The Goodies Still Rule OK

-- The Derngate, Northampton, Wednesday 18th April

By Tom Raymond

It made for something of a heart-warming sight. In the foyer they gathered, the kids, the teens, the twenty-and-thirty-somethings, the balding and greying, the couples (old and young alike), even a few pensioners and a handful in Goodie-inspired fancy dress (union jack waistcoats, Ecky Thump caps and neckerchieves, Bill's silent movie star long coats and black puddings held menacingly aloft), the manifold differences in age, appearance, outlook and opinion all cast aside for a precious couple of hours for the avowed purpose of paying tribute to two thirds of one of Britain's most-loved (and criminally neglected - by the BBC, at least) comedy teams. The Derngate wasn't quite full - not in terms of people, that is, but if you'll forgive me for lapsing into nauseating team-building argot for a moment, there was enough love in the room to fill ten Albert Halls - love for the Goodies, love for a certain brand of defiantly old-school British silliness, and love for the days when those of us who miss little things like slender waistlines and full heads of hair were younger, flares and sideburns were big (in every sense of the word) and the Goodies did indeed rule OK.

The stage was a minimalist affair - three chairs on the left, a large video screen draped in union jack flags central and a lectern on the right - and as soon as the lights dimmed and the famous opening sequence (and THAT theme song) played, ninety minutes of streamlined silliness was underway. Tim and Graeme (and a dummy Bill, the genuine article presumably stuck in Australia watching the migration of the emus) appeared on a three-man zimmer frame, their hands-free microphones making them look like members of Boyzone attempting a comeback circa 2037, Tim's union jack waistcoat and Graeme's professorial, sensibly-suited gravitas (disguising a razor-sharp comic mind and an undimmed flair for subversive naughtiness) reasssuringly present and correct. Although Oddie wasn't there in person, the irrepressible twitcher loomed large - indeed larger than life - over the proceedings, courtesy of some cleverly-realized taped segments played on the screen, his ego-piercing asides keeping his colleagues firmly in check.

For the hardcore Goodie fan, this show was nothing short of a dream come true. We saw Bill and Graeme's Footlights audition pieces (Graeme's "pet's corner" routine remains a masterclass in how to handle props convincingly), a rare clip of the pre-Goodies sketch show At Last the 1948 Show with Bill as a gloomy hospital patient and Tim as a malfunctioning robot visitor, a re-enacted Broaden Your Mind sketch (the irony of two pensionable comedians performing as a pair of crusty professors wasn't lost on anyone present - including the performers), a memorable bit of surrealist adventure spoofing from I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, a clever skit on censorship problems with a puppet Bill and some heavily-bleeped Julie Andrews songs, plenty of clips that have definitely stood the test of time (the Movies, Kitten Kong, Scoutrageous, Bunfight At the OK Tea Rooms, 'Timita', Saturday Night Grease and Kung Fu Kapers were all liberally sampled) and a rousing rendition of 'Wild Thing', with Graeme powerhousing his way through a series of Pete Townshend moves with a ukelele and Tim donning a Jimmy Savile wig and gold lame jacket, whilst Bill lapsed into psychedelic (possibly Sherbet-fuelled) rocked-out madness behind them. It was a blast, and not just from the past. Comedians who are able to cut across the age barriers as effortlessly as Tim and Graeme are decidedly thin on the ground, and if this performance was anything to go by, there's life in the Goodies yet. If only someone would persuade the BBC of that. The only slight disappointment of the whole evening was the absence of Tim's trademark shiny shoes, but after this night of sublime silliness, I could forgive him anything.

(Ego-driven bit) I got to meet Tim and Graeme by the stage door, and Tim thanked me for being "very enthusiastic" whilst Graeme congratulated me on my sideburns, specially grown for tonight's performance. They signed books, programmes, DVDs, even a black pudding (still in the cellophane, of course!) and posed for photos and camera-phones. I asked whether a third DVD of BBC episodes was in the pipeline, and Tim told me that Network had been given a hard time by the BBC, who loudly insisted that the episodes were still "premium product" - despite another "premium product" being given away free with the Daily Mirror! 'Goodies Rule OK' seems doomed to a long spell in copyright hell due to the Beatles footage (and possibly Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben, the Wombles and the various music clips used during this most fondly-remembered of episodes), and it's all a bit bleak at the moment, but that could change... and there's an I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue tour to look forward to in September, so it's not all bad news!

The Goodies Still Rule OK - Edinburgh Review

By Jess Pickles

I was extremely privileged/mad enough to see the Goodies Edinburgh show a whopping seven times, popping along at the beginning, middle and end of the month-long run. The preview nights, though a little rough around the edges in terms of anecdotes (e.g. John Pertwee’s appearance on the show) and the odd technical blip, still showed promising signs that the show would be a great success. A few nips and tucks later, and the show improved immensely. Tim and Graeme soon got into their stride and excelled in confidence, acting their socks off in response to what the other was saying, and responding accordingly and amusingly to the action on screen. Bill’s pre-recorded contributions were a delight, his warmth and enthusiasm was very infectious, but I think Tim and Graeme enjoyed controlling him a little too much - heehee! The clips shown from Goodies episodes were all superb, though perhaps some rare footage or scenes from commercially-unavailable episodes would have added more interest. Tim, clearly unable to conceal his pride in the show, would beam and giggle throughout the clips, whilst Graeme, enigmatic as ever, would still let the odd smile slip or, alternatively, bury his head in his hands in shame!

As the month progressed the energy remained at the very top, each of them clearly relishing every minute onstage, as well as off, where they were similarly delightful. A lot of the fun came from the ad-libbing (mainly to try and crack each other up!) and Tim showing off his fancy moves - the “epic movie” pose springs to mind, which, I’m happy to say, became a fixture of the show in the latter half of the run! By the final night, Tim and Graeme were still in their element and the show, with its eclectic mix of not only plenty of ‘Goodies’ but also ‘I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again’ and other comedy gems, certainly provided enough colour to keep audiences laughing, in many cases, quite uncontrollably. Although I (unfortunately) am too young to have seen The Goodies during its original run, it was great to be able to laugh along with those who were and hear the nostalgic mutterings that would often accompany them. It was always nice to be part of such a happy audience.

The real joy of the show was seeing how much Tim and Graeme enjoyed themselves, not only in working together, but in caring so enthusiastically (and rightly so) for a show they did 30 years ago. Although it was a shame to see ‘Wild Thing’ dropped after just one performance (due to time constraints, and perhaps a little embarrassment), there was still plenty to keep audiences entertained, even those of us loony enough to see the show more than once. Despite its tight structure, the room for adlibbing was where the magic happened, and its slight anarchy, refusing to keep to any sort of script (make your mind up Tim, were you lying “dead” on the ground while filming the end of ‘Bunfight’ for 10 minutes or 3 hours?! Heehee) further added to the charm.

Three cheers to the Superchaps for a job well done and finally getting the recognition in their home country that they so rightfully deserve.

Comedy: The Goodies Still Rule OK! Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

By Julian Hall

Published: 08 August 2006

For many people over the age of 30, The Goodies are part of their comedy consciousness, yet, despite this, the trio's work has not had a proper television outing since their 12-year reign ended in 1982. An ardent fan-base in Australia was instrumental in resurrecting a neglected part of Britain's comedy heritage. Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor, in particular, have spoken of the fun they have had exercising their past work in a tour of Australia last year.

The premise of this show is that Bill Oddie has been mischeviously left behind in Australia, allowing the other two to look back at their careers via a series of questions. Yes, a 50-year old Scottish builder called Alex Mitchell did die laughing during The Goodies' "ecky-thump" sketch about a martial art involving black pudding. And yes, Mitchell's wife did write to the trio to thank them for making his last moments so pleasurable.

Some of the nicer moments are elicited in the aftermath of clips such as Brooke-Taylor musing on the involvement of actors such as Beryl Reid, June Whitfield and Joan Sims: "We had some good parts for women and later on I was to play them all."

Overall, the show is gentle, sometimes childlike. It may not rock your world but will remind you that The Goodies were one of the last successful exponents of slapstick and silliness.

Source: The Independent

The Goodies Still Rule OK!

Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

Brian Logan

The Guardian

There's a moment towards the end of their show when Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor stand together on stage, playing the kazoo and the swanee whistle into a vintage radio mic. It almost brought a tear to my eye, the image defining a lifetime of silliness in the name of entertaining others. Such is the rosy glow cast by The Goodies Still Rule OK!, this reminiscence floorshow hosted by two-thirds of the madcap 1970s trio.

The show takes the form of a genial chat with Garden, Brooke-Taylor and, on video inserts, Bill Oddie, recounting the story of the Goodies from Cambridge University to TV fame. It's a format that craves your indulgence, as when Garden recounts a lame anecdote about being bothered by a wasp while filming. There are times, too, when the evening might have benefited from Oddie's fizzier energy.

But Garden and Brooke-Taylor are likable hosts, who can still deploy the old magic: witness Garden's funny physical comedy routine involving a toy owl and a vampire bat. And theirs is an engaging story to tell, in which the proto-Goodies and their contemporaries, the Pythons, spend the 1960s hopping in and out of each other's trail-blazing TV sketch shows.

History has been kinder to the Pythons, partly for reasons of political correctness. The Goodies were silly about everything, including black and gay people, as several clips tonight make clear. They were also hilarious and gleefully creative. Here, they screen their brilliant 1971 broadside against Mary Whitehouse, a prudish spoof sex education film entitled How to Make Babies by Doing Dirty Things. And the closing clip, from the 1975 episode Movies, is a mind-bending, rug-pulling masterpiece, in which the Goodies shoot a western, a Biblical epic and a silent comedy simultaneously on the same film set.

Perhaps it's a shame the highlights of this evening are old TV clips. But when the clips are this much fun, it's hard to object.

The Goodies

(still a)Live on Stage

By Jodie VDW

I first heard the rumours of a live Goodies show in late 2004 or early 2005, when a friend of a friend of someone I met on the internet found a reference to it in some junk mail flogging tickets to Australia’s Big Laugh Comedy Festival. After a few weeks of scouring the internet and a flurry of ‘will they or won’t they?’ emails, we found out for sure: The Goodies were coming to Australia. The festival director, John Pinder, had done what no-one else had achieved in the last thirty years - he managed to convince all three Goodies that a theatre version of the show could work.

The Goodies are hugely popular in Australia, and only recently has their profile in the United Kingdom started to catch up with the adulation they enjoy here in the colonies. There’s a simple reason for that: repeats. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation repeated The Goodies in the after-school kids hour over and over until the tapes wore out, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Now, there’s a whole generation of young people from 15 to 30-something who can sing a medley of Goodies songs from memory and instinctively understand that gibbons and teapots are funny. We even laugh at the Max Bygraves and Patrick Moore jokes, despite not really knowing who they are.

But could they translate a show that relied on special effects, sped-up footage and clever editing to the stage? And, much as we hated to admit it, could the reality of three 60-something blokes on stage compete with our memories of the brilliance of three 30-something blokes on telly?

Yes, and yes.

The Goodies live show is like sitting in on a particularly boisterous slide night held by three mad uncles. It has quite a bit in common with Goodies episodes where the cast are trapped in a room (or a lighthouse, or a dinosaur’s stomach) with nothing to do but tell tales, bicker, and lark about. Tim and Graeme - and virtual Bill - are in fine form, taking the audience on an insider’s guide to trandems, giant kittens, beanstalks, and falling over and hurting yourself.

Go and see it.