Graeme Garden of the Goodies

Some of the issues seemed to revolve around the three characters ribbing off each others culture:

  • Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940 – 12 April 2020) as a conservative Brittish

  • Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) was a geeky Scot

  • Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941) seemed to portray a hippy Welshman

I (Matt Buchanan) was reminessing this and went back to stream a few episodes that contained Scottish References, like the legendary “Ekky Thump” (Black Sausage) episode, and lo-and-behold I came across two espisodes from 1971 and 1977 in which Graham Garden does all of his Scottish schtick in Buchanan Tartan! Garden was indeed Scottish – born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

So, the question is: did he don the Buchanan Modern as homage to our clan or because he thought it the most ridiculous and comical of all tartans?

Season 2, Episode 1 – 1971, “Scotland - The Loch Ness Monster” Watch here at Daily Motion

The Goodies agree to help a London Zoo keeper find a specimen for the Monster House being opened by the Queen. Tim smells an OBE if they are successful as he and the rest of the team head for Scotland to catch the legendary Loch Ness monster. The boys manage to catch something, and after many challenges transport the beast back to London. Do they have the monster? or is the catch far more interesting

Season 7, Episode 1 – 1977, “Alternative Roots” : Watch here at Daily Motion

Tim finds an old family crest, which he interprets as meaning he comes from a long line of lords. However Bill realizes it's turned the wrong way round and that it actually shows that Tim's ancestors were sheep rustlers, much to his chagrin. Meanwhile, Graeme has discovered his Scottish roots and starts spinning wild tales of his ancestors, which leads Bill to start off about his ancestors in rural England. Soon the whole thing turns into a ludicrous story about how three of their ancestors first met and got into show business.

 

Fun Fact

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Fun Fact 〰️

On 1 November 1977, Seema Bakewell, a 32-year-old housewife from Leicester, went into labour whilst laughing at a sketch in the Goodies episode "Alternative Roots". She refused to leave home for the hospital until the episode had finished. Thirty years later, she visited the 2007 UK reunion tour with "her baby, Ayesha, and the baby's husband" and recounted the story to Graeme Garden.

 

On 24 March 1975, Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies.

According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode "Kung Fu Kapers" in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a black pudding-wielding Bill Oddie (master of the ancient Lancastrian martial art "Ecky-Thump") in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of "Hoots-Toot-ochaye".

After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the settee and died from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant. Wikipedia