By Mark Andrews
In the 1980s, Alan B'stard was the archetypal politician on the make - a right-wing Tory cynically exploiting the enterprise culture of the time. So it is no surprise that 19 years on, he has re-invented himself as a Blairite.
The B'stard is back, at bringing his new incarnation of the scheming politician to Birmingham Alexandra Theatre this week.
Rik Mayall, who plays the MP in the Blair B'Stard Project, says it is only natural that B'stard would have switched his allegiance to New Labour to reflect the changing nature of British politic.
And Mayall, now 48, jokingly warns Tony Blair that his days could be numbered: "Alan brought down the Thatcher administration. This time he will be New Labour, so look out Tony." And Mayall insists the new show is a reflection on the changing face of Britain.
"This is not a stage version of a very old telly show," he says. "This is a play about now."
Reverting into B'stard mode, he says:"It came about because I'm a patriot: whenever the nation is in crisis, that's when I come to the help of my country. It's why I'm on the planet. People were suffering under Thatcher, so I removed her. Now it's Blair's turn, so I'm back."
While it has been some years since B'stard was on television, Mayall insists he has been busy in recent years.
"Once he'd bankrupted everyone in the Conservative Party, he crossed the floor of the House," says Mayall, who modestly describes the character as a "national treasure."
"He then destroyed Old Labour and recreated the party in the true Conservative image. He found a boy public school called Tony Blair, and moulded him into a prime minister, and then filled the party with young posh yuppies and blonde women. So now we have two Conservative parties, with Alan installed at number 9 Downing Street, giving Tony orders."
Sounding a bit like a politician himself, Mayall says he was thrilled to be asked to bring B'stard to the stage.
"I see the theatre as the last bastion of free speech," he says. "Nowadays the BBC is just a mouthpiece for the Government: it wouldn't allow three-quarters of the jokes in the play to be made on television."
Richard Mayall was born in Essex, gave himself the nickname of "Rik" in honor of the comic strip character "Erik the Viking". When he was three, his family moved to a town called Droitwich.
Rik met Adrian Edmondson at Manchester University and they formed a comedy group called Twentieth Century Coyote, and remain a double act to this day. The duo appeared often on Saturday nights during open mic time at a club called The Comedy Store. But they made their name at a club called The Comic Strip.
How does Edmondson find working with Mayall? In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star during the manic 1995 Bottom tour, Edmondson said the pair shared some wild nights.
"I'm not an alcoholic, but we drank our way through the last tour," said Edmondson. "There's an awful temptation to congratulate yourself after every good gig.
"So you end up drunk at three in the morning in some hotel room with the telly blaring. It's just so pointless."
He said Mayall was a friend off-stage - most of the time.
"We've had our ups and downs. We never really argue but we do have long, long sulks. We once went for a year without talking.
"Touring is a hard slog, living in hotels is very boring and the two of you really are in each other's faces all day long."
Rik first came to national prominence in the UK by co-writing and playing the character of geeky journalist Kevin Turvey on A Kick Up the Eighties. From this, he went on to co-write and star in The Young Ones, by Ben Elton and Lise Meyer. The debut of this show forever sealed his fame as a performer.
Since doing The Young Ones, Rik has appeared in numerous TV shows and films, including Bottom, The Comic Strip Presents and the film Drop Dead Fred.
Rik has been married to former make-up artist Barbara since 1985, and they have three children: Rosie, Sydney and Bonnie.
In the spring of 1998, Rik was in a serious quad bicycle accident, which put him on the critical list. He has since made a full recovery and is currently back on his feet and taking on new acting projects.
The show has had mixed reviews in other parts of the country, but Mayall might find West Midlanders more appreciative. Well, they say a week is a long time in politics.