Bottom (TV Series) - Origins and Production

Origins and Production

The idea for Bottom was spawned when, in 1991, Edmondson and Mayall co-starred in the West End production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre. They have said Bottom was often intended to be a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot.

However, the origins of the characters are rooted much more deeply. Edmondson and Mayall had been working together since the late 1970s, when they teamed up as "20th Century Coyote". Over the course of their career, they developed the characters of Richie and Eddie, based loosely on their own relationship. The names themselves come from Edmondson's and Mayall's own nicknames for each other; many of Mayall's characters are referred to by some variation of the name "Richard" and "Eddie" is taken from "Eddie Monsoon", Edmondson's nickname since University, which is a play on his then stage name, Ade Edmondson (compare Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, who is called "Eddie" by her friend Patsy, and is played by Edmondson's Comic Strip fellow and wife Jennifer Saunders). Edmondson played an unrelated character also called Eddie Monsoon in the second series of The Comic Strip in the episode called Eddie Monsoon: A Life (1984).

The duo would use characters similar to Richie and Eddie in The Young Ones (Rick and Vyvyan, 1982–1984); The Dangerous Brothers (Richard Dangerous and Sir Adrian Dangerous, 1985); Filthy, Rich and Catflap (Richie Rich and Eddie Catflap, 1987); Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door (names not mentioned, 1988); and finally in their adaptation of Waiting for Godot (1991). The series also continued an occasional trend of Edmonson's character having a female name — in this case Edward Elizabeth Hitler.

Edmondson admitted on a 1995 appearance on Pebble Mill at One that the original name for the show was "My Bottom," with the intention of frustrating any continuity announcers introducing the show. Eventually they settled for just Bottom, which both suited the low comedy of the series, and the fact that Richie and Eddie were "at the bottom of life's heap". It also provided the ability to produce episodes titled "'s Up" and "'s Out".

There are indications that the third broadcast episode, "Contest", is actually the pilot, the first episode to be recorded. Hints of this include Eddie actually having short hair instead of being bald (and having no sideburns), Richie having shorter hair, and subtle differences to the set, like the Hammond organ facing the camera instead of being placed against the back wall. Additionally the shop fascia visible from the living room window says 'Tandoori' whereas in other episodes it reads 'Kebab'. There is also a noticeable difference in the video quality of this episode compared to other episodes in Series One.

The series was scripted and recorded at thirty-five minutes, with it being edited down to thirty minutes in post production. The original length scripts can be found in the several script books released, and several completely removed scenes were included in the 'Fluff' VHS release that consisted mostly of bloopers and out-takes. Several (but not all) of these scenes, as well as some smaller sections of dialogue also removed for timing reasons, have been re-inserted for DVD releases (although the packaging does not promote this fact).

The final episode of the second series, "'s Out", was not shown as part of the original broadcasts nor initial repeat run. The episode was set on Wimbledon Common, and involved Richie and Eddie encountering a flasher; on 15 July 1992, after the episode was filmed but before it had aired, Rachel Nickell was sexually assaulted and murdered in front of her young son on the Common. Out of sensitivity, and with a hunt for the killer in progress, the BBC decided not to broadcast the episode at that time. It first appeared on the VHS release of series two, before finally being shown for the first time as part of a re-run of series two on 10 April 1995, following the first run of the third series.

Following series two, the series went out of production, with Edmondson and Mayall concentrating on other solo projects, as well as starting the very popular Bottom stage shows; but the series had been so well received that in late 1994, a third series was written and filmed, and broadcast at the start of 1995.

Despite Richie and Eddie seemingly being killed at the end of series three (something which also happened in the episode "Hole", only for them to reappear unharmed in the following episode), a fourth series was written but turned down by the BBC, and several of their live shows as well as Guest House Paradiso have been written and performed since then.