My mind is blown.
Mike. Did you ever wonder about Mike? Why he was there, what he was meant to be, why an actor who is blatantly not on the par with the other three in terms of comedic excellence was in it?
Guess who the part was written for?
Think about the 'cool guy' Peter Richardson plays in some of the Comic Strip stuff. The copper in The Supergrass, etc. Apparently he had a fall-out with the director of The Young Ones, Peter Jackson, at the last minute so they grabbed Christopher Ryan instead.
This is a crime. The Young Ones is brilliant enough as it is, but having Peter Richardson in it as Mike would have sent it over the edge. I've been watching all The Comic Strip stuff lately, even the crap ones, and I'm starting to think Peter Richardson is an absolute fucking genius. Not only in the writing and directing department; he is totally charismatic on screen and has a pretty weird acting style. Someone I was talking about him with the other day said she always thought he was pretty sexy. He is! The perfect measure of being sexy, cool and a bit of a twat. He would have been brilliant as Mike.
I'm going to watch all the Young Ones again and imagine Mike being played by Peter Richardson. Damn it all to high heaven that we will never ever see that version of the show.
Salut, Peter Richardson! You are the Mike that should have been!