The Young Ones filming locations in Bristol: Your guide to the BBC sitcom

It's been over four decades since the anarchic BBC sitcom The Young Ones exploded onto our television screens, chronicling the chaotic escapades of a group of outrageous, yet strangely endearing, Scumbag College polytechnic students.

Who could resist the appeal of Rick (the late Rik Mayall) the lisping, right-on, politically conscious Cliff Richard devotee, Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson) the aggressive punk with metal studs hammered into his forehead, Neil (Nigel Planer) the melancholic, lentil-eating hippy or Mike (Christopher Ryan), the improbably smooth and sharp-witted wheeler-dealer?

Among the most bizarre and groundbreaking programmes of its time, it aired for two series and 12 half-hour episodes, between 1982 and 1984, leaving a lasting mark on a fresh generation of comedy enthusiasts and opening the door for the explosion of the alternative scene, even securing broadcast slots on US music channel MTV.

While the narrative was based in London, many of the group's bonkers, frequently slapstick, misadventures were filmed on location throughout Bristol, the most recognisable spot being the exterior of the house they leased from peculiar faux-Russian landlord Jerzei (Alexei Sayle) - in reality a property on Codrington Road, Bishopston. Curious onlookers gathered to watch the foursome's chaotic antics being filmed at several other locations across the city.

The former Cock o' the North pub on Northumbria Drive - now trading as the Westbury Park Pub and Kitchen - was rebranded as the Kebab and Calculator, where Vyvyan's mum worked as a barmaid, for the third episode, Boring, reports Bristol Live.

The group were also filmed at a laundrette on Gloucester Road, while the nearby former Bristol North Swimming Baths - since converted into office space - featured on multiple occasions, most memorably as the Fascist Pig Bank in the final episode, in which the lads face eviction and attempt a robbery armed with water pistols. The RSPCA charity shop on Gloucester Road doubled up as the Army Careers Office, where Neil was pressured into enlisting after the group found themselves completely broke in the episode Cash.

Vyv, Rik, Neil and Mike recreated their own take on the Beatles' Abbey Road cover on a Bristol zebra crossing, while an ailing Mike ventured out to the former Lloyds pharmacy at St Johns Lane, Bedminster, to pick up medication, only to return with a bumper supply of condoms.

Bristol Temple Meads station also features in the series, and the exterior of Footlights College, Oxbridge in the episode Bambi was in fact the magnificent Grade I listed Ashton Court Mansion at Long Ashton. While this sharp and wickedly entertaining slice of modern comedy, penned by Ben Elton, Lisa Mayer and Rik Mayall, had a relatively brief run, its anarchic influence lived on through the subsequent sitcoms Filthy Rich and Catflap in 1987 (featuring Rik, Ade and Nigel) and Bottom in the 1990s.

For those keen to revisit the show and seek out The Young Ones filming locations across the city, both series are currently available to stream across a number of platforms.

Taking a break from filming, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer and Adrian Edmondson on location at Codrington Road, Bristol in 1982

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On the wall of the student house, The Young Ones during filming in Bristol in August 1982, left to right Christopher Ryan as Mike, Rik Mayall as Rick, Nigel Planer as Neil and Adrian Edmondson as Vyvyan

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Sitting round the kitchen table in The Young Ones' student house - in the studio rather than inside the location house in Codrington Road, Bristol

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It's a police raid! Filming a scene from The Young Ones on location at Codrington Road, Bristol

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