'Rik Mayall was extraordinary': Festival held in comic's memory

The Young Ones actor Nigel Planer has fondly recalled his time working with his "extraordinary" co-star Rik Mayall at a festival being held in the late comedian's memory.

Planer, who portrayed Neil alongside Mayall's Rick in the series, brought the tour for his book, Young Once, to the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival in Worcestershire on Thursday.

He spoke of the "exciting time" he had with the likes of Mayall, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle and Adrian Edmonson during the alternative comedy movement in the 70s and 80s.

Asked what Mayall was like to work with, he told BBC Hereford and Worcester: "We haven't got time for the long answer to that but he was an extraordinary fellow.

"He's kind of the opposite of me because he liked being on brand. His brand was 'I'm Rik Mayall'."

The 73-year-old remembered someone telling him Mayall used to like going home to watch videos of himself after a night out at the pub.

"He would literally say 'if I'm not in it, I won't watch it'. That's what's so attractive I think, he loved being Rik," he added.

Planer was working with comedy partner Peter Richardson on an act called The Outer Limits in the late 1970s when they saw Mayall, Sayle and Edmonson perform at The Comedy Store in London.

"That was the clincher," he added. "We saw that and thought 'these are people who feel the same way we do'."

Both The Comic Strip Presents and The Young Ones were born from those early days, Planer said, with the latter only taking six months to film.

"It was a very exciting time with everything happening at once," he added.

Among his memories of working on The Young Ones was filming the episode Bambi, which featured the iconic University Challenge segment.

In one memorable scene, the main cast sitting on the panel were squashed by a giant chocolate eclair dropped by a doctor played by actor Robbie Coltrane

Planer said: "I took the weight of the whole massive thing because I'm taller than the others.

"I had to go to the osteopath and they asked me what happened. So I said 'well, a giant eclair fell on my head'."

Planer also spoke of the "long shelf live" of his character Neil and how he had gone on to become a huge star, releasing Neil's Heavy Concept Album and Neil's Book of the Dead, while also featuring on Band Aid and supporting Madness.

"I milked it basically," Planer added. "He got bigger than me."

The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival is currently being held at and around the Norbury Theatre in Droitwich Spa, where Mayall was raised and first performed.

It first took place in 2025 and aims to celebrate the legacy of the late comedian, who died in 2014 at the age of 56.

When asked if Mayall would have liked the festival, Planer said: "I think this would have suited him quite well.

"He would be performing every show he could do and, probably, nobody else would be allowed on."

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