | 1982 | 6 | — | 5 August 2002 | 29 August 2002 | |
| Complete Series 2 | 1 | 1984 | 6 | — | 18 August 2003 | 1 October 2003 | |
| Complete Series 1 & 2 "Every Stoopid Episode" | 3 | 1982 & 1984 | 12 | 17 September 2002 | — | — | |
| Complete Series 1 & 2 "Extra Stoopid Edition" | 3 | 1982 & 1984 | 12 | 13 November 2007 | 29 October 2007 | 7 November 2007 | |
The original VHS releases were in a set of 4, each tape containing 3 episodes. The Series 1 and 2 DVDs are rated 15 and three of the VHS releases were rated PG. There were also complete series 1 and complete series 2 VHS releases.[58]In March 2022 the series was added toBBC iPlayer. The episodes are the 30-minute '90s edits.[59]
The Young Ones is a 1986 video game based on the British comedy television series of the same name.[60]
The game takes place in the students' home. The player can choose to play as either Mike, Neil, Vyvyan or Rick to explore the house and enter different rooms. The other characters become computer-controlled players. All characters can move around the house, pick up and drop objects, as well as break and fix things. The characters often talk, giving the player clues as to what the character is intended to do.The aim of the game is to try and move out of the house with all the character's belongings in the shortest time possible. This is not so easy, because these possessions are typically not in their preferred condition, or are hidden around the house, and players need various tools to get to them. The other characters will move around the house, behaving in-character, occasionally moving around or further damaging the possessions—making the task harder.
The game was published by Orpheus Software, based in Hatley St George in Bedfordshire. The Young Ones characters were licensed from the owners of the BBC TV series, Rik Mayall, Ben Elton and Lise Mayer.
Due to difficulty in licensing the original series music from the BBC, an alternative music sound track was commissioned to sound similar to the original theme. Over 10,000 copies of the game were sold, mainly through Boots stores, Woolworths, and independent computer stores. Due to obscure bugs in the software, it was impossible to solve the game, although few users realised this at the time. Orpheus ceased trading before the problems could be remedied.
Paul [Jackson] paid tribute [...] "The series was met with complete disbelief when the BBC first saw it, but thanks to the beginning of Channel 4 they decided to air it. [...]"
