All this month we are celebrating acts that you need to look out for in 2026. Today we look to the future to see what is in store for The Talking Bottom this year.

How was 2025 for you?

There’s been a few ups and downs to say the least. As a collective, we Talking Bottom podcasters have had a turbulent year. In March it seemed our Bottom book might not happen at all when our crowdfunder book publisher Unbound went into administration. Thankfully we pleaded for them to continue our project with their new venture, Boundless, and our book ‘Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom’ was released on 3rd July in a brilliant launch day event we held for fans at Rik Mayall’s Memorial Bench in Hammersmith.

However, it soon transpired Boundless hadn’t printed enough and it’d sold out on the first day and they were refusing to print more… Then, about 3 weeks later, Boundless went into liquidation which meant we not only had no money looking likely to come our way, we ended up having to pay £4k for the remaining books to leave the warehouse and be sent to our original book backers who were still waiting for their copies.

Thankfully, we’ve swallowed that debt, and the book is being given new life with a new publisher and on sale again 6th November 2025. We sincerely hope Wilton Square Books weren’t formed in the Bottom universe and they survive 2026 – the irony of how utterly hopeless the initial two iterations of book publishers were isn’t lost on us!

What were the top 3 highlights for you? 

• Staging our first ever live podcast with guest Ed Bye at the inaugural The Rik Mayall Comedy Festival in May was very special – being in the same room as 200 Rik fans at the Norbury Theatre, on the very stage Rik Mayall first performed on was truly incredible.
• Launching our book ‘Talking Bottom: A Guide to the Cult Sitcom’ in July and being joined at the photo call by Paul Jackson, Roger Sloman and Lee Cornes at Rik’s Memorial Bench in Hammersmith was another dream come true – especially as we followed it with a book signing and day in the pub for all our book backers who could come and collect their copies in person. It was brilliant meeting so many fellow Bottom fans and celebrating the launch, albeit a short lived celebration given Boundless had left us without enough copies to sell and loads of people disappointed! 
• Staging our second ever live podcast at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with guest Lee Cornes was brilliant fun too. There’s definitely been ups as well as downs in 2025. And, at time of writing, we haven’t yet had our in-person book relaunch but we’re hoping that’ll be a real boost to our spirits meeting some more Bottom fans before Christmas!

What was the key lesson you learnt from last year? 

That you can turn really bad news into a fresh opportunity with the ‘right’ attitude. Obviously this is within reason but when the publisher first went into administration and wanted to cancel our project we could easily have given up, but we kept pushing for what we knew was right and insisted the book was continued. Ultimately, that all fell apart again, but, we have dusted ourselves off so many times now, hopefully, the lesson is that having ‘right’ on your side is what prevails – just don’t give up. Even really crap things can be turned around. Winston Churchill said ‘if you’re going through Hell, keep going.’ and it’s very sound advice. We hope 2026 will have less challenges but bring ‘em on.

What are your plans for 2026?

We hope to host another live podcast at the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival 2026, perhaps some book festivals, even more podcasts and, if we get enough interest, to mark the best ever sitcom’s 35th anniversary with the first ever Bottom Convention! 

What styles do you hope to see more of in comedy this year? 

Well we’d be hypocritical if we didn’t say physical comedy / violence / stunts mixed with incredibly silly wordplay, Beckettian nihilism and nob gags. Massive, girthy nob gags.

What comedy/comedies is/are your ‘one/ones to watch’ in 2026 and why? 

In terms of TV ‘Small Prophets’ the new BBC Mackenzie Crook sitcom with Sir Michael Palin in sounds brilliant. Here We Go has been renewed for a 4th series which is brilliant news. In terms of live shows we’ll be looking forward to everything funny at the Rik Mayall Comedy Festival in May/June, especially Talking Bottom Live.

What other shows are you looking forward to watching this year? 

I’m actually painfully unaware of what’s coming up in 2026 on the telly or in live theatre. If there’s a new series of Slow Horses released then all will be right with the world. For All Mankind’s got a new series coming out, too, so all will be right with Space.

Do you have any new years resolutions? If so what are they? 

No, not really! Mat should really follow through on his promise of having a bath this year, though.

Are you on social media? If so how can people find out more about you? 

Follow us @talkingbottom on instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook.

Three words why people should come and see you this year?

Very firm jugs.

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