Bottom bench returned to Hammersmith in Rik Mayall tribute

The comedian who died in June had expressed disappointment that the bench from the TV show had disappeared

Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson sitting on the Bottom bench

In the opening credits of Rik Mayall’s cult comedy series Bottom the comedian can be seen bickering with his co-star Adrian Edmondson while sitting on a roadside bench.

Now, a bench that looks remarkably similar has been erected in Hammersmith in Mayall’s honour, bearing the inscription: “In Memory of The Man, The Myth, The Legend.”

It is the result of a petition signed by more than 7,000 Mayall fans following his death aged 56 earlier this year.

The comic, who is widely seen as having changed the face of comedy in the 1980s, was famous for TV series The Young Ones, Blackadder and movies Drop Dead Fred and House Paradiso.

The idea for the bench came from an interview in which Mayall expressed disappointment that the bench had been removed.

“Hammersmith is my stomping ground I suppose. And one of the great opening credit sequences was for the telly show Bottom, where you had Richie and Eddie - me and Ade - sitting on a bench,” he said.

“If you were to come to the end of King Street where it meets the big roundabout to get to the Hammersmith Apollo, you'd find that same bench on a traffic island - until one day they took it away and put a pelican crossing in its place.”

The comedian said discovering that the bench had been removed “was the worst journey [he] ever made.”

Fans who campaigned for the bench tribute will be there to see it unveiled later today.

There will be a reading by Mayall’s Young Ones co-star Nigel Planer as well as a sing-song in his honour.

The comedian died on 9 June in his London home after suffering “an acute cardiac event” following a morning run, his wife said.