Bigger than Hitler – Better than Christ

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Eames, Tom (17 June 2014). "Rik Mayall fans petition for Bottom bench to return in Hammersmith". Digital Spy . Retrieved 14 August 2015. Television, and its audiences, was just ready for this sort of onslaught and Mayall and Edmondson – the two met at Manchester and remained longterm writing and performing partners – scored a major popular success, too, with Filthy Rich and Catflap (1987), written by Elton, alongside Planer; and again in Bottom (1991-95), which ran for three series but also became a fixture of the touring circuit in the live show version. In 1998, Mayall was involved in a serious quad bike accident. The pair wrote the first draft of their feature film Guest House Paradiso while Mayall was still hospitalised. They planned to co-direct, but Edmondson took on the duties himself. Mayall returned to work doing voice-overs. His first post-accident acting job was in the 1998 Jonathan Creek Christmas special, as DI Gideon Pryke, a role he later reprised in 2013. Jonathan Creek also featured Adrian Edmondson in a recurring role, though the two did not appear in any episodes together.

Following 2003's Bottom: Live tour, Bottom 5: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts, Mayall stated that he and Edmondson would return with another tour. [32] BBC Two commissions Hooligans' Island with Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson". BBC Media Centre. 23 August 2012 . Retrieved 23 August 2012.In November 2012, Mayall narrated several children's books on the Me Books app, such as The Getaway and Banana! by children's illustrator and author Ed Vere. Wilmut, Roger (1989). Didn't You Kill My Mother-in-law?: The Story of Alternative Comedy in Britain from the Comedy Store to Saturday Live. Methuen Drama; First Edition. p.53. ISBN 9780413173904. On 9 April 1998, Mayall was injured in a quad bike accident near his home in Devon. After waking up from a coma and having operations, he made a full recovery but was left with epilepsy. [1] Rik Mayall World Cup single breaks into Top 10 of Official UK Singles Chart". NME. 13 June 2014 . Retrieved 19 June 2014. Mayall was born in Harlow, Essex. When he was three, he moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire. He studied drama at the University of Manchester. He had a relationship with writer Lise Mayer in the early 1980s. He was married to Scottish make-up artist, Barbara Robbin from 1985 until his death. The couple had two daughters and a son together. His autobiography was published in 2005.

Mayall, Rik (10 January 2014). Bigger than Hitler – Better than Christ. HarperCollins UK. p.352. ISBN 9780007375431. Mayall had another television hit as the cheating, monstrous Tory MP Alan B'stard in The New Statesman (1987-92), written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, an irresistibly grotesque performance (for which he won a Bafta award), later transforming B'Stard into a New Labour convert in another touring stage show, The Blair B'Stard Project. Channel 4 poll, Comedians' Comedian, Mayall was voted among the top 50 comedy performers of all time. [60] Singh, Anita (9 June 2014). "Rik Mayall dies aged 56". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 10 June 2014. Sherwin, Adam (11 June 2014). "Rik Mayall's 'lost' England World Cup anthem crashes into Top 40 as tribute to late comic". The Independent . Retrieved 17 June 2014.

In September 2009, Mayall played a supporting role in the television programme Midsomer Murders- shown on ITV1 and made by Meridian Broadcasting - as David Roper, a recovering party animal and tenuous friend of the families in and around Chettham Park House. He attended King's School, Worcester, to which he won a free scholarship. He failed most of his O-levels and scraped through A-levels. [5] In 1975, Mayall went to the University of Manchester to study drama. He claimed that he failed to get a degree, or that he did not even turn up to his finals, [6] but in reality he graduated with lower second-class honours in 1978. [7] It was there that he met his future comedy partner Ade Edmondson; [8] Ben Elton, a fellow student; and Lise Mayer, with whom he later co-wrote The Young Ones. [9] Career [ edit ] Young Ones and The Comic Strip [ edit ] a b "Rik Mayall's wife mystified by his death at age 56". The New Zealand Herald. Associated Press. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014 . Retrieved 10 June 2014. as a tribute to Mayall, an unofficial blue plaque appeared in Hammersmith, London, which referenced the opening title sequence of BBC sitcom series Bottom. [66] [67] [68] At the same time, an online petition was launched in an effort to persuade Hammersmith & Fulham Council to install a memorial bench on Hammersmith Broadway. [69] On 14 November 2014, a memorial bench for Mayall was unveiled on the same spot where the bench from Bottom used to be before its removal. In October 2013 he appeared in Channel 4 sitcom Man Down, playing the father of the protagonist, Greg Davies—despite being only ten years older.