Flood

Flood was the sixth and final episode of The Young Ones first series and was first shown on BBC2 on 14 December 1982. I had just turned 13! With influences from CS Lewis(!) and The Bible(!!) and Stephen King's The Shining(!!!) this episode is quite complex, but it does grow on the viewer, unlike say its successor, Bambi which has a more accessible theme right from the start. It is also true that Flood is the only episode which doesn't feature a band during the mid point of the show. So there.

However these points should not distract from its quietly developing plot line from the medieval execution in the opening scene, through the dramatic change in Alexei Sayle's Jerzei Balowski from sweet tempered landlord to homicidal axe-wielding maniac (well he did drink Vyvyan's homicidal axe-wielding maniac potion), to the interview between Vyvyan and the witch in the sled at the back of his wardrobe. And then of course we had the sharks, the lions and lion-tamer, and finally, SPG with an olive branch. Ahh!

All in all then, Flood represents a fine end to the first series and is a good standard setter for the second, which in my opinion is the better of the two. But that's only my opinion, you may have a different point of view.