The Young Ones (TV series) Basterd (Adrian Edmondson); conceited wannabe anarchist sociology student, Rick (Rik Mayall); oppressed paranoid hippie peace studies student, Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye (Nigel Planer); and the suave, charming would-be underground mob boss, Mike The-Cool-Person (Christopher Ryan). It also featured Alexei Sayle, who played various members of the Balowski family—most often Jerzei Balowski, the quartet's landlord—and occasional independent characters, such as the train driver in "Bambi" and the Mussolini-lookalike Police Chief in "Cash". The show combined traditional sitcom style with violent slapstick, non-sequitur plot turns, and surrealism. These older styles were mixed with the working and lower-middle class attitudes of the growing
Bambi (The Young Ones) Edmondson); Rick (Rik Mayall); and Neil (Nigel Planer). The title character was portrayed by Griff Rhys Jones in a parody of real-life "University Challenge" presenter Bamber Gascoigne, while Jones' comedy partner Mel Smith has a cameo as a security guard. The opposing "University Challenge" team, from (the fictional) Footlights College, Oxbridge, comprises Lord Monty (Hugh Laurie); Lord Snot (Stephen Fry: who had himself appeared on "University Challenge" while a Cambridge student); Miss Money-Sterling (Emma Thompson); and Kendal Mintcake (Ben Elton). Alexei Sayle appears briefly as a train driver to deliver his trademark monologue (in this case to a lone Mexican