Ade Edmondson
Adrian Charles Edmondson is an English comedian, actor, musician and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom, which he wrote together with his collaborative partner Rik Mayall. Edmondson also appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. For one episode of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News, and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star.
He played the lead role in The Comic Strip's 1985 feature film, The Supergrass. In the 2000s, Edmondson appeared in numerous TV programmes in drama roles including Jonathan Creek, Holby City, Miss Austen Regrets, as himself on Hell's Kitchen and created the sitcom Teenage Kicks. Since 2006, Edmondson has concentrated increasingly on music instead of acting. He formed a folk punk band, The Bad Shepherds, singing and playing mandola and mandolin, and performed and wrote for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. In 2011 he presented a series of shows for ITV: The Dales, which focused on people working in the Yorkshire Dales, and Ade in Britain in which he undertook a tour of numerous places in Britain. A second series aired in 2012.
In 2013, Edmondson was crowned the winner of Celebrity Masterchef, and from 2019 to 2020, he appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Daniel Cook.
Early life
Edmondson, the second of four children, was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire to Dorothy Eileen Sturgeon and Fred Edmondson. As a child, he lived with his family in a variety of places including Cyprus, Bahrain, and Uganda, where his father was a teacher in the armed forces. In the mid-1980s, his father became the deputy headmaster at the former Drummond Middle School in Manningham, Bradford. Edmondson attended Pocklington School, East Riding of Yorkshire from 1968 to 1975. In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement, he stated that he did not enjoy his education at Pocklington.Edmondson calculated that during his time at Pocklington, he received a total of 66 strokes of the cane 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 vandalism." He made some good friends at the school and had a favourite teacher, Michael Aubrey.
Aubrey taught English and encouraged Edmondson to pursue drama, 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 Manchester to study drama, where he met his future comedy partner Rik Mayall, and graduated with a 2:1 degree. Edmondson and Mayall soon became best friends and before long found work on the burgeoning alternative comedy scene.
Comedy career
1980s
Under the name 20th Century Coyote, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store. As their popularity grew, Edmondson, Mayall and other upcoming comedians, including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle, and French and Saunders moved from the Comedy Store to The Comic Strip 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 4. Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in 6 self-contained half-hour films, using the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. The series, entitled The Comic Strip Presents... debuted on 2 November 1982. The first episode to be broadcast was "Five Go Mad in Dorset", a parody of Enid Blyton's Famous Five, 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 Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer, and Sayle to star in The Young Ones, a sitcom in the same anarchic style as The Comic Strip. The show revolved around the shared house where four students lived during their studies at Scumbag College. It was noted at the time of its first airing for its violent slapstick, and the series retains a cult following. 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 Brothers" with Edmondson as "Sir Adrian Dangerous" in Saturday Live. In 1983, he appeared as the lead singer "Vim Fuego" in the spoof heavy metal band called "Bad News" with his Young Ones co-stars Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, and Peter Richardson of "Comic Strip Presents...".
On 11 May 1985, Edmondson married fellow Comic Strip actor Jennifer Saunders, with whom he has three daughters: Eleanor, Beatrice, and Freya. Also in 1985 Edmondson starred with Saunders in Happy Families, a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family.
In 1987, Edmondson reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in Filthy Rich and Catflap, a comic attack on showbiz, again written by Elton. He played "Edward Catflap", a coarse, drunken minder of light-entertainment nonentity "Richie Rich". In this show Edmondson displayed the same slapstick characteristics as Vyvyan in The Young Ones but was closer in personality to his later character "Eddie Hitler" in Bottom. The show was cancelled after one series. Edmondson also co-starred in 1987 with Mayall in the ITV sit-com Hardwicke House. Due to the adverse reaction of both press and viewers, however, ITV withdrew the series after two episodes and the remaining episodes have never been shown.
In 1988, Edmondson released a follow up to How To Be A Complete Bastard called The Bastard's Book of the Worst. In 1989 he made an appearance in an episode of Blackadder Goes Forth as The Red Baron, nemesis to Mayall's character, Lord Flashheart.
1990s
Edmondson played Brad Majors in the 1990 West End run of The Rocky Horror Show, alongside Tim McInnerny as Frank-N-Furter and Ed Tudor-Pole as Riff-Raff. He also appears on the soundtrack album of the production. In 1991, he teamed 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, crude humour for which the pair had become famous but with more in-depth character analysis.Edmondson played Estragon to Mayall's Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's play in the West End, in a production that opened at the Queen's Theatre on 30 September 1991. Bottom became very popular, but it was criticised for its often vulgar humour. The show was also turned into five UK stage tours.
In 1993, Edmondson starred alongside Richard Briers in a black comedy called If You See God, Tell Him. Edmondson played Gordon Spry, whose uncle 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 one episode was broadcast on BBC Four on 3 December 2007.
In September 1995, Edmondson released his first novel, The Gobbler. In 1996, he played the role of Ace Face/Bellboy at The Who's performance of Quadrophenia at London's Hyde Park. A video game called Animal, featuring Peperami's "the animal", was released the same year, with the character being voiced by Edmondson. From 1997 to 1998 he voiced engine stoker Jones, a major character in the animated series Captain Star. In the 1998 ITV pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, Edmondson played Jack's mother Dame Dolly alongside Neil Morrissey, Denise Van Outen, Paul Merton, Julian Clary and Julie Walters.
2000s
Edmondson appeared regularly as Brendan Baxter in Series 4 of the BBC mystery series Jonathan Creek, 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 docudrama about the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, broadcast at the start of 2006, Edmondson played the role of Valery Legasov. In 2005 he appeared as a celebrity model on Star Portraits with Rolf Harris. That year, he also competed on "Comic Relief Does Fame Academy" where he made it to the finale and came in 3rd place. From 2005 to 2008 he appeared as Percy "Abra" Durant in the medical drama Holby City. In 2008 he played Henry Austen in the BBC produced film Miss Austen Regrets and Vernon in the ITV sitcom Teenage Kicks. In April 2009 he appeared on the cooking show Hell's Kitchen, where he reached the final, coming second to Linda Evans.Edmondson played the role of Captain Hook in the Canterbury Marlowe Arena pantomime during its Christmas 2009 run.
2010s
In an August 2010 edition of Radio 4's Chain Reaction programme he said to Lee Mack that he had not really quit but was focusing more on music and farming. He also said that he and Mayall often spoke of a reunion when they are old men, or in fifteen years' time. Mayall appeared during Edmondson's winning performance of The Dying Swan on BBC One's Let's Dance for Comic Relief on 5 March 2011.On 28 March 2011, ITV launched the documentary series The Dales, hosted by Edmondson, in which he followed a number of families who live and work in the Yorkshire Dales.
In September 2011, Edmondson appeared on the Sunday morning cooking show Something for the Weekend and told presenter Tim Lovejoy that he and Rik Mayall were planning to reunite and make another series of Bottom, set in an old people's home.
Edmondson presented the ITV series Ade in Britain, which was broadcast from 7 November to 2 December 2011. The series consists of Edmondson travelling around to different parts of the United Kingdom in a Mini Countryman towing a small caravan, and giving a programme on that part of the British Isles; it consists of Edmondson informing people about interesting features of the part which he has visited, and often involved him meeting folk singers who sing folk melodies from that part of Britain. A second series was followed in 2013.
Edmondson appeared on the BBC One series That's Britain! which was broadcast from 23 November to 14 December 2011. In each episode, his task was to report as an "insider" in how a region of Britain works. A one-off special, Britain Beware, about the history of British public information films, was hosted by Edmondson and aired on ITV on 7 May 2012.
On 23 August 2012, the BBC announced that Edmondson and Mayall's characters of Richie and Eddie would be returning in 2013 in Hooligan's Island, a television adaptation of their 1997 tour of the same name. However, on 15 October 2012 Edmondson announced during an interview with BBC radio presenter Mark Powlett that he had pulled out of the new series of Hooligan's Island stating that he changed his mind, and wished to pursue other interests. Mayall, Edmondson's long-time creative partner, died on 9 June 2014.
Edmondson had a minor role in the 2012 film Blood. Edmondson and Saunders reunited with their former Comic Strip colleagues in 2012 for a Famous Five sequel, Five Go to Rehab. It aired on 7 November on Gold.
Edmondson won the 2013 BBC One cookery series of Celebrity MasterChef. In 2014, Edmondson presented Ade at Sea, a factual six-part programme for the ITV network which follows Ade in Britain. In 2014, he played DCI Warner in the three-part mini-series Prey.
He played the role of Gordon in the 2013 Chichester Festival Theatre production of Neville's Island. In 2014, he reprised the role for the show's West End run. In 2015, Edmondson voiced Stanley the Dachshund in adverts for health and life insurance company Vitality.
In 2016, Edmondson took part in episode 4 of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and won the title of Star Baker. From 2 November to 3 December 2016 Edmondson starred in an adaptation of William Leith's bestseller Bits Of Me Are Falling Apart at the Soho Theatre, London.
Edmondson's children's book Tilly and the Time Machine was published on 4 May 2017. From November 2017 into 2018, Edmondson played the character of Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Also in 2017, Edmondson appeared as Captain Peavey in the eighth film of the Star Wars series, , a casting decision made by the film's director Rian Johnson, a self-proclaimed fan of Edmondson's work in The Young Ones and Bottom.
In September 2018, Edmondson featured as Sergeant Dogberry in the episode "Sigh No More" of Ben Elton's Upstart Crow. From September 2018 to November 2018, Edmondson toured with Nigel Planer in a play that they wrote together called Vulcan 7. In 2019, Edmondson appeared in EastEnders as Daniel Cook.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | The Comic Strip | Adrian Dangerous | Bonus feature on The Comic Strip Presents... DVD |
| 1982 | Kevin Turvey: The Man Behind The Green Door | Keith Marshall | |
| 1982 | The Magnificent One | Larry | |
| 1982–1984 | The Young Ones | Vyvyan | 2 series |
| 1982–2012 | The Comic Strip Presents... | Various roles | 30 episodes |
| 1983 | Dead On Time | Fool | |
| 1984 | Spitting Image | Harold Angryperson | Episode 1.7 |
| 1984 | The Lenny Henry Show | Episode 1.4 | |
| 1985 | Happy Families | Guy Fuddle | 1 series |
| 1986 | Screen Two | Alun Pickersgill | Episode: "Honest, Decent and True" |
| 1986 | Saturday Live | Adrian Dangerous | Sketches featuring The Dangerous Brothers |
| 1987 | Filthy Rich & Catflap | Edward Catflap | 1 series |
| 1987 | Hardwicke House | Tiny | Episode 5, "The Old Boys". Guest appearance with Rik Mayall. Was due to be broadcast on 18 March 1987, but never shown. An outtake on YouTube was the only footage available to the public, until all episodes were uploaded to the site in 2019. |
| 1988–1998 | French and Saunders | Various roles | 3 episodes |
| 1989 | Press Gang | Simon Knowles | Episode: "One Easy Lesson" |
| 1989 | Snakes and Ladders | Giles | |
| 1989 | Blackadder Goes Forth | Baron von Richthoven | Episode: "Private Plane" |
| 1990 | Screen One | Phil Burke | Episode: "News Hounds" |
| 1990 | Rita Rudner | Episode 1.6 | |
| 1991 | Comic Relief | Vim Fuego | Red Nose Day 1991 |
| 1991–95 | Bottom | Edward "Eddie" Hitler | 3 series |
| 1992–1994 | Absolutely Fabulous | Hamish | Episodes: "Magazine", "New Best Friend" |
| 1993 | If You See God, Tell Him | Gordon Spry | 1 series |
| 1993 | Jackanory | Reader | Episode: Harvey Angell |
| 1994 | Anna Lee | Dominic Jones | Episode: "The Cook's Tale" |
| 1995 | The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye | Zyke | Episode 3.3 and 3.4 |
| 1995 | Look at the State We're In! | Dewherst | |
| 1997 | Captain Star | Limbs Jones | 2 series |
| 1998 | Jack and The Beanstalk | Dame Dolly | Television film |
| 1999 | The Man | Alex | Television film |
| 2003–2004 | Jonathan Creek | Brendan Baxter | 5 episodes |
| 2004 | Doctors and Nurses | Dr. Roy Glover | 1 series |
| 2004 | Twisted Tales | Ed Barnes | Episode: "Cursed House" |
| 2005–2008 | Holby City | Percy "Abra" Durant | Various episodes; Series 7–11 |
| 2005 | Comic Relief Does Fame Academy | Himself | Competed in 2005 Series. Finished in 3rd Place. |
| 2006 | Surviving Disaster | Prof. Valery Legasov | Episode: "Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster" |
| 2007 | A Bucket o' French & Saunders | Hamish | Episode 1.4 |
| 2007 | Top Gear | Himself | Top Gear of the Pops |
| 2008 | Miss Austen Regrets | Henry Austen | Television film |
| 2008 | Teenage Kicks | Vernon | 1 series |
| 2008 | Celebrity Mastermind | Himself | |
| 2009 | Hell's Kitchen | Himself – Contestant | Series 4; finished in 2nd place |
| 2010 | Pete & Dud: The Lost Sketches | Performer | Television film |
| 2011–2013 | Ade in Britain | Himself | Presenter |
| 2011–2013 | The Dales | Himself – Presenter | Edmondson explores the Yorkshire Dales, getting to know the area and meeting the residents. |
| 2012 | The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff | Headmaster Wackville | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Celebrity Masterchef | Himself | Winner |
| 2014 | Ade at Sea | Himself | 6 episodes |
| 2014 | Prey | DCI Warner | 3 episode mini-series |
| 2016 | War and Peace | Count Ilya Rostov | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | One of Us | Peter Elliot | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Ronja, the Robber's Daughter | Noodle Pete | English version |
| 2017–present | Bancroft | Cliff Walker | Recurring role |
| 2018 | Upstart Crow | Sergeant Dogberry | 1 episode |
| 2018–2020 | Save Me | Gideon Charles | Recurring Role |
| 2019 | James McKitterick, British High Commissioner to Malaysia | Episodes 1&2 | |
| 2019 | Cheat | William Vaughn | Main role |
| 2019–2020 | EastEnders | Daniel Cook | Series regular |
| 2019 | Summer of Rockets | Max Dennis | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule | Himself | Series 3 Episode 6 |
| 2020 | Death in Paradise | Charles Crabtree | Series 9 Episode 1 |
Music career
In 1984, Edmondson formed the spoof Heavy Metal band Bad News as part of The Comic Strip Presents... series with Comic Strip regulars Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson. The band proved popular, and they released two singles and two studio albums. They also played a series of small gigs around the country, culminating in their performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in 1986.In 1986, Edmondson achieved a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed up with Cliff Richard 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 Bastard together with Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine.
Edmondson has directed pop videos for "Fiesta" by The Pogues, "Prime Mover" by Zodiac Mindwarp, "Like The Weather" by 10,000 Maniacs, "Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness" by Sandie Shaw and "Hourglass" by Squeeze. He also directed and appeared in "International Rescue" by Fuzzbox and appeared in the music video "Terry" by Kirsty MacColl.
In 1991, Edmondson formed The Bum Notes, who were a jazz instrumental band and conceived exclusively to perform theme music for Bottom.
A fan of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Edmondson performed vocals with them as part of their 2006 reformation and countrywide tour. He also contributed vocals and writing for their 2007 album Pour l'Amour des Chiens.
Together with Maartin Allcock, Andy Dinan and Troy Donockley, Edmondson founded the band The Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on traditional folk instruments. The band released three albums and first toured in 2009, playing at places such as the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. The Bad Shepherds also headlined the first ever Looe Music Festival in 2011. They disbanded in October 2016.
In 2010, he founded The Idiot Bastard Band with Simon Brint, Rowland Rivron, Neil Innes and Phill Jupitus. The Idiot Bastard Band perform original comedy songs as well as cover versions, and their shows often feature guest performers. The group continued to perform following the death of Brint in 2011.
Discography
;Albums| Year | Title | Band | Notes |
| 1987 | Bad News | Bad News | Album by The Comic Strip's spin-off band |
| 1988 | Bootleg | Bad News | Second album by Bad News, intended to resemble a sequence of bootlegged studio outtakes similar to The Troggs Tapes |
| 1991 | Cash in Compilation | Bad News | Compilation album of randomly picked tracks |
| 1995 | Stark | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook reading of the Ben Elton book |
| 1995 | The Cat in the Hat | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook reading of the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat |
| 1995 | Green Eggs and Ham | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook reading of the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham |
| 1995 | Fox in Socks | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook reading of the Dr. Seuss book Fox in Socks |
| 1995 | The Gobler | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook of Edmondson reading his book of the same name |
| 1996 | The Cat in the Hat and Other Stories | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook of Edmondson reading Dr. Seuss' stories |
| 2005 | Pirates | Adrian Edmondson | Audiobook |
| 2007 | Pour l'Amour des Chiens | Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band | Vocals and writing |
| 2009 | Yan, Tyan, Tethera, Methera | The Bad Shepherds | First album by The Bad Shepherds |
| 2010 | By Hook or By Crook | The Bad Shepherds | Second album by The Bad Shepherds |
| 2013 | Mud, Blood & Beer | The Bad Shepherds | Third album by The Bad Shepherds |
;Non-album songs
| Year | Title | Band | Notes |
| 1986 | "Living Doll" | Cliff Richard with The Young Ones | In character as Vyvyan from The Young Ones |
| 1991 | "Last Night" | The Bum Notes | Cover of The Mar-Keys track, used in the credits for Bottom |
| 1992 | "This Wheel's on Fire" | Julie Driscoll and Ade Edmondson | As the theme song for sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous |