Contest is the third episode of the first series of the sitcom Bottom, it first aired on October 1st 1991
Plot[]
The episode begins with Richie plotting a suicide attempt to guilt trip Eddie to buying him a drink, he places his head in the oven just as Eddie returns home but the plan backfires as Eddie instead reads the paper and doesn't notice the note and shows no sign of care when he sees him in the oven, Eddie is in a foul mood due to having a bad day in the office especially because his dole has been cut off because of him having too many savings and only has £11.80 which he says should keep him going for two months, Richie has little sympathy for him telling him he hasn't had a steady job since 1978.
Its revealed they in fact only have 30pm and a copy of Parade Magazine, the two soon start arguing but Richie soon announces that their meal for that night have ingredients grown, found or foraged much to the displeasure of Eddie. After a disgusting meal and a cup of elm tea (which neither of them eat or drink), Eddie goes over to the TV to watch Miss World but Richie turns it off and tells him he wants to watch something else and the two start arguing again and this time Richie throws Eddie out of the flat.
Eddie however plans an apology and returns back into the room and catches Richie in the act watching Miss World and giving himself pleasure, he promises he won't say anything unless he is allowed to watch Miss World, Richie allows him to do so and Eddie then tells him to go away which he does so but his moaning begins to annoy Eddie,Richie soon however gets suspicious about the missing £10 as Eddie had £11.80, Eddie spent £1.50 on the Parade magazine, leaving him with £10.30 but he only had 30p. Eddie tells him he placed a bet on Miss World but when Richie realizes Eddie placed a bet on the contestant Miss China which he responds with ''Eddie, you haven't put the money on that old boiler have you?''[]
When Richie then accidentally breaks the TV they must then deal with changing the fuse, in the process Richie burns his hand repeatedly on the kettle which is still hot as he burnt himself on it earlier, gets electrocuted and falls out of the flat window when the power goes out. Eddie soon fixes the lights and the electricity comes back on but Eddie then sees Richie's suicide note and believes his friend has taken himself and begins to mourn over the loss knowing he only ever wanted a woman only for him to say ''Well not even a good one any old one would have done'' he sits down by the piano and begins to think about selling it off when Richie storms back into the room angrily.
Richie is upset about not winning the Miss World bet but Eddie reveals to Richie he lied about putting on the bet as he only said so in order to allow him to watch Miss World, Richie then questions about the £10 and Eddie explains he spent it on a slap up grill as he noticed Richie that morning preparing dinner as he left, the episode then ends with Richie punching Eddie in the face.
Cast[]
Rik Mayall
Ade Edmonson
Notes[]
This is the first episode in which only Richie and Eddie appear
Its the first episode to be set entirely in the flat
Eddie is revealed to work in an office in this episode
Eddie can be seen building an Airfix kit at one point in the episode, the kit is of some sort of WWII Airfcraft
This is the first time Richie falls out of the window
This episode was originally the pilot of the series, there are some notable differences between this episode and other episodes before and onwards
. Richies hair is shorter than in other episodes
.The piano is next to the fourth wall in the flat
.The staircase is facing in the opposite way
.Eddie is missing his side burns and has visible hair
at one point Eddie is addressed as Edward and at another point Richie is addressed as Richard, this is a first in the show
Richie mentions the BBC in the scene where he storms back into the flat after falling out the window he makes a telephone call where he is heard saying ''Hello BBC, yes put me through to the Miss World programme i wish to complain in the strongest possible terms, yeah well put me through to ITV then'' this is the first time the BBC is mentioned in the show it may also be an intended fourth wall break
Errors[]
When the electricity goes out Eddie opens the fridge door in order to look for the fuse wire, as he does this you can clearly see the fridge light is on despite the fact they have had a power cut
In the stage shows its implied Eddie can't read or write but in this episode he is seen to read the newspaper when he comes home, he also can be briefly seen writing something in the newspaper as well
In this episode its claimed the flat is owned by Auntie Mabel (Richie's aunt) but in S'up and onwards they have their own landlord
In this episode they seem to have gas but its unclear how they got it because in the second series 1 episode titled Gas they had disconnected the illegal gas pipe they had which was their source of getting their gas in the first place