Rik Mayall

My god - Rik Mayall has died.  How sad is that?

For me, the man was a proper legend, appearing in two of the truly great TV shows of all time: The Young Ones and Blackadder.  (I exempt the New Statesman, and his character Alan B'Stard, because, frankly, I didn't think it was all that good.)

But The Young Ones was all that good.  It was cutting edge, it was cringeworthy, it was very original, it was crude, it was crass, it was brilliant and above all it was very funny and it was a show that everyone talked about the next day.

It changed the perameters of TV comedy in an era where Terry and June ruled the airwaves and safe middle class sitcoms was where comedy was at, provided you had your brain removed.

Rik, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike changed everything. 

It was a career defining role for Mayall and now he has gone at the absurdly young age of 56 it will undoubtedly be the one for which he will be remembered.

There will never be another Young Ones but we should be grateful for the one we had.

RIP Rik.