Adrian Edmondson was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He went to Manchester University to study drama. Whilst he was there he met Rik Mayall, and the pair began performing as 20th Century Coyote. The act continued after university when Adrian & Rik moved to London, and they became two of the leading lights in the new 'alternative comedy' scene, performing at the newly established Comedy Store, and setting up their own club, The Comic Strip, with 'Peter Richardson', Nigel Planer, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and Alexei Sayle. This spawned two 1980s TV series: The Young Ones (1982), and The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) In the 1990's Ade & Rik continued their partnership with a new series called Bottom (1991), which ran for three seasons and became a major success on the live circuit. It was basically a live sitcom, liberally sprinkled with slapstick humour, and the pair did 5 long tours between 1993 and 2003. Simultaneously, Adrian established himself as an actor, doing two improvised TV films under the Screen One and Screen Two umbrella, with director Les Blair: Screen Two: Honest, Decent and True (1986), and Screen One: News Hounds (1990) (winner of the BAFTA for best single drama). He was a regular in the hospital drama Holby City (1999) from 2005 - 2008. He took the lead in a drama documentary about the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in the series Surviving Disaster (2006), and appeared as Henry Austen in the TV movie Miss Austen Regrets (2008), the film Blood (2012), and the drama series Prey (2014). But his most notable dramatic role to date is that of Count Rostov in the BBC series War & Peace (2016).
87 movies · 78 shows
Rik Mayall: Magnificent B'Stard
2026·7.3
Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare And Unseen
2026·0.0
Bottom: Exposed
2024·5.5
imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter
2023·7.0
The Best Birthday Ever
2022·6.7
The Trick
2021·5.0
Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel
2021·7.0
King Rocker
2020·7.3
Completely Bad News
2019·0.0
The Rizen: Possession
2019·5.5
How The Young Ones Changed Comedy
2018·7.0
RSC Live: Twelfth Night
2018·7.5
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
2017·6.7
Interlude in Prague
2017·5.8
The Rizen
2017·4.8
Rocky Horror Show Live
2015·7.0
Five Go to Rehab
2012·0.0
Blood
2012·5.9
Britain Beware!
2012·0.0
Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments
2008·4.5
Rocky Horror Tribute Show
2008·6.2
Miss Austen Regrets
2008·6.1
The Dangerous Brothers - Dangervision
2008·0.0
If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story
2007·7.0
The Making of 'The Young Ones'
2007·0.0
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 40th Anniversary Celebration
2006·0.0
The Comic Strip - A Retrospective
2005·7.5
Bottom Mindless Violence
2004·10.0
Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour
2003·7.5
The Best of French & Saunders
2002·0.0
Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity
2001·7.2
Four Men in a Plane
2000·0.0
Guest House Paradiso
1999·6.1
The Making of 'Guest House Paradiso'
1999·5.0
Big Bottom Live - The Best of Bottom Live
1999·7.3
The Man
1999·7.0
Jack and the Beanstalk: The ITV Pantomime
1998·7.0
Four Men in a Car
1998·0.0
Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island
1997·7.3
Bottom Fluff
1996·0.0
Bottom Live 2: The Big Number 2 Tour
1995·7.8
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye
1995·5.7
French and Saunders' Christmas Carol
1994·0.0
Bottom Live: The Stage Show
1993·8.0
Demonella
1993·0.0
Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase
1993·0.0
Space Virgins from Planet Sex
1993·0.0
Holy - Bottom: Christmas Special
1992·0.0
Red Nose of Courage
1992·8.0
The Pope Must Die
1991·5.0
News Hounds
1990·0.0
Les Dogs
1990·0.0
Oxford
1990·0.0
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 1
1990·0.0
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 2 Argie Bargie!
1990·0.0
GLC: The Carnage Continues
1990·0.0
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
1989·7.7
Just Like That!
1989·0.0
An Audience With Victoria Wood
1988·5.3
The Yob
1988·0.0
Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
1988·9.0
More Bad News
1988·9.8
The Strike
1988·7.0
Eat the Rich
1987·6.2
Filthy Rich & Catflap
1987·5.0
The Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Rude Video Live
1986·8.0
Honest Decent & True
1986·7.0
Private Enterprise
1986·0.0
Dangerous Brothers Present: World of Danger
1986·6.6
Consuela (or, The New Mrs Saunders)
1986·0.0
The Supergrass
1985·6.1
Happy Families
1985·0.0
Slags
1984·2.0
Eddie Monsoon - a Life?
1984·0.0
Gino: Full Story and Pics
1984·0.0
A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques
1984·7.0
Susie
1984·0.0
Dirty Movie
1984·0.0
Five Go Mad on Mescalin
1983·0.0
Summer School
1983·0.0
Bad News
1983·8.7
The Beat Generation
1983·0.0
War
1983·10.0
Dead on Time
1983·6.7
Five Go Mad in Dorset
1982·0.0
Kevin Turvey: The Man Behind the Green Door
1982·6.6
The Comic Strip
1981·8.0