User Reviews

I think my favorite part of this show was seeing the duo ad-lib when they went off-script + flubbed lines, prop placement, etc.

Spoiler alert: the part with the door swinging open unexpectedly + Rik's reaction, for instance, made this video for me. In all fairness, I am a big fan of the Bottom series. So, I might just be in love with Eddie + Richie to the point where they can do no comedic wrong in my eyes.

Also, I didn't watch the first two Bottom Live specials yet. Mostly because I just gravitated to this (the 3rd), the 4th, + the 5th live shows based on their titillating titles. Either way, I enjoyed this. Three thumbs up.

Oh, wait...that's not a thumb.

'Bottom' ended its final series on BBC2 in February 1995. Two and a half years later, Rik and Ade returned as Richie and Eddie for their third stage outing - 'Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island' - filmed at The Brisol Hippodrome. It took the two from their normal setting in their grotty flat to a remote desert island somewhere in the pacific. In my opinion, 'Hooligan's Island' was the weakest of all the 'Bottom' stage shows. Though it was funny, something was lacking. I cannot quite put my finger on it.

'Hooligan's Island' sees Richie and Eddie struggling to survive against ordeals such as food poisoning and encounters with cannibals. Amidst all this chaos, Richie and Eddie manage to keep themselves amused with a heavy dose of violence, boozing, swearing, vomiting and farting.

The second half of the show sees Richie and Eddie accidentally triggering off a gigantic nuclear bomb that has been dumped on their island by a Frenchman ( was this inspired by the 'Bomb' episode of 'The Young Ones', do you think? ), which then takes both their lives at the end of the show when it blows up ( Richie and Eddie really should have made The Guinness World Records. After all, how many people can say they have been blown up three times and then miraculously come back to life? ).

'Hooligan's Island', whilst not bad, is not as good as the first two shows. Whilst the idea of marooning Richie and Eddie on an island was certainly a neat one, I think the main problem is really that there is not enough consistently funny gags to sufficiently fill the show. Someone out there must have liked it though as in 1999, Rik and Ade then moved Richie and Eddie to the cinema screen for their hilarious feature film 'Guest House Paradiso', in which Richie and Eddie ran a disgusting hotel of the same name. A VHS tape was released the same year entitled 'Big Bottom Live' which was a mockumentary featuring clips of the three live shows made thus far interspersed with interviews with Richie and Eddie's neighbours and friends ( which included the local off-licence proprietor, the local sex-shop owner and their cleaning lady among others ). It would not be until 2001 that a fourth live show was made which in this case was 'Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity'.

A good enough romp for fans of Rik and Ade but it still could have been better. In 2013, Rik and Ade planned to use the 'Hooligan's Island' setting for a revival of 'Bottom' but alas it did not happen.

Funniest bit - the look and sound of dread from Eddie as the passing 'albatross' shits right on his head.

Second funniest bit - Richie burping and farting copiously on account of the fish he has just consumed being so toxic. He even farts right in Eddie's face!

I disagree what an Aussie bloke put on there about "dont bother" with this one. If he had said it about A**e Odesy and Weapons Grade Y Fronts i could understand as there is repeated things in them.

This one is brilliant and, again, a new theme. The lads are stuck on a Pacific Island somewhere near Bristol with the comforts of a WW2 Japanese shelter which Richie doesn't know about. (Of course stocked with their delights - I'm not saying too much, watch it!) The go through all sorts of disasters from bird pooing to many general fights. They spend the second half with a huge French nuclear bomb which adds to the humour. (dont think i can list it all, spoil it and I'm sure someone will be offended for someone else).

These stage shows are fantastic. Its a big shame they aren't planning anymore as they continue to be great. Buy the DVD, Video and watch it and you'll love it.