‘Close the curtain, I’m trying to watch the TV.’

Hello to all you smashing-blouse-wearing pledgers. If you’re in the UK right now then chances are you’re smothered in ‘low calorie’ sun tan lotion and perhaps looking forward to the return of the need for drizzle oil, gloom juice and WIND SMEAR! Either that or you’re sick to the gold teeth of hearing people banging on about the heat.

Either way, we thought it was high time to send you a summer update on how the Talking Bottom book is progressing. We know many of you have been asking and we appreciate your patience. It turns out penning an intelligently-written, well-researched and (at times) humorous book takes quite a while. And the book we’re writing is taking some time too.

As three of us are scribbling this massive tome, we are each giving every chapter a ruddy good seeing too before we feel confident that the final version is ready to submit. Honestly, you can SEE our nipples we’re working so hard! Once it is delivered, it will be subject to a robust editing process by Unbound (i.e the publishers will make sure it isn’t a load of old b*llocks like War and Peace).

We promise to inform you the moment we can share news of an expected publication date but it is likely going to hit the shelves in 2023, rather than 2022 as first hoped. Apologies that we made a slight miscalculation on the timings but, rest assured, the research stage is complete and large swathes of it are written. We are excited to share our 100% unofficial guide to the greatest sitcom ever made with you all, and we are enduringly grateful to each and every one of you for pledging your hard-earned cash to support the project in the first place.

It’s not too late for others to pledge and get their name printed in the back, and receive exclusive rewards, so do keep spreading the word to other Rik and Ade fans. As a bonus for your efforts, ‘stretch goals’ mean that if the project reaches 150% funding then every reader will receive a set of Bottom postcards and, if we reach 175%, a PDF chapter ‘A-Z’ of Bottom will be unlocked for every pledger, too: https://unbound.com/books/bottom/

Meanwhile, please follow us on social media (@TalkingBottom) for upcoming podcast updates and Bottom-heavy funny content.

Yours sincerely (and sweatily),

Paul, Angela and Mat xxx