Adrian Edmondson
Biography
Adrian Edmondson was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He went to Manchester University to study drama. Whilst he was there he met Rik Mayall, and the pair began performing as 20th Century Coyote. The act continued after university when Adrian & Rik moved to London, and they became two of the leading lights in the new 'alternative comedy' scene, performing at the newly established Comedy Store, and setting up their own club, The Comic Strip, with 'Peter Richardson', Nigel Planer, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and Alexei Sayle. This spawned two 1980s TV series: The Young Ones (1982), and The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) In the 1990's Ade & Rik continued their partnership with a new series called Bottom (1991), which ran for three seasons and became a major success on the live circuit. It was basically a live sitcom, liberally sprinkled with slapstick humour, and the pair did 5 long tours between 1993 and 2003. Simultaneously, Adrian established himself as an actor, doing two improvised TV films under the Screen One and Screen Two umbrella, with director Les Blair: Screen Two: Honest, Decent and True (1986), and Screen One: News Hounds (1990) (winner of the BAFTA for best single drama). He was a regular in the hospital drama Holby City (1999) from 2005 - 2008. He took the lead in a drama documentary about the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in the series Surviving Disaster (2006), and appeared as Henry Austen in the TV movie Miss Austen Regrets (2008), the film Blood (2012), and the drama series Prey (2014). But his most notable dramatic role to date is that of Count Rostov in the BBC series War & Peace (2016).
Acting (77 movies)
Guest House Paradiso
1999
Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
1988
Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island
1997
Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour
2003
Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity
2001
Bottom Mindless Violence
2004
Bottom Live 2: The Big Number 2 Tour
1995
Miss Austen Regrets
2008
Bottom Live: The Stage Show
1993
The Dangerous Brothers - Dangervision
2008
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
1989
The Supergrass
1985
Dangerous Brothers Present: World of Danger
1986
An Audience With Victoria Wood
1988
Blood
2012
The Best of French & Saunders
2002
The Yob
1988
The Trick
2021
Dead on Time
1983
Demonella
1993
Summer School
1983
Five Go Mad in Dorset
1982
Four Men in a Car
1998
Eddie Monsoon - a Life?
1984
War
1983
Four Men in a Plane
2000
The Beat Generation
1983
Five Go Mad on Mescalin
1983
Dirty Movie
1984
Susie
1984
Gino: Full Story and Pics
1984
Slags
1984
Consuela (or, The New Mrs Saunders)
1986
Private Enterprise
1986
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 1
1990
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 2 Argie Bargie!
1990
Oxford
1990
Red Nose of Courage
1992
Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase
1993
Space Virgins from Planet Sex
1993
Five Go to Rehab
2012
imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter
2023
The Pope Must Die
1991
News Hounds
1990
The Comic Strip - A Retrospective
2005
Just Like That!
1989
Eat the Rich
1987
Bottom: Exposed
2024
If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story
2007
Kevin Turvey: The Man Behind the Green Door
1982
The Comic Strip
1981
Rocky Horror Tribute Show
2008
Rocky Horror Show Live
2015
The Rizen
2017
The Strike
1988
Interlude In Prague
2017
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
2017
The Making of 'Guest House Paradiso'
1999
RSC Live: Twelfth Night
2018
Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye
1995
More Bad News
1988
Bad News
1983
The Rizen: Possession
2019
Completely Bad News
2019
Bottom Fluff
1996
Big Bottom Live - The Best of Bottom Live
1999
How The Young Ones Changed Comedy
2018
The Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Rude Video Live
1986
Jack and the Beanstalk: The ITV Pantomime
1998
King Rocker
2020
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
2008
Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel
2021
A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques
1984
The Making of 'The Young Ones'
2007
Filthy Rich & Catflap
1987
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 40th Anniversary Celebration
2006
Britain Beware!
2012
Directing (6 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| The Comic Strip | 1981 | Writer |
| Bad News | 1983 | Writer |
| Dirty Movie | 1984 | Writer |
| Eddie Monsoon - a Life? | 1984 | Writer |
| Private Enterprise | 1986 | Writer |
| More Bad News | 1988 | Writer |
| Mr Jolly Lives Next Door | 1988 | Writer |
| Guest House Paradiso | 1999 | Writer |
| Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity | 2001 | Writer |
| Completely Bad News | 2019 | Writer |