British Telly

How did you end up in The Young Ones?

The BBC was desperate for the edgy, hot new stand-ups at the Comedy Store like Rik, Ade, Alexei and myself to appear in a TV comedy show.

One evening Rik, Ben Elton (a friend and fellow stand-up), and the writer Lise Mayer, who was in a relationship with Rik at the time, came up with the idea for The Young Ones, and it snowballed from there.

How did being on The Young Ones change your life?

We were all surprised by the speed with which the show made us household names – testament to the power of television. I was once recognised purely by my voice, by someone walking behind me in Shaftesbury Avenue.

They caught up and said: “I thought it was you.” I never realised I had such a recognisable voice!

Did the programme make you a millionaire?

Sadly not. We only made 12 episodes of The Young Ones which equates to about 14 weeks’ work. Yes, we got paid a decent enough weekly fee, but any additional royalties you make are based on a percentage of that fee, so none of us got rich on the back of the show.

I’ve made roughly the same amount in residuals from appearing in one episode of Black Adder in the 1990s than I’ve made in residuals from The Young Ones.

What about your version of ‘Hole in My Shoe’?

It was a Top Two hit in 1984, but as soon as I was in the hit parade friends would joke: “You’re buying the drinks!” It wasn’t massive money though. It was the generation after us – the likes of Baddiel and Newman – who really made serious money, playing venues the Hammersmith Apollo and Wembley Arena.

That’s when comedy came of age. However, I made a few quid out of touring as Neil in the UK and Australia, as well as from other spin-offs, like appearing as Neil in a train advert in Holland.