Break (Bottom episode)
Encyclopedia
Break is the third episode of the third series of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 sitcom, Bottom
Bottom (TV series)
Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...

. It was first broadcast on 20 January 1995.

Plot

Richie and Eddie return home in the afternoon from the pub, having bought a last-minute 75% discounted seaside holiday to Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...

, leaving that night at midnight, from dodgy travel agent Bob McMayday – which actually costs £4000 and is actually located in inland Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, 25 minutes drive from Bridlington. As usual, the two make unlikely plans about getting sex on the holiday. While Eddie announces that he will be making a "mysterious phone call", Richie is overexcited and goes upstairs to try on his swimming trunks, which turn out to be an impossibly small thong
Thong (clothing)
The thong is a garment generally worn as either underwear or as a swimsuit in many industrialized societies around the world. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions such as sumo wrestling...

, which requires Eddie's assistance (and the violent use of both a hammer and welding torch) to remove.

After the thong incident, Richie decides that they both need to spend the afternoon losing weight to improve their sex appeal, and a series of unsuccessful attempts follows. First, the boys are not fit enough to complete any of the exercises in Richie's father's Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 training book. Then, home-performed liposuction results in a painful incident involving Richie's penis and a vacuum cleaner. Richie rigs up a refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...

 attached to a pulley to serve as a weight machine
Weight machine
A weight machine is an exercise machine used for weight training that uses gravity as the primary source of resistance and a combination of simple machines to convey that resistance to the person using the machine...

, and Eddie adds some extra motivation when he notices a nude picture of BBC broadcaster Desmond Lynam taped to the bottom of the fridge, but the attempt to lift the fridge results in both boys soiling themselves. Finally, a treadmill
Treadmill
A treadmill is an exercise machine for running or walking while staying in one place. The word treadmill traditionally refers to a type of mill which was operated by a person or animal treading steps of a wheel to grind grain...

 attached to motorcycle ends with Richie falling out of the window when Eddie suddenly stops the motorcycle engine to punch a mormon at the front door. As punishment, Richie chainsaws Eddie's legs off at the knees; Eddie sews his legs back on the wrong way, forcing Richie to sever them again and re-sew them himself.

With Eddie's legs back on, it is now 5 o'clock (seven hours before the bus leaves), and Richie watches an alarm clock with hysterical pre-holiday jitters; so, when Richie suggests checking how long it takes to get to the bus station two streets away, Eddie gladly accepts the opportunity to get out of the flat, and spends the next few hours hours at the pub. When Richie tries the same round-trip to the bus station, completing it in only twelve minutes, Eddie uses the opportunity to steal the holiday money and spends another few hours drinking at the pub, returning home and passing out on the couch at 11:55. With Eddie unconscious, Richie sneakily tries again to lift the fridge and see the nude photo of Desmond Lynam; and, thanks to an answered prayer, is successful. He lies on the floor under the elevated fridge for a close look.

Suddenly, Richie's alarm clock goes off. Eddie wakes up, dislodging the handlebars which were holding the fridge in the air, causing the fridge to fall on Richie's head, trapping him. Eddie taunts Richie for being unable to come on the holiday, and reveals a showgirl from inside the fridge whom he intends to take on the holiday instead (presumably the recipient of his "mysterious phone call" from earlier). To add insult to injury, the photo of Desmond Lynam is a forgery (Eddie in a wig), and Eddie kicks the trapped Richie in the bollocks.

Continuity Errors

When Richie is launched through the kitchen window, he hits the painted background which can be seen to move after the collision.

When Eddie is sewing his legs back on while sat on the sofa, his real legs can be seen protruding
underneath the cushions.

Cast

Cast Characters
Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...

Richie
Adrian Edmondson Eddie
John Abbott
John Abbott (British actor)
John Abbott is a British actor and author. His television credits include Timeslip, Z-Cars, Softly, Softly, Special Branch, Doctor Who , Edward and Mrs...

Mormon
Jo-Anne Stockham Voluptua
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