What’s it about?

Richard Rich. Esq. Famous thesp, yeah? Up there with Tarby, Brucie, Ronnie, that other Ronnie, that one from that game show, oh, you know, northern type, oh what’s his name. Anyway, he knows them all, really, really well, and they’re all great buds, yeah? Well, in Richie’s head, anyway. The reality is he’s a failed, bitter joke of an actor.

His agent is no better. Ralph Filthy. Agent to the stars and pornographer, daughter. Terminal smoker, liar, cheat, thief and… well… like any real life agent you care to name. I could hit ten of them with a bread roll in any Soho side street you care to mention.

Then there is Edward Catflap. Eddie is Richie’s, er, well, bodyguard? Possibly? Normally the one with the most common sense out of the three. This, however, is like saying that the pint of milk that’s only five months old is the better out of the three.

 

Who was in it?

Rik Mayall was Richie, Nigel Planer was Filthy and Ade Edmondson was Eddie. Yup, three out of the five Young Ones.

Indeed, this was, well, not a sequel, and not a follow up. This was, in fact, the three of them moving on, developing characters. For Ade and Rick, these characters would stay with them, in one form or another till the present day. Indeed, during a Bottom Live show, Richie goes back in time twenty years and appears as Rik from The Young Ones, leading Eddie to comment that Rik’s act hasn’t changed a bit in all that time. The pair two are some natural and comfortable in these roles that it’s hard to think of them playing anyone else.

Nigel Planer, on the other hand, turns in a superb performance, ridding himself of the ghost of Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye, hippy, loser and lover of amps that have been urinated on by Jimi Hendrix. Ralph Filthy is a disgusting, slime ridden, vile piece of scum, and Planer makes the role his.

 

Best moment?

Oh, so many. I suppose for me, seeing Midge Ure turn up (I adore Ultravox) was a huge highlight. However, the ongoing death of milkmen – including one played by, I think, a very young Arthur Smith, is a chucklesome running gag.

However, it has to be the fact that Richie is the only man capable of actually being blackmailed by the Nolan Sisters. Caught in their dressing room, he finds the girls turning the screws on him until he breaks. So, a quick phone call to Ralph Filthy is sure to sort things out. Isn’t it?

 

Last seen?

Well, it originally aired on BBC Two in 1987. How do we know? A new 25th Anniversary Edition DVD is released next week. Not that you’d guess they were celebrating as the set includes almost no extras at all.

 

The future?

Bottom. No, really, Bottom. That’s where Ade and Rick really came into their own, honing their skills to perfection. Their slapstick violence is the work of masters of their art. Meanwhile, Nigel Planer has gone onto many a fine role. And Vorgenson from the Doctor Who Live show.

 

> Buy the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD on Amazon.

What are your memories of Filthy Rich & Catflap? Let us know below…