Accident (Bottom episode)

Accident is the sixth and final episode of the first series of British sitcom Bottom. It was first broadcast on Monday 28 October 1991.

Synopsis

Richie breaks his leg, but he is determined not to let it spoil his birthday celebrations.

Plot

The episode begins with Eddie sitting down at the breakfast table. Richie then enters the room in his pyjamas singing "Happy Birthday to me" much to Eddie's dismay. Richie then begins his annual birthday "routine" of reading what are obviously forged cards (Some allegedly from Sue Carpenter and General Pinochet) the same ones he claims to have received last year. One of his cards is from ABBA with "Happy Christmas 1973" written inside. Another is clearly forged but appears to be from the people of the Soviet Union "In grateful thanks to comrade Richie". Eddie points out that Richie has simply written it himself and put all the R's the wrong way round, Trying to save face, Richie insists that the is how Russian is written. Richie asks Eddie where his birthday gift is and, after annoying Richie with a couple of gag-gifts (Richie's comb that he lost last week and the TV remote), Eddie hands Richie a piece of paper with the words "Madame Swish 3:30" written on it, Richie, believing it to be a prostitute's card, heaps praise on Eddie, so initially excited is he at the prospect of finally getting sex. However, it soon comes to light that Madame Swish is actually a horse running in the 3:30 at Kempton. Richie gives Eddie £20 to put on the horse, with odds of 10/1.

Whilst Richie puts up his birthday decorations, Eddie returns after the big race and successfully fools Richie into thinking that the £20 bet Richie put on the race has left him with £2 in winnings. As Eddie tosses over the winnings, Richie falls off the ladder he is standing on and breaks his leg. After trying to overcome the problem with Eddie's assistance (which actually leaves Richie worse off) Richie is forced to go to hospital.

The pair return from the hospital - with Richie bandaged up and in a wheelchair - at 7pm, when Richie is expecting his party guests. As the clock strikes 7 there is a knock at the door - however only Eddie's "real" friends Dave Hedgehog and Spudgun await. Richie realises he has no friends and invites the pair to stay, following which he insists the group play "Sardines" - a variant of hide and seek in which one person hides and the rest have to find him, and when they find him they hide with him. However, being in a wheelchair, Richie needs the other three to hide him in the upstairs cupboard, and they must do so with their eyes closed. Once they have hidden Richie and counted to ten, Eddie, Spudgun and Dave instead decide to spend the night in front of the television, drinking the liquor Eddie has bought with the winnings he stole from Richie.

Richie is ecstatic after being in the upstairs cupboard for over 5 hours, believing it to be a world record, but soon after he gets bored and attempts to rejoin them downstairs. Due to his immobililty, he falls down the stairs, crashing through the cloakroom door and breaking his other leg, much to the amusement of the other three. A drunken Spudgun then vomits on the injured Richie, falling on him at the same time.

Richie's second mishap just so happens to occur at the same time as last orders at the local pub, so Eddie invites the regulars around for a quick party. Eddie is just in the middle of having the crowd in stitches whilst doing impersonations of Richie - with a mop end on his head and saying "Oh! Oh! why won't anyone ever have it off with me? Maybe it's because I'm a big fat ugly bastard with a microscopic penis!" - just as Richie enters the room. After Eddie convinces him that all of his friends have turned up for his party after all, Richie cheers up and attempts to boss over the activities. After attempting to divest a female guest of her blouse, he is stopped by the woman's boyfriend who then proceeds to get everyone together to give Richie the bumps. As they all throw him into the air, Richie hits the ceiling and his casts shatter, ending the episode with a close-up of him screaming in pain.

Notes

• This episode sees the first appearance of Eddie's "real friends" Spudgun (Steve O'Donnell) and Dave Hedgehog (Christopher Ryan). O'Donnell had worked on several of the Comic Strip Presents... productions with Mayall and Edmondson and would later co-star with Lee Evans in So What Now? (referenced by Richie and Eddie in the 2003 live show). Ryan had famously co-starred with Mayall and Edmonson on The Young Ones. Spudgun and Hedgehog would return in several other episodes - "Parade", "Holy", "Terror" and "Dough".
• Mark Williams would later become a regular of The Fast Show team and later would play recurring character Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films.
• The ambulance footage was recorded in Aldershot during the development of The Galleries.

Continuity and Production Errors

• Richie breaks his leg by falling off a stepladder, landing on his front. In the next shot, he is seen on his back.
• Following on from the above, Eddie tries to put Richie's leg back in place by tieing the leg to the door with string, and slams the door. As he does this, the string pulls Richie and he hits the door. If watching in slow motion, once the door is slammed, Richie's jeans rip, revealing the fake leg, and Mayall's real leg behind it. Continuing in slow motion, a trolley can be seen under Richie as he is pulled across the floor.
• Eddie, Hedgehog and Spudgun help Richie get up the stairs in his wheelchair to play Sardines. When Spudgun leans on the wall, the whole stage shakes.
• On the Bottom Fluff out-takes video, during this episode a shot shows peanuts on top of the television. After telling fellow actor Christopher Ryan that he "pissed" in the bottle of vodka he was drinking (Ryan retorts, "After Me"), Edmondson takes and eats a single nut, and then says "That's buggered continuity".

Cast

Cast	Characters
Rik Mayall	Richie
Ade Edmondson	Eddie
Steve O'Donnell	Spudgun
Christopher Ryan	Dave Hedgehog
Mark Williams	Boris
David Lloyd	Willy