
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 | 

