Four students Rick, Neil, Vyvyan and Mike lived in squalor in a decrepit house.

Their frequent outbursts of mindless violence were so extreme and ridiculous that it was surely obvious to its critics that it wasn’t meant to be realistic! They had brainless intellectual conversations, rebelled against the rest of the world and did absolutely no studying.

Plenty of slapstick and toilet meant the younger generation loved it but it was heavily criticised by older folk. Alexi Sayle appeared regularly as their Russian landlord Jerzy Balowski – he also played other members of the landlord’s family.

The Young Ones paved the way for alternative British comedy despite the facts that only twelve episodes were ever made, and that one episode featured Cliff Richard and a double-decker bus.