‘I think we had done everything we could have done in Richie and Eddie’s flat on telly.’ They have made Bottom into a franchise, which effectively enables them to do anything, set the show anywhere and flit in and out of character when the mood takes them. Which begs the question, where does Richie end and Rik begin? ‘Richie is becoming a grumpy old man and, I suppose, so am I. But then Rik in The Young Ones was all the things I hated about myself, too. I suppose Bottom is The Middle-Aged Ones.’ He pauses to light a cigarette. ‘It’s not exactly Tennessee Williams.’ Mayall admits he does, however, owe a debt to another literary great Beckett. The duo’s comic work has frequently touched on the existential bleakness of the Irish writer. In 1989 they appeared in Waiting For Godot and are currently talking about reviving Endgame.
Lucrative voiceovers (‘I’m the Andrex puppy’) have paid for a comfortable lifestyle in Devon and London for Mayall and his wife Barbara and children Rosie, 16, Sid, 14, and Bonnie, nine, leaving him free to cherry-pick other parts. He does not harbour a desire to play Hamlet, but some juicy roles have eluded him. ‘There’s always jealousy in going to see films and wishing I had a part. I don’t want to be Tom Cruise, but I’d like to do what Alan Rickman does.’
More than 24 years after helping to create alternative comedy in a dingy Soho dive, Mayall still socialises with his Comedy Store gang when commitments allow. Edmondson and his wife, Jennifer Saunders, as well as director Peter Richardson, are all West Country neighbours. ‘It’s little Ben (Elton) who I miss the most. When he’s not working, he’s in Australia or at home changing nappies.’ They would have a reunion, if only they could find the time.
Balancing stage and screen work is the key. He recently missed out on playing Hitler in Richardson’s forthcoming Second World War spoof Churchill: The Hollywood Years, opposite Christian Slater, because he was appearing on stage in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.
In fact, he has had a number of near-misses in recent years. His part as Peeves the poltergeist for the first Harry Potter film failed to make the finished movie. But Mayall is philosophical: ‘I’ve looked over the edge.’ he says. His biggest near-miss of all was on that quad bike. And, after you’ve been that close to death, ending up on the cutting room floor does not seem so bad.
