Index
» #111 Feb 2005
THE GOODIES CLARION AND GLOBE
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF 'THE GOODIES RULE - OK' FAN CLUB
.
Issue No. 111 15th February 2005
TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
E-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> with UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of your message. If you are using multiple or forwarded e-mail addresses, please specify the e-mail address which you originally used when subscribing, otherwise we may not be able to remove you from the mailing list.
TO OBTAIN THIS NEWSLETTER IN E-MAIL TEXT FORM:
E-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> requesting transfer to the E-mail mailing list.
CLUB WEBSITE
http://www.goodiesruleok.com
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Newsletter enquiries: clarion@goodiesruleok.com
General enquiries: enquiries@goodiesruleok.com
POSTAL ADDRESS
'The Goodies Rule - OK!'
P.O. Box 325
Chadstone VIC 3148, AUSTRALIA
THE LADS AND LASSES OF THE C&G
EDITOR
- Brett Allender
ACE REPORTERS:
- Lisa Manekofsky
- David Piper-Balston
- Alison Bean
C&G CONTRIBUTORS:
- Amy Rixon, Ben Tumney, Andrew Taylor, Daniel Bowen, Marc Barrow, Ian Cleveland
CONTENTS
1. QUIZ & QUOTE - Goodies brainteasers for you and you and you
2. BOFFO IDEAS - News and club happenings
3. SPOTTED!!! - The latest Goodies sightings.
4. 2001 AND A BIT - Tim, Graeme and Bill sightings post-Goodies.
5. FEATURE ARTICLE - Goodies Interview from The Herald
6. GOODIES EPISODE SUMMARY - Bigfoot
7. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
1. QUIZ & QUOTE
(by "Magnus Magnesium")
QUOTE: "... who has a black sporran in the Scottish martial art of Hoots Toots Och Aye The Noo!"
(a) Which Goodie says this quote?
(b) Which of his relatives was he alluding to ("allude not!") as having this impressive qualification?
(c) Which episode is this quote from?
QUIZ: This month's questions are from the episode: "Pollution"
(d) Why, according to Tim, is the upcoming Test match likely to have a sticky wicket?
(e) Tim is "going to make a complaint to the very highest authority." Who do a shocked Graeme and Bill think that he is referring to?
(f) Which vegetable does the Minister for Pollution spray with weedkiller, then sell new ones to the unsuspecting gardener?
(g) What are the three main ingredients of Graeme's magic mixture to get rid of the pollution? (1/2 point for two)
(h) Where does the single raincloud carrying this mixture eventually dump its load?
The answers are listed at the end of this newsletter.
2. BOFFO IDEAS
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 this month:
WEBSITE POLLS
Last month's question - Who's your favourite Goodies villian?.- brought the following utterly predictable results!:
The Music Master/Nasty Person - 53 votes
Twinkle the giant kitten ("Kitten Kong") - 85 votes
The Goodies'robot doubles - 8 votes
Big Bunny - 54 votes
The living construction equipment - 24 votes
Dr. Petal ("double Trouble") - 6 votes
The Giant Dougal - 58 votes
Whichever Goody has gone loony that week - 97 votes
Other - 11 votes
The plague of Rolf Harrises - 193 votes
GROK GOODIES MEMORABILIA AUCTION
(from information by Alison Bean and Lisa Manekofsky)
A reminder that The Goodies Rule - OK! is auctioning some rare Goodies merchandise as a fundraiser. The auction items include t-shirts, books and photographs and all are autographed by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.
The auction page can be found at http://www.goodiesruleok.com/auction.php
If you're already on the club's website just click on the "Goodies Auctions"
link in the menu to view the items currently up for sale.
To bid on the items you will need to be a registered user of The Goodies Rule - OK! website (registration is free).
The current auction consists of the following items:
Lot #10 - Nappy Love sheet music
Lot #11 - The Goodies Inbetweenies B&W Photo
Lot #12 - The Goodies File
For further information about the auctions, please contact Alison Bean - bean_is_a_carrot@yahoo.com
SPOTLIGHT ON "THE OTHER TIM"
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 4th February)
The December ABC radio interview with club webmaster Tim Aslat is available online at http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/stories/s1295931.htm . On the same page you can find an interview with Goodies tour promoter John Pinder.
3. SPOTTED!!!
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 month:
ASK A GOODIE
(by Lisa Manekofsky)
This was mentioned in the last issue of the C&G. Here's a little more detail, from a press release from the tour promoters:
"Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie...have given the Australian public carte blanche to ask them any question, life-changing, fanatical, fascinating or otherwise, as they put the finishing touches to their first live show, The Goodies - Still Alive On Stage. Selected questions will become part of their show, and will change each performance so the people asking questions are in the audience.
Fans should send their Goodies question to goodies_biglaugh@yahoo.com.au
Anyone can send a question, but ticket holders should include their name, where they are from and which Goodies show they are attending. As well as The Goodies question time, The Goodies - Still Alive"
2ND GOODIES DVD RELEASE - UK
DVD LAUNCH
(Alison Bean - Goodies-L - 31st January)
The Goodies event at the Prince Charles Cinema (off Leicester Square, London) will take place on Saturday 12th February at 10:30am, but when I called the box office yesterday they said that bookings were not yet open.
Bookings supposedly open within the next week. As yet there is nothing on the Prince Charles Cinema website, although they are advertising the event in big letters on the outside of the cinema.
The event will feature screenings of 2 Goodies episodes from the upcoming DVD, followed by a Q&A with Tim, Graeme and Bill and then the trio will be signing copies of the new DVD. This means that people who attend the screening will get to buy the DVD 2 days before it is available in the shops.
Hopefully booking will open soon.
DVD AVAILABILITY
(from information provided by Marc Barrow and Lisa Manekofsky)
* The "At Last A Second Helping" DVD is available from Sendit.com http://www.sendit.com/video/item/7000000098761 for £16.99
* The UK DVD was released today (14th Feb). This should be a Region 0 PAL DVD entitled "The Goodies - At Last A Second Helping".
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00079ZB9O/qid=1108416377/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/026-5965806-1776468
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
(Ian Cleveland - Goodies-l - 13th February)
Just opened my new DVD and yes it's brilliant. The first surprise is a small booklet detailing all of the enclosed episodes and extras in great detail, was this mentioned? If it was I must have missed it.
The Come Dancing episode has been restored in color and a real treat for me as I haven't seen it before. The restoration work comes up to the same standard as the first DVD and is outstanding on all the programs.
The commentary has been improved as well this time around and is a lot better than last time. The choice of extras has been well thought out and works well, the radio "in conversation" being a special treat with various still photos accompanying.
On the whole a DVD for enthusiasts and my congratulations to everybody at Network for its production. I'm struggling to find any criticism ... no there isn't any. It's about as close as you can get to perfection for the collector.
(Alison Bean - Goodies-L - 13th February)
I would echo what Ian has said. It's lovely to see Come Dancing in colour and the booklet is great. Really well researched and illustrated by Graeme's original drawings.
The commentaries are great, especially South Africa which explains the background to the episode and the political situation of the time. The audio interview is a nice treat too.
There are also four Easter Eggs that I've discovered. Play the episodes Radio Goodies, The Movies, South Africa and The End, then press rewind. You'll then see the timeclocks for these episodes, then the screen will fade to black and you'll see the episode start. I'm not sure why there aren't time clocks for the other four episodes, but it's interesting to note that on the timeclock for The Movies it says Montreux episode. This is after hearing trio talk at length in the audio interview about how you're not supposed to make an episode especially for Montreux!
Another extra on the DVD are the scripts for the episodes. I believe these come from Tim Brooke-Taylor who I'm told has an attic full of old scripts. To access the scripts put the DVD into your computer's CD drive and it works like a CD-ROM. You need Adobe Acrobat 4.0 or higher to view them. Has anyone tried this out yet?
2ND GOODIES DVD RELEASE - AUSTRALIA
DVD INFO
(Amy Rixon - Goodies-l - 24th January)
Here is some information on the next Goodies DVD release. This is from the Roadshow "New Releases" brochure (Roadshow being the Australian distributor of the Goodies DVD). Again, Roadshow had given the Goodies DVD an entire page in their brochure. Some of this information is already known, but I'll just give you all the information Roadshow has given.
Release date: 3rd March
Title: (it appears to be called "The Goodies. 8 Delicious Episodes", but the sleeve is still in production so it might change)
"Rediscover another 8 delicious episodes from The Goodies. At this stage the episodes will be:
Radio Goodies
Bunfight at the OK Tearooms
Movies
The End
Punky Business
South Africa
Scoutrageous
Come Dancing."
Special Features:
* Christmas Night with the stars (25/12/72)
This contains a sketch of 'The Goodies Travelling Instant 5 min Christmas' in which they act out Christmas speeded up, with Denise Distel and Robert Austin (11.20-18.55)
* Crackerjack (1/12/78)
The Goodies sing "A Man's Best Friend Is His Duck" (2m20sec duration)
* A Collection of Goodies tx (24/9/72)
'The Gymnasium'
This is a short sketch of about 5 minutes featuring the Goodies themselves
COVER AND DAILY TELEGRAPH ARTICLE
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 31st January)
Many thanks to John Hatfield for passing along this information.
First the cover of the second Australian DVD is now showing up online; here's a link to it on ezydvd's site:
http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/229377 . It appears to be titled "A Tasty Second Helping" and is due to be released on 3rd March.
Also, John reports that one of the Big Laugh Comedy Festival supporters, the newspaper The Daily Telegraph, had an insert in the Monday 31 January 2005 edition with some Goodies-related material.
The insert has an ad for both the DVD already released plus the new DVD due to be released March 3rd.
The foreword to the liftout in the newspaper is about The Goodies; it is titled "the da vinci cod" and was written by Graeme Garden. The liftout also has a brief interview with the group which mentions the Goodies Rule-OK! website. Unfortunately neither piece is online (but John plans to type them up for us).
Finally, the liftout indicates that Radio Station 702 ABC will have a live broadcast to open the big Laugh Comedy festival from The Riverside Theatre on 2 March 2005 from 3.00 pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time). To quote the liftout "Guests include festival stars and special guests The Goodies." The piece indicates the host of this shift on ABC Radio, Richard Glover is a "total Goodies fan". At this point we don't know the time at which Tim, Graeme and Bill will be on the air. The radio station's website can be accessed via http://abc.net.au/radio/ and it is Radio Station 702 in Sydney.
DVD AVAILABILITY
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 14th February)
The Australian version will be released on 3 March 2005 under the title "A Tasty Second Helping". I believe it will be Region 4 PAL.
http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/229377
CRICKLEWOOD RERUN
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 21st January)
Part 1 of "No Fixed Abode, Cricklewood" will be repeated on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 30th January from 20:30 to 21:00. This is the show in which "Phill Jupitus talks to Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie about their early days as comedy writers and performers, and about their 1970s cult series The Goodies (1/2)."
Part 2 will air on the following Sunday from 20:30 to 21:00 (at which point it'll replace episode 1 in Listen Again).
You can hear the shows on-line at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4
HOT T-SHIRTS
(Ben Tumney - Goodies-l - 1st February)
On Wednesday, January 12 there was an article in the Hobart Mercury about 'what's hot, what's not' and Goodies t-shirts were listed on the what's hot part. There was a bit of information about the Goodies and a picture of a shop owner wearing the t-shirt.
GOODIES GUESTS
(David Piper-Balston - Goodies-L - 1st February)
The Goodies will be guest on "Richard and Judy" on Monday 7th February at 5pm to 6pm on Channel 4.
GOODIES RETURNING TO UKTV
(from information contributed by Lisa Manekofsky & Andrew Taylor)
I've just gotten confirmation from UKTV that "The Goodies" will be returning to that station commencing Tuesday, 1st March at 7:00pm!
The person I corresponded with said he's asked that UKTV's website be updated with the news (currently their FAQ says they are interested in re-licensing the programme if it becomes available for broadcast, which we now know is inaccurate).
Information about subscribing to UKTV can be found at http://www.uktv.com.au/about.asp
ANOTHER MUSICAL GOODIE
(from information by Daniel Bowen and Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 3rd February)
Monday's MX (Melbourne free commuter newspaper) has a short article entitled "Goodie joins band" about GG's son John, joining a band called Scissor Sisters, which is touring Australia next month, as keyboardist.
Actually, the band is touring Australia later this month (according to their website http://www.scissorsisters.com/ , from Feb 12-20) - just mentioning this in case anyone was interested in seeing them.
I'd be curious to hear how many articles about the SS tour mention the Goodies connection.
BTW, in the most recent series of ISIHAC Graeme sang along to a Scissor Sisters song during a "Pick Up Song" round (Tim mentioned the Garden family connection at the end of the song).
THE WORD FROM TIM
(David Piper-Balston - Goodies-l - 8th February)
The Goodies feature in the latest issue of 'Word' on sale now in the UK. http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/
The Times had this preview.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1474744,00.html
"AGE hasn't mellowed Tim Brooke-Taylor. The former Goodie, 65, still fumes at the thought of Lew Grade, who helped to bring The Muppets to the screen. "Leslie (Grade's brother) was OK, but Lew was an absolutely appalling man," he tells Word magazine. "He effectively ruined British television." Would he say this to Lew's nephew, Michael Grade, chairman of the Beeb? "I've told Michael this before. That's why I praised his father.""
TIME OUT
(Alison Bean - Goodies-L - 10th February)
The current issue of Time Out (9-16 February 2005) contains a one-page interview with The Goodies. It's accompanied by a photo of them from A Change of Life and there's a list of 7 things you may not know about The Goodies. One of the things you may not know is that Tim and Graeme have managed to get a plug for the Goodies DVD into every single episode of ISIHAC in the past two years. Great work lads!
UPCOMING INTERVIEWS TO PROMOTE GOODIES DVD
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 6th February)
7th February: approx 8.05am - BBC London with Danny Baker. Listen Live link at http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/insideldn/radio/index.shtml ; the station is on air at 94.9FM. Danny Baker is on the air from 6:00-9:00am.
7th February: sometime between 6.10-7.00pm - BBC Scotland Arts. I was given the name as "BBC Scotland Arts"; I believe this is "The Arts Show" (whose
homepage is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/view/show.shtml?arts ). There is a Listen Now link at the top of the page (near the BBC Radio Scotland logo). The station is on air at 92-95 fm and 810 mw.
7th February: 5pm - Richard & Judy (Channel 4). This is a television show (to the best of my knowledge, it will not be available on-line).
7th February: The Goodies will be giving doing an interview for The Herald this day. I don't know when it will appear. The newspaper has a website at http://www.theherald.co.uk/ (I don't know if the article will appear in the online edition).
8th February: 7.45am - XFM Chris O'Connell Breakfast Show - Bill will be doing a phone interview. Listen Now link at http://www.xfm.co.uk/ . The station is on air at 104.9FM. While Bill's call-in is supposed to happen at 7.45am please note that the Breakfast Show airs from 6.00-10.00am. The webpage for the Breakfast Show is at http://www.xfm.co.uk/sectional.asp?id=622
8th February: 6.00pm - London Tonight interview on ITV. This is a television show (to the best of my knowledge, it will not be available on-line).
11th February: 2.30pm - Interview with Simon Mayo's Radio 5 Live Show.
There is a Listen Live link at http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/mayo.shtml . The station is on air at 909 & 693AM.
11th February: sometime between 10.00pm-midnight. Radio 2's Green Room. The interview might air at 11.30pm). There is a Listen Live link at http://cgi.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/arts/ There is also a Listen Again link.
12th February 2005: 10.00am - The Goodies Screening Plus Q&A, Prince Charles Cinema, London. The Goodies will be present to introduce two episodes and then do a Q&A and DVD signing. The cinema is located at 7 Leicester Place in London. Their website is at http://www.princecharlescinema.com/
Follow up notes:
(7th February)
This morning's interview with Graeme, Tim, and Bill on "Breakfast with Danny Baker" on BBC London is now available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/insideldn/dannybaker/archive1_clipoftheday_2005.shtml The page also has a photo of the trio with Danny Baker.
(9th February)
The Goodies interview is scheduled to air on tomorrow's episode of "The Arts
Show" on BBC Scotland at 6.10-7.00pm. There's a Listen Live link at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/view/show.shtml?arts
(11th February)
The Goodies interview with Simon Mayo from this morning is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/listen/audioarchive.shtml#entertainment
It is in the right-hand column of the page in the "Listen Again" section
(12th February)
The Goodies interview on Radio 2's "Green Room" from yesterday is available from the Listen Again to this Show link at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/arts/
4. 2001 AND A BIT
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. Those of you seeking radio & 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.
BILL SPOTTINGS
* The BBC will be running a new series with Bill Oddie entitled 'Springwatch with Bill Oddie'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4183185.stm
UK wildlife inquiry seeks helpers
Thousands of wildlife sleuths are being recruited for an investigation into the effects of climate change on wildlife.
The BBC and Woodland Trust are running the Springwatch project to see how nature is responding to global warming.
A nationwide network of volunteers is being asked to record their first sightings of six species - including bees and butterflies - this spring.
The survey results will be revealed in a new BBC Two series, Springwatch with Bill Oddie, later in the year.
Next week's Radio Times has a postcard to send in when you see the first signs of spring for the programme.
There is more at http://tinyurl.com/4bh6j
(David Piper-Balston - Goodies-l - 18th & 19th January)
* Bill Oddie is off to South America this time for "Bill Oddie with Penguins, Parrots and Whales", on Sunday 30th January on BBC 2 from 17:45 to 18:25 (note that this is 40 minutes long).
Here's a listing: "Bill Oddie takes a trip to the hidden part of South America in search of some of the most weird and wonderful creatures on the planet. He encounters underground penguins, burrowing parrots and has a close encounter with whales, before the unexpected climax - a killer whale attacking a baby seal."
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 21st January)
* This TV review by Victor Lewis-Smith appeared in London's Evening Standard on Monday 24th January 2005. I usually agree with Victor Lewis-Smith's views on things, so I was surprised by his comments on The Goodies. (Off with his didgeridoo! - Ed.)
NOT WILD ABOUT BILL
Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife: Yorkshire, BBC-2
"I am delighted to see," said the British Ambassador to a minister from the new Afghan government, "the great advances you have made here in the treatment of women since the overthrow of the Taliban. Before the war, Afghan women were treated as inferiors, and had to walk a respectful 10 paces behind their husbands. "But now, after our Western intervention, I see them everywhere, in fields and on roads, always walking 10 paces in front of their husbands. That is surely a sign of their emancipation, and it makes me proud to think that I played a small part in their liberation. Truly, these are times of great social progress." "No," replied the minister, "these are times of landmines."
I've sometimes wondered whether the British government secretly used ramblers in the same cynical way when it set up the national parks after the Second World War because many are situated in areas that were used previously by the Army to test its weaponry. Dozens of unexploded bombs and shells have been found in them over the past 50 years, and some parks are still used for occasional testing (live ammunition was fired on Dartmoor just before the Iraq war), so perhaps that's why a national park was chosen as the location for Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife on Friday night.
Well, there's nothing like the unexpected detonation of a bomb to reveal the full range of the local animal population, as rats, birds, slugs, and creeply-crawly things that you didn't even know existed exeunt omnes and make for pastures new, having decided that human beings and all their works are far more trouble than they're worth.
That's also true for domestic animals, by the way, which deign to associate with us only because we're a reliable source of food; and if you don't believe me, try mislaying the tin opener for a few days and see how long your oh-so-faithful mutt or moggy stays around.
Despite the series title and the magnificent backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, this was primarily a programme about how to watch Bill Oddie. After 20-odd years in the televisual wilderness, the former funky gibbon and erstwhile Goodie (a desperately unfunny trio who were billed as "off the wall" - maybe, but so is lavatory paper) has finally found a new niche for himself as the affable face of low-budget wildlife shows (the Whispering Attenbore still gets to front the big international co-productions), and he's so delighted to be back in front of the cameras that we saw far more of him than any of the local flora or fauna.
His mannered bluff Northerner delivery was reminiscent of Fred Dibnah, while his faux mateyness recalled John Peel at his most disingenuous. But, above all, he reminded me of Jack Hargreaves, that professional bearded septuagenarian from the age of 35, who carved a lucrative career for himself in the Sixties and Seventies by offering his urban audience a quaint depiction of the countryside as an unending pastoral idyll of gently bleating sheep and gaily painted Romany caravans, conveniently overlooking the mud, stench, poverty, alcoholism, suicide, and violence that also lurk there.
When the cameras did turn away from the presenter, we embarked upon what was little more than bucolic trainspotting. "That's a rabbit hoping to get on the telly," he informed us, before similarly anthropomorphising a curlew in a Johnny Morris sort of way ("ooh, I'm on the telly, I'm not ready for that yet"), spotting a faun apres-midi and identifying the clints, grikes and runnels in an area of limestone.
With some equally bearded friends from the RSPB, he stared aimlessly at a peregrine falcon, drove his car in search of ring ouzels (despite having told us earlier that you'll only see anything worthwhile if you walk), and hung around beneath an old bridge to see what would appear after sunset.
Had this been an urban bridge, the answer would have been winos and heroin addicts, but this rustic one was home to a colony of bats, so now you'll know where to go if somebody bought you an electronic belfry for Christmas, only for you to discover those dismal words on the box "bats not included".
On occasion, a walk in the Yorkshire Dales can be an invigorating and uplifting experience, but why do we have to watch somebody else doing it for us? Especially when it's a man who's trying to market himself as the nation's favourite uncle, associates with a toggle of anorak-wearing Keith Pratts and Candice-Maries, and lesbians sporting laminated upside-down Ordnance Survey maps around their necks, and presumably appeals to the sort of viewers who consider Michael Bywater to be a dangerous firebrand.
The brass band accompaniment (in 11/8 time, if you don't mind) was the final patronising touch, but by then I'd already decided that if I ever get the urge to twitch, then I'll twitch alone, rather than twitching vicariously via BBC television. Or, as my great granny used to say, a bird in the hand is worth two in Shepherd's Bush.
* This review was accompanied by a photo of Bill Oddie standing by a swamp, holding binoculars. The caption reads "Not-so-goodie stuff: Bill Oddie takes us on a tour of the Yorkshire Dales" *
(Alison Bean)
GRAEME SPOTTINGS
* A new series of "Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off" started today on BBC Radio 4 - like the previous series, this one includes additional material from Graeme Garden.
The series will air on Tuesdays from 6:30-7:00pm; it can be heard online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 . Each episode will then be available for about a week via Radio 4's Listen Again service.
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 25th January)
* Graeme is a guest on 29 Minutes of Fame on BBC1 now! (9.30pm BBC1 28th January) I've put up a couple of screenshots here!
http://www.dmb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/29minutes/
(David Piper-Balston - Goodies-l - 28th January)
* BBC 7 is once again repeating the series "There'll Never Be Another", which is presented by Graeme Garden. The first episode will air on Sunday 13th February on BBC 7 at 11:00 to 12:00pm. It'll be repeated overnight at 1:00am and will then be available on Listen Again for the next six days. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/
In the first episode, "Graeme Garden presents a programme on the comedian Max Miller, highlighting his bawdiness and outrageous jokes."
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 3rd February)
TIM SPOTTINGS
* A sketch from "At Last the 1948 Show" (the 1960's comedy series with Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Marty Feldman) is going to be included on a new DVD called "The Best Comedy DVD in the World". The DVD is being released in the UK on 14 February for Tsunami Aid Relief.
This page:
(http://www.dvddebate.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5141&mode=flat&order=0&thold=0 ) has a listing of shows included in the compilation. However, it doesn't contain any details about the specific sketches/scenes.
There's a short article by Terry Jones at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1408904,00.html regarding the new DVD (which also contains a contribution from "Do Not Adjust Your Set", a series he worked on with several other future Pythons).
(Lisa Manekofsky - Goodies-L - 8th February)
I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T A CLUE (ISIHAC) &
I'M SORRY I'LL READ THAT AGAIN (ISIRTA)
* There is a new double CD out called "Doctor Who at the BBC. Volume 2" ISBN 0-563-52485-5.
Some may recall that Volume one of this CD had an extract from "Hello Cheeky" with Tim Brooke-Taylor in it.
This new CD has 2 extracts from "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue". The first one is from 4 December 1993 and is a round of 'Good News/Bad News'. It features Tim and Graeme, along with Barry Cryer and Willie Rushton. The second extract was from 4 December 1987 and features Graeme and Barry doing an impromptu song about Dr Who.
(Amy Rixon - Goodies-L - 4th February)
5. FEATURE ARTICLE
(contributed by Lisa Manekofsky)
GOODIES INTERVIEW FROM THE HERALD
from online edition of The Herald
(http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/33329.html )
"A bumper bundle of Goodies"
by Beth Pearson February 14 2005
How daytime television has changed. Once it was the Goodies; now it's the Goodies on chatshows. Tim Brooke-Taylor, 65, and Graeme Garden, 62, are clean-shaven and suited - in blue and brown, respectively - because they may be appearing on Deirdre & Ken later that day (that's Richard & Judy to everyone outwith the room). Naturally, Bill Oddie, 64, may also be appearing with them but has an overgrown goatee and is dressed in a loose, bohemian shirt and sandy hillwalking trousers, which appear to have a tear near the groin.
We're here because the Goodies have a new DVD out. They're pleased: the episodes on it have been remastered, thereby removing the graininess of the originals which irritated them. But connoisseurs of new DVDs will notice an omission: there is no amusing out-take section. In many DVDs this comprises no more than actors corpsing or ad-libbing inappropriately (a sort of highly-styled showcase for the astounding personality behind the character).
The Goodies, with all their low-tech special effects, props and malfunctioning trandem, could have done an out-take section justice. If they had any. "We never had any out-takes," says Garden. He deadpans a lot, so initially it appears he's pretending they never made any mistakes. He isn't.
"At that stage, you couldn't waste tape," says Oddie, earnestly. "You'd tape over them." It transpires Oddie was responsible for a proportion of such taping-over. "Bill used to fart a lot, that was the thing that always had to be cut out," says Brooke-Taylor.
Oddie pauses before giving his defence. He regularly adopts a pretend posh accent, which he appears to do to indicate that he should not be taken seriously. "You do realise I've a reputation for being somewhat dignified these days," he says. "This is not going to do me any good."
Will Oddie's farting present a problem for the forthcoming live show in Australia (where the Goodies are immensely popular: fan clubs, conventions, the lot)? "It'll be the making of it," says Garden, definitely deadpanning.
"It's like saying David Attenborough farts," objects Oddie; posh again. "It's not funny."
"But there were lots of things that went wrong and they were very funny," says Brooke-Taylor. "Usually you were having to pretend to be bold and some rabbit would pop up in the wrong place. There were moments we were dressed in mice costumes and we were in a field and you'd think, 'Wait a minute, we've all got degrees, you know'."
"It does undermine your authority somewhat, going up to the director and saying, 'For God's sake, how are we shooting this?'," says Oddie. "Then you realise you're dressed as a mouse. Tim and I were particularly bad at giggling. There was at least one section where we had to be separated and put in separate studios."
Thirty years on, this is perfectly conceivable. Of course, they're doing different things now (Brooke-Taylor and Garden chiefly on Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Oddie with wildlife programming), but the trio have a natural dynamic that could only have been developed out of years of each other's company, which began as students at Cambridge.
Brooke-Taylor and Oddie are the wayward ones, liable to go off on tangents, while Garden, who was born in Aberdeen, is the laconic observer who, when he does speak, says something more incisive in fewer words than his blethering colleagues (they testify to this). While making the Goodies, his caution tempered the boyish enthusiasm of the other two. Indeed, it saved them from injury.
"Mr Wise, we called him," says Brooke-Taylor, nodding to Garden. "That wasn't usually about censorship, though," says Oddie. "It's because he was off investing our money in stocks and shares." "Get down, get down!" says Brooke-Taylor, starting another anecdote. "Yes, he was bossy," agrees Oddie. "We had quite a lot of explosions going on and it could be dangerous. Tim and I basically worked on the 'keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best' principle, but Graeme knew what was going on."
"I was the one who could count," says Garden, dryly reducing the issue to its essential point. "The directors would say, 'There'll be three large explosions just in front of you, then you can run out'. There'd be two and these two would jump up, so I'd say, 'keep down'." "At which point Tim and I would say, 'oo-ooh'," says Oddie.
It appears all were reluctantly cautious when it came to deciding the content of the shows. In contemporary terms, the Goodies was like the Simpsons (a comparison they themselves adhere to). It contained much cartoon-like visual comedy, yet also framed with humour some of the most topical and challenging social and political issues of its time. They draw a clear distinction between each of these components. "It was never whether things were funny, it was whether we'd get away with it," says Brooke-Taylor. "They're two very different things," agrees Oddie.
"Mary Whitehouse liked us, which is something we had to put right," says Brooke-Taylor. "After the first series, she actually sent us a telegram of congratulations and we've never been more ashamed in our lives."
The furthest they went on screen was their South Africa programme, which was made at the height of apartheid (and is included on the new DVD).
From one perspective, politics was the backbone of the show, since Oddie, Garden and Brooke-Taylor's amplified alter-egos represented the respective pillars of socialism, intelligentsia and establishment. The other perspective is, of course, that the serious stuff was just part of the fun.
Did they need to deal with important issues? "We were very happy to be silly, but at the same time it was fun to be anti-establishment," says Brooke-Taylor. "I represented the establishment, so the way around that was to make me look totally stupid. In the seventies I was passionately royal, but in the eighties that would have been quite tricky because the National Front had come forward, so we'd have had to have taken a completely different route."
"The show was broadly satirical in that it tended to send up current movies or fashions or trends as well as the politics," says Garden. "We'd have things like kung-fu movies, then later we sent up Andrew Lloyd Webber and Maggie Thatcher. All the butts - Rolf Harris, Tony Blackburn - they've all had happy and successful careers."
"But that was affection," says Oddie.
"Rolf Harris wasn't," says Brooke-Taylor.
"That's Tim talking," says Oddie. "I quite like Rolfie. He's very talented."
"He's very egotistical," says Brooke-Taylor.
It occurs to Brooke-Taylor not long after this minor altercation that the Goodies may have been more popular in Scotland than in England because the anti-establishment theme struck a chord. "Ah yes, it's all clear now," he says. This theory may also hold for their enduring popularity in Australia, but what's not clear is why the Goodies significance to the history and continued development of British comedy appears subsumed beneath reverence for one of its contemporaries: Monty Python. In spite of repeated name-checks by leading comedians, the Goodies appear rather under-appreciated in the grand scale of things. But Garden is here to provide perspective: "I'd worry more if they said it was over-appreciated," he says.
Oddie, of course, is becoming well-known, and well-regarded, for his wildlife programmes, most recently on BBC 2 with How To Watch Wildlife. During filming for the Goodies, Oddie would use his birding knowledge to influence shooting locations and bored his colleagues with bird identification.
"I was impressed when he started to spot American birds in England that shouldn't have been in England," concedes Brooke-Taylor. "That was the time I began to admire what he was doing. Then one day he said, 'Is that a chiff chaff on the Volvo?'"
"That remains the name of my unwritten autobiography," says Oddie.
"It was a great moment," says Brooke-Taylor.
"Those were the days, cricket on the lawn and chiff chaff on the Volvo," says Oddie, once more in his posh voice.
They say they haven't changed much over the years - their sense of humour and beliefs are largely intact - and, perhaps accordingly, the events of the time - Thatcher, apartheid - seem longer ago than the Goodies does.
The Goodies ... At Last A Second Helping is out now on Network.
6. GOODIES EPISODE SUMMARY
(by Brett Allender)
BIGFOOT
Series 9, Episode 3
First screened: 23rd January 1982
PLOT
Tim and Bill watch the television with nervous excitement to see the 'Mysterious World Of Arthur C. Clarke', in which Arthur (who looks somewhat suspiciously like Graeme) investigates various strange happenings in many locations around the world, but is so deeply sceptical about their existence that he fails to notice any of the evidence which (bleedingly obviously) occurs around him. Although he disappears from under a shower of raining frogs in Sri Lanka, then magically pops up on a boat on Loch Ness in the blink of an eyelid (and even has Nessie looking over his shoulder at a diagram of the supposed monster!), he continually dismisses all things unexplained as "a load of old rubbish", much to Tim and Bill's dismay.
They are even more disappointed when an announcement is broadcast that this program is the last in the series, as it has just been discovered that Arthur C. Clarke doesn't exist either! Graeme agrees with this theory (as LWT have just given him the flick!), but Tim is determined to prove him wrong and even presents his own program, 'The Quest For Arthur C. Clarke - Man Or Myth' in which ordinary citizens regale stories of their close encounters with Arthur (until he is scared off by a loony Arthur-spotter who likes to eat spiders!), before he finally decides to mount an expedition to find, film and capture the elusive Arthur to convince the many doubters of his existence.
Tim is all set for a safari to Africa, but soon has to rug up in warmer clothing as the most recent sighting of Arthur was in the Canadian Rockies. Bill provides him with all of the necessary equipment (including a month's supply of baked beans and a car muffler as a silencer!), along with his own weirdly rhyming pile of gear and Graeme is keen to come along too, as if they are to find Arthur, he has just got to be there (literally!). Following a quick plane flight and some energetic hiking, they build a log cabin deep in the woods and set out searching for Arthur, as Bill and Tim race all over the countryside inside a bird hide until they eventually make a splash landing in a clear mountain stream.
After several days in the Rockies, Bill has chalked up a remarkable number of strange UFO, dinosaur and Yeti sightings, but Graeme hasn't managed to see anything as yet. Tim staggers in with a limp (as all of his running around on steep hillsides has made one of his legs longer and the other one shorter!) and reports that he finally has some filmed evidence of the existence of some strange creatures, but Graeme desperately tries to distract him from replaying it on their projector (made out of pine logs, as are all of the other furnishings and fittings in the cabin). The film shows a hairy and rather embarrassed-looking Bigfoot (because he was filmed while having a pitstop!) who throws plates in the air (hence all of Bill's UFO sightings), but even more excitingly, there is actual footage of Arthur C. Clarke himself who looks rather familiar (especially when his bald wig partially slips off to reveal a sneaky-looking Graeme).
Tim threatens to drag Graeme back to London and expose his sham, but Graeme is more worried about the huge footprints which surround the cabin. Tim and Bill initially think that the prints are just another of Graeme's cons, but his panicked wails convince them otherwise and Tim sets out to follow the trail. After he runs around the mountains (and even jumps off a cliff) in his bid to track down Bigfoot, the prints take him straight back to the cabin, which in turn freaks out all three Goodies and they race inside for safety. During the night, Bill and Graeme are awoken by monstrous groaning sounds and a light reveals a gigantic foot, which surprisingly belongs to Tim.
It seems as though Tim's sleepwalking around the steep mountains causes one foot to swell to an enormous size and he leaves big footprints all of the way back to the cabin, but by the time he wakes up in the morning, his foot has shrunk to normal size and he is none the wiser. Rather than being scared by Tim's huge foot, Bill and Graeme find it quite hilarious, so they wake him to torment him about it and he is so ashamed that he flees into the hills for good.
The story is then told about how Bigfoot initially tries to hide his foot (by disguising it as Dougal the dog!) but eventually becomes mighty proud of it, although whenever any passing prospectors, campers or Indians see it, they find it so funny that they laugh themselves to death. After nearly a hundred people perish in one summer alone, Bigfoot is considered a wanted criminal (but even a drawing of his foot on the 'wanted' poster is enough to cause the sherriff to snuff it from a hearty chuckle!). The job is left to two brave Mounties (Bill and Graeme) who eventually get near him by posing as his bear-like animal friends, but when they stomp on his foot, he angrily flattens them with a rolling rock and chases them round and round a steep hillside. This causes Bill and Graeme to develop one huge foot each as well and Bigfoot laughs himself silly as they slink away past the band of hillbilly musicians, who also drop like flies at the sight of such foolish-looking feet.
CLASSIC QUOTES
* Arthur C. Clarke: "So, an extinct plesiosaur living in the loch? Personally I doubt it! I believe that what those witnesses saw was actually nothing more nor less than this. (holds up sketch) A common or garden rhinoceros floating upside down in the water holding a french loaf in his mouth balancing a tortoise!"
* Graeme: "Ah, but have you got any real proof (of Arthur's existence) - footprints, close encounters, droppings?!"
Tim: "Typical scientific narrow mindedness. Just because I can't produce a little heap of 'naughty Arthur' on a shovel!"
* Bill (handing Tim his camping gear): "Haversack."
Tim: "Thank you."
Bill: "Have another sack!" (as he hands it over)
* Bill: "In one day I had 35 UFO's, 17 marine plesiosaurs, 6 yetis and 5 bigfoots ... and I had a sasquatch!"
Graeme: "Well I hope you cleaned it up!"
* Tim (when he discovers that he is Bigfoot): "Have you no soul"
Bill (laughing): "It's a foot joke!"
Tim (upset): "Don't be so corny!"
(more laughter from Bill and Graeme)
Tim: "Oh you ... you heels!"
(even more laughter)
Bill & Graeme: "Put a sock in it! ... shoo! ... Hey Tim, ... hop it!"
CLASSIC SCENES
* The 'Mysterious World Of Arthur C. Clarke' program, with Graeme as Arthur (in a bald wig and thick framed glasses) dismissing various famous mysteries as "cobblers" despite the proof being right before his eyes, including a rusty old Coke can being removed from his hand by a robotic arm extended from a spaceship, a UFO landing behind him at Stonehenge and an alien filling it up with petrol from a pump on the side of a stone slab and the Loch Ness Monster peering over his shoulder as he examines a supposed sketch of it, while all the time he is obliviously rabbiting on about his total disbelief of things like spaceships and monsters.
* The segment with Arthur in the Himalayas sceptically telling his tv audience (an engrossed Bill and Tim) that the Yeti doesn't exist, however he wants them to shout if one appears. Sure enough, a Yeti bobs up in the background, but disappears when Tim and Bill shriek excitedly (from all the way back in their loungeroom in Cricklewood!) just before Arthur reappears, with him dismissively telling them that they are just imagining it. He then leaves one of his books on a rock, asking them to yell if the yeti returns to eat it, but refuses to turn around while the Yeti is devouring the book (as he thinks that the by-now hysterical Bill and Tim are trying to trick him), eventually turning just as the Yeti vanishes and flatly claiming that the teeth marks in his book are only caused by mice!
* Some of the footage from their search for Bigfoot in the Rockies, especially Graeme walking up the face of a sheer cliff by virtue of capons on his climbing boots instead of crampons (and Bill falling off the cliff with a loud wail as Graeme passes him), the hide (with Tim and Bill in it) crashing into trees (in a pinball machine-like fashion) and into signs warning of everything from Bigfoots to low flying saucers before launching off a jetty into a mountain stream, Graeme casually adjusting the flames of his campfire like a gas stove and all of their equipment being made out of pine logs from a movie projector to a fire extinguisher!
* The tale of Bigfoot (narrated in a Disney-style manner by Bill to the nifty backing of the 'Bigfoot (They Call Him Bigfoot)' tune), especially the various campers, Indians, prospectors and mobile chiropodists snuffing it from laughter once spotting his exceptionally funny foot (particularly an Indian squaw who carks it and falls on her back, sending her little baby flying out of its harness and tumbling along on the ground!), Bigfoot making music with his animal friends (including a prairie dog supposedly playing the harmonica and him strumming the tail of a big cat like a bass guitar and drumming away on a tortoise's shell!), the Mounties (Bill and Graeme) not standing a chance of catching Bigfoot (despite the use of Scoutrageous-style hats with peepholes cut in them) before dressing up as bear-like critters to chase after Bigfoot and their final humilating exit as Bigfoots themselves past the hillbilly band (with several of them croaking it from laughter for good measure!)
GUEST STARS
Charlie Stafford
GOODIES SONGS
They'll Never Believe It
Bigfoot (They Call Him Bigfoot)
MY 2 CENTS WORTH
A good episode featuring Graeme's great sendup of the super-sceptical Arthur C. Clarke, some nice mountain scenery and the Goodies uniquely weird concept of Bigfoot, backed by some very catchy hillbilly music at the end.
RATING
III Goody Goody Yum Yum
BLACK PUDDING RATINGS SYSTEM:
IIIII - Superstar.
IIII - Officially amazing.
III - Goody goody yum yum.
II - Fair-y punkmother.
I - Tripe on t' pikelets.
March Episode Summary –
A Change Of Life
7. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
(a) Graeme Garden
(b) His Wee Cousin Hamish
(c) Kung Fu Kapers
(d) Because it is raining oil outside.
(e) David Frost
(f) A marrow
(g) Lawn seed, fertiliser and aftershave
(h) London's West End
YOUR SCORE:
8 Goodies fan supreme
7 Mastermind of the year
5-6 Clever clogs
3-4 Reasonably Goodie
1-2 Thick as old boots
0 Rolf Harris!
NEXT C&G EDITION: #112: 12th March 2005.
********************************************
The Goodies Fan Club Clarion and Globe is copyright The Goodies Rule - OK! 2005. 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>
********************************************
|
