Adrian Edmondson was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He went to Manchester University to study drama. Whilst he was there he met Rik Mayall, and the pair began performing as 20th Century Coyote. The act continued after university when Adrian & Rik moved to London, and they became two of the leading lights in the new 'alternative comedy' scene, performing at the newly established Comedy Store, and setting up their own club, The Comic Strip, with 'Peter Richardson', Nigel Planer, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and Alexei Sayle. This spawned two 1980s TV series: The Young Ones (1982), and The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) In the 1990's Ade & Rik continued their partnership with a new series called Bottom (1991), which ran for three seasons and became a major success on the live circuit. It was basically a live sitcom, liberally sprinkled with slapstick humour, and the pair did 5 long tours between 1993 and 2003. Simultaneously, Adrian established himself as an actor, doing two improvised TV films under the Screen One and Screen Two umbrella, with director Les Blair: Screen Two: Honest, Decent and True (1986), and Screen One: News Hounds (1990) (winner of the BAFTA for best single drama). He was a regular in the hospital drama Holby City (1999) from 2005 - 2008. He took the lead in a drama documentary about the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in the series Surviving Disaster (2006), and appeared as Henry Austen in the TV movie Miss Austen Regrets (2008), the film Blood (2012), and the drama series Prey (2014). But his most notable dramatic role to date is that of Count Rostov in the BBC series War & Peace (2016).
| Series | Alien: Earth | Atom Eins | 2025-08-12 |
| Movie | Bottom: Exposed | Himself | 2024-04-18 |
| Series | Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story | 2024-08-14 | |
| Movie | imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter | Self | 2023-12-27 |
| Series | A Spy Among Friends | Sir Roger Hollis | 2022-12-08 |
| Movie | Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel | Self | 2021-03-22 |
| Series | The Pact | Richard | 2021-05-17 |
| Series | Out of Her Mind | Lewis | 2020-10-20 |
| Movie | King Rocker | Self (archive footage) | 2020-10-31 |
| Series | Cheat | William Vaughan | 2019-03-11 |
| Movie | Completely Bad News | Vim Fuego | 2019-11-29 |
| Movie | The Rizen: Possession | The Interviewer | 2019-05-22 |
| Movie | RSC Live: Twelfth Night | Malvolio | 2018-02-14 |
| Movie | How The Young Ones Changed Comedy | 2018-05-26 | |
| Series | Urban Myths | Leslie Conn | 2017-01-19 |
| Movie | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | Captain Peavey | 2017-12-13 |
| Movie | The Rizen | Interviewer | 2017-05-06 |
| Movie | Interlude In Prague | Herr Luptak | 2017-05-25 |
| Series | Bancroft | Superintendent Cliff Walker | 2017-12-11 |
| Series | War and Peace | Ilya Rostov | 2016-01-03 |
| Series | One of Us | Peter Elliot | 2016-08-23 |
| Movie | Rocky Horror Show Live | Narrator | 2015-11-17 |
| Series | Prey | DCI Warner | 2014-04-28 |
| Series | Ronja, the Robber's Daughter | Noodle Pete (voice, English version) | 2014-10-11 |
| Series | The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff | Headmaster Wackville | 2012-02-20 |
| Movie | Five Go to Rehab | Dick | 2012-11-07 |
| Movie | Blood | Tom Tiernan | 2012-10-09 |
| Series | Ade in Britain | 2011-11-07 | |
| Series | Monte Carlo or Bust | 2010-10-28 | |
| Series | Let's Dance for Comic Relief | Unknown | 2009-02-21 |
| Movie | Miss Austen Regrets | Henry Austen | 2008-02-03 |
| Movie | Rocky Horror Tribute Show | Brad | 2008-10-14 |
| Series | Teenage Kicks | 2008-03-28 | |
| Series | The Alan Titchmarsh Show | Unknown | 2007-09-03 |
| Movie | If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story | Self (Narrator) | 2007-12-14 |
| Series | School's Out | Unknown | 2006-04-19 |
| Series | Surviving Disaster | Unknown | 2006-01-10 |
| Series | The One Show | Unknown | 2006-08-14 |
| Series | Twisted Tales | Unknown | 2005-01-16 |
| Series | Doctors and Nurses | Dr. Roy Glover | 2004-01-13 |
| Movie | Bottom Mindless Violence | Vyvyan / Eddie Catflap / Sir Adrian Dangerous / Dreamy Time Escort / Eddie Hitler / Eddie Ndingombaba (archive footage) | 2004-11-22 |
| Series | Comic Relief Does Fame Academy | 2003-03-07 | |
| Movie | Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour | Edward Hitler | 2003-11-24 |
| Series | Celebrity Mastermind | Unknown | 2003-12-26 |
| Movie | Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity | Eddie | 2001-10-19 |
| Movie | The Making of 'Guest House Paradiso' | Self | 1999-11-15 |
| Movie | Guest House Paradiso | Eddie Elizabeth Ndingombaba | 1999-12-03 |
| Movie | Jack and the Beanstalk: The ITV Pantomime | Dame Dolly | 1998-12-25 |
| Series | Jonathan Creek | Unknown | 1997-05-09 |
| Movie | Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island | Eddie Hitler | 1997-10-27 |
| Series | Captain Star | 1997-07-08 | |
| Movie | The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye | Zyke | 1995-01-15 |
| Series | Look at the State We're In! | Dewhurst | 1995-05-20 |
| Movie | Bottom Live 2: The Big Number 2 Tour | Eddie | 1995-11-06 |
| Series | Anna Lee | Unknown | 1994-02-27 |
| Movie | Bottom Live: The Stage Show | Eddie | 1993-09-27 |
| Movie | Space Virgins from Planet Sex | 'K' / Air Traffic Controller | 1993-04-29 |
| Series | If You See God, Tell Him | Gordon Spry | 1993-11-11 |
| Series | Absolutely Fabulous | Unknown | 1992-11-12 |
| Movie | The Pope Must Die | Father Rookie | 1991-06-21 |
| Series | Bottom | Edward Elizabeth Hitler | 1991-09-17 |
| Series | Pebble Mill | Unknown | 1991-10-14 |
| Movie | South Atlantic Raiders: Part 1 | Billy | 1990-02-08 |
| Movie | GLC: The Carnage Continues | Billy/Prince Charles/Giles Cricket Bat Portland | 1990-02-05 |
| Movie | South Atlantic Raiders: Part 2 Argie Bargie! | Billy | 1990-02-08 |
| Series | Rita Rudner | Unknown | 1990-09-18 |
| Movie | Oxford | 2nd MI5 Man / Fan | 1990-02-22 |
| Movie | News Hounds | Phil Burke | 1990-09-02 |
| Movie | Les Dogs | Best Man | 1990-08-03 |
| Movie | The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball | Self | 1989-01-01 |
| Series | Press Gang | Simon Knowles | 1989-01-16 |
| Series | Happy Families | 1989-08-17 | |
| Series | Snakes and Ladders | Giles Tewkesbury | 1989-10-17 |
| Movie | More Bad News | Vim Fuego | 1988-02-27 |
| Movie | Mr Jolly Lives Next Door | Dreamy Time Escort | 1988-03-05 |
| Movie | The Strike | Adrian/Slim/Policeman | 1988-02-20 |
| Movie | An Audience With Victoria Wood | Self | 1988-12-10 |
| Movie | The Yob | Michael | 1988-03-12 |
| Series | This Morning | Unknown | 1988-10-03 |
| Series | Filthy Rich & Catflap | Edward Catflap | 1987-01-07 |
| Movie | Eat the Rich | Charles | 1987-10-23 |
| Movie | Dangerous Brothers Present: World of Danger | Sir Adrian Dangerous | 1986-01-01 |
| Movie | The Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Rude Video Live | Self | 1986-04-25 |
| Movie | Honest Decent & True | Alun Pickersgill | 1986-02-09 |
| Series | Happy Families | Guy Fuddle | 1985-10-17 |
| Movie | The Supergrass | Dennis Carter | 1985-11-08 |
| Movie | Gino: Full Story and Pics | Gordon/Bill | 1984-01-28 |
| Movie | Slags | Ace | 1984-02-11 |
| Movie | Bad News | Vim Fuego/Alan Metcalfe | 1983-01-24 |
| Movie | Summer School | Peter | 1983-01-31 |
| Movie | Dead on Time | Fool | 1983-01-01 |
| Series | Blackadder | Baron von Richtoven | 1983-06-15 |
| Series | Natural World | Narrator | 1983-10-30 |
| Movie | Kevin Turvey: The Man Behind the Green Door | Keith Marshall | 1982-03-13 |
| Series | The Comic Strip Presents... | 1982-11-02 | |
| Series | The Young Ones | Vyvyan | 1982-11-09 |
| Movie | The Comic Strip | 1981-01-01 | |
| Series | An Audience with... | Himself | 1978-01-08 |