If Looks Could Thrill

There is only one B’Stard.

Rik Mayall is wickedly brilliant. His depiction of Alan B’Stard — the evil member of parli-a-ment in the 1980s BBC show The New Statesman — is a turn of genius, a mark of comic prowess, capped by unending charisma, energy, and personality.

His aptitude for hilarity and skill at delivery are quite unmatched.

The depths of B’Stard’s schemes are supremely creative and unbelievable. Like the time he faked his own death by gunshot, right after making a million pound bet that Parliament would bring back the death penalty, which of course they did in light of an MP having been shot on the steps of Westminster. Or like the time he proposed a postcode lottery for cancer treatment so that ‘only the right people get better.’

There’s nothing more satisfying than B’Stard’s brashness. There’s nothing like Mayall, whose turn in Blackadder as Lord Flashheart encapsulated his arrogance, misogyny, and hilarity (see here). And there’s nothing like B’Stard, who always finds a way out, always gets his way, and it’s always uncut, unbelievable, and unadulterated fun.

Sadly, Mayall died in 2014.