Ben Elton

Book excerpt: Writing That Sitcom by James Cary

Writing the perfect sitcom is the Holy Grail of comedy. Get it right and you will be carried through the city on people's shoulders. Get it wrong and you might as well go and hide under a stone. Look at the brickbats aimed at Ben Elton's The Wright Way. Even the co-writer of Blackadder got it wrong.

General election: Ben Elton on Labour campaign trail

Ben Elton has recalled his campaigning for Labour in the 1980s and 1990s as he introduced Ed Miliband at a rally.

Ben Elton interview: backing Labour for the election

The comedian also called on Myleene Klass to pay her share of the tax after she "made loads taking a shower in a bikini".

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.

Ben Elton: Michael Gove is wrong about Blackadder

The We Will Rock You creator discusses the First World War, global warming and the mystery of the missing Freddie Mercury statue...

Ben Elton: 'Michael Gove made an arse of himself'

The ceasefire is over: Ben Elton is fighting back. "Michael Gove made a complete arse of himself over Blackadder," says the writer, responding at last to the blistering attack on his First World War trenches comedy earlier in the year. "He is not a bad man but it was a monumentally stupid observation to say that we are not gung-ho enough about the war."

Ben Elton's tribute to 'wonderful' Rik Mayall

Ben Elton has spoken to Sky News Entertainment Week about his close friendship with comedy great Rik Mayall.

Ben Elton inspired by Michael Gove Blackadder criticism

Writer and comedian Ben Elton has said his most recent novel, about someone travelling back in time to prevent the First World War from starting, was partially inspired by Michael Gove. Former education secretary Mr Gove said Elton's TV sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth, which he co-wrote with Richard Curtis "perpetuated left wing myths about World War 1".