1980s Under the name
20th Century Coyote, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at
The Comedy Store, and joined other upcoming comedians, including
Nigel Planer,
Peter Richardson,
Alexei Sayle, and
French and Saunders at
The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and soon came to the attention of
Channel 4. The first episode to be broadcast was "
Five Go Mad in Dorset", a parody of
Enid Blyton's
Famous Five, and Edmondson starred as one of the five. In 1985 Edmondson starred with his wife
Jennifer Saunders in
Happy Families, a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton, which appeared on the BBC and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family. In 1987, Edmondson reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in
Filthy Rich & Catflap, In 1988, Edmondson released a follow-up to
How To Be A Complete Bastard called ''The Bastard's Book of the Worst''. In 1989 he made an appearance as
the Red Baron, nemesis to Mayall's character,
Lord Flashheart, in an episode of
Blackadder Goes Forth. alongside
Tim McInnerny as Frank-N-Furter and
Ed Tudor-Pole as Riff-Raff. He also appears on the soundtrack album of the production. In 1991, he teamed with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more, this time co-writing and co-starring in their own sitcom,
Bottom.
2000s Edmondson appeared regularly as Brendan Baxter in Series 4 of the BBC mystery series
Jonathan Creek, broadcast in 2003–2004. In 2005 he appeared as a celebrity model on
Star Portraits with
Rolf Harris. or in fifteen years' time. Mayall appeared during Edmondson's winning performance of
The Dying Swan on BBC One's ''Let's Dance for Comic Relief
on 5 March 2011, and in September 2011, Edmondson appeared on the Sunday morning cooking show Something for the Weekend and told presenter Tim Lovejoy that he and Rik Mayall were planning to reunite and make another series of Bottom'', set in an old people's home. In 2011, Edmondson hosted the
ITV documentary series
The Dales, in which he followed a number of families who live and work in the
Yorkshire Dales, including the "Yorkshire Shepherdess"
Amanda Owen. He also presented the ITV series
Ade in Britain that year, where he travelled to different parts of the
United Kingdom in a
Mini Countryman towing a small caravan, often including a performed segment from local folk singers. A second series followed in 2013. but Edmondson announced later that year that he had pulled out of the project to pursue other interests.
Rik Mayall, Edmondson's long-time creative partner, died on 9 June 2014. In 2015, Edmondson voiced Stanley the
Dachshund in adverts for health and life insurance company Vitality. In 2016, Edmondson took part in episode 4 of
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and won the title of Star Baker. Edmondson's children's book
Tilly and the Time Machine was published on 4 May 2017. From November 2017 into 2018, Edmondson played the character of
Malvolio in the
Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night. Also in 2017, Edmondson appeared as Captain Peavey in the eighth film of the
Star Wars series,
The Last Jedi, a casting decision made by the film's director
Rian Johnson, a self-proclaimed fan of Edmondson's work in
The Young Ones and
Bottom. In August 2018, Edmondson voiced the character of Bunny in the English version of the French/Belgian animated film
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales.... In September 2018, Edmondson featured as Sergeant Dogberry in the episode "Sigh No More" of
Ben Elton's
Upstart Crow. From September 2018 to November 2018, Edmondson toured with
Nigel Planer in a play that they wrote together called
Vulcan 7 (restaged in 2023 as ''It's Headed Straight Towards Us
). In 2019, Edmondson appeared in EastEnders'' as
Daniel Cook.
2020s He has appeared on
BBC Radio 4 comedy show,
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
Music career In 1984, Edmondson formed the spoof heavy metal band
Bad News, In 1986, Edmondson achieved a number one hit in the
UK singles chart when he and his co-stars from
The Young Ones teamed up with
Cliff Richard to record a new version of "
Living Doll" for the inaugural
Comic Relief campaign. and appeared in the music video "
Terry" (1983) by
Kirsty MacColl. In 1991, Edmondson formed
the Bum Notes, who were a jazz instrumental band and conceived exclusively to perform theme music for
Bottom. in Oxfordshire Together with
Maartin Allcock, Andy Dinan and
Troy Donockley, Edmondson founded the band
the Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on traditional folk instruments. The band released three albums and first toured in 2009, playing at places such as the
Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. The Bad Shepherds also headlined the first ever Looe Music Festival in 2011. They disbanded in October 2016. In 2010, he founded the Idiot Bastard Band with
Simon Brint,
Rowland Rivron,
Neil Innes and
Phill Jupitus. The Idiot Bastard Band perform original comedy songs as well as cover versions, and their shows often feature guest performers. The group continued to perform following the death of Brint in 2011. ==Personal life==