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WHAT'S IN A NAME?
by Andrew Pixley (with additional information by Alison Bean)
(from C&G #43 July 1999)
I gather that my article and episode guide in TV Zone Magazine have caused some confusion regarding some of the episode titles for The Goodies - and indeed the titles have been a complete pain during my research into this series. Wherever possible, I attempted to use episode titles given on BBC production documentation, such as:
* The camera script
* The programme-as-broadcast document
* The BBC Television Main Title Index
In addition to this, a colleague of mine who is a BBC videotape engineer supplied me with a listing of all the titles which were apparently chalked on the time clocks that appear at the start of the master recording tapes. The remaining episode titles I generally took from the first edition of 'The Guiness Book of Classic British Television' by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping; this was a listing which I was provided with in 1993 during preparation of the book and which the authors explained was derived largely from titles which appeared in overseas (i.e. non UK) television listing magazines. The other episode guides, which I had access to but did not really use apart from comparisons, were the excellent one by Matthew K. Sharp and another shorter one by one of the great American masters of the episode listing George Fergus.
Season One
There are no titles for this season on either scripts or programme-as-broadcast sheets; generally they are called Show 1, Show 2, etc. or The Goodies (1), The Goodies (2), etc. I have only been able to ascertain titles for three of the episodes, as given on a memo written to Bill Oddie by John Howard Davies on 23 November 1970. In this, Davies comments he feels that the best episodes of the series have been "Beefeaters, Snooze, Playgirl Club and the last one"; this suggests that the final episode did not have a title.
It is also worth noting the project numbers for the episodes which show production order, different from transmission order:
11/5/0/2521 Beefeaters episode
11/5/0/2522 Playgirl club episode
11/5/0/2523 Police episode
11/5/0/2524 Snooze episode
11/5/0/2525 Servants episode
11/5/0/2526 Army episode
11/5/0/2527 Pirate radio episode
Season Two
(Referred to by the BBC as The Goodies 'B')
The situation is largely the same as for Season One with no titles on scripts or programme-as-broadcast sheets other than The Goodies (10), The Goodies (11) etc. Pollution apparently is given as the title on the episode's time clock at the start of the master tape, and was thus the title being used at the time the episode was recorded (although it was possible that this was only a working title and not that intended for final use). The same is true of The Lost Tribe, The Music Lovers and Gender Education. Kitten Kong is referred to be title on numerous pieces of production documentation for this show, although another episode which has substantial extant paperwork is merely 'Series 2 Programme 11'. Factory Farm I used because this is the title given to the filmed insert from the show broadcast in Engelbert with the Young Generation. Two extracts from this season were given titles when they appeared on the BBC clips programme Ask Aspel; one was entitled The Galloping Cannibal (presumably referring to Graeme's impersonation of annoying TV chef Graham 'The Galloping Gourmet' Kerr) while the other was Come Dancing. The BBC also maintain a Programme Title Index which generally follows the p-as-bs and lists shows as The Goodies (13);
however, the repeat of Show 3 is listed as Pollution.
This season was made effectively as two separate series. The first batch of episodes runs:
11/5/1/2151 Loch Ness Monster episode
11/5/1/2152 Commonwealth Games episode
11/5/1/2153 The Lost Tribe
11/5/1/2154 Pollution
11/5/1/2155 The Music Lovers
11/5/1/2156 Art episode
11/5/1/2157 Kitten Kong
The second batch was then:
11/5/1/2158 Come Dancing episode
11/5/1/2159 Factory Farm episode
11/5/1/2160 Sexual Liberation episode
11/5/1/2161 Gender Education
11/5/1/2162 Charity Bounce episode
11/5/1/2163 Nice Person of the Year episode
Englebert with The Young Generation
The camera scripts for the series give a title for each film insert; these are Pets, Pop Festival, Keep Fit, Post Office, Sleepwalking, Factory Farm, Good Deed Day, The Gym, The Country Code, Street Entertainers, Plum Pudding, Bodyguards and Pan's Grannies. There are no titles given on the first three films on the programme-as-broadcast sheets, nor for the ninth while the fourth refers to The Goodies sequence as 'Post Office Film'; the other eight have titles corresponding to the camera scripts. Obviously, the bulk of these titles - such as Sleepwalking - refer only to the film sequence in
question and not to the whole of the original episode from which they came.
Special
This was originally referred to on the artist contracts as Montreux Show in February 1972, although this is a description as opposed to a title. The title on the camera script is Goodies - Montreux Show while the p-as-b refers to it as Montreux 'The Goodies' and the BBC Title Index has Montreux 72 BBC Entry. It is a remake of the episode referred to as Kitten Kong.
Special
This was originally referred to on the artist contracts as Goodies Compilation in March 1972, but was billed in Radio Times and listed on programme-as-broadcast sheets as A Collection of Goodies, although the time clock apparently reads Special Tax Edition. Unfortunately, the camera script for the newly recorded linking material is missing, but within the programme-as-broadcast document, the five film sequences salvaged from Engelbert with the Young Generation are named as Gymnasium, The Plum Pudding, Pan's Grannies, Good Deed Day - Babies and Street Entertainers.
Season Three
From this season, the camera scripts started to carry titles, while the programme-as-broadcast sheets continue to be The Goodies (1), etc. The New Office and Hunting Pink both appear on the camera scripts for the episodes, The Winter Olympics, That Old Black Magic and Way Outward Bound are given on the camera script and the time clock. The same is true of For Those In Peril On The Sea, although on some paperwork this is shortened to For Those In Peril (likewise there are minor variations such as the third show being referred to as Winter Olympics). The special show recorded with these episodes, Superstar, was accredited with an on-screen title which also appears on the camera script, programme-as-broadcast document, BBC Title Index and even in the Radio Times. The episodes are numbered 1 to 7 on the camera scripts, and the project numbers run:
11/5/2/2271 The New Office
11/5/2/2272 Hunting Pink
11/5/2/2273 The Winter Olympics
11/5/2/2274 That Old Black Magic
11/5/2/2275 For Those In Peril On The Sea
11/5/2/2276 Way Outward Bound
11/5/2/2277 Superstar
Season Four
Camelot, Invasion of the Moon Creatures, Hospital for Hire, The Stone Age, Goodies in the Nick and The Race all appear on both the camera script and the time clock. Since the BBC treated these as an extension of the previous run, the camera scripts confusingly number them as 10, 11, 8, 11, 12 and 9 respectively; this was the production order, with The Stone Age really being show 13 this was recorded last after a strike forced its postponement. To confuse matters further, the programme-as-broadcast sheets remain with The
Goodies (1), The Goodies (2) etc. On the Title Index, somebody has written Invasion of the Moon Creatures in by hand over The Goodies (2) while the final show is noted as The Goodies in France racing at Le Mans. By the time of the 1975 repeats, the episodes are given titles as on the p-as-b for the Title Index. The project numbers run:
11/5/2/2278 Hospital for Hire
11/5/2/2279 The Race
11/5/2/2280 Camelot
11/5/2/2281 Invasion of the Moon Creatures
11/5/2/2282 Goodies in the Nick
11/5/2/2283 The Stone Age
Special
The Goodies and the Beanstalk is the full on-screen title of the programme as listed in Radio Times and also on all production paperwork. As late as 12th September 1973, it was referred to as The Goodies Christmas Show, although this may have been more of a content description than a title.
Season Five
(Referred to by the BBC as The Goodies 1974 in October 1973 and then as The Goodies Autumn 1974 for the final six episodes in October 1974.)
From this season, a title was also logged by the BBC at the time of broadcast on the programme-as-broadcast document. Thus the titles The Movies, The Clown Virus, Frankenfido, Scatty Safari, Kung Fu Kapers!, Rome Antics, Cunning Stunts, South Africa, OK Tearooms, The End all appear on camera script, time clock and p-as-b with minor variations (Clown Virus, Kung Fu Kapers on the p-as-b). Chubby Chumps appears on the camera script and p-as-b, but the time clock apparently reads Radio 2 or Chubby Chumps. Wacky Wales does not appear on the p-as-b but is on the camera script and time clock. One script title, Lighthouse Keeping Loonies diverges from that apparently on the time clock which is The Lighthouse; unfortunately there is no title give on the p-as-b (other than The Goodies (8)) but presumably The Lighthouse replaced the scripted title. The Title Index uses variant titles in a rather haphazard way; after an untitled first show, these are Clown Virus, Radio 2, The Goodies go to Wales, Frankenfido, the most amazing dog ever, Scatty Safari, Tim & Graham (sic) try 'Kung Fu', The Lighthouse-Keeping, Rome Antics, Cunning Stunts, South Africa, O.K. Tearooms and The End. To confuse matters further, the 1975 repeat runs includes listings for Montreux Entry: The Movies, Kung Fu Kapers, Wacky Wales, Frankenfido, Lighthouse and Movies while the penultimate episode is referred to as Bunfight at the OK Tearooms from its 1977 repeat onwards. The scripts also include episode numbers for intended production order, thus the numbers run 2, 1, 4, 5 (amended from 3), 6, 9, 8, 7, 10, 11, 3, 12, 13.
It was intended to make this run as two separate batches, a plan which went astray when strikes hit the BBC in June 1974. The first production batch was to run thus:
11/5/4/2041 The Clown Virus
11/5/4/2042 The Movies
11/5/4/2043 South Africa
11/5/4/2044 Chubby Chumps
11/5/4/2045 Wacky Wales
11/5/4/2046 Frankenfido
11/5/4/2047 Lighthouse Keeping Loonies
With a second batch planned as follows:
11/5/4/2048 Kung Fu Kapers!
11/5/4/2049 Scatty Safari
11/5/4/2050 Rome Antics
11/5/4/2051 Cunning Stunts
11/5/4/2052 OK Tearooms
11/5/4/2053 The End
Special
Goodies Rule - OK? is the full on-screen title of the programme as listed in Radio Times and also on all production paperwork. The p-as-b lists it as The Goodies Special - Goodies Rule: OK?
Season Six
(Referred to by the BBC as The Goodies: Series Five or Series V)
The first episode title is given on the script as "Lips" or "Almighty Cod" and becomes Lips or Almighty Cod on the p-as-b. The remaining titles, Hype Pressure, Daylight Robbery on the Orient Express, Black and White Beauty, It Might As Well Be String and 2001 And A Bit are consistent on camera script, time clock and p-as-b; 2001 And A Bit is also given as an on-screen descriptor at the start of the programme while the time clock for the fifth show is truncated to Might As Well Be String. The final show was a special with an on-screen title of The Goodies - Almost Live (the original title of The New Goodies LP) which agrees with the p-as-b although the camera script opts for the more energetic Almost Live!!! The first two shows have been numbered 1 and 2 on the scripts, after which the numbers have been removed because they did not correspond with broadcast order. The Title Index agrees with the excepted titles, but refers to 2001 And A Bit as Two Thousand And One And A Bit. The project numbers run:
11/5/6/2001 Lips or Almighty Cod
11/5/6/2002 Hype Pressure
11/5/6/2003 It Might As Well Be String
11/5/6/2004 2001 And A Bit
11/5/6/2005 Daylight Robbery On The Orient Express
11/5/6/2006 Black and White Beauty
11/5/6/2007 Almost Live!!!
Season Seven
(Referred to by the BBC as The Goodies: Autumn 1977)
Alternative Roots, Dodonuts, Scoutrageous, Punky Business, Royal Command and Earthanasia feature on camera script, time clock and p-as-b. These are numbered as shows 1, 2, 4, 5, 3 and 6 because of the postponement of Royal Command from its intended slot. Only Royal Command has a title on the Title Index for its first run; the 1978 repeats however confirm all titles as given above. Here's the project numbers:
01157/2001 Alternative Roots
01157/2002 Dodonuts
01157/2003 Royal Command
01157/2004 Scoutrageous
01157/2005 Punky Business
01157/2006 Earthanasia
Season Eight
Titles for this season were generally given in the Radio Times at the time of broadcast, which tie up with one exception. The first episode is listed as Goodies and Politics whereas the camera script, time clock and p-as-b all read Politics; this was presumably a mistake by the Radio Times which is also reproduced on the Title Index. Saturday Night Grease is the title on camera script, time clock and p-as-b. A Kick in the Arts, U-Friend or UFO, Animals and War Babies! all feature on camera scripts, time clocks, p-as-bs, Title Index and Radio Times, with the episodes numbered 1 to 6 in sequence. War Babies! only retains its exclamation mark on the camera scripts. And the last batch of numbers is:
1158/9671 Politics
1158/9672 Saturday Night Grease
1158/9673 A Kick in the Arts
1158/9674 U-Friend or UFO
1158/9675 Animals
1158/9676 War Babies!
Unfortunately, it is not possible to get access to similar paperwork for the seven LWT shows, but hopefully these will come to light some day and complete the picture a little more.
EDITOR'S ADDENDUM
Taking a quick look at the time clock for all episodes of the LWT series only adds to the confusion. Each time clock lists the production number and the date of recording and, of course, the name of the series. However, in the case of the last three episodes to be recorded, the title of the episode does not appear. Here is a list of the time clocks:
90325 - 'Goodies' - Football Crazy - 29/5/81
90326 - 'Goodies' - Change of Life - 5/6/81
90327 - 'Goodies' - Robot - 12/6/81
90328 - 'Goodies' - Big Foot - 19/6/81
90329 - 'The Goodies' - 9/12/81
90330 - 'Goodies' - 23/10/81
90331 - 'Goodies' - 30/10/81
This, of course, provides very little insight into the "real" titles of the episodes in the last series. However the titles of first four episodes to be recorded do correspond with the titles given on their 1980s video release (except in the case of Big Foot, which is listed on the video as Bigfoot, but that is an even more pedantic point).
The real question is, what are the titles of production numbers 90329, 90330 and 90331? The generally accepted titles (which appear on Andrew's TV Zone article, 'The Guiness Book of Classic British Television and Matthew K. Sharp's Goodies Episode Guide) are, in order of production, 'Snow White 2', 'Holidays' and 'Animals', but as Andrew got these titles from Matthew and Matthew presumably got them from Peter, Martin and Keith and Peter, Martin and Keith got them from international listings magazines and the international listings magazines presumably got them from LWT, we will all have to remain confused until some manages to infiltrate LWT and find the truth!
*Note*
For those of you who haven't spotted it, production #90329 AKA 'Snow White 2' was made entirely on film. The date of recording might refer to the date it was played to audience to record the laugh-track.
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