Hole (Bottom episode)

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Bottom episode
“Hole”
Episode no. Series Three
Episode 001
Writer(s) Adrian Edmondson & Rik Mayall
Producer Jon Plowman
Director Bob Spiers
Original broadcast January 6th, 1995
Episode chronology
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“'s Out” “Terror”

"Hole" is the first episode of the third series of British television sitcom, Bottom. It was first broadcast on 6 January 1995.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Eddie and Richie are stuck on top of a Ferris Wheel.

[edit] Plot

Richie and Eddie go to the fair for the evening and begin to talk about their night out on top of the tallest Ferris wheel in Western Europe. Richie claims that this has to be his last ride of the night as he is "Up to my three quid limit", Eddie informs him that this ride on the Ferris Wheel cost three pounds thus implying they have just been walking around the fair ground all night. After an unfortunate incident on the Waltzers (in which an elderly woman was covered in vomit), Eddie states "I had no idea I’d eaten so much". Richie describes that he "wizzed round three times and she looked like the creature from the swamp". Eddie believes that not all the vomit was his as he didn't remembering eating "All those horrible lumps of gristle" to which Richie replies that the gristle was the woman’s face.

After another unfortunate incident on the ghost train that proved far too terrifying for Eddie claiming "They shouldn't make them so scary" and that he was lucky another man on the ride passed out otherwise he would have never managed to get his trousers off. Richie asks Eddie how is newly acquired trousers fit him to which Eddie replies that they are fine but he stands up to reveal that it is in fact a skirt. Richie says to Eddie that they appear to have a "Skirty feel" about them to which Eddie replies "I think he may have been Scottish". Richie then replies "Oh well that’s all right, the Scots are allowed to be transvestites".

To finish their fun they decide to go on the Ferris wheel, the burly ride operator shuts down the ride halfway through a turn leaving Richie and Eddie at the top. Richie believes that the two girls he claims have been following them around the fair ground all night are getting on the ride. Richie claims that his girl is very good looking and that Eddie's girl isn’t as good looking has a beard, smokes a pipe and doesn’t have as many legs. Eddie realises who Richie is talking about and that they are in fact "Keith and Deirdre" from the local pub's mixed couples nudie mud wrestling team. Richie tries to save face by claiming that Deirdre is his girl and Keith is Eddie's, he goes onto ask that if the two are a couple then why was she "giving him the eye all night...Not the glass one the other one" to which Eddie replies that she is in fact blind.

They spend the next half an hour getting on each others nerves. Eddie takes a full plastic pint pot of Bitter from his coat pocket and starts drinking. Eddie begins to read a newspaper and after reading an article about the Ferris wheel realizes that it is due to be blown up in a controlled explosion at dawn as the Ferris wheel is a deathtrap and will cost to much to dismantle. They realise that they must escape and decide to make a flare in order to attract attention, Eddie reveals a bottle of Brandy that he has also added Pernod, methylated spirit several other chemicals and many more drinks too including Drambuie. Richie thinks that Drambuie is a drink not befitting a man and makes limp-wristed gestures to which Eddie replies "Well you've got to put something in it for the birds". Richie smells the bottle as asks Eddie in a puzzled manner "How are you alive?", Eddie taps his nose and replies "I may very well not be". Richie spots a police helicopter, lights the bottle in the same manner as a Molotov cocktail and throws it in the air. The makeshift flare fails to burst and ends up falling back into the Ferris wheel seats causing the floor between the seats of catch on fire. The fire soon gets out of hand and Richie forces Eddie to pour his second "Emergency" glass of Bitter onto the fire. Eddie does so but is enraged and states to Richie "I will never ever forgive you for this".

After the fire has been put out Richie stamps on it as if he has been the brave one and put it out, this causes the floor to collapse and results in him hanging by his fingertips, Eddie pulls him back up by his hair and the two proceed to argue. Eventually the Ferris wheel seats come loose and they are left hanging 350 feet in the air. Eddie quickly becomes a Buddhist (Because he wants to be reincarnated as a bra, or a supermodel), Richies decides that they should start to pray, to which Eddie asks "Who to, Buddha?" and Richie replies "No, none of that old supermodel cobblers" and they pray to God a giant hand stretches out to save them and the two climb on moments before the Ferris Wheel seats fall to the ground. Eddie turns to Richie and states "Although we and entire BBC respect people's rights to believe whatever they want to believe", at this point he turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall of theatre and goes onto state, "Because we don’t want to get into the shit on this one". Turning back to Richie he finishes with "We don't actually believe in God". They both agree and plunge 350 feet as the giant hand disappears.

[edit] Notes

  • The episode is a single-scene real-time episode featuring only Richie and Eddie.
  • In the outtakes on the Region 2 DVD, you can hear the full explicit dialogue that was bleeped by Eddie in the actual episode regarding their use of swearing. You can also hear this on the Audio version of this episode.

[edit] Consistency Errors

  • Eddie says that the loud Wurlitzer organ music played at the fairground reminded him of his dad's funeral. But in many of the other episodes Eddie says that he has no idea who his father was.

[edit] Continuity and Production Errors

  • Eddie's plastic pint pot is knocked off the side, there is the sound of it hitting the floor, even though they are supposedly 350 feet in the air.
  • By the end of the episode, God's hand appears. The two admit that they don't really believe in God. However in many other episodes (Such as Apocalypse and Break (Although Fingers were crossed) and even before the hand arrives at the end of this episode) Richie (And occasionally Eddie) is seen praying to God.

[edit] Cast

Cast Characters
Rik Mayall Richie
Adrian Edmondson Eddie