Comic's regret over language in The Young Ones

Ben Elton has admitted he regrets some of the offensive language he used in The Young Ones.

The writer said that having Rik Mayall's character of Rick using ‘spasmo’ as a term of abuse in the 1980s series legitimised hateful language.

He said he ‘cringes’ when he recalls such lines, adding: ‘The only plea in mitigation I can offer is that my intention had been that the joke would be on the character of Rick… I had hoped that he’d look a fool for offering such a tired and witless playground insult as if it was some brilliant Oscar Wilde-style put down.’

Writing in The Independent, Elton added: ‘The letters I received from the parents of kids with cerebral palsy opened my eyes to the reality of what I’d contributed to. The Young Ones was hugely popular with young people at the time and was much quoted in the playground. 

‘In our wretched naivety and thoughtlessness, Rik and I had legitimised the use of the word "spastic" as a term of abuse. Any satirical subtlety that I’d hoped for had been lost in the thoughtless cruelty of the playground.’

Elton said an encounter with a fan with cerebral palsy after a gig helped change his attitude – and inspired him to create two heroes with disability in his second novel, Gridlock.

He is now also patron of disability equality charity Scope –  although he made a major gaffe in 2012 when he used its former name, The Spastics Society, in a TV interview. His use of the outdated term, which the charity dropped in 1994, was branded ‘awful and embarrassing’.

But today Elton acknowledged: ‘Language defines attitudes and all too often disabled people are held back by negative attitudes in all areas of life. That needs to change. And part of that change means putting our hands up and recognising where we’ve made mistakes, and then doing something about it. That’s why I’m sharing this with you.’

 Elton is hosting a stand-up benefit for Scope at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire theatre on the  December 21.

Published: 20 Nov 2019