What makes the show so effective?

The interesting relationship between Richie and Eddie. Although they hate each other, they actually can't live without each other.

Who can take you higher than a twin peak mountain blue?

I wouldn't agree that the series is actually mocking the "jobless classes" (we just used to call them "unemployed" back in my day!), rather it's identifying with the condition of being unemployed, and the boredom and despair that comes with it.

Look at the title. It's more than just a lavatorial pun (although, of course, there is that element). It's also referring to these two guys being on the bottom of the pile and part of an underclass that society, for whatever reason, has chosen to ignore. Although in Richie and Eddie's case, society probably ignores them because they are both thoroughly unpleasant and socially inept.

It's essentially the comedy of frustration: the social frustration of being perpetually skint, living in squalor with somebody you despise and, of course, plain old sexual frustration.

The domestic violence angle is a good call though, as Richie and Eddie are, to all intents and purposes, a married couple locked in an abusive relationship from which neither is able to escape.

However, with that said, for your third social aspect, I'd suggest social aspiration, which has the added advantage of being a very common theme throughout sitcom. Look at Richie's inflated sense of self-importance and middle class pretentions, and Eddie's constant dreaming and scheming, looking for that one lucky get-rich-quick break that will take him away from Richie forever.

Long ago, I made a connection between Richie and Eddie in Bottom and the characters of (Tony) Hancock and Sid (James) in Hancock's Half Hour. Like Hancock, Richie is arrogant, pompous, self-important and self-pitying, with delusions of grandeur. (And a lot of Rik Mayall's mannerisms in Bottom seem to be lifted straight from Tony Hancock.)

Likewise, Eddie is, like Sid, unashamedly working class and a bit seedy, always on the make and, also like Sid, likes a drink and is comparatively more successful with women than his colleague. Hancock's Half Hour is basically Bottom without the violence and bad language!

"Vegetable rights and peace!"

How did the essay go then?

Who can take you higher than a twin peak mountain blue?

Cr