"Bomb" is the fourth episode of British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' The Young Ones''. It was written by

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...

, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, and directed by Paul Jackson. It was first aired on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

on 30 November 1982. The episode notably satirises the then-current anxieties of a potential

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

, and features references to the '' Protect and Survive'' public information pamphlets.

Plot

The episode opens with footage of a

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with th ...

bomber dropping a payload, revealed to be a huge red atom bomb that lands into the quartet's house. Neil fails to notice the real reason for an enormous hole in the ceiling when he gets out of bed to do the breakfast, assuming that one of his flatmates had put it there somehow. Eventually Vyvyan points out that the atom bomb is perched against the

refrigerator A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...

. The initial panic is diverted by the arrival of a sadistic

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

officer who wants blood, but soon the quartet returns to the emergency at hand. Mike tries negotiating with

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

to make a profit out of the bomb while Rick uses the bomb in attempts to make threats to the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

(his efforts at sending a threatening

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

through the Post Office fail when it turns out he has mistakenly walked into the

DHSS The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services. History In 1 ...

and before that he tries calling

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

on the telephone but erroneously believes she has 400 different phone numbers in the

Telephone directory A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization tha ...

and goes off to the Telephone box but a group of insane elder women destorying it). Neil, ever the pragmatist, sets out his personal survival plan ("I'm going to consult the incredibly helpful Protect and Survive manual!") and Vyvyan tries to speed up the detonation procedure. The final tick of the clock prior to the "explosion" proves to be a little disappointing, with the bomb hatching like an egg and a small aeroplane appearing out of the bomb, flying out of the room, and circling outside the house (thus implying the bomb was merely an "egg" of the bomber).

Characters

As with all episodes of ''The Young Ones'', the main four characters were student housemates Mike (

Christopher Ryan Christopher Papazoglou (born 25 January 1950), known professionally as Christopher Ryan, is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Mike The Cool Person in the BBC comedy series '' The Young Ones'', Dave Hedgehog in the BBC comedy se ...

), Vyvyan (

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. Part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s, he and his comedy partner Rik Mayall starred in the television sitc ...

), Rick ( Rik Mayall) and Neil (

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom '' Filthy Rich & Catflap'', as well as narrating th ...

). Mayall and Planer also appear as two wisecracking golfers who sing before a studio audience.

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th g ...

starred as Reggie Balowski, a wisecracking used car dealer and son of the students' landlord, Jerzei. Roger Sloman appeared as the television license officer named "Right Bleedin' Bastard."

References

*Chrissie Macdonald. "Episode 4 - Bomb". That's Anarchy! The Story of a Revolution in the World of TV Comedy. Temple House Pty Ltd. Australia. 2002. Page
68
to 71. See also "Bomb" at pages 46, 47, 51 and 56. See also pages 66 and 278. *"S1E4: Bomb" i
"The Young Ones Music Guide: Series One"
Dirty Feed. 16 June 2020. *Robert Ham. "4. Dexys Midnight Runners—“Jackie Wilson Said” (from S01E04)" i
"Ranking The Young Ones' Musical Performances"
Paste. 9 February 2016.

External links

* {{The Young Ones The Young Ones episodes 1982 British television episodes Television shows written by Ben Elton Television episodes about nuclear war and weapons