Time (Young Ones episode)

"Time" was the tenth episode of British sitcom "The Young Ones". It was written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, and directed by Geoff Posner. It was first aired on BBC2 on June 5, 1984.

Characters

As with all episodes of "The Young Ones", the main four characters were student flatmates Mike (Christopher Ryan); Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson); Rick (Rik Mayall) and Neil (Nigel Planer). Alexei Sayle starred as a medieval jester (and, extremely briefly, a cheese shop customer). Jennifer Saunders (who later married Adrian Edmondson in 1985) plays the murderess Helen Mucus, while Helen Lederer plays the female sidekick of the jester's show. Hale and Pace play peasants. This episode also features a very brief and non speaking role from Paul Merton who plays one of the three yokels in his first television appearance before shooting to fame with Have I Got News For You

Plot

The episode begins with credits and scenes spoofing popular 80's soap Dallas. Neil (or E.T.) is running a Texas oil company, with Rick as an American client furious at Neil's way of business - signing over oil wells and giving away money to the public. Neil is woken from this dream by a deeply hungover Vyvyan yelling at the Sunday bellringers to be quiet. Rick wakes up next to an attractive but unknown lady, fully clothed. His initial shock and confusion (he has no memory of how she got there) is tempered by his realisation that he can boast about a sexual conquest to the others. His description of the act, when pressed by the others, prompts Vyvyan to vomit and Mike to make a genuine attempt to seduce the girl in question, who calls herself Helen. However, when she reveals that she merely went to sleep in an empty bed, the others turn on Rick. Neil calls him a liar and Vyvyan accuses him of still being a virgin, sparking hefty denials from Rick. This argument leads to an escalating confrontation between the two, which spreads around the house.

Meanwhile, the radio has revealed Helen is an escaped murderess, and so she decides to kill the four, beginning with Mike. He mistakes her violent actions to him as rough foreplay. The appearance of a medieval knight, who sends the front door crashing on top of Helen. This confuses the quartet, who soon discover the house has gone through a time warp. Neil is concussed and kidnapped, along with Helen, by the knight who takes him outside to some Middle Ages hutkeepers, to offer them as maidens. Having been thrown off the knight's horse, Neil regains consciousness and starts a conversation with the villagers, but their hut blows up from a howitzer shot poorly aimed by Vyvyan at Rick in the "virgin" argument. Neil is chased back to the house, after being accused of sorcery, and, with Rick promising to have a T-shirt confirming his virginity printed, the four quickly check the television to see if programming has been altered by their time loop. They watch a programme called "Medieval Torture Hour". Rick begins to freak out about the time warp, asking what they're going to do, to which Vyvyan responds "Oh, who cares?", which begins the credit roll. During the credits, the boys settle down to a game of cards, while around them, all of the episode's characters enter the house. As a stinger, Neil gets hit on the head with a giant bone by one of the peasants, which only seems to annoy Neil more than anything.

The episode features a performance by reggae band Amazulu.