The Goodies

Image: Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor in the episode 'Kitten Kong', made as the BBC's entry in the Golden Rose of Montreux 1972.

The Goodies made their television debut on 8 November 1970. The Radio Times described the show, featuring an agency of three men who promised to do "anything, anytime", as a situation comedy. However, it was full of cartoon humour, with slapstick visuals and surreal diversions. The tone was set by the Goodies favoured mode of transport, a bicycle made for three - or trandem - on which they made their wobbly way.

The Goodies was written by and starred Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who had previously worked together on sketch show Broaden Your Mind. The characters they played were exaggerated versions of themselves. As described by Bill Oddie, "Tim is the respectable front-man, representative of the Establishment, Graeme plays the back-room boy who produces all the clever stuff and me, I'm the aggressive one".

Music, written by Oddie, was a big feature of the programme, and The Goodies had considerable chart success with their comedy songs, such as "The Funky Gibbon".

The Goodies ran until 1980 on the BBC before moving to ITV for two seasons. All three performers have had subsequent success on BBC programmes. The show's lasting influence can be seen in comedies such as The Mighty Boosh and We Are Klang.