Summer Holiday (Young Ones episode)

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"Summer Holiday" was the twelfth episode of British sitcom The Young Ones. It was written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, and directed by Geoff Posner. It was first aired on BBC2 on June 19, 1984 and was the final episode of the program.

[edit] Characters

As with all episodes of The Young Ones, the main four characters were student flatmates Mike (Christopher Ryan); Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson); Rick (Rik Mayall) and Neil (Nigel Planer). The episode also features their landlord Jerzei Balowski (Alexei Sayle), and a postman, played by Lenny Henry. Jerzei appears for the first and only time during the second series, and for the third and final time in total.

[edit] Plot

Outside shot of the victimised bank

The quartet have taken their final exams and are enjoying the summertime, although Vyvyan is bored and begins wanton violence and destruction. Rick suggests Botticelli, where one guesses the identity of a famous person through clues and questions, but it proves too tedious for words, and Vyvyan suggests cricket instead. In the living room, Rick is given the role of stumps and Vyvyan is bowler to Mike's batsman. The first shot - without a ball - knocks out Neil as he enters the room; the second involves Vyvyan not releasing the ball and running straight for Rick, clouting him on the head. Vyv then sets fire to Rick, in order to obtain The Ashes. Neil then reveals it's his birthday, and a party begins, but with no guests, beer or music. The four decide to watch the television instead, but the channels are all closing down, infuriating Vyvyan, who kicks the TV to pieces. Rick then learns of his parents' sudden death from Mike, who thought it unimportant to mention earlier. Jerzei Balowski arrives to check on the house and its belongings but, on discovering that the television is smashed, an elephant's head has appeared on the carpet and the refrigerator is about to be blown apart by a hand grenade, evicts them on to the street.(The exploding fridge blows away Neil's hair, revealing he wears a wig, to Neil's own disgust). The four receive their exam results, from the postman, who, having already read the letters, tells them they "came bottom in the whole world", with Rick being the worst failure. Mike then hatches a plan to rob a bank, using what appear to be real guns, but are actually water pistols, and Vyvyan's car as a getaway. They mess up their own robbery, but unwittingly take the proceeds from a separate ongoing one, escape to Vyvyan's Ford Anglia, which he had parked in front of a lamppost. Therefore, Vyv promptly crashes into it. Inconsolable at crashing his car, he also reveals that SPG had died, after falling asleep on the car's radiator. With the police sirens in the distance, Rick escapes to find a new getaway vehicle, and returns with a double decker bus, which they drive away to freedom. As they sing songs and plan their future Rick suddenly shouts "Look out, Cliff!" and the bus crashes into a Cliff Richard concert billboard (which, interestingly, advertises 'The Young Ones Summer Vacation Tour') and plunges over a cliff on the other side. The bus lands at the bottom, and there is a pause, in which all the lads remark, "Phew, that was close", the bus then explodes into flames just as everyone finishes speaking.

The episode features a performance by John Otway, performing 'Body Talk' on the streets.

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