On Monday, full of the joys of a lie-in and a 鈥榮ofa day鈥� in front of the iPlayer, I bounded into my friend鈥檚 rehearsal studio in Brixton, only to be met with a sullen faced buddy who, before he even said hello, incredulously uttered 鈥�Rik Mayall鈥檚 died鈥�.
Silence.
At the time when 听was aired on 主播大秀 Two, I was a tad too young to grasp the subversive, anarchic humour of the ground breaking sitcom. However, the school playground proved the perfect stage for impressions of Rick, Vyvyan and Neil (and sometimes Mike, but to be honest, he always proved a little harder for children to mimic). My classmates and I didn鈥檛 tire of imitating the grubby students for a good number of years.
Rik Mayall with fellow 'Young Ones' Ade Edmondson, Christopher Ryan and Nigel Planer.
Rik Mayall had a talent for making what should be loathsome, unlikeable characters somehow spellbindingly charming. From Rick in The Young Ones to Richard 鈥淩ichie鈥� Richard in Bottom, the brief appearances as the arrogant Lord Flashheart in Blackadder to the despicable politician Alan B鈥橲tard in The New Statesman, on screen he was captivating, and as reveals, onstage he could also steal a scene, even if it looked like it had already been stolen.
For a swathe of Jackanory viewers in the mid '80s, myself included, Mayall would prove to be a most memorable narrator, with his energetic rendition of Roald Dahl鈥檚 . Worth rushing home from school for. And at 26 years old, both in and out of character on听, we see a man who understands the importance of making an impact.
As a youngster I remember winding my parents up with endless plays of my copy of The Young Ones version of Living Doll, a 鈥榙uet鈥� with Cliff Richard that spent 4 weeks at No.1 in 1986, raising money for . Mayall could in fact be heading for to the top of the charts again after a social media campaign by fans of the comedian to get his 听to No.1 gained momentum this week (for those of you who are unaware the 2014 World Cup kicked off on Thursday). The UK No.1 will be announced on 听on Radio 1 on Sunday.
Rik Mayall as Squadron Commander the Lord Flashheart in Blackadder Goes Forth
As the news spread of his untimely death, tributes from celebrities and public alike were paid to Mayall, from the , to 听about Rik鈥檚 call for equal pay on The Comic Strip Presents, to saying 鈥榩oo鈥� not once, but three times, on Newsnight. I think Mr Mayall would be proud and touched by just how loved and admired he was.听
Woof.
听
Jen Macro is Digital Content Producer for the About the 主播大秀 website and blog.