YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
COMPANY:
DEVELOPED BY:
1970-1982
BBC TELEVISION / THAMES TELEVISION
TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR,GRAEME GARDEN & BILL ODDIE

 
BACKGROUND

The Goodies, written and performed by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, is
perhaps the great forgotten comedy classic of the seventies. It was overshadowed by Monty
Python's Flying Circus for the first half of its life, and never gathering the cult following that
MPFC had, due to the fact that MPFC was kept alive through films and records.

After the original series had finished in 1982, there was only one repeat in 1985 until
satellite TV came along in the early 1990's. 

The show is full of visual humour, and has quite a high proportion of location shooting on
film, compared to an average sitcom. But this is not just your average sitcom; the plot in
each episode flows from the original intention in a surrealistic manner. The lead characters
can, and often do, die at the end of an episode, only to be resurrected, cartoon-like, for
next week's adventure. They can be set in the distant past, or in the near future.
The gambit of having no set format has certainly paid off by giving us a broad wealth of
comic ideas and situations seen in no other sitcom. 


 
CAST
TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR
GRAEME GARDEN
BILL ODDIE

 
'Can you ride Tandem...?'

 
EPISODE GUIDE

SEASON 1 1970 

BEEFEATERS 
The Goodies' first job involves going to the Tower Of London to investigate who has been
stealing the Beefeater's beef, only to find that the burglar is there "by appointment". 

SNOOZE 
Graeme attempts to boost sales of a bedtime drink by making it more potent, as he cures
Bill's insomnia but sends the whole country to sleep in the process. 

GIVE POLICE A CHANCE 
Asked to change the brutish image of the police force, the Goodies become too nice as
hippy cops and are arrested to face trial by the real boys in blue. 

PLAYGIRL CLUB 
The female Minister for Domestic Affairs wants the Goodies to infiltrate the Playgirl Club to
retrieve some scandalous photos taken of her - a job for Tim in his first drag role! 

THE GREENIES 
A holiday in Cornwall becomes less than idyllic thanks to the secretive Army barracks nearby,
so the Goodies assist the local vicar in his bid to remove the Army and set up a kids playground. 

CECILY 
The Goodies are asked to babysit young Cecily (with Tim as the Nanny!), but lots of strange
happenings in a seemingly haunted house make for a spooky time. 

RADIO GOODIES 
Rejection by the "ruddy GPO' for a broadcasting licence sees The Goodies set up their own
pirate radio station and post office outside the 5 mile limit, giving Graeme ideas for grander plans. 

SEASON 2 1971-72 

LOCH NESS MONSTER 
A bid to trap the Loch Ness Monster to pacify a suicidal zookeeper sees the Goodies travel to Scotland, where they have a close brush with the deadly Bagpipes spider among other trials. 
THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES 
Following a boycott of the games by other nations, the Minister Of Sport persuades the Goodies to represent Britain against the might of the August Bank Holiday Islands team. 
POLLUTION 
With pollution becoming worse, the Goodies discover that the Ministry of Pollution is actually causing the problem rather than curing it, so they set to work on freshening things up. 
THE LOST TRIBE 
The Goodies assist Hazel in tracking down her father, a Professor who vanished twenty years ago in search of the Lost Tribe Of The Orinoco, by following the movements listed in his diary. 
THE MUSIC LOVERS 
Musicians are being kidnapped all over the country, so the Goodies become famous musicians too, eventually get stolen and come face to face with their arch enemy - the Music Master. 
ANTIQUES 
Tim's crusade to stop rich Americans from buying all of Britain's art treasures sees him bidding a huge amount of money for one painting, forcing the Goodies to take drastic action to pay for it. 
KITTEN KONG 
The Goodies' Animal Clinic looks after various problem animals, including Twinkle the kitten who grows to a massive size, thanks to Graeme's growth formula, and terrorises London. 
COME DANCING 
Asked to be part of a formation dancing team, the Goodies find that dancing isn't as gentle and pure as they thought, especially when they encounter Delia Capone and her corrupt team. 
FOOD 
Disgusted at the awful cuisine served up at Ye Olde Shepherds Restaurant, the Goodies head to the farm of Tim's uncle for some fresh country food, only to be further disappointed upon arrival. 
FREE TO LIVE 
Bill's complaint to Women's Lib about Graeme's sexism leads to a visit from Barbara, who sends Graeme and Tim to work for her father, while she falls for Bill and Graeme falls for his computer. 
GENDER EDUCATION 
The Goodies are asked to make a sex education film for Mrs Desiree Carthorse, but are soon in trouble when she objects to its content, sending Bill into a violent film-making frenzy. 
LONDON TO BRIGHTON 
The Goodies are bouncing on spacehoppers from London to Brighton for charity, however they continue to bounce on around the world much to the horror of their tight-fisted sponsor. 
DOUBLE TROUBLE 
The Goodies' bid to win the Nice Person Of The Year Award is being sabotaged by the mysterious Doctor Petal and his evil robot doubles of the Goodies and other famous people. 
SPECIALMONTREUX 1972 
KITTEN KONG (Remake) 
The Goodies' Animal Clinic looks after various problem animals, including Twinkle the kitten who grows to a massive size, thanks to Graeme's growth formula, and terrorises London. 
A COLLECTION OF GOODIES 
A lack of finances sees Tim filling out a Tax Evasion form for the Goodies, with Graeme's computer providing timely reminders of the bizarre items which he is trying to claim for. 
 

SEASON 3 1973 

THE NEW OFFICE 
With their office destroyed by a lazy builder and his team of tradesmen, the Goodies build a deserted railway station and head to the countryside, only to find that their peace is soon shattered. 
HUNTING PINK 
The Goodies visit Tim's uncle at his country mansion and when Uncle Butcher unexpectedly snuffs it, Tim continues the bloodthirsty family hunting tradition to the disgust of the others. 
WINTER OLYMPICS 
The withdrawal of the British Winter Olympics team sees the Goodies pressured into competing despite lousy training facilities, but Graeme has an idea to even up the competition. 
THE OLD BLACK MAGIC 
Witch Hazel's problems with casting spells leads the Goodies to help her to contact lost souls via a séance and Graeme's mystical powers eventually see him turned into a gibbon. 
FOR THOSE IN PERIL ON THE SEA 
Graeme's urge to recreate an early Viking expedition and find the Lost Island Of Munga sees the Goodies shipwrecked and at the mercy of an old foe from a previous show. 
WAY OUTWARD BOUND 
The failure to find any kids willing to go to an adventure school forces the Goodies to attend disguised as children, only to find that the school is being used for a far more sinister cause. 
SUPERSTAR 
Appalled at the offensive songs on the hit parade, the Goodies perform a sickly sweet song on the Maxie Grease Show, but Bill is exploited and turned into a superstar by an unscrupulous agent. 

SEASON 4 1973-74 

CAMELOT 
Tim's Uncle King Arthur is away on vacation and the Goodies have to look after it, firstly turning it into a tourist attraction, then having to defend it from the clutches of the local town planner. 
INVASION OF THE MOON CREATURES 
Graeme's attempt to send rabbits to the moon seems to be a failure until Bill and Tim's space voyage discovers plots of vegies and the menacing presence of Big Bunny. 
HOSPITAL FOR HIRE 
A bad experience with the hospital system forces the Goodies to become doctors themselves and attempt to fix up the health system with the help of Graeme's magic elixir. 
SPECIALTHE GOODIES AND THE BEANSTALK 
The Goodies are so broke that they have sold the trandem for a can of beans, but their luck changes somewhat when the beanstalk grows up Mt.Everest and they discover a magic castle. 
THE STONE AGE 
Graeme discovers an ancient tunnel below the Goodies' office and his penchant for potholing soon finds the Goodies stuck inside the stomach of a prehistoric tyrannosaurus rex. 
GOODIES IN THE NICK 
A timid policeman needs the Goodies help in boosting his tally of arrests, but their fiendishly cunning bank robbery sees them locked away in prison and desperate to escape. 
THE RACE 
A wrong turn to Skegness sees the Goodies winning the Tour de France cycling race, so they decide to also enter Le Mans and convert their disused railway station office into a car. 
 

SEASON 5 1975 

THE MOVIES 
The Goodies buy a movie studio and attempt to revitalise the British film industry; but ultimately descend into chaos when they each try to shoot their own film at the same time. 
THE CLOWN VIRUS 
A job to dispose of a harmless can of "tomato soup" for an American military base sees the whole British population turned into clowns and ripe for an invasion by US troops. 
CHUBBY CHUMPS 
Tim has become rather flabby while the others have been away fishing, but trims himself down thanks to a brainwashing radio DJ and enters the Miss Housewife Of The Year Contest. 
WACKY WALES 
An invitation to an eisteddfod in Wales has the Goodies in all sorts of trouble with the Reverend after they dare to break many of the puritanical local laws and actually try to entertain people. 
FRANKENFIDO 
Graeme's dog breeding venture gets out of hand and Tim's only chance to win at Crufts is to dress Bill in a dog costume, which forces Graeme to custom-make a shaggy monster of his own. 
SCATTY SAFARI 
The Star Safari Park is in big strife once its star attraction Tony Blackburn has been shot, but Rolf Harris proves an even bigger hit until he escapes and infests Britain in plague proportions. 
KUNG FU KAPERS 
Bill's expertise at the ancient Lancastrian martial art of Ecky Thump proves too much for other forms of self defence, but his march on Parliament wielding black puddings must be stopped. 
LIGHTHOUSE KEEPING LOONIES 
The Goodies are doing "a little lighthouse keeping" for five years amid Bill's phobia about round objects, a gruesome sea shanty about the Jolly Rock and Tim's mumps and whinging. 
ROME ANTICS 
In 55AD the early Goodies venture to Rome to provide entertainment for the fruit-fancying Emperor, but are eventually confronted by Attila the Hun and the invading Barbarians. 
CUNNING STUNTS 
Bill is fired from the Goodies' newspaper for being a hopeless reporter and after he is rejected by the love of his life, he decides to end it all by entering the Eurovision Raving Loony Contest. 
SOUTH AFRICA 
The Goodies are forced to emigrate to South Africa where the absence of black people forces a new form of segregation called apart-height, mainly affecting short people like jockeys and Bill. 
OK TEA ROOMS 
Graeme's gold prospecting trip to Cornwall is a failure until he strikes a rich vein of cream, with his greed and Tim and Bill's discovery of strawberry jam and scones leading to a showdown. 
THE END 
The Goodies are trapped inside a 350 foot block of concrete, with "turps for burps", changing religion, cannibalism and I-spy all on the agenda while being stuck at close quarters for so long. 
SPECIALGOODIES RULE-OK? 
The unwanted Goodies finally hit the big time after years of failure, only for the government to topple and all forms of fun to be banned, requiring a civil uprising and a puppet government. 
 

SEASON 6 1976 

ALMIGHTY COD 
An extension to the Eskimos fishing limits soon has Britain codless, so the Goodies smuggle a cod back from Greenland and grow it to a huge size, but still have to ward off the Eskimos. 
HYPE PRESSURE 
Tim's nasty tv talent show is a flop after Bill and Graeme's folk singing is a hit with the judges, so Tim sets about creating the rock 'n roll revival and becomes a loony tv director. 
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS 
Goodies Holidays is creating an exciting mystery tour aboard the Orient Express for the Detective's Club, but things go astray when the train is hijacked and taken to the Le Boring Contest. 
BLACK AND WHITE BEAUTY 
Graeme has established a rest home for clapped-out old animals and is sent a pantomime horse, which Tim trains before it is callously stolen by Bill to enter in the Grand National. 
IT MIGHT AS WELL BE STRING 
A series of too-honest ads sees revenue for the Goodies' advertising agency plummet, until Tim discovers the joys of string, and Bill and Graeme set about ripping him off. 
2001 AND A BIT 
The futuristic sons of the Goodies have become bored with the extremely violent forms of modern entertainment and seek to revive something truly boring from their fathers' era - cricket. 
THE GOODIES-ALMOST LIVE 
A concert featuring many of The Goodies' best known songs, including Cactus In My Y-Fronts, Funky Gibbon, Black Pudding Bertha, Bounce, Last Chance Dance and Wild Thing. 
 

SEASON 7 1977 

ALTERNATIVE ROOTS 
A historical look back at the ancestors of the Goodies; Celtic Kilty (Graeme), County Cutie (Tim) and Kinda Kinky (Bill) and how they were captured by the evil television slave traders. 
DODONUTS 
Disgusted by Tim and Graeme's love of hunting, Bill vows to protect the last dodo from extinction, even though it has all sorts of horrible behavioural problems for him to contend with. 
SCOUTRAGEOUS 
Graeme and Bill finally discover that Tim's late night jaunts are to secretive scout meetings, so they join the platoon and create new scouting badges and all sorts of mayhem in the process. 
PUNKY BUSINESS 
The rapidly growing punk craze sees Tim as the lone defender of shiny shoes and niceness after both Graeme and Bill have sunk to punk, but even Tim wants to be able to go the Trendsetters Ball. 
ROYAL COMMAND 
The revised Royal Variety Show hosted by Graeme is so well received by the royal family that they enter showbiz but end up in hospital, requiring the Goodies to act as their replacements. 
EARTHANASIA 
The world ends at midnight on Christmas Eve, with Graeme devoting the rest of his life to curing Tim's belly button hangup's and Bill revealing his real self among all sorts of chaos. 
 

SEASON 8 1981 

POLITICS 
Graeme is faced with selling the image of two potential Prime Ministers to the nation; Bill as the revolutionary Che Monyou and Tim as the stunning Timita. 
SATURDAY NIGHT GREASE 
Tim wants to be king of the disco but is thrown out and then later locked in jail for indulging in mixed dancing; just the gimmick which Bill needs to increase the crowds at his own new disco. 
A KICK IN THE ARTS 
The British Olympic team is broke and Tim has no choice but to join them after doing his dough at Graybungles Casino and competes against Graeme and Bill's Rest Of The World team. 
U-FRIEND OR UFO 
The strange alien abductions of trombonists cause Bill to take up the 'bone in a bid to solve the mystery, while Graeme constructs EBGB the robot to help Tim out at his Knutters Knoll Knitespot. 
ANIMALS 
Tim's attempts to treat animals with kindness are soon overshadowed by Graeme's cruelty in putting them to work to earn their keep, while Bill campaigns for the rights of vegetables. 
WAR BABIES 
The Goodies are grown-up babies who are sent off to boarding school during the war years, and are asked by Churchill to go behind enemy lines to buy him a box of German cigars. 
 

SEASON 9 1981-82 

SNOW WHITE 2 
The Goodies are kicked out of the Seven Dwarves for being too tall and are lost and unemployed until they attempt to enter the' castle controlled by the princesses. 
ROBOT 
Due to dire financial conditions, Bill is fired and replaced with a baby robot; however Tim and Graeme need help with raising the robot and hire a strange bearded Swedish nanny to look after it. 
FOOTBALL CRAZY 
Bill the soccer hooligan is in fine form as Tim becomes Chief of Police in a bid to stamp out such boorish conduct, with football then becoming so boring that its fans flock to the ballet instead. 
BIGFOOT 
The Goodies set off to the Canadian Rockies in search of the mythical Arthur C Clarke, but find all sorts of other weird creatures including the legendary Bigfoot. 
CHANGE OF LIFE 
The Goodies are preparing to close their business due to old age until the threat of the robot taking over forces them to undertake the Standard Test to see if they are still capable of being Goodies. 
HOLIDAYS 
A supposedly relaxing holiday in the seaside village of Dunsquabblin turns very stressful when the Goodies are trapped inside for seventeen days due to heavy rain and snow. 
ANIMALS 
Graeme's pet shop has a special new line - people dressed up as animals, but they also suffer from being dumped so Tim sets up a protection society, while Graeme cruelly puts the strays to work.