In September 2012, Mayall starred in The Last Hurrah, a six-episode, full-cast audio series that he also co-wrote with Craig Green and Dominic Vince. [46] Jones, Paul (27 May 2011). "Mrs Ed Miliband's role in "banned" TV show revealed". Radio Times . Retrieved 17 June 2014. Bigger than Hitler – Better than Christ (2005) (semi-autobiographical), HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0007207282 Gibbons, Brett (9 June 2014). "Comedian and actor Rik Mayall dies aged 56". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 10 June 2014. Mayall had another television hit as the cheating, monstrous Tory MP Alan B'stard in The New Statesman (1987-92), written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, an irresistibly grotesque performance (for which he won a Bafta award), later transforming B'Stard into a New Labour convert in another touring stage show, The Blair B'Stard Project.

The Last Hurrah". The Last Hurrah. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014 . Retrieved 14 June 2014. The Voices of Valiant (2005, Animated Film) – Voice Cast Listing at Voice Chasers". Voice Chasers. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015 . Retrieved 25 January 2015. It goes without saying that Rik dominates every scene with energy and inspired timing. The play was nominated for an award and has been repeated many times most recently on Radio 4 Extra in May 2014. I talked to Rik about adapting the scenario and characters for screen and stage only last month. It hardly needs emphasising, if proof were needed, of the longevity of Coyote – but especially the Rik Mayall legacy. Sherwin, Adam (11 June 2014). "Rik Mayall's 'lost' England World Cup anthem crashes into Top 40 as tribute to late comic". The Independent . Retrieved 17 June 2014. Channel 4 poll, Comedians' Comedian, Mayall was voted among the top 50 comedy performers of all time. [60]

BREAKING NEWS: Rik Mayall dies aged 56". Herald Express. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014 . Retrieved 11 June 2014. In September 2009, Mayall played a supporting role in the television programme Midsomer Murders- shown on ITV1 and made by Meridian Broadcasting - as David Roper, a recovering party animal and tenuous friend of the families in and around Chettham Park House. a b c Barber, Lynn (17 December 2000). "Rik Mayall: Forever young". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2014. Five Mantras for life by Rik Mayall, Honorary Doctorate of the University of Exeter. YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.

As the youngest of the 1975 intake – Rik was only 56 years old when he died – his passing not only uncomfortably reminds us all of our own mortality but has invoked the glorious memories of an age of creative experiment and glorious mayhem. Mayall, Richard Michael ( Rik) ( 1958–2014), comedian, writer, and actor, was born on 7 March 1958 at 98 Pittmans Field, Harlow, Essex, the second of four children of John Mayall, schoolteacher, and his wife Gillian Baxter, née Harrild ( b. 1930), also a teacher who, like her husband, specialized in drama. The family moved to Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire in 1961 and Mayall was educated at Rashwood Primary School, precociously winning a free scholarship to the King’s School, Worcester, at the age of nine. Mayall had acquired a taste for acting while playing a five-year-old peasant child in an amateur production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and took a degree in drama at Manchester University, where he developed the extravagant, punk style of comedy playing that became his trademark, in company with several college contemporaries—his then girlfriend, Lise Mayer ( b. 1957), and the future comedians Ben Elton and Adrian Edmondson. He made an impression as ‘an outrageous ham’ at the National Student Drama Festival in 1978 and appeared, with Elton and Edmondson, in a play called Death on the Toilet at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, before graduating in 1979. In 1993, following the second series, Mayall and Edmondson decided to take a stage-show version of the series on a national tour, Bottom: Live. It was a commercial success, filling large venues. Four additional stage shows were embarked upon in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003, each meeting with great success. The violent nature of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital at various points. A film version, Guest House Paradiso was released in 1999. A fourth TV series was also written but not commissioned by the BBC. Kathryn Flett (2 October 2005). "TV: Love Soup | All About George | Elizabeth I | No Direction Home | Television & radio | The Observer". Theguardian.com . Retrieved 19 June 2014.Hawkes, Rebecca (10 June 2014). "Rik Mayall remembered by irreverent blue plaque". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 14 June 2014.

Monahan, Mark (9 June 2014). "Rik Mayall: his 10 best performances". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 9 June 2014.Heritage, Stuart (10 June 2014). "Rik Mayall's funniest TV moments – in clips". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 June 2014. Rik Mayall "Virgin Trains" Advert 2". YouTube. 6 November 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 . Retrieved 19 June 2014.