Legendary comedians Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson’s hit sitcom Bottom first landed on BBC2 on 17th September 1991. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the popular podcast Talking Bottom is releasing a new series delving into the themes of Bottom and honouring its comedy legacy.
View the promo here: https://vimeo.com/603638411
The podcast will release weekly episodes examining topics intrinsic to the cult comedy show, made famous for its perverted characters and outrageously violent slapstick comedy. The topics covered will include:
17th September: Physical Comedy.
24th September: Class and Poverty.
1st October: The Costumes
8th October: A Dark and Gross Universe
15th October: Base Needs
22nd October: Waiting for Godot.
29th October: Fan favourites.
Each week will also see exclusive interviews with creatives who worked on Bottom, both in front of and behind the camera. Guests include comedy producers Paul Jackson and Jon Plowman, plus actor Lee Cornes, who played landlord Dick Head, and Mark Lambert, known to Bottom audiences best as the unlucky Gas Man.
Talking Bottom co-creator and presenter Paul Tanter says “Bottom is without a doubt the greatest sitcom of all time and it’s only right that the 30th anniversary should be celebrated. This seven part series of weekly episodes will examine the themes that make the show what it is and give listeners a chance to relive some of their favourite moments. Doing the podcast has shown us that there’s a lot of love for Bottom as new audiences discover the seedy world of Richard Richard and Edward Elizabeth Hitler.”
The series comes as the creators also work on penning their book Talking Bottom: A Guide to The Cult Sitcom, which is published by Unbound in 2022 after achieving its crowdfunding goal in less than a week. Available in paperback and digital formats, the book will take readers through the three series of the BBC2 hit sitcom, its five Live tour shows and the feature film Guest House Paradiso.
The book will also provide Bottom devotees with a chance to explore first draft scripts of the TV episodes, contain original artwork, previously unseen pictures and feature essays. There will also be material drawn from exclusive interviews with the Bottom cast and crew, including director Ed Bye, unearthing fresh discoveries about the series three decades on.
Co-creator and presenter Angela Pearson adds: “As we’ve delved into Rik and Ade’s Bottom while researching the book, we have learned so many interesting facts and heard wonderful stories from those who worked on the show. These themed episodes are a chance to look at what makes the show what it is, while these exclusive interviews offer a plethora of great stories from the very people who worked on the show. There is an enduring popularity and affection for Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson’s fantastic writing and perfect performances in Bottom and we are excited to celebrate it for its 30th anniversary.”
The podcast Talking Bottom launched in 2018 and quickly became a regular in the iTunes podcast chart top ten, as Bottom fans old and new united in their appreciation of the much loved sitcom.
Listeners enjoyed warmly remembering the cult British comedy classic, with high praise for the podcast ranging from ‘Nostalgic, funny and informative’ (*****), ‘Fantastic podcast from obvious super fans’ (*****) to ‘Not bad.’ (*) It is available on all major podcast providers including iTunes and Podbean.
Talking Bottom: A guide to the cult sitcom is available for pre-order now via Unbound.com, with additional supporter rewards also available including exclusive artwork, mugs, t-shirts, tea towels, signed copies and a publication day pub crawl where pledgers will be invited to meet at the Rik Mayall memorial bench in Hammersmith.
Talking Bottom is written by Mat Brooks, Angela Pearson and Paul Tanter, three die-hard fans who also produce the podcast of the same name. Ange is a comedy publicist and journalist, Paul is a film and TV director and Mat is a stand up comedian. But Talking Bottom is not about them; it’s about honouring what they consider to be the world’s greatest sitcom...ever.
For further information or to pledge visit: https://unbound.com/books/bottom/
