Filthy Rich & Catflap
Encyclopedia
Filthy Rich & Catflap was a BBC
sitcom produced in 1986 and broadcast early the next year.
The series featured former The Young Ones
stars Nigel Planer
, Rik Mayall
and Adrian Edmondson
as its three title characters respectively. It was written by Ben Elton
(with additional material credited to Mayall), and produced and directed by Paul Jackson
(who also helmed The Young Ones), with film sequences directed by Ed Bye
. The show's music was written by Peter Brewis
. One series of six half-hour episodes was produced (although the notion of a second series is played upon in the final episode, and the continuity announcer on the last instalment says "...and Filthy Rich and Catflap will return next year").
Although the series gained respectable viewing figures, it did not quite capture the imagination in the way its father programme, The Young Ones, did. While some parts of the show are of their time (particularly the topical satire aimed at Margaret Thatcher
and her government) the main theme of the cult of celebrity and the pursuit of it by the talentless remains topical. Lise Mayer
, who co-wrote The Young Ones with Elton and Mayall, has hinted that the reason the series was so short lived was the rivalry between Mayall and Elton, who had previously written as equals on The Young Ones.
The show also included constant references to various celebrities (most of them of the light entertainment
variety); Jimmy Tarbuck
was always referred to as "Tarby", while other celebrities, such as Leslie Crowther
were referred to as "Lessie Crowthery" and Terry Wogan
as "Terry Wogany". Richie (Rik Mayall's character) liked to think that he was friends with these 'B-list' celebrities, despite never having met any of them.
The style of humour - relying heavily on fart
jokes, broad satire
, violent slapstick
and vulgarity in general - was very similar to that which Edmondson and Mayall would continue in the far more successful Bottom (1991-1995), which the pair wrote jointly. Indeed, Filthy Rich & Catflap and Bottom both share the same basic premise (Mayall and Edmondson as antagnostic, squalid, and usually destitute flatmates named "Richie and Eddie"), although the former's political references and frequent breaking of the fourth wall
(in the form of asides to the studio audience, and references to the script) are more characteristic of The Young Ones.
The series enjoyed a resurgence of interest in 2004 when it was officially released on DVD
by independent DVD production company Playback. The VHS and DVD versions were cut for musical rights. These included Richie singing "Where Is Love", "Morning Has Broken" and "Consider Yourself"; and Eddie singing "Roxanne", "You've Got To Pick a Pocket or Two" and "Message in a Bottle".
Filthy Rich & Catflap received a six day repeat on UKTV G2 in the UK in 2006. However, the episodes were heavily cut with edits that made the plot nonsensical. The first episode was missing the very first scene. The new incarnation of UKTV G2, Dave, also ran the episodes with the same edits in 2008.
, Eddie blackmail
s Richie with a paternity suit scam, Ralph gets sent to prison and hanged, Richie is blackmailed by the Nolan Sisters
, they spoof newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch
and feature bodyguards wearing Federation Stormtrooper uniforms that previously featured in the sci-fi show Blake's 7
. Richie appeared as a guest on a panel game called Ooer!! Sounds a Bit Rude!! which bore more than a passing resemblance to the BBC
quiz show Blankety Blank
. Richie finally becomes famous by slandering everyone in showbiz and becoming the only person censors deem clean enough to host every show on television (precisely everybody, from the "A-list" names down to the entire cast of Grange Hill
). This leads to a memorable song-and-dance routine from Richie, celebrating the fact that, in his words, he's "Made it!"
As well as the Nolans, other people appearing as "themselves" included Midge Ure
and Anne Diamond
(then an anchor woman for breakfast TV station TV-am
; it was rare then for the BBC
to mention rival channels). The show also featured cameos
by Barbara Windsor
, Lynda Bellingham
, Jools Holland
and a then-unknown David Baddiel
. Contemporaries from the alternative comedy
scene who also appeared included Stephen Fry
, Hugh Laurie
, Helen Lederer
, Gareth Hale
, Norman Pace
, Arthur Smith
(the first milkman to be murdered), Mel Smith
playing the fictional head of light entertainment at the BBC 'Jumbo Whiffy', Chris Barrie
, Lee Cornes
, Andy de la Tour
, John Bird
and Harry Enfield
. Most of these people had previously appeared in The Young Ones.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sitcom produced in 1986 and broadcast early the next year.
The series featured former The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
stars Nigel Planer
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
, 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...
and Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
as its three title characters respectively. It was written by Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
(with additional material credited to Mayall), and produced and directed by Paul Jackson
Paul Jackson (producer)
Kevin Paul Jackson , credited as Paul Jackson; sometimes as K. Paul Jackson, is a British television director, producer and executive.-Career in television:...
(who also helmed The Young Ones), with film sequences directed by Ed Bye
Ed Bye
Edward Richard Morrison Bye is a British film and TV producer and director. He is best known for his work with Grant Naylor, Harry Enfield and Jasper Carrott, and has worked with many of British TV's best known comedians and comedy actors...
. The show's music was written by Peter Brewis
Peter Brewis
Peter Brewis is a composer and instrumentalist who has been active in several spheres of music from ballet and modern dance to music theatre and rock music...
. One series of six half-hour episodes was produced (although the notion of a second series is played upon in the final episode, and the continuity announcer on the last instalment says "...and Filthy Rich and Catflap will return next year").
Although the series gained respectable viewing figures, it did not quite capture the imagination in the way its father programme, The Young Ones, did. While some parts of the show are of their time (particularly the topical satire aimed at Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and her government) the main theme of the cult of celebrity and the pursuit of it by the talentless remains topical. Lise Mayer
Lise Mayer
Lise Mayer is a television and film writer. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, and is best known as a creator and co-writer of the BBC comedy series The Young Ones, alongside Rik Mayall and Ben Elton...
, who co-wrote The Young Ones with Elton and Mayall, has hinted that the reason the series was so short lived was the rivalry between Mayall and Elton, who had previously written as equals on The Young Ones.
The show also included constant references to various celebrities (most of them of the light entertainment
Light entertainment
Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances. These include comedies, variety shows, quiz/game shows, sketch shows and people/surprise shows.-Light entertainment in Britain:...
variety); Jimmy Tarbuck
Jimmy Tarbuck
Jimmy Tarbuck OBE or Tarby is an English comedian. Growing up he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.His first television show was It's Tarbuck 65! on ITV in 1964. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game...
was always referred to as "Tarby", while other celebrities, such as Leslie Crowther
Leslie Crowther
Leslie Crowther, CBE was an English comedian, actor and gameshow host.-Biography:Crowther was born in West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire. At the end of 1944 he moved to London with his parents, but was evacuated for a few months to Bute until just after the war ended.His father, Leslie Frederick...
were referred to as "Lessie Crowthery" and Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
as "Terry Wogany". Richie (Rik Mayall's character) liked to think that he was friends with these 'B-list' celebrities, despite never having met any of them.
The style of humour - relying heavily on fart
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
jokes, broad satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, violent slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
and vulgarity in general - was very similar to that which Edmondson and Mayall would continue in the far more successful Bottom (1991-1995), which the pair wrote jointly. Indeed, Filthy Rich & Catflap and Bottom both share the same basic premise (Mayall and Edmondson as antagnostic, squalid, and usually destitute flatmates named "Richie and Eddie"), although the former's political references and frequent breaking of the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
(in the form of asides to the studio audience, and references to the script) are more characteristic of The Young Ones.
The series enjoyed a resurgence of interest in 2004 when it was officially released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by independent DVD production company Playback. The VHS and DVD versions were cut for musical rights. These included Richie singing "Where Is Love", "Morning Has Broken" and "Consider Yourself"; and Eddie singing "Roxanne", "You've Got To Pick a Pocket or Two" and "Message in a Bottle".
Filthy Rich & Catflap received a six day repeat on UKTV G2 in the UK in 2006. However, the episodes were heavily cut with edits that made the plot nonsensical. The first episode was missing the very first scene. The new incarnation of UKTV G2, Dave, also ran the episodes with the same edits in 2008.
Characters
- Ralph Filthy (Planer): Richie's showbizShow businessShow business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
agent. He is sleazy and sickly and has, to quote writer Elton, "the morals of a dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
caught short on a croquetCroquetCroquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
lawn" (a line he would re-use as the tag line for his 1989 novel StarkStark (novel)Stark is a 1989 novel by comedian Ben Elton. It was commercially and critically successful in the United Kingdom and Australia. It was Elton's first novel, and launched his writing career...
). Quote: "Boys. It's not often I get excited but right now I feel like I've been locked in an off-licence". His speech is peppered with PolariPolariPolari is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, criminals, prostitutes, and by the gay subculture. It was popularised in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne...
and he refers to Richie as "Daughter"; his lapel also features a blue roseBlue roseBlue roses, often portrayed in literature and art as a symbol of love and prosperity to those who seek it, do not exist in nature as a result of genetic limitations being imposed upon natural variance. Traditionally, white roses have been dyed blue to produce a blue appearance. In 2004, researchers...
, a symbol of a quest for the impossible.
- Gertrude "Richie" Rich (Mayall): a perennially "resting" (out of work) actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
whose most prominent work to date includes links on TVSTelevision SouthTelevision South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
. Despite this, he considers himself a veritable superstar and has paranoidParanoiaParanoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
delusions about everyone he meets wanting to either cash in on his fame or assassinate him. Hence, he hires a bodyguard.
- Edward Didgeridoo Catflap (Edmondson): Richie's faithless minderMinderA minder is a person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e...
; permanently drunkAlcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, disloyal, and violent. Occasionally, Catflap holds up the pretence of being the best friend of Richie, although this is usually for personal gain (Edmondson's character in Bottom, Eddie Hitler, is similar, but not identical).
Cast
- Adrian EdmondsonAdrian EdmondsonAdrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
as Edward Catflap (6 episodes) - Rik MayallRik MayallRichard 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...
as Richard Rich (6 episodes) - Nigel PlanerNigel PlanerNigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
as Ralph Filthy (6 episodes) - Michael RedfernMichael RedfernMichael Ian Redfern, born 30 March 1943 in Isleworth, London, England, is a British actor, known for his appearances on television and stage.-Career:...
as Policeman (4 episodes)
Summary
During the run of the series Richie kills several milkmenMilkman
A milkman is a person, traditionally male, who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver products other than milk such as eggs, cream, cheese, butter, yogurt or soft drinks...
, Eddie blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s Richie with a paternity suit scam, Ralph gets sent to prison and hanged, Richie is blackmailed by the Nolan Sisters
The Nolans
The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...
, they spoof newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
and feature bodyguards wearing Federation Stormtrooper uniforms that previously featured in the sci-fi show Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
. Richie appeared as a guest on a panel game called Ooer!! Sounds a Bit Rude!! which bore more than a passing resemblance to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
quiz show Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank
Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1978 Australian game show Blankety Blanks ....
. Richie finally becomes famous by slandering everyone in showbiz and becoming the only person censors deem clean enough to host every show on television (precisely everybody, from the "A-list" names down to the entire cast of Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
). This leads to a memorable song-and-dance routine from Richie, celebrating the fact that, in his words, he's "Made it!"
As well as the Nolans, other people appearing as "themselves" included Midge Ure
Midge Ure
James "Midge" Ure, OBE is a Scottish guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter...
and Anne Diamond
Anne Diamond
Anne Margaret Diamond is an English radio and television presenter and journalist. She hosted Good Morning Britain for TV-am and the similarly titled Good Morning... with Anne and Nick for BBC1, both with Nick Owen as her co-presenter...
(then an anchor woman for breakfast TV station TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
; it was rare then for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to mention rival channels). The show also featured cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
by Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
, Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham
Lynda Bellingham is a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who is known for her distinctive husky voice.-Early life:...
, Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
and a then-unknown David Baddiel
David Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
. Contemporaries from the alternative comedy
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
scene who also appeared included Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, Helen Lederer
Helen Lederer
Helen Lederer is a Welsh comedienne, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s.-Career:...
, Gareth Hale
Gareth Hale
Gareth Hale is an English comedian and actor, born 15 January 1953, in Hedon, Yorkshire, who is best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace with his friend and comic partner Norman Pace....
, Norman Pace
Norman Pace
Norman Pace is an English actor and comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace with his friend and comic partner Gareth Hale...
, Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith (comedian)
Brian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London, brother to Richard Smith...
(the first milkman to be murdered), Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
playing the fictional head of light entertainment at the BBC 'Jumbo Whiffy', Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
, Lee Cornes
Lee Cornes
Lee Cornes is a British actor.He appeared in three series of Blackadder, as a talking extra, in two episodes of The Young Ones and in the TV show Bottom, as barman, 'Dick Head'. He made an appearance in the first episode of Filthy, Rich & Catflap as a binman. He also starred in children's drama...
, Andy de la Tour
Andy de la Tour
Andy de la Tour is an English actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in such films as Plenty, Notting Hill and the Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist. He has also written or appeared in such television series as Boon, The Young Ones, Bottom, Peak Practice and Kavanagh QC...
, John Bird
John Bird (actor)
John Bird is an English satirist, actor and comedian.-Early life:Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, England, and educated at High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, Bird briefly joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain, while still at school...
and Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
. Most of these people had previously appeared in The Young Ones.
External links
- Filthy, Rich & Catflap at British TV Comedy