'Comedy today not risky'

By ALAN TYERS
March 26, 2007


TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR has slammed TV bosses, saying they are not prepared to take a risk on fresh comedy ideas – nor give them a chance once they are on.

The Goodies favourite told us, “TV people used to be much more willing to take a chance on new things. The Goodies would never have been made now.”

The show's silly slapstick sitcom format, in which Tim, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie play an agency of three bicycling blokes-for-hire who'll do "anything, anytime" was a big hit in the Seventies and early Eighties, but Tim says it took a while for the gang to really hit their stride.

“It took us a couple of series to really get our confidence up and go the whole hog. I feel sorry for TV comedians now: if something isn’t an instant hit, they whip it off the air after two minutes.”

He added: “I am annoyed when they don’t allow original comedy to have a chance. They have to judge it instantly. It either has to be very, very mainstream or very, very extreme.”

And he cites Trevor’s World Of Sport – a smart sitcom by Andy Hamilton about the murky world of sports agents – as an example.

“Trevor’s World Of Sport was whipped off almost before it started. And I thought, ‘is it because it is too clever for you?’ Or what is it?

“It was on primetime BBC1 and then after two episodes it was moved to late at night . Perhaps if it had been on Channel 4 it might have lasted.”

And new comedy is not Tim’s only bugbear with the powers that be: he’s also unhappy about the BBC’s handling of one particular classic comedy series.

“We are very unhappy and feel very hard done by that The Goodies has not been repeated by the BBC,” he says.

“We do not understand it. The BBC did a Return Of  The Goodies show two Christmases ago and it got incredibly good ratings. So we thought, ‘this is it, they are going to repeat stuff’ and for some strange reason they haven’t.

“Nobody can quite explain why. A few years ago, Paul Jackson was head of comedy there and he priced it and got it ready and took it to the controller of BBC2 and she said ‘no’.”

But the absence of repeats may work in The Goodies’ favour. The trio are getting a DVD release of their 1981 and 1982 series. It is available to buy from today.

“The good thing about the show not having been repeated much is that it makes it much more worthwhile doing this DVD. We’re bringing it to the natives who really appreciate proper comedy,” he laughs.

“Some of the material hasn’t aged well but most of it, we find funnier than we did at the time.

“Everything we attacked is still attackable now. We were anti-establishment then and we’re anti-establishment now!”

Goodies fans should also keep an eye out for their current UK tour.


Our Melissa can't believe The Goodies' harsh treatment!
Aussie Sun writer Melissa Kent was dismayed to discover that The Goodies are practically a forgotten footnote in the annals of British TV comedy.

She said: "While programmers in the UK continue to overlooked the madcap trio, Aussie viewers' appreciation of the wacky Goodies humour means they have rarely been off-air since the 1970s.

"The show is still much-loved by Australian audiences as a reminder of a time when comedy could be politically-incorrect, irreverent and just plain ridiculous.

"They reunited for a smash Australian tour in 2005 - The Goodies (Still A)Live On Stage, which sold 25,000 tickets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

"Strange they should be so big Down Under when The Goodies' surreal humour is so very British."

So what do you reckon: could they enjoy the same popularity here, if given TV programmers gave them the chance?

Or have they been rightly relegated to the graveyard of outdated 70s comedy?
# The Goodies: The Complete LWT Series (PG) is on sale now, RRP £24.99.
# The tour runs until 18 April.