Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series
The Young OnesThe 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...
(1982–1984) and
BottomBottom 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...
(1991–2003), for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner
Rik 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...
.
Early life
Edmondson, the second of four children, was born in
BradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
,
West Riding of YorkshireThe West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. As a child, he has spent time living with his family in a variety of places including
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
,
Bahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, and
UgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, where his father was a teacher in the armed forces. Later, for a period in the mid-1980s, his father became the deputy headmaster at the former Drummond Middle School in
Manningham, BradfordManningham is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, approximately a mile north of the city centre and is seen as the centre of the city's south Asian population.- Geography :...
. Edmondson attended
Pocklington SchoolPocklington School, is an independent school in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1514 by John Dolman. The school is situated in of land, on the outskirts of a small market town, from York and from Hull. It is an Anglican foundation and Friday morning church is...
,
East Riding of YorkshireThe East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
from 1968 to 1975. In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement, he stated that he did not enjoy his education at Pocklington.
Edmondson stated that during his time at Pocklington, he calculated he had received a total of 66 strokes of the
caneCaning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
as well as frequent slipperings. By the time he was in sixth form, with his parents working abroad, Edmondson began to enjoy himself, "which involved lots of drinking and smoking and petty acts of
vandalismVandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
." He made some good friends at the school and had a favourite teacher, Michael Aubrey. Aubrey taught Edmondson for English and encouraged him to pursue
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, casting him in a number of school plays, and allowing him to take time out of other lessons to do drama. After Pocklington, Edmondson went to the
University of ManchesterThe Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
to study drama, where he met his future comedy partner
Rik 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...
, and graduated with a
2:1The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
degree. Edmondson and Mayall soon became best friends and before long found work on the burgeoning
alternative comedyAlternative 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.
1980s
Under the name
20th Century Coyote20th Century Coyote was a comedy group famous for first uniting Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. Mayall started the group at Manchester University with friend Lloyd Peters and some others and attempted to gain a lunchtime residency at the Band on the Wall club...
, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at
The Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard had visited the previous year...
. Mayall told most of the jokes early in their act, and Edmondson would act-up in the background, developing his act to dismantle the club's piano, before he created his own material. As their popularity grew, Edmondson, Mayall, and other upcoming comedians including
Nigel 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...
, Peter Richardson,
Alexei SayleAlexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...
, and
French and SaundersFrench and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
split away from the Comedy Store to set up their own venue:
The Comic StripThe Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and soon came to the attention of
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in six self-contained half-hour films, using the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. The series, entitled
The Comic Strip Presents...The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
debuted on 2 November 1982 (the opening night of Channel 4). The first episode to be broadcast was "
Five Go Mad in DorsetFive Go Mad in Dorset was the first of the long-running series of Comic Strip Presents... television comedy films. It first aired on the launch night of Channel 4 , and was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, and directed by Bob Spiers.-Plot and satire:The film is an extreme parody of...
", a parody of
Enid BlytonEnid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
's
Famous FiveThe Famous Five is the name of a series of children's novels written by British author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942....
, which drew anger from some viewers for the way it mercilessly satirised a children's classic. Edmondson starred as one of the five.
By the same time as The Comic Strip Presents... was being negotiated, the BBC signed up Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in
The Young OnesThe 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...
, a sitcom in the same anarchic style as The Comic Strip. (Richardson later decided not to proceed and was replaced by
Christopher RyanChristopher Ryan is an English actor. Ryan is perhaps best known for his role as Mike "The Cool Person" in the BBC comedy series The Young Ones.-Early life:...
.) The show revolved around the shared house where four students lived during their study at Scumbag College. It was noted at the time of its first airing for its violent slapstick, with Edmondson's character as the main instigator, and this is a trait which has stayed with him throughout his career. The series captured public imagination and remains one of Britain's most popular sitcoms. During this time, Edmondson also appeared in a bank advertisement in what was, basically, his "Vyvyan" guise. Following the success of The Comic Strip Presents... and, to a greater extent, The Young Ones, Edmondson and Mayall returned to their "Coyote" dynamic in the double act "
The Dangerous BrothersThe Dangerous Brothers was a stage and TV act by anarchic comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, performing respectively as "Richard Dangerous" and "Sir Adrian Dangerous". Although originating before the show, they appeared in a number of brief sketches in the 1980s TV programme Saturday Live...
" with Edmondson as "Sir Adrian Dangerous" in Saturday Live (1985–1987). In 1983, he appeared as the lead singer Vim Fuego in the spoof
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band called
Bad NewsBad News were a spoof rock band, created for the Channel 4 television series The Comic Strip Presents.... Its members were Vim Fuego , vocals and lead guitar ; Den Dennis, rhythm guitar ; Colin Grigson, bass ; and Spider Webb, drums .-Biography:Bad News made their television debut during...
, with his Young Ones co-stars
Rik 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...
,
Nigel 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...
and Peter Richardson of "Comic Strip Presents...".
On 11 May 1985, Edmondson married his Comic Strip fellow
Jennifer SaundersJennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
, with whom he has three daughters:
EleanorEleanor Rose "Ella" Edmondson is an English singer-songwriter. Her primary instrument is the guitar though she can also play piano.-Biography:...
, Beatrice and Freya. Edmondson's university nickname of "Eddie Monsoon," a play on his surname, inspired the name of Saunders' character, Edina Monsoon on
Absolutely FabulousAbsolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
and his own characters Eddie Catflap (
Filthy Rich & CatflapFilthy 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...
) and Eddie Hitler (Bottom), they jointly set up their own production company called Mr and Mrs Monsoon Limited.. Also in 1985 Edmondson starred with Saunders in
Happy FamiliesHappy Families was a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC in 1985 and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family....
, a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family. It starred Saunders as Granny Fuddle, Dawn French as the Cook and Edmondson as her imbecilic grandson Guy. The plot centred around Guy's attempts to find his four sisters - also played by Saunders - for a family reunion. The most innovative thing about the series was the "style" of film in which each sister's story was shot; for example, Cassie's story was shot on 16mm to make it appear to be a U.S. soap opera, Madelaine's story was shot in soft focus to make it appear to be a French film, Roxeanne was filmed as though appearing in a gritty BBC documentary, and Joyce's story was filmed like an Ealing comedy. The first episode focuses on Edith Fuddle (Saunders), who is told by the tactless Doctor De Quincy (Stephen Fry), that she is dying. Although, in a bitter feud with her grandson (Edmondson), she enlists his help to go out into the world to find his four sisters, her granddaughters, and to bring them back to her. In 1986, Edmondson achieved a number one hit in the UK singles charts when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed up with
Cliff RichardSir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
to record a new version of "Living Doll" for the inaugural Comic Relief campaign. Despite having been killed off in the final episode of the series, Edmondson played Vyvyan one last time in the video. The same year he co-wrote the book
How to be a Complete BastardHow to be a Complete Bastard is a 1986 book by Adrian Edmondson, Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. ISBN 0-86369-182-X ISBN 978-0863691829 The book contained a selection of ways to be a nuisance to those around you...
together with Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. In 1987, he reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in Filthy Rich and Catflap. The series was penned by The Young Ones co-writer
Ben EltonBenjamin 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....
and saw Edmondson display the same slapstick characteristics as Vyvyan, but was closer in personality to his later character "Eddie Hitler" in Bottom. The show received critical acclaim but poor viewing figures and was cancelled after one series. 1987 also saw Edmondson co-starring with Mayall in the
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
sit-com
Hardwicke HouseHardwicke House was a 1987 seven-episode sitcom produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network. It was so negatively received that only the first two episodes were transmitted.-Plot and episode titles :...
. Due to the adverse reaction of both press and viewers however, ITV withdrew the series after two episodes, and the remainder has never been shown. In 1988, he released a follow up to How To Be A Complete Bastard called The Bastard's Book of the Worst. In 1989 Edmondson made an appearance in an episode of
Blackadder Goes ForthBlackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
as
The Red BaronManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
, arch-nemesis to Mayall's character,
Lord FlashheartLord Flashheart is the name of two fictional characters who appeared in two episodes of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. They are both played by Rik Mayall....
. .
1990s
Edmondson played Brad Majors in the 1990 West End run of
The Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
, alongside
Tim McInnernyTim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
as Frank-N-Furter and
Ed Tudor-PoleEdward Tudor-Pole is an English musician, singer , TV presenter and actor.- Musical career :Tudor-Pole formed the band Tenpole Tudor in 1974, and eventually came to prominence after appearing in the film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle as a possible replacement for Johnny Rotten in the Sex Pistols...
as Riff-Raff. He also appears on the soundtrack album of the production. In 1991, Edmondson was teamed up with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more, this time co-writing and co-starring in their own sitcom, Bottom. Edmondson starred as "Edward Elizabeth Hitler" opposite Mayall's "Richard Richard." The series featured the slapstick and crude humour for which the pair had become famous, but also more in-depth character analysis. Mayall and Edmonson have said Bottom was aimed to be more than just a series of toilet gags, but a cruder cousin to plays like
Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
about the pointlessness of life. Edmondson played Estragon to Mayall's Vladimir in
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's play in the
West EndWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, in a production that opened at the
Queen's TheatreThe Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
on 30 September 1991. Bottom became very popular, but it was criticised for its often vulgar humour. Edmondson was also censured for essentially reprising the same character he had been playing for his entire career. It was also incarnated into five UK stage tours (1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003). The violent natures of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital.
In 1993, Edmondson starred alongside
Richard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
in a black comedy called
If You See God, Tell HimIf You See God, Tell Him is a black comedy television series starring Richard Briers, Adrian Edmondson, and Imelda Staunton. Written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, it was first broadcast on BBC1 in 1993...
. Edmondson played Gordon Spry, whose uncle (Briers) is paralysed and has a greatly reduced attention span. His erratic behaviour causes problems for Gordon. The series comprised four episodes, each 45 minutes long, and only broadcast once. The BBC has not repeated the series, although 1 episode was broadcast on
BBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 3 December 2007. In September 1995, Edmondson released his first (comic) novel, The Gobbler. The same year he voiced "the animal", an advertising character for British snack
PeperamiPeperami is a pork sausage snack manufactured by Unilever in Germany and Britain. According to Unilever, it was first shipped to the UK by accident in a container which was supposed to be carrying pâté. The company decided to attempt to sell the shipment to the UK market under the brand name...
. In 1996, he played the role of Ace Face/Bellboy at The Who's performance of
QuadropheniaQuadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
at London's
Hyde ParkHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
. A video game called
AnimalAnimal is a video game starring the Peperami character, voiced by Ade Edmondson. It is a point-and-click adventure puzzle game that also includes a 'shoot 'em up' component, called 'eat-em-up' since the game is set in a universe in which food products are personified...
, featuring Peperami's "the animal", was released the same year, with the character being voiced by Ade Edmondson. In 1997-1998 he voiced engine stoker Jones, a major character in the animated series
Captain StarCaptain Star was an animated television series starring Richard E. Grant as Captain Jim Star, based on a comic by Steven Appleby: Rockets Passing Overhead. Only thirteen episodes of thirty-minutes each were produced and aired. The series ran on the British ITV and Canadian TELETOON networks from...
. In the 1998 ITV Pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, Edmondson played Dame Dolly alongside Neil Morrissey, Denise Van Outon, Paul Merton, Julian Clary and Julie Walters. The show was broadcast on 25 December on ITV1 and continues to be shown every year around Christmas.
Following the 1997 Bottom stage tour, Hooligans Island, Mayall and Edmondson worked on the idea of a Bottom film in which Richie and Eddie run a hotel. The two had been working on the script together, and were set to co-direct. In 1998 Mayall was seriously injured and spent a few days in a coma. Edmondson found this time very difficult. When Mayall came around he helped Edmondson complete the script while still in hospital, but it was decided that he was still not fit enough to direct, so Edmondson took the sole directing duties on what became
Guest House ParadisoGuest House Paradiso is a 1999 British slapstick comedy film written by and starring comic duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, and directed by Edmondson his directorial debut. The film is semi-officially based on their comedy television series Bottom...
. Since the 2003 Bottom tour, which ended on 12 December of that year, Edmondson has shown a lack of interest in working with his friend Mayall, claiming he is more difficult to work with since his accident. In December 2004 The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted him as saying: "It’s definitely time to stop. We're getting too old. We both realised that the show wasn't as engaging as it used to be. We were starting to look a bit ridiculous. [...] We're both nearly 50 and we're starting to feel slightly undignified talking about wanking and knobs constantly." Rik Mayall has repeatedly said that they will work together again, they just needed "a good idea."
2000s–present
Edmondson appeared regularly in series 4 of the BBC mystery series
Jonathan CreekJonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
, broadcast in 2003–2004. He had a lead role playing an NHS doctor in the comedy series Doctors and Nurses first broadcast in early 2004. In Surviving Disaster, a BBC docu-drama about the 1986
Chernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, broadcast at the start of 2006, Edmondson played the role of Dr
Valeri LegasovValery Alexeyevich Legasov was a prominent Soviet scientist in the field of inorganic chemistry, a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is most famous for his work as the chief of the investigation committee of the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.-Early life and...
. In 2005 Edmondson appeared as a celebrity model on Star Portraits with
Rolf HarrisRolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
. From 2005 to 2008 he appeared as Percy 'Abra' Durant in the medical drama
Holby CityHolby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. In 2008 he played Henry Austen in the BBC produced film
Miss Austen RegretsMiss Austen Regrets is a BBC-produced drama film. The film is based on the last few years of Jane Austen's life as she looks back on her life and loves and helps her favorite niece, Fanny, find a husband...
. From 2008 onwards he has played Vernon in ITV sit-com
Teenage KicksTeenage Kicks is a British sitcom starring Adrian Edmondson, Ed Coleman and Laura Aikman, filmed at Teddington Studios. Originally as a radio show for BBC Radio 2 in 2007, it was turned into a TV series by Phil McIntyre Productions for ITV...
. In April 2009 Edmondson appeared on the cooking show Hell's Kitchen, where he reached the final, coming second to winner
Linda EvansLinda Evans is an American actress. She is known primarily for her roles on television, and rose to fame playing Audra Barkley in the 1960s Western TV series, The Big Valley...
. In a 2009 interview, Edmondson stated he was 'finally' referring to himself as Adrian rather than his established nickname Ade, as he felt it was time to 'grow up.'
Edmondson is a fan and current season ticket holder of Npower
League OneFootball League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
football team
Exeter CityExeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...
and often watches them at home and away matches. He played the role of 'Captain Hook' in the Canterbury Marlowe Arena pantomime during its Christmas 2009 run. In April 2010, Edmondson confirmed to the
Daily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
that he'd quit comedy, stating that his interest in it has declined for many years, and wanted to focus more on his band, claiming it is 'more fun than doing comedy.' He also played down the idea of a potential reunion with Rik Mayall, saying it is 'very unlikely'. In an August 2010 edition of Radio 4's Chain Reaction he clarified to
Lee MackLee Gordon McKillop is an English stand-up comedian and actor, known by the stage name Lee Mack. He is well known in the United Kingdom for writing and starring in the sitcom Not Going Out, for being a team captain on Would I Lie to You? and for hosting Lee Mack's All Star Cast.-Personal life:Mack...
that, he hadn't really quit but was focusing more on music and farming. He confirmed that he and Mayall often spoke of a reunion when they are old men. However, Mayall appeared during Edmondson's winning performance of
The Dying SwanThe Dying Swan is a ballet choreographed by Mikhail Fokine in 1905 to Camille Saint-Saëns's cello solo Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des Animaux as a pièce d'occasion for the ballerina Anna Pavlova. The short ballet follows the last moments in the life of a swan, and was first presented in St....
on BBC1's Lets Dance for Comic Relief, on 5 March 2011. On 28 March 2011
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
launched the six-part series The Dales, hosted by Edmondson in which he follows a number of families who live and work in the
Yorkshire DalesThe Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...
. The show was recorded during 2010 by Shiver Productions for
ITV StudiosITV Studios is a television production company owned by the British television network ITV. It not only makes programmes primarily for its parent company, but also for other networks...
.
In September 2011, Edmondson appeared on the Sunday morning cooking show
Something For The WeekendSomething for the Weekend is a British television series, broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday mornings. It features cookery, drinks, interviews with celebrity guests and clips from the week's television, as well as classic clips in the 'Deja View' section...
and confirmed to presenter
Tim LovejoyTimothy Paul Lovejoy is a British television presenter most famous for hosting Saturday morning football programme Soccer AM alongside Helen Chamberlain for over a decade.- Career :...
that he and Rik Mayall were planning to reunite and make another series of Bottom, set in an old peoples home.
Edmondson presents
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
series Ade in Britain, which began on 7 November 2011.
Music career
Edmondson has directed pop videos for Fiesta (1988) by
The PoguesThe Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, Prime Mover (1987) by
Zodiac Mindwarp-Overview:The band is the brainchild of Mark Manning, a graphic artist and editor of London's Flexipop magazine. Deciding to experience the debauchery of life as a decadent rock star, he assumed the alter ego, Zodiac Mindwarp, and formed the Love Reaction in the mid 1980s together with guitarist...
, Like The Weather (1988) by
10,000 Maniacs10,000 Maniacs is a United States-based alternative rock band, which formed in 1981 and continues to be active with various line-ups.-1981–1993:...
, Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness (1988) by
Sandie ShawSandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
, and Hourglass by Squeeze (1987). A fan of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Edmondson performed vocals with them as part of their 2006 reformation and countrywide tour, and contributed vocals and writing for their 2007 album
Pour l'Amour des ChiensPour l'Amour Des Chiens is the first all new studio album by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in 35 years...
. Together with
Maartin AllcockMaartin Allcock , also known as Martin Allcock, is a multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.-Biography:...
, Andy Dinan, and
Troy DonockleyTroy Donockley is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of uillean pipes.- Early life and career :...
, Edmondson founded the band
The Bad ShepherdsThe Bad Shepherds are a British folk band formed by the comedian Adrian Edmondson in 2008. They play punk songs with traditional folk instruments...
in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on traditional instruments. The band have released two albums and toured in 2009, playing at places like the
Trowbridge Village Pump Festival Village Pump FestivalStarted over 30 years ago in a barn at the lamb Inn Trowbridge, it then moved to Stowford Manor Farm, Farleigh Hungerford, England...
.
Personal life
Edmonson is married to comedian
Jennifer SaundersJennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
and they have three daughters in their twenties,
EllaEleanor Rose "Ella" Edmondson is an English singer-songwriter. Her primary instrument is the guitar though she can also play piano.-Biography:...
, Beattie, and Freya. They have houses in Devon (23 spinney Lane, Devon) and London.
External links