Gender Education (Goodies episode)
Encyclopedia
Gender Education is an episode of the British
comedy
television series The Goodies
— a BAFTA
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
This episode is also known as "Sex and Violence".
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
, an obvious parody of Mary Whitehouse
) approaches The Goodies
as the ideal people to make a clean sex education film about the facts of life. However, she thinks that S-E-X is a sin and does not want the word to be mentioned during the film.
The Goodies respond with an absurdly coy film ("How to Make Babies by Doing Dirty Things") that could not possibly offend anyone, but the use of the word 'gender' in the opening credits disgusts her to such an extent that she refuses to watch the rest of the film.
The Goodies are then asked to make violent films for the BBC
; Tim and Graeme are horrified about this and refuse the request, but Bill decides to do so and releases a string of violent films, including a very violent version of Cinderella
, called Sinderella.
Bill, who has become obsessed with violence, goes on the rampage and wreaks havoc, resulting in the BBC
television studio being destroyed, leaving "ITV
back on top".
The absence of the BBC from the airwaves results in a vacuum in Mrs Carthorse's evening activities (formerly consisting of turning the television off) causes her to ask the Goodies what people do without television. When some romantic encounter is shown her with the aid of a telescope she rushes through the street demanding that people "Stop it! Stop it!"
Tim Brooke-Taylor
explains, "We made Mary Whitehouse, we hoped, seem crass, with lines like: Bill: 'What does your husband do?' Mrs C: 'He keeps his distance.'”
Despite the episode's relatively extreme content, Whitehouse did not complain to the BBC
about the Goodies until the Saturday Night Grease episode aired in 1980.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
— a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
This episode is also known as "Sex and Violence".
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
Plot
Mrs. Desiree Carthorse (Beryl ReidBeryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE was a British actress of stage and screen.-Early life:Born in Hereford, England in 1919, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in Manchester where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.-Career:Reid applied for and was accepted in a revue in...
, an obvious parody of Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
) approaches The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
as the ideal people to make a clean sex education film about the facts of life. However, she thinks that S-E-X is a sin and does not want the word to be mentioned during the film.
The Goodies respond with an absurdly coy film ("How to Make Babies by Doing Dirty Things") that could not possibly offend anyone, but the use of the word 'gender' in the opening credits disgusts her to such an extent that she refuses to watch the rest of the film.
The Goodies are then asked to make violent films for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
; Tim and Graeme are horrified about this and refuse the request, but Bill decides to do so and releases a string of violent films, including a very violent version of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
, called Sinderella.
Bill, who has become obsessed with violence, goes on the rampage and wreaks havoc, resulting in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television studio being destroyed, leaving "ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
back on top".
The absence of the BBC from the airwaves results in a vacuum in Mrs Carthorse's evening activities (formerly consisting of turning the television off) causes her to ask the Goodies what people do without television. When some romantic encounter is shown her with the aid of a telescope she rushes through the street demanding that people "Stop it! Stop it!"
Background
Worried about their credibility, The Goodies created this episode with the sole intention of annoying Mrs Whitehouse, who had written to the BBC to praise the team's wholesome family-orientated humour, clearly overlooking the fact that the first episode contained, in Bill Oddie's words, "drug references, tits and a royal scandal".Tim Brooke-Taylor
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...
explains, "We made Mary Whitehouse, we hoped, seem crass, with lines like: Bill: 'What does your husband do?' Mrs C: 'He keeps his distance.'”
Despite the episode's relatively extreme content, Whitehouse did not complain to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
about the Goodies until the Saturday Night Grease episode aired in 1980.
Spoofs and cultural references
- Mary WhitehouseMary WhitehouseMary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
- CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
- ButtonsButtons (pantomime)Buttons is the name of a character in the Cinderella pantomime. Buttons is the servant of Cinderella's father, Baron Hardup, and is Cinderella's friend...
- MGM
External links
- ("Gender Education" is listed under an alternative title at IMDb)