Podcasto Catflappo

Ben Elton, the writer of Filthy Rich & Catflap, sat down for a chat before his recent Perth show in support of What Have I Done?, an autobiography rich with Catflappian detail. Between Ben's new autobiography and this chat, a bunch of big questions are answered. He's dropped tons of new context around the creation of the show that should keep Filthy Rich scholars (??) updating texts and speculating for years. It's enorm! Fans of The Young Ones, Happy Families, Upstart Crow, The Thin Blue Line and Ben's many novs & musicals will have a field day with the book, getting handy new details. Tuck in Loobies, this is a holy grail ep!  Thanks again to Ben, the Regal Theatre, and the stage door manager dude downstairs at The Maj.  

Nigel Planer's new autobiography 'Young Once' is hitting the shelves and he joins us to chat about its creation. So tune in for tres bona tales from an amazing life! Nigel recalls working with Polari-speakers in his early theatre days and working on the creation of the Filthy Ralph character with Ben Elton - and a ton of killer non-Catflap anecdotes.  Much like 'Dinner with Richie', this chat covers all the vital topics: poetry ... fine arts ... golf. (well, not golf!) Thanks again to Nigel and to Alice at John Murray Press. Cheers.    

The team from Talking Bottom (Mat Brooks, Angela Pearson and Paul Tanter) chat about the writing of their upcoming book 'Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom'. Years in the making, the book releases on 3 July 2025 and is available for preorder ... and their podcast will be coming back for a fresh season of eps! And if you're quick, you can catch the Talking Bottom crew at the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival (maybe a few tickets still available) and at their book launch in July - so tune in for details. Enjoy!

A chat with Polly Highton, known to fans of Filthy Rich & Catflap as 'the Checkout Girl' in episode three's amazing supermarket scene. Polly shares her memories of the role, plus her earlier appearance on Happy Families with Ade and Jennifer Saunders. We also chat about her career in the biz, starting from her 1970s uni days to her recent work in The Responder with Martin Freeman. Enjoy!

Part 2 of the 'A to Z of Filthy Rich & Catflap' covers the letters I to Q. Listen in to discover why L is for Lavatory, and P is for Priz! Here's the full list: I is for Ivor Whopper J is for the Judge ... John Wells K is for Ketchup L is for Lavatory M is for Milkmen N is for the Noles! O is for Ooer Sounds a Bit Rude P is for Priz Q is for Queer    

A chat with the meme-master from All Things Rik And Ade, Tim Reading. His posts are a hit with fans of Rik Mayall & Ade Edmondson worldwide, but what are Tim's personal favourite moments from his comedy heroes? Jeffers decided to find out, and asked him the hard questions (and don't say oo-er).

A deep dive into ep 3 of Filthy Rich & Catflap (aka Dinner Party) with tons of new info! Cut scenes, missing sub-plots, heaps of triv, and answers to long-standing questions, like: How much meat was in Eddie's trousers? Who were those mysterious people in that hole in the wall after the oven exploded? Who threw the cabbage at Richie's head in the peepshow? Take a seat at Richie's table and tuck in, looby!

Terence Blacker, the editor of 'Bachelor Boys: The Young Ones Book' and co-author of 'Neil's Book of the Dead' shares the story of how those books were created, plus his own experiences as an author and latterly a singer-songwriter! Here's a link to Terence on X (Twitter) and a link to his website. It's a good old natter about how it was working with Nigel Planer and writing in Neil's voice, plus getting reams of wild stuff from a prolific Ben Elton (and advice on how to handle it from Rik and Lise).  Oh, and have a link to Terence's YouTube channel! 

A bootleg Alexei Sayle gig tape recorded in 1991 at the Regal Theatre, Perth. Recorded by a then-17-year-old Jeffers and now released as a Podcasto Catflappo episode in November 2024. Be warned, it has industrial-strength swearing ;)   Enjoy!

Michael Redfern (1943-2022) worked with our beloved Catflap favourites on many shows including Dangerous Brothers, The Young Ones, Bottom, and 4 of 6 episodes of Filthy Rich & Catflap. In this pod ep, author Mark Searby shares the audio of his chat with Mr Redfern, recorded while researching his book 'Rik Mayall: Comedy Genius'. Mark also chats with Jeffers about plenty of Rik stuff, the process of writing the book, and it all becomes suitably Catflappian!  Follow Mark on X @Mark_Searby 

In this ep Dona Di Stefano, the Assistant Floor Manager on Filthy Rich & Catflap, chats with Jeffers about the show to share nifty anecdotes, reveal production processes and patiently respond to his increasingly obscure questions.  Dona enjoyed a 48-year career in TV and Theatre, becoming part of the Paul Jackson teams that worked on Happy Families, Catflap and Red Dwarf. In the 1990s she joined the BBC newsroom in Manchester, working for many years on North West Tonight. Tune in to find out which items on the set of Catflap came from Dona's house, what props she kept, and was it her that made all the door-buzzer farty sounds? Plus there really is SO MUCH MORE. Enjoy!

Jon Auty from Behind the Stunts chats with Jeffers about Filthy Rich & Catflap's stunt pieces and stunt performers, including Nick Gillard, Denise Ryan, Peter Diamond, Gareth Milne, Paul Heasman and Spencer Collins. Here's Jon's LINKTREE to check out more Behind The Stunts! The cover image of Nigel Planer in rehearsal is thanks to Dona Di Stefano (Assistant Floor Manager for Catflap) who allowed us to use the photo. It's great! Follow @PodCatflappo on X to stay up-to-date Cheers ;)

Jeffers chats to Goon Pod's Tyler Adams about 16 guest stars of Filthy Rich & Catflap, as they re-enact the 'Best Catflap Guest Role' tournament of January 2024. Performers discussed include: Helen Lederer, Chris Barrie, Mel Smith, Lee Cornes, Polly Highton , Hugh Laurie, Cheryl Taylor, Arthur Smith, Stephen Fry, John Bird, Ken Parry, Harry Enfield, Lynda Bellingham, Norman Pace, Gareth Hale, Michael Redfern and Barbara Windsor. Tyler's fabulous Goon Pod can be found HERE and it's a treat for fans of UK comedy, Goon Show aficinados and just about everyone else. Enjoy!  

A chat with Diana Mather, who played Dingo Wucka's secretary in ep 6 of Filthy Rich & Catflap and also had plenty of TV experience as a presenter & newsreader for the BBC, ATV and more, including a few continuity links just like Richie Rich!  Diana shares nifty anecdotes about her television career and becoming a prolific author and etiquette expert. Diana's website: www.dianamather.com Here's a link to Diana's Song for the World on YouTube.  

A long lost Rik Mayall live gig audio recording surfaced in Western Australia in January 2024, taken from a Rik & Ben Elton gig on 17 May 1986 in Perth. Podcasto Catflappo got the scoop and is making Dingo Wucker proud by breaking the story and giving you exclusive access to this 45-minute audio treat before it gets released to the world at  RikMayallScrapbook.com You'll also be able to find it at their YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@rikmayallscrapbook  Presented with sincere thanks to our anonymous source, plus Lucy at Rik Mayall Scrapbook and the wonderful Mayall family. Enjoy.

Richie Rich is the star around whom Filthy Rich & Catflap revolves, so Jeffers & Dave talk about Richie for 3 hours, plus segments with guests! We ask the question: What do we actually KNOW about Gertrude Richard Rich? As it turns out, we know loads but plenty of it is contradictory! We document all the Richie-related evidence from on-screen events, count the Richie stats, find out what the creators said about him, and use that Richie knowledge to speculate on answers to all the questions that remain. Our co-host for the special is Dave Robinson from 60MW Podcast ...and our guests include: FRC's Costume Designer Inez Nordell Vard Scott Weaver Shaun Gibson Dayna TG! The exclusive cover image is a recently unearthed continuity polaroid taken in 1986 by Dona Di Stefano (Catflap's Assistant Floor Manager) which she kindly supplied! Check out our deep-dive into Rik Mayall's best character ;)

Well-known upholsterer and TV identity Craig Hughes joins us for a chat about seeing the recording of Filthy Rich & Catflap in 1986, and then Red Dwarf, while living in Manchester. Craig was also a sound engineer and promoter in the Madchester music scene, balancing that with his restoration work which later saw him become a specialist regular on TV's 'Salvage Hunters' and 'Salvage Hunters: The Restorers'. You can follow Craig on Twitter-X, Instagram, Youtube and at his website.  

Paul Jackson, producer and director of Filthy Rich & Catflap, is our special guest for the Xmas 2023 edition of the podcast.   Paul chats about the show's genesis, gives his take on the series nearly 40 years later, and recalls some of the great folks who worked on the series but are no longer with us. It's a very special interview so dive on in! Thanks to 'Red Dwarf Quarantine' for the screencap used in this episode's cover image. Check 'em out on YouTube. A big thank you to Paul Jackson for being part of the show!

A chat with autograph collector John Heffernan who just completed the 'holy grail' of Filthy Rich & Catflap signature pieces. John tells the story of meeting Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Ben Elton and (almost) Ade Edmondson in a two-decade sig pursuit! Jeffers and John also chat about the lack of Catflap collectables and whether that could be a good thing.    

A dive into Filthy Rich & Catflap, going letter by letter, where D is for Davro, G is for 'Game Show Formula' and B is for Benny Hill! This ep reveals a few cut scenes and does the dirty work of counting how many stiffy gags Catflap contains - plus much more. We answer questions like: Is the scene where Eddie attacks Richie with an axe a bit un-catflappian? What are Richie, Eddie and Filthy's best fourth-wall breaks? What state was Bulgy McBulgy's trouser furniture in during his act? Which top-flite muso played the Catflap theme melody? Follow us on X @PodCatflappo