No Fixed Abode, Cricklewood

Part 1 traces the journeys made by each member of the Goodies' team to the day in 1970 when the first series launched on to our screens.

All three actors had a respectable track record prior to The Goodies - Graeme Garden had written and acted alongside Ronnie Barker in Hark At Barker in 1969 and, with Bill Oddie, was a writer on Doctor In The House in the same year.

Lancashire-born Bill Oddie had started his writing career in 1962 on 'TW3' and had already starred in a film with Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes by the time the Goodies were formed.

Derbyshire-born Tim Brooke-Taylor had a long history of acting and writing, and had been a driving force behind the forerunner to the Goodies, a series called Broaden Your Mind in 1968.

Part 2 tells the story of The Goodies and how this farcical, surreal and quintessentially silly series came to be such a hit with audiences.

In the course of their weekly adventures they would typically rescue humanity, as in the case of saving London from the clutches of a giant cat, whilst charging around the country on their three-seater bicycle. Popular fads and cultures of the day were given the Goodies treatment - Kung Fu was given a North Country twist in an episode entitled 'Ecky Thump', whilst Doctor Who was presented as 'Planet of the Rabbits'.

During its run the series picked up two Silver Roses at Montreux and scored top ten hits in the pop charts with The In Betweenies, Funky Gibbon, Nappy Love and Make A Daft Noise For Christmas. After ten successful years the BBC decided to axe the show, and the team jumped ship to ITV. The essential Goodies' magic had gone however and only six episodes were made for LWT.

Strangely, in an era when many comedy series of the same vintage are often repeated on terrestrial TV, The Goodies has remained on the shelf despite many requests for repeats by loyal fans.