Bench where Rik Mayall punched co-star in groin returns in fitting tribute by Bottom fans
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Bench where Bottom stars gawped, fought and cried - hailed "one of the greatest pieces of art ever" by Rik Mayall - returns after fan campaign
As the spot where Eddie and Richie gormlessly scuffled in the opening titles of Bottom, a humble brown bench on Hammersmith Bridge Road was a place of pilgrimage for Rik Mayall fans.
Before his death in June, the actor and comedian spoke of his sadness at the bench being removed from the junction. In a ceremony held today, a petition signed by more than 7,000 fans has rectified the situation: Hammersmith Council has replaced the setting where Mayall and co-star Adrian Edmondson once bickered to the point of farcical violence, inscribed with the words In Memory of The Man, The Myth, The Legend.
“Rik changed the face of comedy in the UK,” said Jaime Bird, the organiser of the petition.
“He had a huge impact on thousands of people throughout the UK and around the globe. He gave a nation so many great shows and memorable characters.
“We, the fans and friends, feel that we need a place where we can remember him and placing a memorial bench at this location is something we feel he would have loved.”
DJ Christian O’Connell and comedian Russell Kane were among those to back the campaign, which has received national television and newspaper coverage.
“Support for this petition has been astounding,” said Bird. “We managed to get on the actual news with this – that's the power of Rik’s fans.”
A plaque, reading “punched his friend in the balls on a bench near this spot,” was placed at the west London site alongside flowers following Mayall’s death.
Tributes to Mayall and his forlornly sleazy character in the sitcom, which ran between 1991 and 1995, adorned the petition.
“The scene on the bench was and still is an iconic piece of television for my generation,” wrote one fan. “It is only fitting it should be marked.”
Mayall called Hammersmith “my stomping ground, really” in one of his final BBC interviews.
“One of the greatest pieces of art ever taken was the opening sequence to Bottom, the telly show, where you’ve got just a lovely shot of Richie and Eddie sitting on a bench.
“If you were to walk from the end of King’s Street to get to the Hammersmith Apollo, you cross that roundabout. There, in the island, there used to be a little bench where Richie and Eddie were sitting.
“One day I turned up and the bench had gone – they’d put Pelican Crossings there, it’s just not there anymore.
“That, for me, is the worst journey I’ve ever made because I always loved that bench.”
- Read the petition and follow @memorialrik on Twitter.
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