Rik Mayall

Radio preview: Rik Mayall season, Radio 4 Extra

BBC radio marks Mayall's 57th birthday with series of broadcasts.

Lest we forget - a Rik Mayall retrospective

It is very difficult to imagine a world without Rik Mayall in it. A staple of the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his untimely death at the age of 56 in June 2014 led to an outpouring of tributes for the 'comic genius'. Although such a phrase is often used in the death of a well-known figure, is it an accurate label for the energetic and confident performer that Rik Mayall was?

Radio Times review

For a while it looked as if Man Down might not return. Greg Davies' splendidly daft sitcom about a blundering oaf who is the victim of bizarre attacks from his father, looked in doubt when Rik Mayall - who played said father brilliantly - died in June 2014.

Without Mayall's injections of crazed comic energy the show won't be quite the same, but this Christmas one-off should give us an idea of how much he'll be missed. It was still being made as RT went to press but the plot involves Dan and his two friends - off-with-the-fairies Jo and brilliantly square Brian - visiting the farm of Dan's aunt Nesta (Stephanie Cole). There they meet a peculiarly mean turkey.

Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule, BBC2, review

Mayall managed to maintain the fizz of youthful energy throughout his career.

TV review: Rik Mayall - Lord of Misrule, BBC2

2014 has not been a good year for comedy departures. Robin Williams and Joan Rivers left us, but it was Rik Mayall's sudden death on June 9 that struck the most resonant chord with me. Without getting all UKIP about it, Mayall was a Great British Comic and the BBC tribute Lord of Misrule was a fitting send-off.

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.

TV preview: Brian Pern, A Life In Rock, BBC2, Episode 3

Apart from the absence of a mention for Rik Mayall, the other notable omission at last week's British Comedy Awards was Brian Pern.

Greg Davies: we never considered replacing Rik Mayall

The Channel 4 comedy's writer and actor pays tribute to his late co-star and reveals The Young Ones legend was the first comedian to speak to him when he was growing up.