Neil

Neil is a character from the British sitcom The Young Ones, played by Nigel Planer. The character is associated with the sitcom’s group of housemates and is part of The Young Ones’ contribution to Cliff Richard’s 1986 charity recording of “Living Doll”, which reaches number one in the UK for three weeks.

As a fictional hippie, Neil Pye is presented as clinically depressed, suicidal, pacifist, vegetarian, and environmentally minded, and he is working towards a degree in Peace Studies. He is repeatedly bullied by the other housemates, especially Rick and Vyvyan, and is made to do the household chores, including shopping, cleaning, and cooking, without receiving acknowledgement unless something goes wrong.

Neil is characterised as deeply pessimistic and convinced that everyone and everything hates him. He has a small circle of friends, including two other hippies, one also called Neil and one named Warlock. He dislikes technology apart from video, and he speaks in support of “Vegetable Rights and Peace”. He is also a chronic insomniac and says that sleep gives you cancer.

The character’s attention-seeking behaviour includes hitting himself in the head with a frying pan and attempting suicide. He also claims that the most interesting thing that happens to him is sneezing, because his sneezes cause large explosions. In the second series, his parents appear in the episode “Sick” and are revealed to be upper-class, very conservative Tories who look down on him for appearing in such a disreputable comedy series.

Neil also becomes a recording act through Nigel Planer’s performance in character. “Hole in My Shoe”, originally a hit for Traffic, reaches number two in 1984. A cover of Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle” follows and reaches number seventeen. An album titled Neil’s Heavy Concept Album is also produced, and Planer takes the stage act on the road that year in the Bad Karma in the UK tour, which finishes with a month-long run at St Mary’s Hall at the Edinburgh Fringe.