Flood (Young Ones episode)

"Flood" was the sixth episode of British sitcom "The Young Ones". It was written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, and directed by Paul Jackson. It was first aired on BBC2 on 14 December 1982 and was the final episode of the first series.

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), a character who was appearing for the second time during the first series, and would appear once more in total.

Plot

With none of the quartet noticing a medieval execution in their back garden, there is initial tranquility in the house, with Neil randomly hitting himself in the face with a frying pan and Vyvyan reading a war comic for young children, having already concocted a 'homicidal axe-wielding maniac' potion disguised in a Coca-Cola can, that transforms the drinker into said person. However, the monsoon-like rain outside soon traps everyone in the house and a game of hide and seek gets underway to pass the time. The house takes on a Narnia-esque feel, with a lion tamer in Mike's bedroom and Vyvyan finding a witch in a sleigh lurking in a new world at the back of the wardrobe, where he was hiding. But all that - plus the sharks at the window and the arson attack on Rick's bedroom - becomes irrelevant as Balowski arrives, drinks Vyvyan's potion, and goes on the hunt, smelling human blood. Suddenly, Mike's decision to rent his room to a man and his lions seemed a good idea.

This episode was the only one of the dozen made not to feature a band performing mid-show; the lion-tamer provided the "cabaret" instead. The episode ended by showing Vyvyan's hamster, SPG, floating on a discarded McEwan's lager can on the flood waters, as if to prove he had survived Vyvyan's angry outburst which led to him throwing him outside. Therefore this did not rule out SPG's return in a future series.