3. Ben Elton's first major success came as co-writer of the sitcom "The Young Ones" for the BBC. With which member of the cast did he write it?
From Quiz Mr Elton's Much Admir'd Work
Answer:
Rik Mayall
In the early 1980s, a group of young comedy performers were making waves at The Comedy Store in London. Some were recruited by the fledgling Channel 4 into a project that eventually became "The Comic Strip Presents...", which was first broadcast on the channel's opening night in November 1982. In response, the BBC brought the group in to develop other projects, the first of which was a subversive sitcom that came to be "The Young Ones". Rik Mayall began working on writing the scripts alongside his then girlfriend, Lise Meyer, and a stand-up comedian called Ben Elton. Elton had attended the University of Manchester at the same time as Mayall (graduating two years later), and in 1981 had been hired to take over from Alexi Sayle as compere of The Comedy Store. The success of "The Young Ones" led to the BBC approach Elton to undertake further projects - in 1985, the year after the end of "The Young Ones", Elton was sole writer on the comedy-drama series "Happy Families", while he also wrote "Filthy, Rich and Catflap", featuring Mayall, Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer, all of whom had been in "The Young Ones". The same year saw the start of his collaboration with Richard Curtis as co-writers of "Blackadder".