Rick

Rik is a self proclaimed anarchist studying Sociology and domestic sciences. He writes poetry (which is awful) and believes himself to be the spokesperson for his generation. He is despised by all the others in the flat esspecially Vyvyan who attacks him regularly and has in fact tried to kill Rik on a number of occassions. He is played by Rik Mayall

Fictional Character Biography
Rik comes from a very well-off family, with his parents not only being very rich but also being supporters of the conservative party. Despite this, Rik often claims he comes from a working class background and sees himself as an Anarchist (even writing a massive A on the back of his coat). He could be described as a radical and claims to be a follower of both Vladimir Lennon and Leon Trotsky, though in reality he has little to no understanding of the political beliefs he claims to follow.

Rik is vegetarian, agnostic, and wishes all men would love each other like brothers, though he never does anything that could be attributed to brotherly love and frequently kills small animals, including hacking a rat in half with Neil's guitar. He is hypocritical and regularly throws tantrums and fits. He is also cowardly and often tries to sell the others out in a time of crisis (such as when the TV detector man shows up after the four haven't payed their bill and he writes "It was the other three not me, IT REALLY WAS THE OTHER THREE" or when the vampire is attacking and he tries to get the vampire to bite Neil).

Rik is an obsessive Cliff Richard fan and even wrote a poem about him, and recorded his own cover version of the Cliff Richard song "The Young Ones." He often tries to impress the others with his non-existent wit, talent and humour. He also regularly bullies Neil both physically and mentally in an attempt to keep in with Vyvyan and Mike. However both Vyvyan and Mike despise Rik far more than they do Neil, and Vyvyan frequently attacks Rik with cricket bats, cricket balls, frying pans, pokers, plates, bottles, radios, shovels, hammers, bricks, large pieces of wood and his own fists. Vyvyan has tried to kill Rik as well many times, by burying him alive, setting fire to him during a cricket match, throwing a petrol bomb into his bedroom, strapping a circular saw to his bed and shooting him with a massive cannon, Vyvyan also regularly steals and destroys Rik's possessions. Rik however is so self obsessed that he believes he and Vyvyan are really " terrific friends" and that he is the most popular member of the flat, though he does discover in Bambi how hated he is when he makes a bet with the others if they like him or not.

Rik is hated by just about everyone he meets; his former classmates at school simply said of him "Prick is a wonker" whilst his name card on university challenge has P written beside it (Vyvyan also insists Rik spells his name with a silent P). He is considered, including by encyclopedias and university challenge, to be "the worlds stupidest bottom burp" and is the main target of physical abuse not just from Vyvyan but from other characters. including the Balowfski family, Vyvyan's mother, Christians, fellow students, and police officers.

Rik is an aspiring poet and refers to himself as ''"the people's poet." ''He believes that his poems will change society and that kids look to him for inspiration. He has an intense dislike for Margaret Thatcher, even threatening to blow up England with a bomb unless she does something to help the kids. Despite all of his claims of being an anarchist, he is conservative at heart, not only coming from a rich conservative background but also later admitting that Thatcher "got the country back on its feet." He is also shown to terrified and intimidated when he meets a real anarchist at a party he is throwing. Rik is a closet crossdresser, and he is later exposed by Neil.

The summer of 1984 proved to be a hard time for Rik. Though initially he thought he was going to have a great time, having finished his exams (which he initially believed he had passed) and having a holiday with his parents to look forward to. Instead, he endured endless beatings at the hands of Vyvyan, who at one point set fire to his arse, and discovered that his parents had died. He of course had no sympathy from his housemates, with Neil responding "oh you think that's bad," Mike telling Rik to stop crying about it because it was ruining his holiday, and Vyvyan knocking him out with a cricket bat. Things got worse when the foursome's fascist landlord Mr Balowfski kicked all of them out of their house.

Now living on the street, Rik, Neil, Vyvyan, and Mike soon discovered that they had come bottom in the whole world for their exam results (with Rik having come bottom out of them, something which the postman took great delight in telling Rik). With no money or qualifications, the four of them decide to rob a bank. During the robbery, Vyvyan crashes the getaway car and Rik seemingly flees the scene leaving the other three to to be arrested. At the last minute, he shows up in a stolen double-decker bus and, in an uncharacteristic act of loyalty and friendship, rescues the the others by driving them to safety. On the run, Vyvyan takes over as the bus driver and things are finally looking up, with the four boys all getting along for once, even singing the Cliff Richard song Summer Holiday together. Rik takes over as the leader of the group, delivering a big speech on how they were "wild eyed, big bottomed anarchists" who could do whatever they wanted to do much to the others' delight. In the middle of his speech, Vyvyan loses control of the bus and it goes over the edge of the cliff and explodes, killing all four of them.

Despite his death and the fact that he was now a wanted criminal, Rik along with his former housemates Vyvyan, Mike, and Neil would record a cover of the song "Living Doll" with Sir Cliff Richard for charity. The song goes to number 1 in the charts but all the money goes to charity, leaving Rik and the others poor, Sir Cliff also had no idea who Rik was but Rik assumed he was joking.

Notes and Trivia

 * Rik only inflicts violence on Vyvyan three times in the entire series these are, when Rik stabs a needle into his head after Vyvyan tells him he burned Rik's bedroom in flood, and in the Virgin fight where Rik grabs Vyvyan's testicles and crashes a cupboard over his head. Both occasions led to fights which Vyvyan won. Neil has in fact inflicted violence on Vyvyan more times than Rik has.
 * Rik has been described by Ben Elton one of the shows creators as "Try hard wanna be lefty" typically found on University campuses at the time.
 * Rik has both a lisp and cannot pronounce the letter R﻿ properly. He says his name as both "Wick" and "Vick"