Petition Launched for Rik Mayall Memorial Bench in Hammersmith

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Following blue plaque linking to TV show Bottom filmed and set locally

An online petition has been launched to have a memorial bench for Rik Mayall placed in Hammersmith.

The petition, addressed to Hammersmith and Fulham Council, follows the appearance of an English Heritage style blue plaque paying tribute to the comedian on Hammersmith Broadway following his sudden death on Monday June 9.

The words on the "True English Heritage" plaque are a reference to the TV show Bottom, which starred Rik and his comedy partner Ade Edmondsen and the QR code links to a YouTube clip of the show's opening sequence.

The clip was filmed in Hammersmith, including a bench on
Hammersmith Bridge Road, and the series centred on a hopeless pair living in a flat in Hammersmith.

You can see the full opening clip here.

Jaime Bird, who organised the petition, says the bench would be " an honour to the late, great Rik Mayall and to serve as a permanent memorial to him."

She says: " Rik changed the face of comedy within the UK, his fans from all over the UK and even around the world have united in grief and an out pouring of emotion and love. We feel that we should now honour him for all that he gave us and the petition has spread like wildfire through social media."

The council has responded favourably to the idea, with a spokesman saying: "The council is interested in this idea to mark the talented comedian's link to Hammersmith and would like to speak to his family at an appropriate time to discuss if they would like him honoured in this way."

The petition is aiming for 10,000 signatures from fans and has already gathered over 3,000. You can view and sign the petition here

Rik's wife Barbara has said that the 56 year-old comedian, whose funeral was held in Devon on Thursday, died of "an acute cardiac event" after returning to the family home in Barnes from his regular morning run and added that she and his three daughters had received "thousands and thousands of messages of condolence" from around the world.

"We always knew that Rik was well loved but we are all overwhelmed by so many joining us in our grief," she said.

There is now a social media campaign to boost Rik's World Cup song Noble England. It was recorded for the 2010 World Cup but failed to chart, but this week it reached the top ten at the number seven spot and fans are hoping it will reach the number one spot.

In 1998, Rik suffered a near-fatal quad bike crash which left him with epilepsy, and fans are also raising money in his memory for the brain damage charity Headway. You can read about this campaign here.

June 13, 2014