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. Soon afterwards, it was shown on MTV, one of the first non-music television shows on the fledgling channel. When originally broadcast, episodes were shown on BBC2 Tuesdays at 9 pm.
Episode list[]
Series 1[]
Ep.# | Title | Musical Performance | Original air date | Production code |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Demolition | Nine Below Zero performing "Eleven Plus Eleven" |
9 November 1982 | 101 |
The boys get a letter from the council telling them their squalid house will be demolished. Vyvyan attempts to stop the demolition by beating the construction crew to it, while Mike tries to sweet-talk the crew, Rick ties himself to a giant cross and Neil attempts suicide. | ||||
2 | Oil | Radical Posture (with Alexei Sayle) performing "Dr. Martens Boots" |
16 November 1982 | 102 |
Upon moving into a new house (their old one was hit by a plane in "Demolition"), Vyvyan announces that he has struck oil in the cellar. Mike forces Rick and Neil to do the mining, but Rick retaliates by holding a benefit concert for himself and Neil in the living room. | ||||
3 | Boring | Madness performing "House of Fun" |
23 November 1982 | 103 |
The boys attempt to fight off boredom whilst several very exciting things go unnoticed around them. | ||||
4 | Bomb | Dexys Midnight Runners performing "Jackie Wilson Said" |
30 November 1982 | 104 |
An unexploded atomic bomb falls through the boys' roof and blocks the refrigerator, so Rick tries to hold the country to ransom with it, Mike attempt to sell it to the highest bidder while Neil builds a bomb shelter and Vyvyan tries to detonate the thing. But worse, a television licence inspector calls, forcing Vyvyan to devour the TV. | ||||
5 | Interesting | Rip Rig + Panic (with Andrea Oliver) performing "You're My Kind Of Climate" |
7 December 1982 | 105 |
The boys host a party that gets out of hand. | ||||
6 | Flood | No musical performance, but a lion tamer does perform |
14 December 1982 | 106 |
During heavy rains, London floods. Vyvyan briefly visits Narnia during a game of hide-and-seek, and the boys attempt to cook Neil as a solution to their food problems—but are distracted when they realise that they are trapped in the house with a homicidal, axe-wielding Mr. Balowski. |
Series 2[]
Title | Musical performance | Original air date | Production code | |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Bambi | Motörhead performing "Ace of Spades" |
8 May 1984 | 201 |
The boys go to the launderette and compete against Footlights College, Oxbridge in University Challenge. | ||||
8 | Cash | Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve performing "Subterranean Homesick Blues" |
15 May 1984 | 202 |
Cash-strapped, and burning all of their possessions for heat, Neil is forced (by his flatmates) to join the police force. Meanwhile, Vyvyan is pregnant. | ||||
9 | Nasty | The Damned performing "Nasty" |
29 May 1984 | 203 |
A strange package from South Africa interferes with plans to watch a video nasty on a rented VCR. | ||||
10 | Time | Amazulu performing "Moonlight Romance" |
5 June 1984 | 204 |
Rick wakes up in bed next to a beautiful girl, and the house passes through a time warp. | ||||
11 | Sick | Madness performing "Our House" |
12 June 1984 | 205 |
While ill, the boys must deal with an escaped criminal and worse, Neil's parents. | ||||
12 | Summer Holiday | John Otway performing "Body Talk" |
19 June 1984 | 206 |
Summer is here and the lads finally get their results. |
DVD releases[]
Series 1 & 2 of The Young Ones have both been released on DVD individually and in a special edition boxset in both regions 2 and 4. Region 1 has released just two boxsets, one being just series 1 & 2, the other being series 1 & 2 special edition.
DVD Title | No. of Discs | Year | Episodes | DVD release | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||||
Complete Series 1 | 1 | 1982 | 6 | — | 5 August 2002 | 29 August 2002 | |
Complete Series 2 | 1 | 1984 | 6 | — | 18 August 2003 | 1 October 2003 | |
Complete Series 1 & 2 | 2 | 1982 & 1984 | 12 | 17 September 2002 | — | — | |
Complete Series 1 & 2 Special Edition |
3 | 1982 & 1984 | 12 | 13 November 2007 | 29 October 2007 | 7 November 2007 |