Alexei Sayle

Sue Perkins for Top Gear, and if not her another comic?

In the last few days I've heard about Count Arthur Strong being mooted as new host of Top Gear and Alexei Sayle being tipped for the job. At the time of writing Sue Perkins is the odds-on bookies favourite, even though she has tweeted that she is not interested.

Radio Times review

In a year when a celeb seemed to pop off every week, some losses were keener than others. Rik Mayall was 56 when he died suddenly in June: nowhere near retirement, as evidenced by his TV comeback last year in Man Down. That show's bereft creator, Greg Davies, contributes to this documentary, as do Michael Palin, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Alexei Sayle, Tim McInnerny and Ruby Wax.

The rare footage here should illustrate how Mayall justified the over-used phrase "force of nature". He was like a child eternally refusing to grow up. That's why it was so shocking when he turned out not to be unstoppable after all.

When almost anyone who's had their 15 minutes dies now, social media is awash with people who have never given the deceased a second thought chiming in that they'll be missed. When Rik Mayall died suddenly in June, thousands tweeted their grief.

"He was a golden youth," says Ben Elton. "He was the greatest of us all," says Alexei Sayle. "The sexy genius, Rik Mayall," says whoever wrote Simon Callow's suitably grandiose narration for this tribute programme, which does the usual run-through of all the late star's famous roles, making out that each was incredibly groundbreaking, while celebrity chums say what a great guy he was.

The thing is, with Rik Mayall, for once all of that is absolutely true. He was a bloody sexy genius. He was unique and I'm quite willing to believe he was brilliant to know. And that grief felt real: to a certain generation, at least, he was ours in a way no other entertainer could be and loved as much as any stranger could be. He never sold out, never became a sentimental, corny shadow of himself.

This tribute programme - obvious as it is, missing (totally understandably) any contributions from his family or Adrian Edmondson, but filled with wonderful early footage and photos - reminds us of just what we lost.

You may cry a wee bit. But you will definitely laugh.

Alexei Sayle's Marxist demolition of Strictly

The TV show has taken a great popular art form and turned it into a travesty, argues the comedian - which is why you will never see this dance lover on Strictly.

Alexei Sayle on Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall could make people laugh just by walking on stage and standing there.

In many ways the antithesis of BBC2's traditional "highbrow" output, The Young Ones' anarchic approach to comedy was an instant cult hit with younger audiences. It set the tone for the age of "alternative" comedy that still dominates today. The premise - four students who live in a bedsit - was traditional, but its structure, which included fragmented and often surreal storylines, random asides, the trashing of the set and sudden cuts to hamsters singing in a fridge, was energetic, punky and pioneering. Written (mostly) by Ben Elton and starring Adrian Edmondson (Vyvyan), Rik Mayall (Rick), Nigel Planer (Neil) and Christopher Ryan (Mick) - it also featured Alexei Sayle as landlord Mr Balowski.

Since light entertainment programmes were allocated bigger budgets than sitcoms, it was decided every episode would also feature a band. These bands - which included Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Madness - would perform songs which had no relevance to the plot.

Memorable scenes include Footlights versus Scumbag College in University Challenge; Vyvyan's head being cut off and then rolling along a train track still speaking; as well as the last shot of them all toppling over a cliff in a stolen double-decker bus.

Alexei Sayle on 35 Years in Comedy

Anybody interested in recent comedy history should have been at I Say, Alexei Sayle's inaugural "Comedy Conversation" at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival earlier this week.

Alexei Sayle on 35 years in the business

Today's stand-up scene has lost almost all links to the revolutionary spirit that first launched alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle has claimed.

Alexei Sayle to give lecture at De Montfort University

Veteran funnyman Alexei Sayle is making his debut appearance at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival next month.

The best comedy gigs of 2013

Alexei Sayle, Russell Brand, Bridget Christie, The Pin and Tim Key showed us the funny this year.