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* THE GOODIES FAN CLUB CLARION AND GLOBE *
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* THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF 'THE GOODIES RULE - OK!' *
Issue No. 191 20th February 2012
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
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Newsletter enquiries: clarion@goodiesruleok.com
General enquiries: enquiries@goodiesruleok.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
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'The Goodies Rule - OK!'
P.O. Box 492
Rosanna VIC 3084, AUSTRALIA
THE LADS AND LASSES OF THE C&G
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EDITOR
- Brett Allender <clarion@goodiesruleok.com>
ACE REPORTER:
- Lisa Manekofsky
FEATURE ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS:
- Lisa Manekofsky & Isabell Olevall
C&G CONTRIBUTORS:
- Andrew Pixley, Isabell Olevall, Jeffers, Jenny_Gibbon, Graeme Garden
CONTENTS
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1. QUIZ & QUOTE - Goodies brainteasers for you and you and you
2. BOFFO IDEAS - The latest club news and happenings
3. SPOTTED!!! - The latest Goodies sightings
4. 2001 AND A BIT - Tim, Graeme and Bill sightings post-Goodies.
5. FEATURE ARTICLE – GOODY TIMES AT SLAPSTICK FESTIVAL 2012
6. FEATURE ARTICLE - GOODIES GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST 2011
7. A COLLECTION OF GOODIES THEMES #21 – Goodies Targets: Lionel Blair, Engelbert Humperdinck & the Osmonds
8. GOODIES CROSSWORD
9. GOODIES WORD PUZZLE SOLUTION from C&G 190
10. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
1. QUIZ & QUOTE
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(by "Magnus Magnesium")
QUOTE: " Anyway I've read the 'Plain Man's Guide To British Law' and they can't touch you for it!"
(a) Which Goodie says this quote?
(b) What situation is he referring to?
(c) Which episode is this quote from?
QUIZ: These questions are from the episode "The Stone Age"
(d) Name three of the four things that Graeme's "compendium of home entertainment" consists of?
(e) Why did the tiny ape with a massive brain become extinct, according to Graeme?
(f) What sort of food has Bill smuggled into the cave inside his potholing gear?
(g) Where does Bill end up when he takes a wrong turn when escaping the dinosaur?
(h) Complete Bill's quote from when he shouts for help through the dinosaur's mouth: "If you can't send help, then …"
The answers are listed at the end of this newsletter.
2. BOFFO IDEAS
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You can make it happen here. Liven up the club with a boffo idea for bob-a-job week. E-mail <enquiries@goodiesruleok.com> with your comments, ideas or suggestions - meanwhile these are the boffo ideas which our club has been working on lately:
GOODIES EPISODE SUMMARIES UPDATES
The Goodies Episode Summaries for Series Four have now been fully updated on the GROK website with expanded written summaries and extra photos included for each episode (each Goodies Gallery now has 15 - 30 photos).
The updated Goodies Episode Summaries can be accessed from the Articles / Guides menu option on the left or from the following link:
The first three series have already had similar updates made over the past few months.
COR!! COMIC SYNOPSES UPDATED
The original Cor!! comic strips of the Goodies from 1973 have now all been scanned and added to the end of each of Linda Kay's excellent Cor!! Comic Synopses on the GROK website. These can be accessed from: http://www.goodiesruleok.com/articles.php?id=138
NEW GOODIES QUIZZES
Two new Magnus Magnesium's Bumper Goodies Quizzes (#5 & #6) have been uploaded to the "Goodies Related Articles - Creative" section of the GROK website under the "Articles / Guides" menu option on the left.
Quiz #5 was put together in 2009 but I forgot to post it up at the time (better late than never!) while #6 has just been compiled today (despite the dates being listed as Dec 2006 in the menu - this is only to keep all of the quizzes together in the listing)
The direct links for the two new quizzes are:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAEME!
Many Goody Returns to Graeme Garden, who celebrates his 69th birthday on 18th February. Best wishes for a very happy bithday, Graeme, from all members of GROK.
3. SPOTTED!!!
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More exciting than getting your wig-spotters badge! If you've seen the Goodies recently, e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> with the details. Here's where we've Spotted!!! the Goodies this edition:
TIM … EARL … OBE!
(Lisa Manekofsky - 19th Nov)
18 November 2011
Tim Brooke-Taylor receives OBE
Tim Brooke-Taylor has received an OBE for his services to entertainment, following in the footsteps of fellow Goodies Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden.
"We can now all three sit on our bike together with our OBEs," he said, referring to the three-seater bicycle they rode in the 70s comedy show.
Brooke-Taylor, a regular panellist on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue on BBC Radio 4, has a career in entertainment spanning 47 years.
He remains best-known for The Goodies, an anarchic, visually-inventive comedy show which ran for more than a decade, but was also a regular on the TV series Marty and the animated children's series Bananaman, among others.
Speaking to reporters after receiving the honour from the Prince of Wales, he admitted "one had to bite one's tongue", having often poked fun at the ease with which honours were handed out in the 1970s.
Excerpted from
Tim Brooke-Taylor became the third and final star of 1970s TV comedy series The Goodies to receive an OBE for decades in the entertainment industry.
He said it was ironic that he and fellow actors Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie used to poke fun at the Government's readiness to hand out OBEs in the '70s.
"That was in the days when we had a Prime Minister that used to give them away to all his friends," he said.
"But I have to admit one has to bite one's tongue."
"We can now all three sit on our bike together with our OBEs," he added, referring to the three-seater bicycle they rode in the show.
Another article about Tim getting his OBE, with additional photos:
GOODIES REPEATS
(Lisa Manekofsky – 23rd Nov & 24th Dec)
* Mondays - The Goodies is being repeated on The Comedy Channel Australia on Mondays at 10:00am
* The Comedy Channel in Australia is repeating three Goodies specials on Christmas morning starting at 8:00am. The episodes are "Superstar" (starting at 8am), "The Goodies Rule - OK?" (starting at 8:30am), and "Kitten Kong" (starting at 9:30am).
SLAPSTICK 2012
(Lisa Manekofsky – 29th Nov)
Slapstick 2012, the festival run by Bristol Silents and supported by the three Goodies, has announced part of their schedule for January 26-29, 2012. According to the information at http://www.slapstick.org.uk/events.htm# , the Goodies will be participating in the following events. Please note that additional events are to be announced in the near future and that tickets for many events will go on sale later in the week.
Thursday, 26 Jan:
* BUSTER KEATON : Brownlow and Garden
THURS 26 JAN 1740hrs £7/£5.20, Venue: Watershed
The first of two exceptional events dedicated to "The Great Stone Face", hosted by Oscar-winner Kevin Brownlow, here in conversation with fellow-enthusiast Graeme Garden (of The Goodies and Sorry I Haven't a Clue). Rare film illustrations recall Brownlow's meetings with Keaton in the 1960s, his restoration of The General, and collaboration with David Gill on the definitive Keaton documentary, A Hard Act to Follow.
Book: 0117 927 5100
Saturday, 28 Jan:
* GRAEME GARDEN ON CHARLEY CHASE
SAT 28 JAN 1100hrs Venue: Arnolfini £7/£5.50
To say Charley Chase is one of the comic greats of all time is no exaggeration: this brilliantly inventive and prolific comedian contributed to over 300 films as writer, director, or actor (sometimes as all three) before his untimely death at the age of 46. Chase worked with almost every major name in early film comedy including Chaplin, Arbuckle, Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, and the Three Stooges. Chase made many comedy shorts in the twenties as a hugely popular comic/performer in his own right. Chase admirer, Goodie and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue panellist, Graeme Garden selects his favourite shorts from this period to reveal Chase at his finest and funniest.
With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney.
Book: 0117 917 2300
* Bill Oddie's Top Comedy Moments in conversation with Chris Serle
SAT 28 JAN 1600hrs Venue: Watershed £7.60/£5.20
Whose first records were produced by George Martin, and who had two singles banned by the BBC? Who earned rave reviews on Broadway for his dancing? Who rode on the back seat of the Goodies' tandem? Who has been called 'Britain's best-known birdwatcher?' The answer to all of the above is......Bill Oddie.
A national treasure, Bill Oddie was one third of UK's top comedy hit of the 70s - The Goodies and the UK's favourite wildlife presenter regularly fronting Springwatch and Autumnwatch.
Witty, candid and unconventional Bill invites you to join him as he recounts his working relationships with some of the greatest comic talents of his generation, including John Cleese, Jonathan Miller and fellow Goodies whilst delighting us with his top onscreen comedy moments from the last century. You can expect some Laurel & Hardy but otherwise Bill is not giving anything away in advance, and we don't blame him! A fascinating insight into the comic influences of this unique comic performer.
Book: 0117 927 5100
Sunday, 29 Jan:
*BUSTER KEATON: YOUNG KEATON (U)
SUNDAY 29 JAN 1400hrs Venue: Arnolfini £8.00/£6.00 Concs & Bristol Silents
Members
Between 1919 and 1922 Buster Keaton completed 22 comedy shorts. Many feel this was the most prolific and productive period of his life and festival patrons and Keaton admirers Bill, Tim, Barry and Ian have each selected a short to reveal Keaton at his freshest, most spontaneous and inventive. Films include THE BOAT (1921) and THE SCARECROW (1920). Featuring live musical accompaniment by members of the European Silent Screen Virtuosi.
Book: 0117 917 2300
BLACK CINDERELLA GOES EAST
(Lisa Manekofsky – 23rd Dec)
BBC Radio 4 Extra is repeating the radio panto "Black Cinderella Two Goes East", a 1978 production with all three Goodies in the cast along with Peter Cook, John Cleese, Jo Kendall, and others. The show is already available on the BBC iPlayer (at the link below) and will be broadcast on Radio 4 Extra again at 3am tomorrow morning.
GRAEME's BEST BRITISH TV INTERVIEW
(Jeffers – 17th Jan)
A new interview with Graeme appears on the Best British TV website, written by Kieran Kinsella.
"Like most people born in the 1970s, I was a huge fan of the Goodies as a kid. My personal favorite was Graeme Garden who I regarded as "the sensible Goodie." As I grew up, I began to realize that The Goodies was just one highlight in a distinguished career during which the Scotsman established himself as one of Britain's top comedy performers. While he is a well known entertainer, many people do not realize that Graeme Garden is also a qualified physician. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Graeme and I began by asking him how he made the transition from medical school graduate to TV funny man.
"I appeared in a couple of plays at school, but didn't start writing and performing until I was a student at Cambridge. I joined the Footlights Club, and after I'd left the university to study at King's College Hospital, Humphrey Barclay the producer asked me to write for and appear in a radio show (I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again). I jumped at the chance, so by the time I'd finished my medical studies I'd been working on radio for a couple of years. When TV producer Tony Palmer then asked me to work on a TV series (Twice a Fortnight) I put my medical career on hold and jumped again. It's been on hold ever since."
Over the years you have collaborated with Bill Oddie on many different projects. How did the the two of you first meet?
"We met at Cambridge, through the Footlights Club. We also had contact when he was drawing cartoons for a student magazine (Ffobia) of which I was Art Editor at the time."
You are probably best known for your work on The Goodies. What is your favorite memory from working on that show?
"It was always a pleasure to see the big props turned into reality from the written description – the mobile railway station, the cream machine in bunfight, the dodo flying a plane etc etc. The special and visual effects folk did some wonderful work. And of course it was always fun in the studio when the audience laughter came."
When you started work on The Goodies did you have any idea that it would become a cult classic? and why do you think it proved to be so successful?
"I'm not sure we had cult classics in those days! We certainly didn't think about the long-term future for the shows. I think it got big audiences because it appealed to a wide age-range in the family. Of course it stopped being successful in the UK after about 1982 when it disappeared from the screens."
Bananaman is something of a classic for the generation X crowd. What was it like working on that show?
"We didn't write the scripts but it was fun getting together with the chaps and doing lots of silly voices. Nice to think it has its own little cult following now."
Away from TV, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is one of BBC radio's longest lasting and most popular shows. As a panelist do you ever worry that your mind will go blank when the chairman calls on you?
"Well we try to go in with a bit of preparation to prevent us drying up completely. But I always think half the fun of the show is when the audience see something that doesn't quite work, or when someone is caught wrong-footed. The trick then is to turn that into a laugh!"
What projects are you currently working on?
"We're doing a charity performance of our stage version of ISIHAC at the Oxford New Theatre on March 5th and recording the radio series again in May/June. Later in the year we'll make another series of The Unbelievable Truth for Radio 4 – the latest series is going out at the moment.
We are also working on a TV version of The Unbelievable Truth in Australia, with the Chaser chaps for Channel 7. I'll be going to Oz in February to help script edit and appear in the show. Meanwhile I'll be in Bristol Jan 26-29 for the Slapstick Festival, where I'll be showing the work of Charley Chase, and having an onstage chat about Buster Keaton with legendary film historian Kevin Brownlow. (http://www.slapstick.org.uk/)
Then after short holiday I'll be at the Laugharne Literary Festival (April 13-15) with Barry Cryer and I'll also be at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival (April 21) . Meanwhile Jon Naismith and I continue to work on developing new shows at Random Entertainment. So watch this space!"
CULTURE FOR THE MASSES
(Lisa Manekofsky – 20th Jan)
Passing along the information from Jenny_Gibbon about her Goodies-themed art exhibition in Bristol, England which opens next week. She told me that the private view should be open to everyone.
Here are the details:
The Goodies...And some Untold Kapers!- Private View
27th Jan 2012 11am-1pm
Free Entry!
This exhibit celebrates the 1970’s hit comedy show The Goodies. Featuring fan-art produced by Jenny Doyle. With tribute images from episodes and some new fan-fiction ideas. Come along, laugh and enjoy The Goodies in this new Art show!
At the CentreSpace Gallery, 6 Leonard Lane, Bristol BS1 1EA
THE GOODIES PODCAST
New Goodies Podcasts since the last edition of the C&G:
#72: Commentary: Football Crazy
GP Extra: 21st Nov
#73: Keaton Rules, OK?
#74: Have I Got News For You
#75: Wacky Wales Rookie Revisitation
#76: Froots Toots Och Aye!
#77: Xmas 2011
#78: The Goodies' year in 2011
#79: Do The Bounce!
#80: Lost Kitten
#81: Goodies Roulette
#82: Snow White 2
#83: Menace To Society
4. 2001 AND A BIT
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If you've sighted Tim, Bill or Graeme in a post-Goodies role, e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> so that we can tell everyone where to spot a Goodie nowadays. Large files (such as scans of articles or photos) for posting on the club's website can be sent to us at: groksite@gmail.com
Those of you seeking radio and tv alerts between issues of the C&G should consider signing up for the Goodies-l mailing list (more details available on the club website), as our crack (cracked?!) team of reporters attempt to post alerts as the information becomes available.
** (All items in this section contributed by Lisa Manekofsky, except where otherwise credited) **
Please note: BBC RADIO SHOWS listed below can be heard online via each station's website (www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 or www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 extra) and then for a week after broadcast from the BBC iPlayer (aka Listen Again), www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer . Radio shows on the iPlayer should be available for listening worldwide.
BILL SPOTTINGS
* Radio & TV shows:
- "Tom Ravenscroft" - BBC 6 Music – interview (New) (Nov)
- "Would I Lie to You?" - BBC 1 – (New) (Nov)
- "Loose Women" - ITV1 (New) (Dec)
- Interview on Radio Scilly (New) (Dec) (Spotted: Isabell Olevall)
- "Britain's Greatest Christmas Song" - Channel 5 (New) (Spotted: Jenny_Gibbon)
- "Beardyman and the Mimics" - BBC Radio 4 Extra (Repeat) (Jan)
- "Celebrity Who Wants to be a Millionaire" - Challenge (Repeat) (Jan)
- "The Wright Stuff" – Channel 5 (UK) (Repeat) (Feb)
* The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) London Wetland Centre has a podcast, and Bill is in the December edition.
(Isabell Olevall – 2nd Dec)
* Bill's official twitter account is at @BillOddie (and Simon at @billsbirdfood says Bill will be tweeting more actively in 2012), and there is an official facebook account at https://www.facebook.com/BillOddieOnline .
Thanks to Jeffers for drawing my attention to the twitter account, and thanks to Jenny Doyle for pointing out that if the twitter link is on www.billoddie.com then it's probably for real :-) (Oh, did I just display that lack of catching on? Rats.)
(Isabell Olevall – 28th Dec)
(10th Jan)
(13th Jan)
(13th Jan)
(13th Jan)
(2nd Feb)
(2nd Feb)
GRAEME SPOTTINGS
* Radio & TV shows:
- "Comedy Zone" - BBC Radio Scotland – (Repeat) (Nov) (Spotted: Isabell Olevall)
- "The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff" - BBC Two (New) (Dec)
- "The Unbelievable Truth" – BBC Radio 4 (New Series) (Dec)
- "Holby City" - Sony Entertainment TV (Repeat) (Jan)
- "What the Dickens?" - Sky Arts 1 (Repeat) (Jan)
- "Afternoon Show" - BBC Bristol (Interview) (Jan)
- "BBC Points West" (Interview) (Jan)
* Thanks to Andrew Pixley for posting the following info in the GROK forums:
"As my colleague Richard Bignell points out, the "Look East" interview with Tim and Graeme promoting "The Unvarnished Truth" in Cambridge is now available from the East Anglian Film Archive here:
The Anglia TV item can also be found on the same site."
(28th Nov)
* Here's an update kindly provided by Graeme Garden:
"After Slapstick I'm flying out to Australia. We just recorded 2 TV shows based on The Unbelievable Truth, and are now hoping we get the go ahead to make the rest of the series in February.
We have a charity Clue show at the New Theatre Oxford on March 5th, and then we'll be recording the next series in May - June."
As you may know, "The Unbelievable Truth" was developed by Graeme Garden & Jon Naismith as a series for BBC Radio 4. Here's an article about the filming of the Australian pilot of the series (thanks again to Graeme, who provided this link on Twitter:
Saturday, 14 January 2012. By Lowie.
The Chaser boys film pilot for Seven
The Chaser's Craig Reucassel is poised to host a new panel-comedy series on Seven, following the filming of a pilot on Thursday.
Titled The Unbelievable Truth, the series will be based on the BBC radio programme of the same name, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The panel programme sees four comedians each giving a lecture on a particular subject, with the majority of the lecture consisting of lies.
Each contestant must include five peculiar facts, hoping that the fellow panellists cannot pick the unbelievable truths from the lies.
Joining Reucassel as guests will be fellow Chaser's Andrew Hansen and Julian Morrow.
News of the series being developed for Seven first surfaced in May last year.
If the pilot is picked up to series, it will likely screen on Seven later
this year
(15th Jan)
* Graeme will be heading to Australia in February to work on a TV version of "The Unbelievable Truth" (the BBC radio 4 comedy panel show produced by his company, Random Entertainment). I asked Graeme if audience tickets would be available for the recordings. Here is his reply:
"When we get the final green light (soon) the planned recording dates are Feb 7, 8, 9; 15 16 17; 21, 22, 23, 24, and my recording will be on the 9th. *
re Tickets, the producer replied to me:
"They should email audience@giantdwarf.com.au with a request for audience tickets. If they mention they're Goodies fans we'll make sure they get well treated..."
Hope to see some friendly faces there!
Graeme"
I've confirmed that the recordings will be at Seven's building, Media City,
8 Central Avenue, Eveleigh, Sydney (where the pilot was filmed last year).
* Please note: Graemes recording date has since been changed to 16th Feb
(21st Jan)
* Graeme Garden has passed along an official announcement from the Australian production team for "The Unbelievable Truth" with details about tickets for Goodies fans, including the time and location of the recordings:
OFFICIAL:
The Unbelievable Truth news for Goodies fans
Hi All,
We are recording The Unbelievable Truth for Australian television! Graeme Garden has teamed up with Craig Ruecassel, Julian Morrow and Andrew Hansen from The Chaser to translate the hilarious radio show you know and love into televisual gold.
Because we love you, you get first dibs on tickets. We are recording nine star-studded episodes in Sydney over the next three weeks so there are plenty of options.
Tickets are now available for the following dates:
WEEK 1 (NEXT WEEK):
Tuesday 7 Feb
Wednesday 8 Feb
Thursday 9 Feb
WEEK 2:
Wednesday 15 Feb
Thursday 16 Feb - Graeme Garden will be appearing on the show!!
Friday 17 Feb
We will continue releasing tickets as we go.
To make a booking, send an email to audience@giantdwarf.com.au.
Tickets are free and you can have as many as you like, as long as you let me know if the numbers change. In return I'll send you confirmation of your booking, then a couple of days before the record I'll send you a reminder with all the final details.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Address:
The show is recorded at Global Television Studios - 8 Central Avenue, Australian Technology Park (very close to Redfern train station)
Arrival time:
5:00pm. We will have a drink and some bar snacks waiting for you
Age limit:
16 years old (negotiable)
First in best dressed.
I can't wait to hear from you!
Kind regards,
Penny Greenhalgh
PA - The Unbelievable Truth
"Hot off the press: tickets for The Unbelievable Truth in Sydney are available to book here - http://unbelievabletruth.eventbrite.com/ "
(1st Feb)
* The following article on news.com.au looks at the upcoming TV series of The Unbelievable Truth and also features a recent photo of Graeme:
(Brett Allender – 6th Feb)
* There's a new audio interview with Graeme on the ABC Radio National website at the following link - look for the "Listen Now" and "Download Audio" buttons to listen to it:
(18th Jan)
* For viewers in the UK: Graeme Garden will be appearing in "The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff", which starts a three episode run on BBC Two this evening at 20:30. We don't know if Graeme will be in all the episodes.
(20th Jan)
TIM SPOTTINGS
* Radio & TV shows:
- "The Afternoon Show" - Radio Bristol (Jan) (Interview) (Spotted: Isabell & Jenny)
* A nice interview with Tim in which he talks to Overseas Living magazine about his holiday villa and lifestyle in the Algarve (Portugal) appears online (with a photo) at:
(18th Nov)
* Perth Festival of the Arts (Scotland, not Western Australia) will feature TBT in 2012.
Festival launches 2012 Programme Nigel Kennedy, Jools Holland, Tim Brooke-Taylor & much more
"Tim Brooke-Taylor has been delighting audiences with his gentle, zany humour ever since he rocketed from the Cambridge Footlights into West End stardom trading custard pies with John Cleese and one-liners with Bill Oddie in the hugely successful Cambridge Circus revue. That was only the start of a sparkling career which includes the long-running TV series The Goodies, BBC Radio’s I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again in which he starred with Cleese and the “antidote to panel games” I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, now in its 39th year, appearing in countless stage productions and writing a few books. Those are just a few of the sugjects this much-loved performer will be covering in conversation with the broadcast journalist Chris Serle. Given time Tim will also tell us how he directed Orson Welles in a film, helped Sevvy Ballesteros with his golf swing, appeared as Victor Meldrew’s neighbour in One Foot in the Grave and much, much more. You’ll have the chance to put your own questions to Tim at the end."
Tim's show is on the 26th of May.
"Tickets will go on sale on the 26th March.
For further information please contact Sandra Ralston info@perthfestival.co.uk Tel 07774181768"
(Jeffers – 6th Jan)
Tim Brooke-Taylor: 'Yes, I do miss Humphrey Lyttelton. He told the filthiest jokes'
The veteran comic broadcaster recalls his 40 years on Radio 4's 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue'.
By Neil Tweedie
There is that wonderful Monty Python sketch about the four, white-dinner-jacketed Yorkshiremen, whisky and cigars in hand, trying to outdo each other in the humbleness of their origins, trumping rival accounts of childhood deprivation with cries of "Luxury!".
It ends with the winner living in a box in the middle of the road, getting up before he goes to bed, and being thrashed to within an inch of his life – "if we were lucky!" Except that it was actually pre-Python, and co-written by Tim Brooke-Taylor. He reminds me of this over lunch during a reluctant interview.
"Why are we doing this again?"
Well, he's just received an OBE.
"That was months ago."
What about the 40 years since he joined the team on Radio 4's alternative panel game, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue? He's not convinced.
"One of the reasons I was regretting agreeing to this interview was because I made a vow never to talk about my private life, because then you're asking for it, aren't you?
"There was a time in the mid-Seventies when it just got out of hand. I was in Weymouth with my family and the whole street just stopped and looked. It was bizarre. It was when The Goodies was at its peak. I remember being at an airport with a baby under one arm and holding the hand of a child in another, and somebody saying, 'Go on, give us your autograph', and thinking: 'Bugger off.'"
Brooke-Taylor is 71 and has five grandchildren, but stopped growing up some time around the age of 17. To think that it is 40 years since he and his fellow Goodies, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, took to their "trandem" to battle Kitten Kong. He has bought himself a new jacket to be photographed in and has forgotten to remove the label stitched to the cuff, which he is now trying to do, furtively and unsuccessfully. Then he knocks over his coffee, a reassuringly human subject in these days of over-manicured celebrity.
"The thing I'm happiest about is doing comedy with other people," he says, fiddling with his cuff. "I love team comedy – it's fun bouncing off people."
In I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Brooke-Taylor partners a guest comedian opposite Garden and Barry Cryer, the fourth regular panellist, Willie Rushton, having died in 1996. There is no room for complacency.
"Every time we do a recording, I find myself thinking: 'Please God, just let me be funny one more time.' You have to take risks now and then, and sometimes they don't work."
Are they all friends? Could he go on a caravanning holiday with Cryer? "I'd have to make sure I wasn't told the same joke 49 times, but actually we do get on very well. Graeme and I have been working together for yonks and we could always part when we needed to and then come back. No hassle there at all. And that's true of Barry, as well.
"Graeme is the most underrated comic I know. He has a lethal mind but he's never really given the credit he deserves. It's essential that we're friends because you're not trying to score off each other. You're trying to get balls in the air."
That collegiate approach to humour runs counter to today's competitive, testosterone-driven shows such as Mock the Week. "I was thinking of that specifically. I hate that. I've never liked embarrassing humour. I'm one of the few people in the country who never liked The Office. I found it very difficult. I watch Strictly Come Dancing and can't bear it when they get rid of someone. I go and make a cup of tea while they make the decision."
Brooke-Taylor was raised in the genteel spa town of Buxton, Derbyshire. His father, a solicitor, was 59 when Tim, his third and final child, arrived. "I was a mistake as far as I can gather. My dad fought in the First World War, was injured and served in the Home Guard during the Second. He was speaking at a regimental gathering one day, sat down and died. I was 13. If you're going to die, what a way to go. But you can understand why I'm not too keen on after-dinner speeches."
Brooke-Taylor used to do a lot of after-dinner speaking. "It pays well, but I've made myself so expensive now that they don't ask any more. Something of a relief, really. Very lonely things, after-dinner speeches. I had the Society of Sandwich-Makers once. One of my better evenings, actually. The sandwich-making awards. It's hard making an original sandwich, you know. The best thing I learnt is not to do jokes about the profession you're speaking to because they've heard them all before. I did one for podiatrists and they knew the lot."
Brooke-Taylor's mother was still in her forties when his father died, and took a job as a matron at a boarding school to make ends meet. "She was a very brave woman, very gutsy. Never remarried, though I wanted her to. I was the baby of the family and a bit spoilt. I remember just after the war and I'd never seen a banana and we got one, and I had to have it. I didn't like it and threw it away. You can imagine the looks of horror."
The young Tim was packed off to Winchester, where he did well at English but kept failing Latin. Law at Pembroke College, Cambridge followed, and with it the Footlights.
"Bill Oddie and I met within two weeks because we were in the same college. I went to lectures with John Cleese and shared digs with him and Graham Chapman. None of us thought about going into showbusiness. I would never have had the confidence on my own, but in that culture you bounce off other people and suddenly you are on Broadway, giggling together, thinking: 'Oh well, as long as it goes on like this for a few more weeks.'?"
There were were other improbable encounters. "In New York, there was a woman who arrived at a show in a limo and wanted someone to go to a club with, and I found myself watching people dancing in cages and things. And then we went to a really special club where I was introduced to Salvador Dalí. He assumed I must be terribly important because I was with this woman, so started talking to me about art. Completely out of my depth."
In 1970, the boy from Buxton found himself directing Orson Welles. "He'd seen something on the telly and wanted to work with me for some reason. It was a film called 12 Plus 1, and I spent about 15 days directing him because he didn't trust the actual director. He used to get p-----, and the only way to get through to him was to be rude. In the film, he was a Jekyll and Hyde actor. But when we were filming he kept saying 'Jeekyll', and I had to keep saying: 'It's Jekyll, you fat poof…'"
Some thought I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue should have been given a decent burial following the death in 2008 of Humphrey Lyttelton, the programme's chairman and matchless master of the dry put-down. Brooke-Taylor disagrees, citing the show's continuing success under the doleful management of Jack Dee. But he misses his Humph.
"He was able to do the filthiest jokes and maintain the deadpan look. He did one about a girl in the butcher's and the butcher asks would she like her beef in gravy and she says, no, she'd like his tongue in cider. And he looks at you like: 'What on earth are you laughing at?'"
So how long will he continue with Clue?
"Until I drop. My wife prefers me out of the kitchen, so she very much encourages it."
(10th Jan)
I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T A CLUE (ISIHAC) and
I'M SORRY I'LL READ THAT AGAIN (ISIRTA)
* Radio shows:
- "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" - BBC Radio 4 & Radio 4 Extra (New Series) (Dec)
- "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" – RTE Choice (Repeats of old episodes) (Nov/Dec)
- "Hamish & Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea" - BBC Radio 4 Extra (Repeat – Series 1) (Nov / Dec)
- "Hamish & Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea" - BBC Radio 4 Extra (Repeat – Series 2) (Jan)
* Tickets have gone on sale for Graeme Garden & Barry Cryer's appearance at the Laugharne Literary Festival (in Carmarthenshire, Wales) on April 15th.
Tickets can be purchased from TicketWeb online (http://tinyurl.com/7xbum4z ) or by calling 08444 771 000. Weekend tickets can also be purchased in person from Castle Stores in Laugharne.
(15th Feb)
5. FEATURE ARTICLE – GOODY TIMES AT SLAPSTICK FESTIVAL 2012
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(by Lisa Manekofsky)
Late January 2012 saw the return of Bristol, England’s Slapstick film festival (http://www.slapstick.org.uk ), which this year championed Buster Keaton (a comedy hero and inspiration of The Goodies). Tim, Graeme, and Bill, who have supported the festival in the past, all were able to take part again this year. I am happy to say I was able to attend Slapstick 2012 as well. In this article I will focus on the Goodies-related events, although I did attend many other sessions; I highly encourage others who enjoy early film comedies to consider coming to future Slapstick festivals.
BUSTER KEATON: BROWNLOW AND GARDEN
The festival began on Thursday, 26 January with the event "Buster Keaton: Brownlow and Garden" in which film historian Kevin Brownlow was in conversation with Graeme Garden. The session began with Graeme asking Kevin about his meeting with Keaton in the mid-1960's, about a year before Keaton passed away. Kevin confessed that he was very nervous about meeting Keaton, and was concerned he might be a morose, bitter man (after years of having a high degree of independence in creating his films, Keaton's contract had been given to other studios who increasing took away control of his work and led to a decline in his career). Instead, Kevin said Keaton was someone who laughed a lot and was happy to talk about his work in detail. The audience was treated to a brief extract from the audio recording Kevin had made during this initial interview.
I was delighted to learn that Kevin was the man behind the three-part documentary "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow" – this had been my introduction to Keaton (as, it turns out, it was for Festival director Chris Daniels as well). We were treated to a lengthy extract from the documentary, with the promise that more would be shown at the Keaton session the next afternoon. At the conclusion of the extract Graeme made the observation that, unlike many of Keaton's contemporaries (such as Oliver Hardy and Charlie Chaplain), Keaton never looked into the camera to appeal to the audience but instead seemed more in his own world. Kevin told Graeme he was going to steal that idea and quickly made a note of it (which got a good laugh from the audience)
THE GOODIES…AND SOME UNTOLD KAPERS
On Friday morning I had the opportunity to see Jenny Doyle's art exhibition "The Goodies…and Some Untold Kapers" at the Centrespace Gallery in Bristol, a few minute's walk from the festival venues. I'd seen some of Jenny's Goodies-themed artwork online and was eager to view it in person. Jenny was kind enough to grant me permission to post one of the photos on The Goodies Facebook page (at http://tinyurl.com/7wo2elo ). I had fun seeing the show and spending time with Jenny that morning.
BUSTER KEATON: "A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW"
Next on the agenda was "BUSTER KEATON: "A Hard Act to Follow", in which Kevin Brownlow continued his informative presentation about Keaton and showed more extracts from his documentary. Graeme joined us in the audience this time, and shortly before the session began I saw Tim Brooke-Taylor enter the theater, followed a minute or two later by Bill Oddie. It was fun to be able to glance around and see all three Goodies in the room (and nice that they were getting an opportunity to sit and enjoy the show themselves). The screening was followed by an informative Q&A.
SILENT COMEDY SPECTACULAR (the Festival Gala Evening)
Knowing that the Goodies were now in town I thought I might see them in the crowd at the festival gala that evening, an event that was to feature a showing of Buster Keaton's film "The General" accompanied by a new score performed live by the European Silent Screen Virtuosi and Bristol Ensemble. However, I was surprised when I entered the lobby of Colston Hall and immediately ran into Graeme, Tim, and Tim's wife Christine. We had a brief chat before heading upstairs to the main hall, where I met up with Jenny. Once Jenny and I made our way to our seats we saw that Tim, Christine and Graeme were sitting nearby, to be joined shortly thereafter by Bill. They were having a comfortable chat while waiting for the show to start.
Griff Rhys Jones was the host for the gala and did a fantastic job. He seemed to be having a marvelous time and to be genuinely excited about being part of the evening – in talking about slapstick comedy he even did a pratfall for us, noting that it still hurt as much as it did when he was younger. He also spoke about having done a George Feydeau farce adapted by Graeme Garden (I believe this was the play "Horse & Carriage").
The first half of the evening featured shorts by Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplain, plus several songs performed live by The Matinee Idles in tribute to silent comedy stars, with "The General" to be shown following an intermission.
During the intermission Tim, Christine, and Graeme had left their seats so Jenny and I went over to say hello to Bill. While we were chatting I mentioned that one of the films had reminded me of the old silent film staple of a movie villain tying a woman to a railroad track. Bill mused that they'd never gotten around to doing that on "The Goodies"; we both agree that, if they had, the damsel in distress would have been Tim in a dress.
GRAEME GARDEN ON CHARLEY CHASE
After a wonderful evening, and a good night's sleep, Saturday brought more delights. The first session I attended that day was "Graeme Garden on Charley Chase". In introducing the event, Chris Daniels explained that Graeme had hosted a session on Harry Langdon last year which, in terms of feedback, was one of the highlights of Slapstick 2011. Therefore, he'd asked Graeme if there were any other comedians he'd like to explore this year, resulting in this session.
Graeme began by holding up several sheets of paper and saying these contained everything he knew about Charley Chase so there wouldn't be a question and answer session at the end (getting his first laugh of the day). As always, Graeme's sessions are informative and amusing. In the era of silent movies Charley Chase had been as big a star as Charlie Chaplain, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton (indeed, if you see the current film "Hugo", which is set in those days, you may notice a prominent poster for a Charley Chase film on the wall of a theater visited by two of the main characters). This session provided an excellent glimpse as to why that was the case. It was interesting to see how Chase had a different type of character and approach to the comic situations than many of his contemporaries. We also learned that, in addition to being an actor, Chase also was a successful director in that era. I hope to see more of his work in the future.
HAROLD LLOYD: DOUBLE BILL
Next up was a double bill of films by Harold Lloyd, presented by The Goodies' friend and Tim & Graeme's "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" cast mate Barry Cryer. Barry was entertaining as always. In introducing Lloyd's work he spoke about the skill behind many of his gags, pointing out how complex sequences of jokes were executed deceivingly smoothly. As with the other sessions, it was great fun to see these films with an audience and live accompaniment.
BILL ODDIE'S TOP COMEDY MOMENTS IN CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS SERLE
After Barry's session many of us made our way to the next venue for "Bill Oddie's Top Comedy Moments in conversation with Chris Serle" (Chris seems to be making something of a career of interviewing Goodies – he's also joining Tim for his "An Audience With Tim Brooke-Taylor" events (http://www.celebrityproductions.info/displayer_productions.php/280/ ) this year. Joining the rest of the audience were Tim, Graeme, and Barry.
Bill began the session by explaining that despite this being a silent comedy festival he was going to cheat a bit and instead choose musical clips, most involving dance as well (his "all signing/all dancing top comedy moments"). Bill said music has driven a lot of his life; it wasn't in his house growing up, but it was supposedly his ambition in going through school. He spoke about having to do a musical performance in primary school, when he was about 6, for the teachers and parents; in secondary school he wrote the school show. In writing songs for school reviews, and later for the Cambridge Footlights shows, he wrote parodies of popular songs of the time (such as rock songs), which he explained was something other people weren't doing then.
Despite not being able to play an instrument himself, Bill estimated he had written about 300 songs. Many of these were for the radio series "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again", for which he initially provided two songs a week. Bill explained his process of recording the various parts of the song (the rhythm, melody, etc.) into a tape recorder and then working with a "very patient" musician in translating that to a finished product.
As far as dancing, Bill revealed he'd recently been asked to appear in "Dancing with the Stars". He'd asked his family for their advice; one of his daughters, who is a dancer, told him to forget it as he'd kill himself if he tried. After that his wife and other daughters could not be convinced that his doing the show was a good idea, so he'd declined the offer.
Bill's first choice of clips was the act Wilson, Keppel and Betty performing a sand dance. This was followed by a 20 second clip from the Goodies episode "Saturday Night Grease" of the Goodies and their pursuing policeman performing sand dances.
Next up was "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" from the Marx Brothers film "Animal Crackers". Bill said he'd never really gotten the Marx Brothers but he did like some of their musical numbers. He said he found it funny when seemingly normal people suddenly burst into song. Another thing he likes, as shown in this song, is the extended ending – a fake ending when you think the song is over, but it really isn't.
Bill previously has said he was a big fan of Laurel and Hardy, so it was no surprise that their song from "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" was the next clip shown.
This was followed by an excerpt from the Warner Brothers cartoon "Bugs Bunny Rides Again", including a wonderful piece of cartoon logic like that later used in "The Goodies". Bugs and Yosemite Sam are having a showdown; Sam orders Bugs to "Dance!" while firing at his feet. Bugs grabs a cane and straw hat from off-screen and does a soft shoe routine; he then says "Take it, Sam!" Sam, after a moment's surprise, breaks into the same dance (concluding with him dancing into an open mine shaft). Bill commented that he loved the cartoon logic that when a character is told to "take it!" there isn't an option not to dance.
Continuing the animation theme, the next entry on Bill's list was the opening number from the film "South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut", the song "Mountain Town". Bill liked that this was a parody of the clichéd "morning song" from musicals, such as those where people were going off to work and singing good morning to their neighbors and people they passed in the streets.
Bill's next choice was a number from satirist Tom Lehrer, the song "Poising Pigeons in the Park". Bill explained that he was drawn to people singing daft songs, and Lehrer's were very satirical and witty. Bill noted that he admired this particular song so much he did a version for the radio show "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again"; he said that was called "Persecuting Pigeons in the Park" and was "the most obvious case of plagiarism". In all fairness to Bill, the actual title of his ISIRTA song was "Persecuting Pigeons in Trafalgar Square", and even though it was highly inspired by Lehrer's number it is a fun and catchy song in its own right – you can hear it in Goodies Podcast 62 (the special edition in honor of Bill's 70th birthday last year) at http://goodiespodcast.libsyn.com/webpage/goodies-podcast-62-bill-oddie-turns-70- .
Chris asked about the two songs Bill had recorded for John Peel's Dandelion label ("On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" and "Harry Krishna"). Bill said that he'd recorded those at John's request; he was touched to learn that this single was included in John's box of records which were particularly special to him.
Being asked about the hits he'd written for The Goodies, Bill joked that he'd given Graeme the chance to be a pop singer on Top of the Pops but "he hadn't taken it", adding that in performing "Funky Gibbon" on that show Graeme had never been so embarrassed in all his life.
The story behind Bill's next selection was a surprise to me. In setting up a clip from "West Side Story", Bill explained that when the film came out (when he was in 6th form at school) he used to go see it every few weeks, adding that he couldn't get any of his friends to come see it with him because it was a musical. Bill said he knew every word of it and would sing all the parts. He could do a lot of the dance movements as well. He recalled being embarrassed once, when he was leaping around doing some of the dance steps in the street in front of his house one day when his dad came home and saw him.
The song he selected from "West Side Story" was "Officer Krupke", which Bill described as fantastically witty. He quoted a saying that the function of a song in a musical is not to stop the plot, but to be further along in the story by the end of the song.
Another famous musical followed – the "Make 'Em Laugh" sequence from the film "Singing in the Rain". Bill noted Donald O'Connor's amazing athletic ability, with his ability to sing, dance, and act all at once in this demanding sequence.
Moving on to a musical of a different sort, next came a song from "Little Shop of Horrors", Steve Martin performing "Dentist!". Bill explained that he and his wife had initially seen the play "Little Shop of Horrors" when it was off Broadway, a few months before it became a massive hit. He described it as the best shown they'd even seen, and gave the surprising trivia that the "Little Shop" writers had gone on to write music for Disney films such as "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin". Bill added they judge people at the Oddie house by whether or not they like "Little Shop of Horrors".
The next clip was from a musical of a different sort, the original 1968 film of "The Producers" - the wonderful "Springtime for Hitler" (for anyone unfamiliar with the film, I'll explain that it involves a scheme by two Broadway producers who realize they can make more money with a flop than a hit, so they set out to a guaranteed failure).
Chris stated they'd saved The Goodies for last. He asked Bill whether "The Goodies" had been the BBC's idea, to which Bill laughingly replied "The BBC doesn't have ideas – you know better than that. They are there to make your wages smaller and eventually fire you".
When asked about the three characters, Bill reply was that Graeme's character was "professorial, very clever, and probably doesn't have very interesting sex life. But capable of making strange monsters and therefore could have an interesting sex life" (this was said with a laugh). Tim was the posh one who denies that completely – Bill said that was based a bit on the fact Tim was the only one who owned a suit at the time. Tim's character was also the patriotic one. Bill described his own character as hippie-ish, or whatever the equivalent of that was in those days.
When Chris asked how close the Goodies' characters were to the men themselves, Bill said he would allow the people concerned (Tim and Graeme were seated in the front row) to reply. The exchange went as follows:
Chris: How close was your character to yourself?
Graeme: "Miles away"
Tim: "I hated my character"
Bill: "I hated his character too" (which got a huge laugh)
After getting in his joke, Bill said that he rather liked his own character; he got to do outrageous things.
Chris then asked if it was nice getting to do the two 45 minute Goodies specials, which would have afforded a larger budget. Bill said it was, and this was followed by musical clips from those specials – the "Wild Things" sequence from "Goodies Rule – OK?" and, from "The Goodies and the Beanstalk", their performance of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Both of these were well received. When Chris asked about the stop motion animation used in "The Goodies" Bill was happy to have a chance to credit Jim Franklin's huge contribution to the show. Bill agreed that these days they can do special effects more easily via a computer, but he doesn't think the result is as funny as the old fashioned techniques.
Asked if he had the chance to live his life again would he want to be a pop star Bill said no, he doesn't think he'd enjoy that lifestyle. Instead, what he does wish he'd done was to learn music properly.
The session concluded with Bill replying to a question about his current projects by saying he didn't have any, although there were things he'd like to do if asked. However, he was doing a lot of travel and conservation/charity work, which he found very rewarding.
HE'S NOT THE MESSIAH HE'S...TERRY JONES! - MONTY PYTHON'S TERRY JONES PRESENTS LIFE OF BRIAN.
Given that many Goodies fans are Monty Python fans as well I'll make brief mention of that evening's entertainment, "He's Not The Messiah He's...TERRY JONES! - Monty Python's Terry Jones presents LIFE OF BRIAN." Once again we were gathered in Colston Hall to view a classic comedy. When Terry Jones was introduced prior to the film he asked the audience how many people already had seen "Life of Brian". After a large number of hands went up, Terry said he didn't need to tell us about the film then and pretended to walk offstage. After getting his laugh he came back and said he'd tell us some stuff we might not have seen in the film before, and proceeded to point out several errors they hadn't caught while making the movie. This included a large electrical cable in the background of the manger scene and a man walking around in the background during the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
When the film began we had our own unique error – across the bottom third of the large, movie theater sized screen were impossible to ignore subtitles (in English, echoing the actors' words as they spoke them). After a few sentences the DVD's options menu popped up in the corner of the screen and we could see that the projectionist turning off the subtitles. They disappeared from the screen, resulting in a huge cheer from the audience. I was enjoying the film so much I'd forgotten about blooper spotting, so in the finale I was momentarily surprised when a huge laugh went up in the middle of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Then I remembered why, and glancing at the background I saw the man in contemporary 1970's clothing wandering around behind the biblical era dressed actors – I would have loved to have been in the room the first time the Pythons became aware of that!
At the conclusion of the film Terry Jones returned to stage with Sanjeev Bhaskar for a question and answer session. This ended with Neil Innes coming on stage to play the piano so that we could all sing "Happy Birthday" to Terry (whose birthday was a few days later); then everyone got to sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (with the lyrics displayed on the screen) along with Terry, Neil, and Sanjeev.
ROBERT ROSS AND TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR BOOK SIGNING
Sunday brought an unexpected treat – one of the venues, the Arnolfini, arranged for Robert Ross and Tim Brooke-Taylor to do a book signing for "Marty Feldman: The Biography of a Comedy Legend", Robert's recently published book for which Tim was a contributor (the Arnolfini has an excellent bookshop featuring titles on art and culture). Unfortunately, the signing was arranged on fairly short notice (with even Tim and Robert only finding out about it a few days before!) and wasn't well publicized. Jenny and I learned about it from one of Robert's tweets and showed up early to score a good place in line. In fact we were sufficiently early that we *were* the line for a while, and we were able to greet Tim when he arrived to set up. As the start time for the signing approached we all began to wonder where Robert was, until someone realized he must be in the Arnolfini's theater (right next to the lobby where the book signing was to take place), watching a session on Charlie Chaplin. Which, as it turned out, was running late… Tim made jokes about his having turned out for the signing while the author was missing, and pretended to look in the book's index to see how many times he got mentioned. It really wasn't a problem, though, because there weren't many people waiting to have their books signed until the Chaplin session let out. Robert had indeed been in there and quickly made his way to the autograph table, at which point more people joined the queue behind Jenny and me.
The signing worked out perfectly for me – I'd been meaning to buy the Marty book, and now here was the opportunity to do so and to get it signed by the author and a Goody! It was also lovely to see Robert Ross again; we've met a few times in the past, but I hadn't seen him in a few years. Jenny and I got our books signed, and even had a chance for a brief meeting with Terry Jones (who'd also been to the Chaplin session), before heading on to the next event.
BUSTER KEATON: YOUNG KEATON
The last of the Buster Keaton themed events of the festival was "Buster Keaton: Young Keaton", described as a session in which "festival patrons and Keaton admirers Bill, Tim, Barry and Ian have each selected a short to reveal Keaton at his freshest, most spontaneous and inventive". Graeme got to sit this one out, after having presented two other sessions, but was front and center to see his friends at work.
For this event, the presenters were introduced one at a time. Each spoke about their enthusiasm for Keaton's work and then introduced one of his short films, which was accompanied by Stephen Horne on the piano and other musical instruments.
Ian Lavender (who'd played Pike in "Dad's Army") went first and introduced the film "The Boat". This was followed by Tim who introduced "The Scarecrow", saying he thought it was one of Keaton's best short films. Keaton has said if he hadn't followed the career he did he would have liked to have been an engineer; Tim said he could see that, based on the design work that went into his films.
Barry was the next presenter and introduced the film "Convict 13". Concluding the session was Bill and his choice, "Cops".
Like the other attendees, I congratulate all those involved in organizing another wonderful festival!
* A copy of Lisa's article, including photos from the event, can be viewed at:
6. FEATURE ARTICLE – GOODIES GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST 2012
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(by Isabell Olevall)
The idea for this contest came to me already in December 2010. A friend and her husband had, as is traditional for many families in Sweden, made a gingerbread house. It wasn't an ordinary gingerbread house in the shape of a little cottage – it was… a lighthouse. And I thought of Lighthouse Keeping Loonies – and felt there really should be a gingerbread house contest for the Goodies fandom. And since it really was too close to Christmas to get the thing off the ground I decided to wait nearly a year.
It all could have ended right there, because I nearly forgot about it. And it could have been kept in the planning stages to this day, had I not finally asked for input and feedback from Goodies Podcaster Jeffers & Jane, Saucy Gibboneer Jess and GROK President Lisa.
The contest was launched at the end of October 2011, with a blog on http://goodiescontest.wordpress.com and an accompanying twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/GoodiesContest. Where originally I had planned on one contest class only, for gingerbread houses, I thought that adding a decoration class would help pull in people who were uncertain of their gingerbread building skills (but obviously I saw no problem with people being uncertain of their icing skills!). There weren't many entrants, but enough to make sure there would be winners in both classes – and even public voting for a winner of one of the classes.
At the end of the voting in December 2011, I was happy to announce that there were indeed winners:
In the decoration class, the winner was Jenny Doyle from the UK. She was the only entrant, with a cut out gingerbread biscuit iced to look like the Goodies doing the Funky Gibbon. Dungarees and all!
In the gingerbread house class, the winner was Helen Randle, also from the UK. She got the most number of votes for her gingerbread house inspired by episode "The New Office", with a gingerbread biscuit cut and iced to look like the trio on the trandem pulling a gingerbread house cottage.
Runner up in the gingerbread house class was the third entrant of the contest – and I just realised how suitable it was with THREE entrants for a Goodies contest – all the way from Australia, podcasting couple Jeff and Jane Walker together with Jane's niece Ashleigh. Their contribution was a gingerbread house cottage with impressive icicles along the roof edges, and with a likeness of the trandem on the roof their entry was suitably titled "Trandem Cottage".
A contest is not complete without prizes, and there were a number of items to choose from, very kindly donated by Lisa and by Jeff & Jane themselves, along with a prize I had supplied. As it happens, both Jenny and Helen picked prizes donated by Jeff & Jane, and our podcasting friends asked their runner up prize to be recycled into the prize pack.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all who have made this idea possible, from input during the planning stages, pushing the contest online and on the podwaves, donating prizes, casting a vote in the final stages. A special thank you to the contestants of course – without you the whole thing would have fallen completely flat!
I'm hoping to do another Goodies Gingerbread Contest at the end of 2012 – and I challenge you ALL to take part in it! ;-) So start planning, Goodies fans, there will be just one class this time around – create whatever you want, as long as it's in gingerbread and connected to The Goodies!
Best regards from Sweden,
Isabell
7. A COLLECTION OF GOODIES THEMES #21
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(by Brett Allender)
GOODIES TARGETS: LIONEL BLAIR, ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK & THE OSMONDS
While some of the favourite targets of the Goodies humour such as Rolf Harris, Nicholas Parsons and Tony Blackburn copped a good ribbing many times during the whole run of the show, this article examines three targets who only came into the crosshairs on a handful of occasions (none of them after the end of Series 5) but who provided some great Goodies moments along the way.
Henry Lionel Blair Ogus was born in Montreal, Canada in 1931 and moved to Britain when he was one year old, with his father (a Russian immigrant) changing the family name to Blair in Lionel's youth. He was an actor in his early years, but came to the Goodies' attention in the early 1970s as a choreographer and tap dancer; with them heavily sending up his camp persona on more than one occasion.
In the Series Two episode 'Come Dancing', Tim and Bill are having all sorts of trouble learning how to dance, so they try using an 'Invitation to the Dance' instruction kit voiced by the very camp Lionel Bleugh. Lionel's instruction record commentary minces: "Hello! Well now, have you got my bijou dance chart spread out on the floor?"; to which Tim and Bill (in a "Yes Mum" kind of frustrated tone) reply "Yes Lionel!" He continues: "Super dupes! Then we're all ready to go, aren't we, petals?"; which draws a cross "Yeah we're ready, you camp old boot!" from Bill.
Lionel bitchily calls him a "Saucy cat!" and that it's "It's ladies on the left and gentlemen on the right"; only to frustratedly intone "Well, make up your mind, sweeties!" after Tim and Bill get their positions mixed up. They get even more confused as they try to keep up with Lionel's fast-paced commentary while trying to follow the floor chart with foot positions drawn on it (rather like a game of Twister) and end up in a messy tangled embrace, with Tim shrieking "I am the woman!"; much to the horror of an unaware Graeme who has just walked in the door and witnessed their finished pose.
The character of Lionel Bleugh is reprised in Series Five episode 'Chubby Chumps' with Bill as Lionel (in a glittery silver-grey suit and top hat) kicking off the 'Miss Housewife Of The Year' contest at Royal Albert Hall with a very camp rendition of 'Les Girls'. Lionel is surrounded by pink-costumed male dancers and when he sings "She'll really make you a man ...", one of the dancers camply asks "Oh will she make me one too?!" before another dancer grabs him by the hand and drags him off-stage at the end of the song, with Lionel kicking his heel up in delight as he departs.
The final swipe at Lionel comes later in Series Five in 'Scatty Safari' where Tim is ordering Bill around at the stables which hold the various celebrities. A bossy Tim tells Bill to "Get on with your work, go on, chop chop. And while you're about it, bung those on Lionel Blair, will you?!" as he holds up a pair of horseshoes!
Well after the Goodies had finished making fun of him, Lionel Blair took on the role of a team captain on the gameshow 'Give Us a Clue' during the 1980s and early 1990s, which has led to him becoming a target all over again for Tim and Graeme's current radio program 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'. Lionel's miming skills from the show are frequently sent up in the lead-in to the 'Sound Charades' round by the ISIHAC hosts (the late Humphrey Lyttelton and nowadays Jack Dee) who make memorable double entendres based on Lionel's camp on-screen character, such as him supposedly trying to "pull off Twelve Angry Men in under two minutes". It is reported that apparently Lionel despises the remarks that are made on ISIHAC about his supposedly rampant sexuality, particularly as he and his wife Susan have been married for more than 40 years and have three children and two grandchildren.
Engelbert Humperdinck was born Arnold George Dorsey in Madras, India, in 1936. Moving to England at the age of 10 (with a British father and Indian mother), he sang as Gerry Dorsey for a decade until 1965 when he changed his name to that of the 19th-century composer of operas such as 'Hansel and Gretel.' He is a long-time pop singer with a large number of worldwide hits such as 'Release Me and 'The Last Waltz'
Engelbert's name first bobs up in the Series Two episode 'The Music Lovers' when the Music Master gets his dopey offside Gerald to show the Goodies the various music stars that he has abducted and imprisoned at his country hideaway. Upon opening one of the cell doors, we hear a rather mournful Engelbert singing "Please release me, let me go ..." before Gerald closes the door again. At least the Goodies think enough of Engelbert to let him out of his cell as they escape the Music Master's clutches … a courtesy not shown to Cilla Black and her ear-splitting high notes!
Later in 'Scatty Safari', one of the celebrity sightings during the Goodies' bus tour is Engelbert being felled with an axe by a lumberjack. He again sings 'Please Release Me' as he is chopped off at the ankles and buckles to the ground.
While Engelbert only gets the two actual name checks in The Goodies, he has a significant hidden association with the show as he commissioned the Goodies to provide 13 five-minute visual inserts for use in 'Engelbert and the Young Generation' in 1972. Five of these inserts were later woven together to create the Goodies' special 'A Collection Of Goodies', including 'Pan's Grannies' which were an older-generation send-up of the Pan's People dance troupe from Engelbert's show.
The Osmonds are a Mormon family from Utah in the U.S.A. and consist of nine siblings, most of whom formed part of the hugely successful musical group The Osmond Brothers (and later The Osmonds) from the mid-1960s, with several of them having fruitful solo careers as well. The Goodies found two particular Osmonds to be ripe for some stirring in Series Four and Five: Donny and Little Jimmy.
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond was born in 1957 and has carved out a multi-faceted career in showbusiness; including time as a singer, actor, dancer, radio personality, talk and game show host, record producer and author. It was when Donny went solo in the early 1970s with hits including "Puppy Love" that the Goodies had a go at him; notably for his incredibly shiny white teeth.
In Series Five episode 'Frankenfido', Graeme is so chastened by Tim's success as the owner of Mastermind champion Cuddly Scamp Hairylegs of Cricklewood that he decides to whip up a custom-made mutt of his own to enter into Crufts the next day. With the help of his 'Needlework For Beginners' book, a stormy night and lots of electrical cables and switches, Graeme sets to work putting Frankenfido together to the revulsion of Tim, who thinks that he just been chopping up other "poor innocent little doggies".
Graeme: "Look. Teeth. You wouldn't find teeth like these on a mere dog."
Tim (curious): "What are they? Horse, alligator, tiger ..."
Graeme (opens box to reveal glittering diamond-studded teeth): "Look at them."
Tim (shocked): "No! Not Donny Osmond!"
Graeme (proudly): "Yep."
Tim (in horrified indignation): "You ... you've been using people! ... And Donny Osmond!!"
As a follow-up in the special 'The Goodies Rule OK' at the end of Series 5, a down-and-out Graeme reveals to his equally ragged colleagues that he has finally assembled the secrets of success for them to form a rock supergroup. The first of these mystical items that he reveals is Donny Osmond's glittering set of teeth, which are chattering away inside a box. Tim and Bill gasp and rapidly turn away, then don sunglasses so that they can have a peek at the gleaming choppers!
James Arthur "Jimmy" Osmond was born in 1963 and is a singer, actor, and businessman. He is the youngest of the nine Osmond siblings and had a No. 1 hit single in the UK charts with 'Long Haired Lover from Liverpool' when he was just nine years old. It was this particular song that brought him to the Goodies' notice; firstly in Series Four episode 'Hospital For Hire'
Tim is showing new doctors Bill and Graeme around the disgracefully neglected hospital ward as the patients start to get rowdy at the lack of food and general squalor. Tim quells the cacophony by yelling "Alright! I warned you! Headphones on!" The patients don their headphones and Tim counts down "3 … 2 … 1.", then flicks a switch. The patients all scream in agony and a shocked Bill asks: "What are they hearing?!" When Tim replies "Little Jimmy Osmond.", a disgusted Graeme says "That does it! You're supposed to be curing people; not making them sick to their stomachs!" and outlines his own plans for a better health service.
In Scatty Safari', the strains of 'Long Haired Lover from Liverpool' can be heard emanating from one of the stables holding the celebrities and a cranky Bill roars "Shut up!" and a few other muttered curses, then throws a bucket of water into the stall to make Little Jimmy stop his singing!
Also at the end of the 1970s LP 'The Goodies Sing Songs From The Goodies' after the song 'Spacehopper', there is a spiel where Graeme is the doorman at a party which is being held to celebrate the release of the Goodies' new record. All of the who's who of the record industry are greeted as they arrive, including Cliff Richard, Mick & Bianca Jagger, Elton John ("don't fall off the shoes man ... timber!"), Gladys Knight ("How's the Pips? Oh yeah, looking very tasty!) and many others. The doorman says "Ah, great to see you, Little Jimmy" and gets a boyish reply of "I'm a great fan of yours!", only to respond to it with a flat "Thanks Mr Clitheroe." – a shot at tiny actor Jimmy Clitheroe as well as the supposed initial target of Little Jimmy Osmond! Shortly afterwards, the doorman says "Oh, hi there Osmonds!" and gets an enthusiastic chorused reply of "Hi there everybody!" from them; then a little later there's an enquiry of "Ohh, wotcha Engel?" Engelbert's reply is a dull and rather stupid moan, to which the doorman asks "Headache, man?" (followed by another dull moan from Engelbert) "OK I'll call the tree surgeon!" The sketch rather appropriately ends with Tim and Bill trying to get into the party ("We're the Goodies, we made this record.") only to get an unimpressed "Oh. Inadequate, man!" from the doorman, who slams the door in their face.
Website article & photo gallery:
8. GOODIES CROSSWORD
********************
(by Brett Allender)
Here's a new Goodies crossword for fans of the superchaps three to puzzle over.
As with my previous crosswords, if you're not familiar with a number of the Goodies episodes listed, the information in my Goodies Episode Summaries (in the "Articles/Guides" section) should help you solve the clues.
There is also a copy of the grid and clues in a print-friendly format in the "Articles/Guides" section of the website at http://www.goodiesruleok.com/articles.php?id=88&page=14 along with the solution on a separate page. The solution will also be printed in next month's newsletter.
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* CLUES *
ACROSS
Row 1, column 1 (9 letters) -
Uncle Tom had always wanted to be one of these (Farm Fresh Food)
Row 1, column 11 (3 letters) -
Mock ad: The Goodies Tea *** (Beefeaters)
Row 3, column 1 (5, 5 letters) -
Graeme dabbles in this practice (That Old ***** *****)
Row 4, column 11 (3 letters) -
A spurt of this liquid knocks Tim off his feet (Kung Fu Kapers)
Row 6, column 1 (11 letters) -
Goodies episode where the world ends at midnight (***********)
Row 8, column 5 (8 letters) -
Mildred's surname (Cunning Stunts)
Row 9, column 1 (5 letters) -
Bill receives multiple nominations for "***** of the Month" (Football Crazy)
Row 10, column 10 (4 letters) -
Graeme makes this type of bomb for his World Domination Badge (Scoutrageous)
Row 11, column 1 (3 letters) -
There is no Ratatouille because the chef has run out of this ingredient (Punky Business)
Row 11, column 5 (6 letters) -
The Queen's Own Highland group of this creature chases the bunnies (IOT Moon Creatures)
Row 13, column 1 (8 letters) -
Graeme is disgusted at the thought of doing this with "Aussie trollops!" (Sat Night Grease)
Row 13, column 10 (4 letters) -
These bits are covered with white sheets in the film (Gender Education)
DOWN
Column 1, row 1 (7 letters) -
One of the giant puppets pursuing the Goodies (Goodies Rule OK)
Column 1, row 9 (5 letters) -
"***** for Burps!" (Earthanasia)
Column 3, row 1 (4 letters) -
An agreeable Rupert continually repeats this word (Snooze)
Column 3, row 6 (4 letters) -
The Goodies travel there to meet the Emperor (**** Antics)
Column 3, row 11 (3 letters) -
Bill & Graeme's act is named "The *** Folk" (Hype Pressure)
Column 5, row 1 (4, 5 letters) -
The ancient Lancastrian martial art that Bill is a master of (Kung Fu Kapers)
Column 5, row 11 (3 letters) -
The lighthouse disappears in the midst of a thick one (Lighthouse Keeping Loonies)
Column 6, row 10 (2 letters) -
The train is hijacked and taken to "** Boring" festival (Daylight Robbery OTOE)
Column 7, row 1 (4 letters) -
The Emperor loves this fruit's "bulbous botties and squishy juice!" (Rome Antics)
Column 7, row 11 (3 letters) -
Classic Goodies song backing Bill's evasion of the police (South Africa)
Column 8, row 5 (5 letters) -
Tim won't advertise this product as it's "far too sexy!" (It Might As Well Be String)
Column 9, row 1 (4 letters) -
The Goodies endure 17 straight days of this at Dunsquabblin (Holidays)
Column 10, row 5 (9 letters) -
The Bu-boom tribe's witchdoctor offers the Goodies a sip of this (The Lost Tribe)
Column 13, row 1 (8 letters) -
Tim plays a hot one in "Please Let Us Play" (Goodies Almost Live)
Column 13, row 10 (4 letters) -
The Goodies carry a stubborn one all the way to Cornwall (Bunfight at the OK Tea Rooms)
9. GOODIES WORD PUZZLE SOLUTION
*******************************
From C&G 190:
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Unscramble and rearrange the 3 words to form the end solution (5, 4 & 6 letters)
Clue: A song from a Goodies episode in Series 3.
Stuff That Gibbon
10. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
************************
(a) Graeme
(b) Him marrying his computer
(c) Free To Live (Women's Lib)
(d) Choice of TV, gramophone, piano keyboard and washing machine
(e) Because it kept falling over
(f) Roast chicken
(g) Inside its eye
(h) " … at least send us a good ventriloquist!"
YOUR SCORE:
8 Mastermind Of The Year
7 Goodies fan supreme
5-6 Clever clogs
3-4 Goody Goody effort
1-2 Time to watch some more episodes
0 Are you sure you're not Rolf Harris?!
NEXT C&G QUARTERLY EDITION:
- #192: 12th May 2012
Updated to C&G 185 (April 2011)
*******************************************************************************
The Goodies Fan Club Clarion and Globe is copyright The Goodies Rule - OK! 2012. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce this work or any section of it, in any form must first be obtained from the copyright holders.
For further information regarding this publication please e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com>.
For other general enquiries about the 'Goodies Rule - OK' fan club or 'The Goodies' itself, please e-mail enquiries@goodiesruleok.com
TO OBTAIN THIS NEWSLETTER IN WORD DOCUMENT FORM:
E-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> requesting transfer to the Word mailing list.
******************************************************************************
