Rik Mayall – Magnificent B’Stard he certainly is, but for all his genius over several decades, until his sad passing in June 2014 at the mere age of 56, this 90-minute documentary is rather pedestrian.
With comments from fellow Young Ones cast/writers Ade Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Ben Elton… but no Christopher Ryan, this trips through his career from when Alternative Comedy was starting off – with Kevin Turvey, 20th Century Coyote, and The Dangerous Brothers, moving into early TV success with The Comic Strip and the Young Ones, the latter while Thatcher was drunk in power, as well as the much underrated Filthy Rich and Catflap. I still have a VHS recording of that, it ended and the announcer said a second series would be coming soon… it never did.
I would love to have seen both Rik and Ade doing the play, Waiting For Godot, although for another in the ’90s, I do remember Mayall’s Cell Mates making the news, in 1995, because his co-star, Stephen Fry, disappeared from public view, early into the run after receiving a bad review, and ran off to Belgium. He later blamed it on his bipolar disorder.
Post-quadbike accident and as we get into the late ’90s, it’s interesting when Ade says Rik was at his most ‘Peter Sellers’ at the time of filming the brilliant Guest House Paradiso, albeit which was just more Bottom, but when it came to making a movie impact as a leading man, it never really happened, but then I was never a fan of the rather poor Drop Dead Fred.
Still, for the worst thing about Rik Mayall – Magnificent B’Stard, what the fuck is going on with these interviews? They’re giving me a migraine!
The face-on to camera is fine, but inbetween, there’s really shit camera angles, as if the cameraman is hovering over their heads at a funny angle, and it cuts to that at random. I can’t screenshot the screener, but when it airs, you’ll see it. In the meantime, there are example shots in the trailer, but I had to keep looking away when they showed these as it’s so jarring.
Overall, you’re better off just watching the actual programmes and not this. The only revelation I didn’t know about was Mayall’s increasing turning to drink during his career, which had a negative effect on his career.
Rik Mayall – Magnificent B’Stard is on Sky Documentaries from Thursday June 25th.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Cert: 
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: June 25th 2026
Studio: Sky
Format: 1.78:1
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.