This is the BBC beeb Chat that Adrian did in 1999, the BBC seem to have deleted from their website so I’m putting it on here for Adrian’s fans to read.

Starring roles in the Young Ones, Comic Strip and Bottom have positioned raucous comic actor Adrian Edmondson as one of Britain's finest alternative comedians. He checked in for a live Radio Times online chat to talk about these legendary series, as well as his forthcoming film, Guest House Paradiso, where he teams up once again with Rik Mayall.

Adrian Edmondson live on beeb.com

janey: “what was it like directing and acting in a film at the same time?”

Adrian Edmondson: “It's like having your cake and eating it. It's like going to bed with yourself and finding out you're a cracking bird. And you don't mind anything.”

blair: “how much writing do you do, as opposed to acting?”

Adrian Edmondson: “We spend most of our time writing. It's what we enjoy the most. It's the time when we laugh the most because we're hearing the jokes for the first time. And they are always the funniest when you have just thought of them.”

Posh: “Do you prefer doing TV work or live stage stuff?”

Adrian Edmondson: “The difference between TV, live and film... they are all very different. TV is exciting in that you perform in front of a live audience, but film gives you the opportunity to be very particular about what shots you make. The nature of TV multi-camera means you don't get a lot of time; two days max to shoot a whole episode of Bottom. With a film you get seven weeks to shoot an hour and a half. Because a lot of our comedy is cartoon-like, we have always had a desire to make film in order to get the pictures exactly right... so that when, as in the film, there is a shot of Richie's testicles caught in a pair of nutcrackers, it's the very best shot of Richie's testicles caught in a pair of nutcrackers that you will have ever seen.

We did a few live tours during the 90's and live work is extremely exciting, because its very volatile. You try to whip the audience into a hysteria, and it's as exciting for the performers as it is for the audience. Unfortunately over the 3 tours we put out videos which showed us being very clever with hecklers, because we had edited together all the best anti-heckling routines. This meant that by the third tour people were coming only to heckle because they imagined that's what we wanted to do. Doesn't mean we'll never do it again but it just made it too much of a bear pit!”

MB Macdonald: “About “Bottom” - Who are the “Bum Notes”?”

Adrian Edmondson: “This is an anorak question. You should do something better with your life! However, the Bum Notes are Simon Brint of Raw Sex fame, myself and several session musicians who cannot play very well.”

Nick Stewart: “I'd like to ask you who your influences from TV, stage and cinema were as a writer and performer.”

Adrian Edmondson: “When I met Rik at university we discovered we had in our record collections The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band (Vivian Stashall as a shared interest); they were humorous art students of the 60's. The other thing we found that we had both done at school which was funny was Waiting For Godot, which we both thought was a very funny piece, rather than an intellectual journey. These, combined with a love of Laurel and Hardy, Roadrunner cartoons, Peter Sellers films, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore, Tom and Jerry, are all quite blatantly copied in our work. We sometimes wonder why we are not sued. Jacques Tatti made a film called Monsieur Hulot's Holiday and you'll notice in Guest House Paradiso that we have stolen the sound of the kitchen door from that film.”

ZOE: “Do you like Eddie? Is there ever a crossover between your life and his?”

Adrian Edmondson: “I love Eddie, he's a part of me. Not a very nice part of me, not a very sociable part of me. But he's there and I think there's a little bit of him in most people, as there is of Richie's character, and I think its why the characters have such long-lasting appeal. Their desires are principally the desires of every man or woman. They want to be happy, they want to be well fed, they want to have money, they'd like to try sex, but are frustrated at every turn.

We play the characters when we're with each other in the back of a car or somewhere like that, and we've always looked forward to old age when we think it will be much more acceptable. No one ever minds old men leering at women in those dreadful homes. That's the only age where you can get away with it. If anyone ever gave Richie and Eddie a fair crack of the whip, I think they might be pleasantly surprised. It's just that nothing good ever happens to them, like in lots of people's lives.”

ZOE: “There is something very sexy about Edward Elizabeth Hitler - Are you aware of this?”

Adrian Edmondson: “What? What is it? I need to know. Damn, another opportunity lost.”

chriss: “what are you working on at the moment?”

Adrian Edmondson: “As soon as we finished Guest House Paradiso, we decided we had such a good time that we sat down and started writing another one straight away. It's about two thirds written, and I am not sure we would be allowed to mention the title on BBC online chat, but it rhymes with trap... it's a one word title. It's set in space when there are no more sewage facilities left and we run a spaceship which is really a gigantic septic tank.”

Doris: “Are there any plans to revive The Comic Strip?”

Adrian Edmondson: “The Comic Strip refuses to die. It's all the fault of Peter Richardson. Don't know if you remember Four Men in a Car, which went out a couple of years ago as a single episode about four businessmen on a car journey to Swindon, but we have just made a follow-up called Four Men in a Plane, surprisingly enough about four businessmen in a plane. I wish Pete would hurry up and write Four Men on a Caribbean Beach Drinking Pina Coladas.”

ally: “will you be writing anymore books”

Adrian Edmondson: “Once a week I get the urge to complete one of the three fictional projects I've unfortunately got going. I take all the games off my computer and swear that I will not play another game until I have finished this or that project. Unfortunately, after 2 or 3 days I stick on another stupid game - I am very good at Civilisation 2. I am a sad person...”

stephen: “did u ever get hurt with any of the violence in Bottom?????”

Adrian Edmondson: “We get hurt quite a lot, obviously not very badly, usually just minor cuts and bruises. The only serious incident was when we were doing an impression of The Towering Inferno as the Dangerous Brothers. It was the first time we'd worked outside the BBC and we had different special effects men. The theory was that they would cover my shins with glue and that the flames would only come up to my waist. I said that if the flames came higher than my waist not to worry too much and I would improvise by shouting 'help, help', trying to make it look very dangerous. So we arranged a code word instead of 'help' in case things went wrong. It was a live show; Rik set fire to me, the flames licked around my head and engulfed me. I immediately forgot the code word and all I could think of to shout was 'help, help' but nothing happened. In fact, the special effects crew thought I was being very very funny. It wasn't until I threw myself to the ground that they deigned to put me out. I lost all my nasal hairs, my eyelashes and my eyebrows... and my dignity.”

Duncan Lynskey: “Where did you film Guest House Paradiso?”

Adrian Edmondson: “We shot it at Ealing, the home of British comedy, and it was fantastic to think that Barbara Windsor and her chums had walked the very same corridors, and used the very same toilets, some of which rather charmingly hadn't been cleaned since her visit. The location shoot, the motorcycle sequence, was on the Isle of Wight. The council there very nicely allowed us to close their most scenic road for four days, thinking it would be a good advert for the island. I don't think they realised we were going to superimpose a model of an enormous nuclear power station belching out radioactivity and smoke.”

guest7: “Any chance of another series of The Young Ones?”

Adrian Edmondson: “We're far too old so there's no point. Furthermore, I think what we do now is actually funnier. I know it doesn't have the same shock value because we can never be new again, but I think our present writing is packed with gags in a way that the Young Ones wasn't. There were so many embarrassing bits in the Young Ones - the talking vegetables, the horrible sketch in the basement with two men on a raft - what was it about? Were any of us in it? Was it funny? I have heard rumours of a Young Ones movie but none of us who were in it or who wrote it seem to be involved. So should be quite interesting to watch. I wonder who will be in it...”

SMarkham: “Why the name changes from Eddie Hitler & Richard Richard in Guesthouse Paradiso?”

Adrian Edmondson: “The principal reasons for the name change are for comedic effect. Richie is now called Richard Twat (pronounced Thwait according to him) and Eddie is called Mrs Edward Elizabeth Ndingombaba, or at least that is what it says in his passport. In truth, Rik and I have always called each other Richie and Eddie, and I don't know if any of you have spotted this but we have been playing the same sort of characters for over 20years. So we just changed the surnames for our own amusement.”

jonathan walker: “Do you and the other Young Ones ever get together for a drink?”

Adrian Edmondson: “Rik, Nigel and I see each other quite regularly and we see Chris once in a while. He's a strange cove and spends much of his time sitting on a rock looking out to sea with nothing for company except a thermos flask of oxtail soup so we don't often join him.”

Julia: “Would you accept a part in EastEnders, if offered?”

Adrian Edmondson: “What is it about EastEnders? My kids are mad for it so I have to watch it. I quite liked the time when Patsy left recently, thought her mum was very good, and I'd love a part but all the men are so bloody miserable, and if they're not miserable, they're retarded. Coincidentally, two of the people Rik and I went to university with ended up playing the retarded people on EastEnders. That was Lofty (Tom Watt) and Nigel (Paul Bradley) and that's actually true. I was once, as a young man, up for the love interest for Gail Tilsley in Coronation Street, there but for the grace of god...”

Spudgun: “is there going to be a Bottom Live 4”

Adrian Edmondson: “There will be one but maybe not for 10 years. We like television but we just got bored. I'm sure the interest will come round again especially when our film careers take a nosedive, as they are bound to do.”

Jim: “Do the characters in Mr Jolly lives next door have christian names?”

Adrian Edmondson: “I am sure they are called Richie and Eddie....”

sarah: “did you enjoy appearing on the 11 o'clock Show last night?”

Adrian Edmondson: “They're very young people aren't they? Cor blimey.. what is he, 17? It was one of the most comfortable chat shows I have ever been on... they are so excited and unjaded. I am sure it will only take a year and they'll turn into miserable buggers like Clive Anderson. I hope you're reading this, Clive.”

jonathan walker: “Would you ever consider a serious part?”

Adrian Edmondson: “Eddie is a very serious part and I imagine by the year 2050 he will be on most school syllabuses, and the Kenneth Branagh's of that day will be queuing up to interpret him.”

Britt Hansen: “What's your and Jennifer's favourite football team?”

Adrian Edmondson: “Unfortunately I support Chelsea and Jennifer supports the team that everyone else supports - Man United. All those people from the home counties: joke - Question: how many Man United fans does it take to change a lightbulb at Old Trafford? Answer: Two, one to change the lightbulb and the other to drive them up from Surrey.”

SarahD: “Adrian, is Rik any good in bed? I'm talking about the Big Breakfast of course..”

Adrian Edmondson: “As you know Rik hurt his head sometime ago so its a miracle that he can talk at all. During the filming of Guest House, I tried to hit him about the head as much as possible in order to induce a second attack, but to no avail. The bastard is still alive as you probably saw on The Big Breakfast - he is too alive. I keep hiding his pills but he still goes from strength to strength. If there are any shady doctors out there please send whatever you can.”

guest7: “What is your all time favourite comedy series?”

Adrian Edmondson: “It's impossible to have a favourite, it depends on what mood you are in. I remember a few years ago tuning into Seinfeld and thinking, "What's this? I can't watch a programme where a man tucks both his shirt and his vest into his jeans." About a year ago, I started watching it again (just after they'd stopped making them) and of course I have now become a rabid fan. I am one of those sad anoraks who scans across all the TV stations and I can sometimes watch 4 episodes a night. I am only just beginning to watch repeats.

I think the most important comedy programme for me ever was Monty Python. I was a young teenager at the time and I used to be allowed to stay up to watch it as a special treat. It was blindingly funny and seemed very very dangerous. Most of the time I didn't even know what I was laughing at, which is often the best kind of comedy.”

beeb.com says: “Adrian says a final farewell...”

Adrian Edmondson: “To sum up, please try to like me... I'm not as bad some people say. Guest House Paradiso is perhaps not for those of you who like to cuddle up in front of a Hugh Grant movie, but its also not just for Bottom fans. Go out on a limb. Buy a ticket today. Please. Goodbye, thank you and I hope I've passed the audition. Goodbye. Go back to work. Go on, it's your boss's computer anyway - do they know you are using their telephone bill? Go on. Get out of it! Sling your hook!”