Interesting (The Young Ones)

"Interesting" was the fifth episode of British sitcom The Young Ones. It was written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, and directed by Paul Jackson. It was first broadcast on BBC2 on 7 December 1982.^[1]

Plot

It is an important evening ahead as the quartet host their first house party for their trendy student friends. After initial problems with Vyvyan's car-engine-powered vacuum cleaner, which sweeps up a morose hippy friend of Neil's, also called Neil (who is mercilessly shoved by Rick into the refrigerator) and an unexpected visit from an eager Christian (later crushed by a giant sandwich fallen out of the sky), the party gets under way in style. (In a short but memorable bit, Vyvyan tries to impress some girls, asking "Wanna see how many press-ups I can do?"; Vyvyan's resulting press-ups had the BBC censors - as recalled by Lise Mayer - thinking Vyvyan was simulating sexual intercourse.)

The party soon turns riotous, with many uninvited guests arriving from the pub. Neil is beaten up, only to awaken in his bed believing the whole episode was a dream. Neil gets out of bed and busies himself as the credits play. At the end, however, party noises cause Neil to realize that "This is the dream!" as he wakes up back at the party.

Characters

As with all episodes of The Young Ones, the main four characters were student flatmates Mike (Christopher Ryan); Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson); Rick (Rik Mayall) and Neil (Nigel Planer). Alexei Sayle starred as Tommy Balowski, aggressive drunkard and cousin of the students' landlord Jerzei.

Reception

The episode features a performance from Rip Rig + Panic.

Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French guest star as party guests. Mark Arden and Stephen Frost also appear as would-be party-crashers.

References

• The Young Ones: Interesting at the Internet Movie Database