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Doyouwantacupoftea

Summary[]

Gas is the second episode of the first series of Bottom. It was first broadcast on 24 September 1991. Richie and Eddie violently assault the gas man when trying to hide the fact that they've been abstracting their next door neighbour's gas supply.

Plot []

Richie and Eddie are playing a clearly rigged game of poker when they are interrupted by a knock at the door. Richie is alarmed to find that the caller is the gas man, and goes into a panic when it is revealed that the duo have been stealing next door's gas supply with a makeshift rig. Instead of owning up, they assault the gas man with a frying pan and end up knocking him out cold. Believing they have killed him, they try to come up with creative ways of disposing of the body, only to have him suddenly wake up and leg it out of the flat. 

Later on in the evening, they decide to enter the flat next door to disconnect the rig, only to be greeted at the door by Mr Rottweiller, who has a "bird" round and doesn't want to be disturbed. They decide instead to break in, mistakenly bashing a hole into Rottweiller's bedroom, who is sound asleep next to his girlfriend. As Eddie works on disconnecting the rig downstairs, Richie's curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to get into bed with the sleeping couple. Eddie meanwhile helps himself to the contents of Rottweiller's fridge before blowing up the kitchen, waking Rottweiller who legs it downstairs in a panic. Richie and Eddie try to escape via the front door only to find the bewildered gas man stood in front of them, so they leg it back upstairs through the hole they came in through. Rottweiller also finds the gas man at the door, and hastens him in to sort out the problem, only to have him disclose that he'd just seen the two "loonies" from next door in his flat only moments ago.

Thinking they have evaded Rottweiller's wrath, they sit under the bricked up hole they made earlier and bask in their glory, only to have an enraged Rottweiller burst through the wall and throttle them.

Guest Stars[]

Brian Glover as Mr Rottweiller

Mark Lambert as The Gas Man

Gabi Valenti as Rottweiller's Girlfriend

Quotes[]

  1. Richie: Right, I bet... another week‘s worth of washing up.
  2. Eddie: I‘ll see your weeks worth of washing up, and I’ll raise you... four trips to the laundrette. 3p in real money, and one cleaning... disinfecting right round the back of the lavatory bowl.
  3. Eddie: WELL STAND UP OR I WILL GIVE YOU A HERNIA!
  4. Richie: Cripes... it’s the gas man!
  5. Gas Man: Hello, I wonder if I could just read your meter.
  6. Richie: GAS MAN! GAS MAN, GAS MAN, GAS MAN, GAS MAAAN!
  7. Gas Man: Do you have someone who looks after you?! Can I see them, because I need to read your meter!
  8. Eddie: Who is it darling?
  9. Richie: IT’S THE GAS MAN!
  10. Gas ManHow do you keep it so warm in here then?
  11. RichieWe make love! Er, not together you understand, on our own...
  12. Eddie: W-we don’t use gas... umm, because we don’t know what it is.
  13. Gas Man: Then why are you using the hot tap then?
  14. Richie: We get the cold water from the hot tap... that way we save wear and tear on cold tap.
  15. RichieNice trousers...they remind me of a story I know. Quite a long story...it lasts about fifteen minutes. Erm, once...once upon a time there...there was a big forest! And in the middle of the forest, there lived...some trousers. Called...Dave...
  16. Richie: Eddie... you killed him.
  17. Eddie: (Drops frying pan in shock) I never touched him.
  18. Richie: Yeah, but the frying pan did and you were holding that at the time.
  19. Eddie: Bollocks, you killed him! He was dead before he hit the frying pan!
  20. Richie: Well why did you keeping hitting him with the frying pan?!
  21. Eddie: ...For fun.
  22. Richie: What are we gonna do?!
  23. Eddie: About twenty five years I think.

Trivia[]

  1. It appears Rik and Ade are no strangers to violently assaulting utility company staff. In the first episode of Filthy Rich & Catflap, they kill two milkmen who call at the flat.
  2. Recorded on 5 July 1991.
  3. The whole episode took around three hours to film.
  4. Although it was the second episode to be broadcast, it was the fourth to be filmed.
  5. Rottweiller's girlfriend is not mentioned by name in the episode, but is listed as Lolly in the end credits.
  6. Richie's trousers story resurfaced years later in an episode of Jackanory, which Rik Mayall narrated. The story involved a sentient pair of trousers that lived in the woods.
  7. Ade is clearly wearing a wedding band in the poker scene at the beginning of the episode.
  8. When this episode was aired in 2014 to celebrate BBC Two's 50th anniversary, it was dedicated to the memory of Rik Mayall.
  9. To save embarrassment amongst the BBC accounts department, the episode was informally referred to as 'Poker Cheat' and 'Mr Gas Man!'
  10. The episode is one of the most popular amongst fans of the show.
  11. Actor Brian Glover appeared alongside Rik Mayall in the 1981 horror film An American Werewolf in London.
  12. Brian Glover starred as a nightclub bouncer in the Shakatak music video Somthing Special, with the title similar to his line in the episode: Something very special's happened to me. I'm in love. It's the real thing..
  13. Mr Rottweiler is also seen in a deleted scene 3 the ledge where Ritchie and Eddie are making too much noise outside his window.
  14. Stealing another household's gas supply is, in UK law, called 'abstracting'. It is a criminal offence under Section 13 of the Theft Act 1968 and carries a maximum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment if convicted.

Fluffs (read before adding to this section)[]

  1. At the beginning of the episode, Eddie complains that he's only playing poker with a deck of twelve cards. However it is obvious from shot of the dining table that there are a lot more than twelve there.

External Links[]

Gas on the IMDB

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