# The Young Ones (1982)

> Four chaotic students share a squalid house in 1980s London and tear one another apart in anarchic, surreal fashion.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4264

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 29 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Lise Mayer
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, Alexei Sayle, Emma Thompson, John Otway, Ronnie Golden
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083505/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: breakneck
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: anarchic, irreverent, manic, absurdist, raucous

## What critics say

Acclaimed as a landmark of anarchic British alternative comedy, admired for its manic energy and sharp satire of student life and politics.

## Synopsis

The Young Ones (1982-1984) is a British anarchic comedy sitcom created by Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer for BBC Two. Across two seasons of twelve half-hour episodes, it follows four lunatic students sharing a squalid rented house: overblown political ranter Rick (Rik Mayall), experimental scientist and part-time anarchist Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson), worried hippy Neil (Nigel Planer), and self-styled ladies' man Mike (Christopher Ryan). Their engine is pure disorder: a broken kitchen, unpaid rent, a landlord they cannot shake, and each other, with every episode escalating into slapstick violence, surreal interruptions and sharp jabs at student politics and pop culture. The format is a sitcom, but its tone is loud, irreverent and frequently absurdist, closer to a sketch show held together by a shared house. Its raw, punk-inflected energy and its taste for breaking the fourth wall place it in the lineage of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Bottom. Fans of anarchic British comedy, alternative comedy and cult surreal sitcoms will find much to enjoy in its chaos.

## Shows like The Young Ones

- [15 Storeys High (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/858)
- [Rising Damp (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/2417)
- [The Inbetweeners (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/6814)
- [Men Behaving Badly (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/745)
- [Snuff Box (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/2473)
- [Peep Show (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/773)
- [Absolutely Fabulous (1992)](https://ember.film/tv/4273)
- [Teachers (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/9801)
- [Toast of London (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/54756)
- [Ideal (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/1383)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt