The Goodies Still Rule OK!

I am of the generation lucky enough to grow up with the Goodies and Monty Python. We would come into school the day after seeing an episode of either and somehow already be quoting punchlines and whole swathes of dialogue. I remember the thrill of seeing the Goodies filming in the local park. So I went with some trepidation to this show – was their genius all a false memory? Would I sit there with my receding hairline and sensible shoes shaking my head wondering why I used to sit there with my mullet and platforms roaring with laughter?

I needn’t have worried. From the moment they appeared on stage on a Zimmer frame parody of the “trandem” they used to ride I was transported back. The show is a mixture of reminiscences, old classic clips, and some excellent new material (the medley of Julie Andrew’s hits censored live on stage is very funny indeed). There’s also interesting anecdotage, such as the genesis of the series and the title, and a performance of material from their hit radio show “I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again”.

I’d forgotten (or didn’t realise at the time) how political they could be. Thatcher came in for a thumping, and when Mary Whitehouse wrote to congratulate them for the wholesomeness of their material they responded with a wicked parody (Desire Carthorse, played by the inimitable Beryl Reid) in which that fucked up old dragon and guardian of the nation’s morals asks them to direct a sex education video.

Bill Oddy isn’t live in the show, but is a constant presence on a large screen which Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graham Garden try to interact with. However, as Oddy’s contribution is recorded, it’s often not as successful or funny as the rest of the show, as the timing sometimes goes awry. But he is, of course, there in the many clips from the show, all of which have been well chosen. I found myself wishing I was watching with friends I haven’t seen for years.

You don’t have to have been there the first time to get something from the show, as Brooke-Taylor and Garden are consummate performers and timers of visual and verbal comedy. Mercifully, I thought, we were being spared the Funky Gibbon song till they played it until we were on the way out. Now I can’t get it out of my head. Where did I put those platform shoes...