Ben Elton

Introducing Mike - the cool smooth one; Neil - the boring hippy with the death wish and the lentil fetish; Rik - the self-styled revolutionary, people's poet and Cliff Richard fan; and Vyvyan-the violent, orange spiky-haired punk and his hamster SPG.

When Mike decides it's time to visit the launderette, one of Vyvyan's socks escapes and the machine revolts against their stinking bundle of washing. Neil suddenly remembers they are due to appear on University Challenge. Vyvyan loses his head during the train journey, and it looks like Scumbag will lose to Footlights College, Oxbridge, when a giant eclair stops play.

During heavy rains, London floods and the Young Ones are trapped in the house. When they embark on a game of hide-and-seek to pass the time, Mike finds a lion tamer in his bedroom and Vyvyan hides in a wardrobe and enters Narnia. But the sharks at the window and the arson attack on Rik's bedroom pale into insignificance when their landlord Jerzei Balowski turns into a homicidal, axe-wielding maniac.

All four Young Ones are ill. Neil's sneezing is so violent, Vyvyan tries an extreme acupuncture cure and triggers a street riot outside. Murderer Brian Damage Balowski escapes from his police guard after they are called in to deal with the trouble, and takes the four hostage. Worse, Neil's parents come to tea and change the programme, resulting in three Neils when he is planted in the garden.