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{{For|information about the formation of The Goodies group and the origins and development of the series|The Goodies}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2009}}
The Goodies is a British
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
sketchesSketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and
situation comedyA situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one of its dominant narrative forms...
, was made by
BBC 2{{Otheruses4||the BBC radio station|BBC Radio 2|the defunct Philippine network|Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation}}{{Otheruses4||the BBC radio station|BBC Radio 2|the defunct Philippine network|Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation}}...
from 1970 to 1980 — and was then made by the
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
company
LWTLondon Weekend Television is the ITV network franchise holder for London and the South East at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5:15pm. to Monday mornings at 5:59am....
from 1981 to 1982.
The show was co-written and starred
Tim Brooke-TaylorTim Brooke-Taylor is an English comic actor known in Britain, Australia and New Zealand as a member of The Goodies and in the comedy radio shows I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, and I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again....
,
Graeme GardenDavid Graeme Garden is a British author, actor, comedian, artist and television presenter, who first became known as a member of The Goodies.-Early life and beginnings in comedy:...
and
Bill OddieWilliam Edgar Oddie, OBE is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who first became famous as one of The Goodies....
(as "The Goodies"). Bill Oddie also wrote the music for the series — while "The Goodies Theme" was co-written by Bill Oddie and
Michael GibbsMichael Clement Irving Gibbs is a jazz composer, conductor, arranger and producer as well as a trombonist and keyboarder....
. The directors/producers of the series were
John Howard DaviesJohn Howard Davies is a British film actor, television director and producer.Davies was the son of the scriptwriter Jack Davies...
, Jim Franklin and
Bob SpiersBob Spiers was a British television director best known for his work on various sitcoms and other comedy programmes. He is particularly noted as the director of the early series of Absolutely Fabulous , and of the second series of Fawlty Towers . He also worked with Steven Moffat on Press Gang and...
.
An early title which was considered for the series was
Narrow Your Mind (following on from
Broaden Your MindBroaden Your Mind is a British television comedy series starring Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, joined by Bill Oddie for the second series...
) and prior to that the working title was
Super Chaps Three.
Basic structure of the series
The series' basic structure revolved around the trio offering themselves for hire — with the tagline "We Do Anything, Anytime" — to perform all sorts of ridiculous but benevolent tasks. Under this pretext, the show explored all sorts of off-the-wall scenarios for comedic potential. Many episodes
parodiedA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
current events, such as an episode where the black population of South Africa immigrates to Great Britain to escape apartheid. As this means that the white South Africans no longer have anyone to exploit and oppress, they introduce a new system called "apart-height", where short people (Bill and a number of
jockeyIn sport, a jockey is one who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing; however, camel jockey profession is slowly being replaced by robotics.-Horse racing:...
s) are discriminated against. Others were more abstractly philosophical, such as an episode in which the trio spend
Christmas EveChristmas Eve, December 24, is the night before Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.-Western Churches:Many Roman Catholics and Anglicans traditionally celebrate a midnight Mass which begins sometime before midnight on Christmas Day; this ceremony, which is held in churches...
together waiting for the
EarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the fifth largest of the eight planets in the solar system, and the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in terms of diameter, mass and density...
to be blown up by arrangement of the world's governments.
The "Christmas Eve" episode (titled "
Earthanasia"Earthanasia" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "The End of the World Show".-Plot:It is very late Christmas Eve and Bill and Graeme are preparing for Christmas...
") was one of the two episodes which took place entirely in one room. The other, "
The EndThe End was an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "Encased in Concrete".-Prologue:During the episode:* Tim Brooke-Taylor also appears as 'Future Tim'...
", occurred when Graeme accidentally had the office encased in an enormous block of
concreteConcrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water, and chemical admixtures...
. This type of episode was usually made when the entire location budget for the season had been spent, forcing the trio to come up with a script that relied entirely on character interaction.{{Fact|date=May 2009}} These "claustrophobic" episodes often worked surprisingly well.{{Fact|date=May 2009}}
Awards
A special episode, which was based on the
original 1971 Goodies' "
Kitten KongKitten Kong is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.- Award :A special episode, which was based on the original 1971 Goodies' "Kitten Kong" episode, was called "Kitten Kong: Montreux '72 Edition", and was first broadcast in 1972.The Goodies won the Silver Rose in 1972 for...
" episode, was called "
Kitten Kong: Montreux '72 Edition", and was first broadcast in 1972.
The GoodiesThe 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.-Cambridge University:The three actors in The Goodies met as students at the...
won the
Silver RoseThe Rose d'Or is a television award. It has been given annually in spring since 1961 at the Festival Rose d'Or. Since 2004, the festival has been held in Lucerne, Switzerland...
in 1972 for this special episode at the
Festival Rose d'OrThe Rose d'Or is a television award. It has been given annually in spring since 1961 at the Festival Rose d'Or. Since 2004, the festival has been held in Lucerne, Switzerland...
, held in
MontreuxMontreux is a municipality in the district of Vevey in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population of 23,800.- History and geography :...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
.
The Goodies also won the Silver Rose in 1975 at the Festival Rose d'Or for their episode
The Movies.
Characters and production techniques
The show featured extensive use of
slapstickSlapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense and sometimes includes ironic situations, such as a character being hit in the face with a heavy frying pan or running into a brick wall, or going mad while searching for...
(often performed using sped-up photography and clever, though low-budget, visual effects), such as when they built a railway station together, and awoke the next morning to discover that the construction equipment outside (
steam shovelA steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel.-Origins and development:...
,
bulldozerA bulldozer is a crawler , equipped with a substantial metal plate , used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work...
,
backhoeA backhoe, also called a rear actor or back actor, is a piece of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. They are typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader...
) had come to life, and were lumbering, growling, and battling like
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Descendant taxon Aves survives to present.}}|image = field_dinos_2.jpg...
s.
Other episodes featured parodies of contemporary pop music (in the loosest sense of the term) composed by Oddie (some of which went on to commercial success in the British charts, among them the hit single "
Funky GibbonThe Goodies on Record is about The Goodies' releases:The Goodies releases included the following titles, among others:-LPs and CDs:The Goodies released four albums and a number of singles during the 1970s, as well as a various greatest hits compilations on both vinyl and CD...
") as well as character-based comedy. Some early episodes were interrupted by spoofs of contemporary commercials.
The group also acknowledges their debt to the usage of music in silent movies. In The Movies episode, they buy an old movie studio, and attempt to make their own epic film:
MacBeth Meets TruffautFrançois Roland Truffaut was an influential filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry...
The Wonder Dog. After several 'takes,' they argue, and each begins to make their own style of movie. The episode finished with an extended silent movie segment, in which each one's movie comically interferes with the others.
The characters are based around the personae of Garden (a "
mad scientistA mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if they even have...
"), Brooke-Taylor (a conservative, fashionable, sexually-repressed, Tory-voting royalist), and Oddie (a scruffy, occasionally violent, far left-leaning anarchist from
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
). The group have suggested that the characters of Graeme, Tim, and Bill represent the
LiberalThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
,
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
and
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
wings of British politics or middle-class, upper-class, and working-class stereotypes respectively.{{Fact|date=May 2009}} The characters played up to their stereotypes, but were not necessarily based on the actor playing the character. This is not immediately obvious as they were called by their own names, and had some minor characteristics in common. In reality, Garden is a medical doctor, Brooke-Taylor is not really conservative (
"But I had the double-barrelled name so I was always going to play the Tory" http://www.smh.com.au/news/Arts/Laughs-to-the-power-of-three/2004/12/13/1102787009735.html) and Oddie is a pacifist, ornithologist and active
environmentalistAn environmentalist supports any goal of the environmental movement, an information-based perspective on appropriate use of technology to prevent adverse effects on the environment...
.
The Goodies episodes
{{Main|List of The Goodies episodes}}
- The Goodies made 74 episodes (including specials).
Dual Goodies' roles
Episodes, in which the Goodies appeared as other roles, including appearing as doubles of themselves — while also appearing in their usual roles of Tim, Bill and Graeme — included the following:
- The Baddies — in which Tim, Bill and Graeme also act as robot
A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own...
duplicates of themselves
- Daylight Robbery of the Orient Express — in which Tim, Bill and Graeme also act as mime
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
duplicates of themselves
- 2001 and a Bit — in which Tim, Bill and Graeme also act as their own son
A son is a male offspring; a boy or man in relation to his parents. The female equivalent is a daughter.-Social issues regarding sons:Pre-industrial societies and some current countries with agriculture-based economies, a higher value was, and still is, assigned to sons rather than daughters,...
s
— ('Bill Brooke-Taylor', 'Tim Garden' and 'Graeme Oddie')
- Alternative Roots
Alternative Roots is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "The Goodies Find Their Roots" and "Hoots, Toots and Froots".-Prologue:...
— in which Graeme, Bill and Tim also act as their own ancestorAn ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....
s
— 'Keltic Kilty' (Graeme's ancestor), 'Kinda Kinky' (Bill's ancestor) and 'Kounty Kutie' (Tim's ancestor)
- The End
The End was an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "Encased in Concrete".-Prologue:During the episode:* Tim Brooke-Taylor also appears as 'Future Tim'...
— in which Tim, Bill and Graeme also act as futuristicThe future is a time period commonly understood to contain all events that have yet to occur. It is the opposite of the past, and is the time after the present. In the Occidental view, which uses a linear conception of time, the future is the portion of the projected time line that is anticipated...
Goodies.
- The Goodies – Almost Live — in which the Goodies also appear as "Pan's Grannies".
- Hunting Pink
Hunting Pink is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "Where Theres a Will" and as "A Hunting We Will Go".-Plot:...
— in which Tim also appears as his 'Great-uncle Butcher'.
Alternative Goodies' roles
- Rome Antics, in which Tim, Bill and Graeme appeared as Ancient Goodies
(the episode takes place during the time of the Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
).
- War Babies
War Babies is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.It was the last episode to be produced and transmitted by BBC Television.-Plot:It is the Second World War, and Tim, Bill and Graeme are only two years old...
, in which Tim, Bill and Graeme appeared as 2 year old Goodies
(the episode takes place during the time of World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
).
Tim's uncles
Tim's uncles are featured in the following episodes:
- Camelot
Camelot is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.-Plot:Tim says that he is expectng a letter from his Uncle King Arthur...
— Uncle King Arthur
- Farm Fresh Food
Farm Fresh Food is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "Health Farm".-Plot:The Goodies go out to dinner and are disgusted with the fact that none of the food is fresh...
— Uncle Tom
- Hunting Pink
Hunting Pink is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "Where Theres a Will" and as "A Hunting We Will Go".-Plot:...
— Great Uncle Butcher (played by Tim)
Monty Python spoofs and imitations
Goodies' episodes, in which "
Monty Python’s Flying Circus" was either
parodiedA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
or alluded to, included the following:
- The Goodies and the Beanstalk — in which John Cleese portrays a genie
In Islam, a Djinn is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of Allah...
in the guise of a Monty Python character and uses the Python catchphrase "And now for something completely different". When spotted and told to "Get off!" by Tim and Bill, he shouts: "Kid's programme!" before vanishing.
- Invasion of the Moon Creatures — the opening credits of "Monty Python’s Flying Circus" can be seen when Graeme switches on the television. Graeme immediately switches off the television because he has missed what he wanted to see (Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson, OBE is a Scottish singer.Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.She landed her first job in the...
).
- Fleet Street Goodies — in which the Liberty Bell March
"The Liberty Bell" is an American military march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1893. It is often associated with the 1970's British comedy program Monty Python's Flying Circus, which began and ended with the first few bars...
(the theme for "Monty Python’s Flying Circus") can be heard.
- Scatty Safari
Scatty Safari is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.This episode is also known as "The Existence of Rolf Harris".-Plot:...
— in which four GumbiesGumbys are recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus, characterized by a very distinctive appearance. If a name was listed for them, the surname given would always be "Gumby", and the first name would usually be given as two initials...
are featured.
- The Goodies Rule – O.K.?
The Goodies Rule - OK.? is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.The costume designer for this episode was famous BBC costume designer Dee Robson.-Plot:...
— in which two GumbiesGumbys are recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus, characterized by a very distinctive appearance. If a name was listed for them, the surname given would always be "Gumby", and the first name would usually be given as two initials...
are seen on Skid RowA skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which workingmen skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...
.
- U-Friend or UFO? — Bill plays the Python theme on the trombone with the aliens.
Missing episodes
While most (if not all) episodes of The Goodies BBC TV series exist, a single episode of the show is still currently missing from the BBC Archives.
Further reading
- "The Complete Goodies" — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000
- "The Goodies Rule OK" — Robert Ross, Carlton Books Ltd, Sydney, 2006
- "TV Heaven" — Jim Sangster & Paul Condon, HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 2005
- "The Goodies Episode Summaries" — Brett Allender
- "The Goodies — Fact File" — Matthew K. Sharp
See also
- 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.-Cambridge University:The three actors in The Goodies met as students at the...
- List of The Goodies episodes
- The Goodies guests
A listing of some of the guest stars who appeared on "The Goodies", and the episodes in which they appeared....
- The Goodies on record
The Goodies on Record is about The Goodies' releases:The Goodies releases included the following titles, among others:-LPs and CDs:The Goodies released four albums and a number of singles during the 1970s, as well as a various greatest hits compilations on both vinyl and CD...
External links
Comedy Guide
{{GoodiesEps}}
{{The Goodies}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodies (TV series), The}}