By the mid-80's, Rik Mayall was firmly established as one of the biggest comedy stars on British television, thanks to 'A Kick Up The '80's' in which he had played the idiotic Kevin Turvey, and of course 'The Young Ones'. Lawrence Marks and Maurice Gran had created the brilliant 'Shine On Harvey Moon' which Mayall admired, so it seemed only natural to combine their talents.The title 'The New Statesman' had been used three years earlier for a now-forgotten Windsor Davies B.B.C. sitcom. Marks and Gran's series centred around Alan Beresford B'Stard, Machiavellian Tory M.P. for Haltemprice, a man so corrupt and evil as to defy description. He only wins his seat by default after arranging for the other candidates to perish in a car crash. He is married to the lovely Sarah, who plays the devoted wife in public but is in reality a promiscuous bisexual. Alan shares an office at The House Of Commons with Piers Fletcher-Dervish, with whom he has a 'Blackadder/Baldrick' style relationship. A running gag in the first series had Alan's financial adviser Norman Bormann trying to escape a prison sentence by undergoing a sex change. Credited as 'R.R. Cooper', the character was in fact portrayed by Rowena Cooper.I remember watching this back in 1987 and finding it hard to believe it was a Yorkshire Television production. 'Statesman' had the gloss of a London Weekend Television series. Each episode had Alan embarking on some new 'get-rich-quick' project; in the first he gets the law changed to enable policemen to carry guns. Guess who supplies the weapons? In another, Alan stores nuclear waste under a school. In the series' best episode, Alan was apparently assassinated, but as we later found out, it was another cunning ploy on his part.Mayall was simply superb as the scheming 'B'Stard', a character a world away from 'Rick' of 'The Young Ones', and he was ably supported by sexy Marsha Fitzalan as 'Sarah' and Michael Troughton as the imbecilic 'Piers'.The final series took Alan away from Westminister and to Brussels, where he became an M.E.P. Though it had its moments, it wasn't as funny as before. At the very end of the final episode, Alan becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain. Despite the topical references to Thatcher and Reagan, 'Statesman' has dated far less badly than, say, 'Spitting Image'.Mayall recently revived B'Stard in a West End stage show, which I haven't seen, but I think Marks and Gran made a blunder in having him defect to New Labour. B'Stard has Tory written through him like Blackpool rock. They should have waited for the Tories to regain power before bringing back B'Stard.If nothing else, the show proved there was more to Rik Mayall than nose picking and farting. Here he proved that he could do satirical farce, and do it extremely well.

Virtually everything Rik Mayall stars in is funny and this great series is no exception. Depicting a money-grabbing, corrupt and debauched MP in Thatcher's Britain, it sees Mayall at his peak. The scheming and wordplay are brilliant, whilst the stories rush along at a swift pace with plenty of laughs. I like the fact that the series pokes fun not just at the Tories (the typical cries from the left that they're all toffs and buffoons etc), it also attacks Labour (opportunistic, double-dealing and stupid) whilst savaging the Liberals now and then as well!!! Now that's the kind of approach I like to see! Alan B'Stard is of course one of comedy's great characters. In just 4 series and a special, he managed to hide nuclear waste near a school, get assassinated and survive, be sentenced to death and escape his hanging because the ropes (which he had sold them) didn't work, find himself trapped in a gulag, have numerous affairs, kill a few people, make loads of dodgy cash and get a telling off from the Iron Lady herself!!! Plus loads more! The New Statesman is a fantastic show, with outrageous humour and slapstick, twinned with a sinister undertone. Cynics will love it. Lets hope the new stage show, with B'Stard now one of Tony's Cronies in the discredited Labour party, is as good as the original.

Been a fan of Riks for years. But this tops the lot. The character Alan Beresford B'stard and Rik Mayall go hand in hand. They were meant for each other. Such a refreshingly original comedy series, with so much scope for political satire, plots, characters, you name it. An excellent supporting cast with characters Piers, Sarah, Sir Stephen Baxter, Sir Greville, Geof Diquead and many more.Each series has its own uniqueness. The first series entrenched with 80s Thatcherism, we all remember those days. The nineties comes in with the faceless John Major, and Europe with all trimmings. Alan B'stard as MEP for Obersaxon in Germany is quite brilliant. This is especially good as it gives him the chance to lay into Europe and take the mickey out of our European neighbours, especially the Germans, or the krauts as he would say.I suggest anybody who loves British comedy and political satire at its very best should watch it. It just a pity it has ceased production. Would have loved to see Alan tackle Labour and Tony Blair, knowing him he probably would have defected!

When I first sat down to view my first helping of "The new statesman" I was of course expecting a programme with a fantastic mix of Rik Mayall's wonderful wit and charm, his comic acting genius and the creative talent of Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks. I'll be honest... I was not disappointed! It had all of these along with bag fulls of beautiful political corruption thrown in at every opportunity. A treat from beginning to end, while Rik's character, (suitably named "Alan B'stard) managed week in week out to be the most cruel, obnoxious and all round disturbingly corrupt um, "B'stard" on TV, yet still came away with the audience loving him. The only warning that I will give is that if you're looking for another "Bottom" then this is not the place! In fact the ideal viewer for this show would be a half-crazed political mess who adores Rik Mayall's wiley wit and charm... Oh, and it would help if you're a bit left wing, and if you're right wing... Have a laugh at yourself!