63-511: Fresh Meat may refer to: Film and television [ edit ] Fresh Meat (TV series) , a British comedy-drama Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat , the twelfth season of the American show Real World/Road Rules Challenge The Challenge: Fresh Meat II , the nineteenth season of the MTV reality television game show, The Challenge , and
126-408: A brief lustful turn to camera on the subject of "Cecil Parkinson and a whip". In the same year, Planer and Edmondson revived the characters of Neil and Vyvyan, albeit grown up and wearing standard clothes, in an advert for Friends Provident . Planer played an older Neil on an in-house BBC promotion for the international channel BBC Knowledge ("I haven't got a TV, I used it for firewood") in 1999 and
189-557: A commercial for Castrol a year later. In 1990, ITV puppet series Spitting Image made reference to The Young Ones when four members of the Margaret Thatcher cabinet reminisced about their younger days, with all four playing one Young Ones character each: Cecil Parkinson as Mike, Douglas Hurd as Vyvyan, Michael Heseltine as Rick and Geoffrey Howe as Neil. The 2006 SpongeBob SquarePants episode " Chimps Ahoy " featured Mayall, Ryan and Planer as guest stars, playing
252-468: A couple of reactionary stereotypes, confirming the myth that everyone in Britain is a lovable middle-class eccentric. And I! Hate! Them!" Mayall and Edmondson elaborated on some of the series' concepts later in their sitcoms Filthy Rich & Catflap (written by Elton, with additional material by Mayall) and Bottom (written by Mayall and Edmondson. Christopher Ryan also appeared as Dave Hedgehog). Most of
315-470: A deal for a series of six self-contained half-hour films, in which the group would perform as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. Channel 4 agreed to the deal and aired the programme on the channel's opening night on 2 November 1982. In response to this, the BBC opted to recruit the group for their own comedy projects, and they began negotiations with Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in
378-450: A larger scale, the series covers such student-related issues as financial issues, work pressures, grades, expulsion, partying, and internship competition. The final series involves job seeking, final exam pressure and the value of degrees. Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain created Fresh Meat' s characters and wrote the first episode whilst watching The Young Ones on VHS ; subsequent episodes were written by other writers. Bain has explained
441-506: A replacement, only for Cliff to then appear. However he was only available to appear on the second night of the run, with Bob Geldof replacing him on the other two nights. On one occasion, Edmondson, Mayall and Planer as their "Young Ones" characters did a parody of the song " My Generation " by The Who . Mayall, Planer, and Edmondson reunited in 1986 for the Elton-written Filthy Rich & Catflap . The series had many of
504-683: A reworking of his 1959 hit, reached the top of the UK, Australian, and New Zealand Charts. Eleven of the twelve episodes had a musical guest performing in the house or street. By including the groups, the show qualified as variety rather than light entertainment by the BBC and was allocated a bigger budget than a sitcom. Groups that appeared included Amazulu , Ronnie Golden , Dexys Midnight Runners , Motörhead , The Damned , Nine Below Zero , Rip Rig + Panic , Ken Bishops Nice Twelve, Radical Posture, John Otway and Madness , who appeared in two episodes. The one episode that featured no musical act still fulfilled
567-431: A short skit which involved Rick doing a comic song about showing his underwear and bodily parts, before being ejected from the group by Mike, and Vyvyan supposedly having backstage sex with Kate Bush with Neil as his contraceptive ). The skit climaxed with Neil claiming Cliff Richard could not perform with them as he was "doing time" (the musical Time was premiering the following week) and John Craven had been booked as
630-501: A show involving foreign travellers visiting Catalonia. One of the characteristics of the Catalan dubbing is that Vyvyan speaks with a thick Catalan rural accent, totally opposed to his urban environment in the series. In Galicia it was shown on regional channel TVG with great success among younger audiences. In Sweden it was called Hemma värst and was first broadcast in October 1985 by
693-619: A single taken from the LP, reached number 2. Soulwax used "Hello Vegetables" to kick off their Radio Soulwax mix "Introversy." The program became a cult hit in the United States after MTV began broadcasting edited versions of the episodes during the summer of 1985. Conan O'Brien cited the show as one of his influences during a Q&A at the Oxford Union . At the 1986 Comic Relief stage shows, The Young Ones performed "Living Doll" live (following
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#1732963562688756-400: A sitcom that would operate on a similar broadcast arrangement, under the title of The Young Ones , which alludes to and subverts the song of the same name , written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett and performed by Cliff Richard and The Shadows , which had become a No. 1 UK hit single in 1962. The group agreed to join the project and work proceeded on the sitcom, with Mayall co-writing
819-491: A sort of grubby Benny Hill Show . He was hugely relieved when the pilot was a flop and he was released from his contract. In the episode " Bambi ", the housemates appeared on University Challenge , where they played against Footlights College, Oxbridge , a reference to the Footlights drama club at Cambridge University . The Footlights College team was played by show writer Ben Elton and three actors who were once members of
882-498: A speaking role as Neil's friend (also called 'Neil') during series one episode "Interesting". He emerges from Vyvyan's full vacuum cleaner bag and ends up being shoved into the fridge by Rick. However, Dewison and the fifth housemate appear together in the same shot towards the end of the episode. In a documentary, How the Young Ones Changed Comedy , that aired in 2018 on Gold , series co-writer Lise Mayer said she believed
945-504: A third series was commissioned and began broadcasting on 4 November 2013. Bain said ideas were being developed for a potential film adaptation , following the runaway success of 2011's The Inbetweeners Movie . Instead, a fourth series followed, filmed in 2015 and aired in February 2016 as a conclusion to the series. The stories revolve around the lives of six students – Vod, Oregon, Josie, Kingsley, JP and Howard – who are freshers (with
1008-413: A trio of chimpanzees who come to inspect the progress Sandy Cheeks has made with her inventions. When originally broadcast, episodes were shown on BBC Two Tuesdays at 9 pm. Ed Bye The series achieved a larger audience through 1980s repeat screenings than it did on first run. Repeats of the programme in the 1990s, when the series was considerably older and less topical, fared less well. As Bambi
1071-675: Is a Young Ones for the Jägerbomb generation does neither show justice" and said " The Young Ones was like being picked up by the lapels and repeatedly shaken. Fresh Meat is more like being invited to stay". Collins also recognised Jack Whitehall's performance as J.P. and refuted Jonathan Ross's quip at the British Comedy Awards that, as an actor, Whitehall has "less range than a North Korean missile", adding that Whitehall's performance deepens with each episode. Thomas H. Green of The Arts Desk wrote that, after "rocky" earlier episodes of
1134-491: Is also rather melancholic, what with all the loneliness, the strange and soon-to-be-shed new friends and the general exhaustion of trying to act cool and grown-up". By the end of the first series, the Radio Times said the show had been "full of well-worked plotlines and gorgeous character comedy", and The Daily Telegraph praised "the series' admirable habit of stirring pathos into the flow of gags" as well as complimenting
1197-567: Is covered by hair appears in the background of some scenes, such as to the left when Neil gets hit by Vyvyan with a kettle in " Bomb ". In the episode Demolition, the person appears slumped against the back wall when Rick is watching TV. These rumours of a mysterious fifth housemate have been the subject of fan speculation on the internet. In 2016 journalist Peter Farquhar sent members of the cast and crew email enquiries about this unnamed character. Writer Ben Elton replied, saying "I have no idea what you are talking about I'm afraid..." By contrast, one of
1260-515: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fresh Meat (TV series) Fresh Meat is a British comedy-drama television series created by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain , who also created Peep Show . The first episode, directed by David Kerr , was broadcast on Channel 4 on 21 September 2011, and the show aired on Wednesdays at 10 pm. The second series started airing on 9 October 2012 and consists of 8 episodes. On 22 November 2012,
1323-473: Is in an open relationship) via a PowerPoint presentation, moves on from Sam, cleans the house and attempts to sell it, and laments that he is "horny". The Young Ones (TV series) The Young Ones is a British sitcom written by Rik Mayall , Ben Elton , and Lise Mayer , starring Adrian Edmondson , Mayall, Nigel Planer , Christopher Ryan , and Alexei Sayle , and broadcast on BBC Two for two series, first shown in 1982 and 1984. The show focused on
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#17329635626881386-454: Is produced by Liverpool -based Lime Pictures and London-based Objective Productions . The programme was filmed at The Sharp Project in Manchester, a £16.5 million studio facility built to fill the void when Granada Studios closed in 2013. The programme is set in Manchester , and some location scenes are filmed on the campus of the real life Manchester Metropolitan University (close to
1449-515: The Basque Country , public broadcaster ETB1 began airing the show in 1985 in Basque language with the name Gazteak ( The Young Ones ) with great success among Basque younger audiences. In Catalonia , public broadcaster TV3 began airing the show in February 1986 on a Sunday evening slot. The show became very popular and got several re-runs in successive years. In 2016, Nigel Planer appeared in
1512-505: The Raymond Revuebar club in Soho with French and Saunders and Arnold Brown . The new club proved immensely popular amongst London's comedy venues and brought the group to the attention of Jeremy Isaacs , head of the new Channel 4 . Richardson opted to bring the group to television in a project entitled The Comic Strip Presents... and began negotiations with the new channel to secure
1575-700: The River Medlock ) – including scenes set within the students' union, which are filmed in the students' union of Manchester Metropolitan University . Scenes in the characters' local pub are filmed at the King's Arms in Salford. Many exterior shots were filmed at the University of Manchester's main Oxford Road campus – particularly outside the library – and in series 2, the University of Salford's library and many exterior parts of
1638-520: The incidental music on many episodes. In 1984, after the second series, Planer (in character as Neil) reached No. 2 in the UK charts with a version of Traffic 's " Hole in My Shoe ". The accompanying Neil's Heavy Concept Album , a loose collection of songs and spoken comedy, included appearances by The Young Ones alumni Dawn French and Stephen Fry. In 1986 the cast sang " Living Doll " with Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin for Comic Relief . The song,
1701-521: The 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers. The show became a notable icon of 1980s British popular culture, and it received its own game and a home-media release while becoming the first non-music-related programme to appear on MTV in the United States in 1985. The show was voted number 31 in the BBC's Best Sitcom poll in 2004. In the early 1980s, much of the programme's cast performed on London 's comedy club circuit, gaining significant popularity at The Comedy Store — Alexei Sayle
1764-521: The British ability to be funny", while The Independent on Sunday said "First time round, the student sitcom was chipper but clunky fare. But, just as its fresher gang have grown up, so the whole thing has become sharper, wiser, and more lovable". The third series also continued to receive positive reviews. Andrew Collins of The Guardian identified some similarities between Fresh Meat and The Young Ones , but he suggested that "to say that Fresh Meat
1827-541: The US "Every Stoopid Episode" edition featured excerpts from existing documentaries, and no extra footage was included. Musical references proved difficult to clear so " The Sounds of Silence " (one line) and " Subterranean Homesick Blues " were excised from the US editions. A new DVD release of all episodes ("Extra Stoopid Edition") was launched in November 2007, containing new documentaries and two commentary tracks. This edition restores
1890-470: The United States, The Young Ones started airing on MTV (edited for content) on 5 June 1985. The show also ran on PBS , USA Network 's Night Flight , Comedy Central in 1994, and BBC America in the early 2000s. In New Zealand, the show premiered late at night on 23 August 1985, after TVNZ purchased the broadcast rights. In the Netherlands, the show was aired in 1985 by public broadcaster VPRO . In
1953-450: The audience in his real-life Liverpudlian accent. Rik Mayall once jokingly said that the household was effectively a nuclear family, with Mike as the father, Neil as the mother, Vyvyan as the rebellious son, and Rick (with a pig-tail) as the daughter. The Young Ones had a regular cast of five: Alongside the main cast, the programme also featured a variety of guest appearances, including comedians, actors, and singers, who each took on
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2016-703: The campus were used as a set. 28 Hartnell Avenue, the Victorian house in which the students live, is in fact 28 Mayfield Road in Whalley Range. Channel 4 announced that a second series had been commissioned in October 2011. Filming was completed in August 2012, and the series started broadcasting that following October. A third series was confirmed via Twitter following the second series' finale. Filming of Series 4 began in March 2015 and wrapped on 28 May 2015. Critical reaction to
2079-887: The corner on Gloucester Road. The pub in which Vyvyan's mum works, the Kebab and Calculator in the series, was the Cock of the North (since renamed the Westbury Park Tavern) in Northumbria Drive, Bristol. A brief scene in a pharmacy was filmed outside GK Chemists, later taken over by Lloyds Pharmacy, in St Johns Lane, Bedminster. The shop was renamed "OK Chemists" for the scene, in which Mike goes to buy cough medicine, but orders £180 worth of Durex condoms instead—"Force of habit". As of 2024, Rotten Tomatoes reports five positive reviews. The series
2142-528: The directors of the series, Geoff Posner, said that he and Paul Jackson "thought it would be fun to have some ghostly figure in the background of some scenes that was never explained or talked about..." During an event at the Bristol Slapstick Festival 2018, Adrian Edmondson was asked about the fifth housemate during an audience question session, and named the person playing the 'fifth housemate' as his university friend Mark Dewison. Mark also played
2205-466: The episodes could be classified as a comedy of manners , because of its take on British culture, political climate and social backgrounds during the 1980s. A particular example of this is the second series' use of " flash frames ", in each episode, to mock the public's fear of subliminal messages in television and music. The Young Ones was more notable for its use of violent slapstick, which Edmondson and Mayall had been using in their double-act routines,
2268-628: The exception of Howard) at the fictional Manchester Medlock University (loosely based on Manchester Metropolitan University ). They live in a shared house off-campus in Whalley Range, Manchester rather than university halls of residence, due to their late application. Main themes include: Oregon's insecurity and failed relationship with her English literature lecturer, Tony Shales; Vod's hedonistic, carefree lifestyle; Josie and Kingsley's tortured relationship; upper-class JP's attempts at popularity and impressing girls, and Howard's many eccentricities. On
2331-434: The finished project was met with complete disbelief by the BBC, but the recent arrival of Channel 4 led the broadcaster to air what had been created a week after its opening night, on 9 November. To help make it stand out, the group opted to combine traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick , non-sequitur plot turns, and surrealism . These older styles were mixed with the working and lower-middle class attitudes of
2394-578: The first series' opening episodes was mixed, with reviews becoming more positive as the series progressed. The Guardian gave the opening episode a very positive review, finding it "sharp" and "refreshingly gag-dense". The Independent ' s review was also positive, saying "what really holds the thing together is an underlying sympathy, the sense that these characters might be comically foolish but they aren't (with some exceptions) contemptible." However, Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph called
2457-407: The growing 1980s alternative comedy boom, in which all the principal performers except Ryan had been involved. In addition, it was also decided that every episode, with the exception of one, would feature a live performance by a band, including Madness , Motörhead , and The Damned . This was a device used to qualify the series for a larger budget, as variety shows attracted higher fees than comedy at
2520-629: The housemate had arrived to a party at the student house at some point in the past, and had never left. Although the series was set in north London , many external scenes were filmed in Bristol , namely the suburb of Bishopston , where the student house is situated at the top of Codrington Road. Other locations include the Fascist Pig Bank, the Launderette and the Army Careers Office, all around
2583-471: The line from "The Sounds of Silence" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues". The music video "Living Doll" featuring Cliff Richard has not been included on any edition, and neither is the live performance done for comic relief in 1986. A pilot episode was filmed of an American version of The Young Ones , titled Oh, No! Not THEM! . It featured Planer as Neil and Jackie Earle Haley , and had a claymation opening credit sequence. The Fox network did not pick up
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2646-436: The lives of four dissimilar students and their landlord's family on different plots that often included anarchic , offbeat, surreal humour. The show often included slapstick gags, visual humour and surreal jokes sometimes acted out by puppets, with each episode also featuring a notable selection of guest stars and musical numbers from various performers. The Young Ones helped bring alternative comedy to British television in
2709-503: The opening episode's script "a torrent of prattling self-hatred" and found the episode "drainingly bleak". Rupert Christiansen , also in the Telegraph , was similarly unimpressed, calling it "[p]athetically laboured and over-acted" and "limply written and predictable". Rachel Cooke of New Statesman felt the opening episode was a "damp squib" and commented that this might be because "the writers failed to remember that going to university
2772-405: The public broadcaster Sveriges Television . The series' opening theme song featured the cast singing Cliff Richard and The Shadows's UK No. 1 song "The Young Ones" (1961), the title song from the film of the same name . Throughout the series there are many references to Richard, as Mayall's character is a devout fan. The theme over the end credits was written by Peter Brewis , who also created
2835-646: The real Cambridge Footlights: Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, the last of whom had actually appeared on the quiz show while at Cambridge. The episode title is a reference to the show's presenter, Bamber Gascoigne , impersonated by Griff Rhys Jones. In the episode " Sick ", the quartet enter a scenario parodying The Good Life , after Neil's mother says the sitcom should be more like The Good Life and Vyvyan has an outburst against it, saying, "It's so bloody nice! Felicity 'Treacle' Kendal and Richard 'Sugar-Flavoured Snot' Briers ! What do they do now?! Chocolate-bloody-button ads, that's what! They're nothing but
2898-471: The reasons for this approach: "We always imagined this as a team-written show partly for practical reasons because Peep Show has been recommissioned, and moving forward if we're lucky enough to get another series of Fresh Meat we simply couldn't write two shows at once. So we always knew we wanted to bring other writers on board, some are more experienced, some very talented women writers, and one who had just graduated when we started writing." Fresh Meat
2961-481: The regular cast (and several of the guests) also appeared in Channel 4 and BBC Two 's The Comic Strip Presents comedy shows. All four main actors went on to gain reputations as both dramatic and comic actors. In 1988, while playing main character Alan B'Stard during a brief skit of his political sitcom The New Statesman on the BBC's Comic Relief telethon, Mayall switched characters to become Rick again and deliver
3024-693: The role of a supporting character in an episode's plot or cutaway elements. Notable guests on the programme included Ben Elton, Dawn French , Jennifer Saunders , Hale and Pace , Stephen Fry , Hugh Laurie , Mark Arden , Stephen Frost , Jools Holland , Mel Smith , Griff Rhys Jones , Anthony Sharp , Terry Jones , Chris Barrie , Helen Lederer , Keith Allen , Paul Merton , Paul Bradley , Pauline Melville , Tamsin Heatley , Ronnie Golden , Roger Sloman , Lee Cornes , Helen Atkinson Wood , Norman Lovett , Lenny Henry , David Rappaport , Robbie Coltrane , Tony Robinson , Andy De La Tour and Emma Thompson . In
3087-413: The sake of their friendship; Vod's wildly promising run at president of the student union and then sabotaging her own campaign to mend her friendship with Oregon, who wins but inherits dire straits facing the student union and its executive; the development and progression of Howard and Candice's relationship, culminating in romance; and JP, who "applies for a position" with (or attempts to seduce) Josie (who
3150-440: The same characteristics as The Young Ones as did Mayall and Edmondson's next sitcom Bottom . Ryan, for his part, was regularly recruited to play roles on associated series (such as Happy Families , Bottom and Absolutely Fabulous ). Mayall, Edmondson and Planer have also appeared in episodes of Blackadder . Both series were repeated consecutively over twelve weeks in early 1985, but went unrepeated for four years, when
3213-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Fresh Meat . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fresh_Meat&oldid=1234762551 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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#17329635626883276-496: The scripts and performances. The Guardian felt it had "managed to live up to sky-scraping expectations", and Metro said "Originally billed as a university version of The Inbetweeners , Fresh Meat has developed into something much more sophisticated than its more-established sibling." The second series continued to receive positive reviews, with The Observer declaring the second episode "almost an hour of laugh-out-loud comic astuteness that single-handedly restored faith in
3339-422: The scripts with his then girlfriend Lise Mayer , and Ben Elton (who had attended the University of Manchester with Mayall and Edmondson). Paul Jackson was installed as a producer, but his presence led to him clashing with Richardson, forcing the latter to abandon the project. As a result, his replacement was Christopher Ryan, the only member of the group who was not a stand-up comedian. According to Jackson,
3402-418: The second series was shown on BBC Two. In the mid-1990s all twelve episodes of The Young Ones were shown on BBC Two in a 30-minute revised format, missing scenes and dialogue. The series was also shown on digital channel UK Gold throughout the 1990s. A mix of both the edited and unedited versions was shown in the 2000s (decade) on UKTV G2 and Paramount Comedy 1 . DVD releases were initially very basic: Only
3465-515: The sequel to Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat Fresh Meat (film) , a New Zealand horror comedy film Other uses [ edit ] Fresh Meat (album) , the debut album of Arkarna FreshMeat , the former name of the software website Freecode, owned by Geeknet “Fresh Meat”, a song by Jeffree Star from the album Beauty Killer , 2009 “Fresh Meat”, a song by Ayesha Erotica , 2017 See also [ edit ] Meat , animal flesh used as food Topics referred to by
3528-545: The series. It was produced by David Mirkin . Robert Llewellyn wrote in his book The Man in the Rubber Mask (1994): The Young Ones was taken over the Atlantic in the mid eighties, and Nigel [Planer] was the only member of the British cast to go. He had experienced a fairly hideous time, worried sick that he was going to have to stay there for six years with a group of people he hated who managed to make The Young Ones into
3591-482: The show, but had already achieved chart success in 1984 with " 'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor? ". In 1984, Planer released an album of music and skits in character as Neil, entitled Neil's Heavy Concept Album . Musical direction was by Canterbury scene keyboardist Dave Stewart . It featured Stewart's alums Barbara Gaskin , Jakko Jakszyk , Pip Pyle , Gavin Harrison , Jimmy Hastings and Rick Biddulph. "Hole in My Shoe",
3654-417: The third season, the finale of the third season of Fresh Meat had "retrieved its sterling reputation". Green suggested the circumstances in the seventh episode of the season were incredible and "reality was pushed too far" but conceded that the finale delivered, with Kingsley and Josie's "soul-wringing, half-hearted" attempt at an open relationship and then the "wrenching" dissolution of their relationship for
3717-463: The time. Episodes were generally produced to be over 35 minutes long, though were edited to half-hour when later repeated on the BBC or satellite channels . The programme focuses on the lives of four undergraduate students who share a house in squalid condition (with the fictitious address of 15 Credibility Street), while attending their studies at the fictional Scumbag College, London . The content of
3780-419: The use of surreal elements such as puppets playing the role of talking animals or objects (in a similar manner to The Goodies ), use of lengthy cutaways with no relation to the episode's plot, and frequent breaches of the fourth wall for comedic efforts, either to break a punchline to a joke or make a plot point obvious; in several occasions, Sayle used this element to break from his character and address
3843-399: The variety criteria by including a lion tamer whose presence also directly contributed to the plot. Some of these performances were omitted from DVD release for copyright reasons. Some musical acts were also edited out for similar reasons on some satellite reruns. On the 2007 DVD release, all the music acts are restored uncut. In the first six episodes of the series, a person whose face
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#17329635626883906-404: Was also praised by Ian Hislop . The end of the series was not the last appearance of The Young Ones . For the British charity television appeal Comic Relief, the four recorded a song and video for Cliff Richard's "Living Doll", accompanied by Richard and Shadows guitarist Hank B. Marvin . Alexei Sayle was not involved, as he felt collaborating with Richard was against the alternative ethos of
3969-446: Was the prominent act, drawing attention as the manic, aggressive compere ; Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall worked together in the troupe 20th Century Coyote and later became the double act The Dangerous Brothers ; and Nigel Planer worked in the double act "The Outer Limits" alongside Peter Richardson . All principal members later opted to make their own club as The Comedy Store became popular, and they formed The Comic Strip in
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