Spa and away

I’ve fallen in love with Buxton.

At the beginning of the week I took a trip there to see The Goodies Still Rule Ok, the show I saw in Edinburgh. Kate, Clair and I had decided to take the trek up to Buxton, as it was Tim’s home town and we thought it would be good to see the show there. I had been to Buxton before – on one of my Grandad’s days out, but I was only about six or seven at the time so I didn’t remember much beyond the park there.

We had a good road trip, apart maybe from the road through the valleys and over the hills, and arrived in plenty of time to look around. We found the Opera House and picked up the tickets, then had a wander around. I spotted “Brooke-Taylor’s Solicitors”as we turned a corner (I did have a vague idea where it was) so we achieved one of our ‘things to do in Buxton’ (the others were walk in the gardens, take the waters and see the Goodies – all of which we achieved). We also found a fantastic cafe called Project Xwhich serves a vast array and drinks and home made bread and cakes, and is worth seeking out if ever you happen to be in Buxton.

But the show was what we were there for. We passed the last hour or so in a pub across the road, called the Clubhouse, where we spotted another potential audience member wearing a Goodies t-shirt. Then we went across to the theatre to take up our seats and wait for the merriment to begin. 

The show was great – even better than I’d remembered from Edinburgh. And there was more of it (I think the show in Edinburgh had to be on time due to other shows in the venue) - extra sketches and a song! I won’t say too much about the content of the show, so as not to spoil it for those of you yet to see it.

We had front row seats, but I don’t think Tim and Graeme spotted us until Clair shrieked at Tim putting his Union Jack underpants on, amidst the general cheering, and pointed to us (well Clair really). We also cheered at the mention of Julie Andrews (to which Graeme responded “yes, Julie Andrews!” – if you’ve seen the show it’ll make sense [if not, go now!!]) and preempted Tim’s explanation of the audience reaction to Lady Constance.

After the show we went round to the stage door (which we’d located earlier in the day) and waited … and waited. It seemed ages before anyone appeared, so much so that we were beginning to think that they’d gone out another way. Then finally Graeme appeared. He signed autographs and had photos taken with other people (we were generous and let everyone else go first) but spotted us and smile and said hello. Tim came out not long after and signed things too. He commented on us being there, and how he had recognised Clair’s laugh! Clair also commented on how cold she thought is was, to which Tim responded that it was tropical for Buxton. Then it was our turn. I’d foolishly forgotten to bring anything to have signed, so I asked Graeme to sign my ticket. He asked who it was to, and I said my name and he replied “of course it is”. I think he was just being polite, as there’s no reason he should remember me. Then Tim signed my ticket as well, and I asked for a quick photo with the two of them. I don’t remember much about this, as they both seemed keen to go, so it was all a bit rushed. Then we all said our goodbyes and said we’d see them again soon! (Little do they know how soon …)

We walked down to road, debating whether or not to have a drink, when we realised Tim and his wife were following us. They went into the pub too, but we sat the other end of the bar, so as not to disturb them. As we walked past the theatre again we were wondering what happened to the posters for the show which were outside and resolved to find out. So the following morning I went into the box office and asked. A very lovely man came and brought a few of the smaller posters out for us to have. At least now I’ll have something to be signed at the next show!!

Goodies are coming for you and you …

Well, in less than a month I’ll have seen my first show on the Goodies UK Tour! And in less than a month there will be another Goodies DVD in the shops! It definitely is “Year of The Goodies”.

The tour is the same show that I saw in Edinburgh (but without the time constraints), with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden live on stage and Bill Oddie’s contributions via video. But it was so good I’m going to see it again – four times! I think I might be obsessed … [Of course, this obsession has nothing to do with the chance of meeting (and hugging) Tim and Graeme. ]

The DVD release is of what turned out to be the final series of The Goodies done at LWT. This is the series I remember most fondly, probably because it is the one I remember seeing most. So I’m really looking forward to seeing them all again. It’s good to get a whole series too, not just the ‘best of’.

As part of the tour promotion Graeme Garden was on Radio4’s Midweek last week. It was interesting that the presenter pointed out that it wasn’t a kids show, as it is often perceived, but had some good satirical stories which tackled, still relevant, issues of the time. It’s good to see some revisionism coming in to the general assesment of The Goodies and this does seem to reflect a general move towards a better apreciation of the show.

Having my Tea

Sunday night I had the good fortune to have tickets to go and see the recording of Hamish & Dougal’s Burns’ Night Special. I’d arranged to meet up with Clair and Kate beforehand (which was good as I had their tickets!), so we sat in a nearby coffee place and chatted about various comedy things until it was time to head towards the theatre.

We’d decided to go to the theatre early to see what was happening and generally hang around (and maybe do some star spotting!) and it’s a good job we did. We arrived to find a small queue forming, so we promptly joined it and began the waiting. Soon a lovely BBC Audience lady came and gave us numbered stickers for our tickets, which guaranteed us a seat. After a bit they let us into the bar area of the theatre, which was good as it was starting to get a bit cold.

We went straight to stand by the doors into the theatre, as we’d already decided we didn’t want anything the bar had. Watching the rest of the queue come in I spotted Carrie and she came and joined us too. Then there was more waiting, and chatting. Barry Cryer appeared at one stage, fought his way through the crowd and then later fought his way back again. Then we noticed the girls on the door had sheets of paper with writing on. We tried to work out what they were, but had to wait until we went in to see for sure.

After an eternity of waiting, we went in, and were handed a sheet (which turned out to be the last page of the script with a song for us all to join in with). Carrie and I grabbed some front row seats, slightly to the one side, right next to the stage. We were glad to sit down. Once most people were in the musicians came on stage and began to play some tunes while we all settled down. It was great being so close I could watch them play and enjoy the music. Soon I noticed the familiar figure of Jon Naismith in the wings opposite frantically trying to catch the attention of the musicians so that the could stop and he could begin the introductions. He did manage it and did the usual spiel about what would happen, and his ‘new’ joke (which was the same one that he used at Clue in November). He introduced writers and performers Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden to great cheering and applause. Barry told a few more jokes (one about Bono, which I’ve heard him do before, and something about The Scotsman saying the show was racist and that they did have a Goodie in the cast!), and then Graeme introduced the rest of the cast (Alison Steadman and Jeremy Hardy). I’m sure at one point during this Graeme looked over and smiled when he saw us (well, possibly when he saw Carrie as he’s bound to recognise her more than me). I also wondered if the invite had said ‘wear brown’?

Then the recording began. I won’t tell you about it – you’ll have to listen on Thursday. But it was very funny, although I think the really funny bits were the mistakes, so will get lost in the retakes. There were some particularly funny moments when the sound effects (both live and recorded) didn’t happen quite right, and Jeremy had a great deal of trouble saying the word ‘liqueur’. But they were all picked up at re-done at the end, so the broadcast version should sound better. We spent a good evening laughing and cheering and clapping in the right places (and some wrong ones!) but all too soon it was over.

We went out from the theatre and into the bar to wait by the door, expecting the cast to come out that way. Carrie and I found out pens to get our pages of script signed and cameras for photos and tried to calm our nerves (Carrie said something at this point I can’t repeat, but makes me laugh to think back on it). Then Kate pointed out that Barry and Graeme were already at the bar! How they’d got there so fast I don’t know, but we had to fight through the crowd to make our way over to them. As we went round a pillar Graeme looked our way and smiled as he saw us coming, so I said to Carrie “he’s seen you”, at which point she stopped. So I said “go on then” and she asked why she had to go first. I said it was because she was nearer! So she went and asked for her autograph and then asked for a photo, which I took. I realised as I was holding the camera up that my hand was actually trembling, such is the effect that a Goodie can have on me! (I was worried afterwards that it might have effected the photo, but fortunately it didn’t).

Then it was my turn. I asked Graeme to sign my script page, which he did (with a kiss under his name!). Then I asked if I could have a photo too. I managed not to make the same mistake I had in Edinburgh and fumble and drop my bag and coat, and I thought enough to take my bag off my shoulder and put it in my hand, so that it wouldn’t be between me and Graeme. He put his arm around my shoulder and I put mine across his back. It felt so comfortable that I really wasn’t bothered when Carrie was struggling to get my camera to take a picture. It seemed that we were standing there for ages, but I wasn’t in a hurry to help! (To be honest I’m not sure I could have, as I still wasn’t doing very well at speaking). But eventually the picture took and I had to move (damn!).

Then we chatted a little to Graeme (well, I was there, but didn’t say much), and he asked if we were going to get Barry to sign our scripts too. We said we were, but that we were waiting for him to come inside (he was standing outside the door, smoking) and we knew he would as his beer was still at the bar. Graeme said something about his [Barry's] wife still being there too. Then Jeremy Hardy, Alison Steadman and a crowd of other people came and talked to Graeme, so we stood to one side and debated whether or not to stay and have a drink. While we were deciding we asked Jeremy and Alison to sign our scripts, and we spent a bit of time chatting to Jeremy, mainly about his problem with liqueurs! He was lovely and seemed happy to chat too. Then Carrie decided not to wait for Barry to come back in and went outside for an autograph. I thought this was a good idea, so I went out too. Coming back inside we carried on debating about stopping for a drink, when we noticed that Graeme was gathering his stuff and looked like he was going. Suddenly we weren’t at all bothered about stopping! So we got our stuff and followed him out (claiming that we weren’t really following him). We all stopped outside to say goodbye, and as Graeme was adjusting his scarf someone (I can’t remember if it was Kate or Carrie) commented how nice it was, to which he replied that we all looked lovely too. Then we all said goodnight and went our separate ways home.

So on the third time of meeting Graeme I still didn’t get a hug (although the long photo pose kind of made up for it). But then no one else did either. It wasn’t really a huggy night. Maybe next time … ?

A Bit of Old Telly?

ITV began their new series Raiders of the Lost Archive last night. The concept was good, of showing old and rediscovered clips to the performers who were in them. Unfortunately the programme didn’t live up to its promise. Most of the clips were not shown in their entirety, and then what was shown was talked over by either the performer in question or by Patrick McGuinness, the presenter. (I was also not impressed by the way McGuinness kept implying that he’d done the research and found these films, but that’s just the presenting style the programme seemed to be taking.)

I will keep watching, if only to see Bill Oddie reunited with clips from The Goodies in Engelbert with the Young Generation, some of which I saw at the Missing Believed Wiped screening in December.

I suppose I should be pleased that ITV are doing something positive towards items being returned to the archive, but it feels like they could have done so much more with the concept they had. 

Missing Believed Wiped

On Saturday I went to the National Film Theatre for the Missing Believed Wipedevent, along with two fellow GROKers. It was mainly to see the recently found Goodies clip from  Engelbert with the Young Generation, but there were one or two other things I was looking forward to seeing too.

We were a little late arriving for the first session, Nuclear Threats, due to signal failure on the tube, so missed the introductions and the first couple of minutes of the first programme – a drama called Level 7, but we soon settled in. I had no idea what to expect from this first programme, and I’m sure it wasn’t supposed to be as funny as we found it, but I enjoyed it. The second programme was Nigel (creator of Quatermass) Kneal’s The Crunch, which was also good and a lot less funny than Level 7. It’s amazing how much scarier old black and white television can be, with it’s much slower pace and unashamed use of silences. We commented during the break that they could both be remade today and still be just as relevant, with their themes of nuclear threats and terrorism.

But it was the second session we were really there for. It began with Out of the Trees, the pilot for a comedy sketch show written by Graham Chapman and Douglas Adams. As you would expect, it was somewhere between Monty Python and Hitchhiker’s Guide. So kind of the absurdity of Python, but with a more logical spiralling of the steam of consciousness. I really liked it, but I’m not sure everyone did. I particularly liked the clever use of the television voice over and link man to hold the whole thing together. There was also a sketch about the theft of a peony which while watching I suddenly realised I’d seen that clip before and I’d never realised that Graham Chapman was one of the policemen!

Then it was time for The Goodies clip!  Fivewhole minutes of shiny, brand new Goodies to savour and enjoy. Ok, I realise it wasn’t new, and it wasn’t that shiny either – more like a very bad video copy of a copy, but it was still up there on the big screen. As I mentioned, the clip was one of the film sequences from Engelbert and the Young Generation, entitled (I think) ‘Bodyguards’. From what I gathered (not having seen the preamble in the office) the Goodies had been asked to protect Engelbert from his hordes of fans, so they practice various ways of doing this – boxing, fencing, shooting – with the usual hilarious consequences. It was wonderful to see, and I think I must have laughed almost continuously for the full 5 minutes! My only complaint would be that it was all over far too quickly. I’d love to see it again sometime …

Goody Goody Yum Yum

Last week I had the great pleasure in going to Edinburgh to see The Goodies Still Rule OK at the Assembly Rooms. It’s taken me all week to get what happened down in some kind of comprehesible form, so here’s what happened …

Having arrived in Edinburgh in the early afternoon, I soon found the venue on George Street. I had some time to kill before I needed to start queueing, so I sat in a nearby cafe, soaking up the atmosphere and watching the world go by. At 4pm I arrived back at the venue to start queuing, and noticed a couple of people also walking towards the door, one with a union jack t-shirt, the other with a t-shirt proclaiming ‘rhubarb tart’. I thought that this was a sure sign that I was in the right place. Thinking that they were probably from GROK (who else would be there that early, dressed in such a way), I asked, “are you from the forum?” “Yes. Are you?”, came the reply. (I’d chosen to wear my GROK t-shirt and a large flat cap, so I thought it was obvious what I was there for) And so I met Clair and Kate. We chatted for a while about various Goodies related things and were beginning to wonder where the others had got to when Jess and Peej turned up, wearing dungaree dresses with a big ‘G’ on the front (as for Funky Gibbon). Not long after the queue started forming in earnest and soon it stretched as far as I could see down the street, which probably wasn’t far as I’m not that tall. It was about now that someone said, “Look, there’s Graeme”, and sure enough walking down the street towards us was the familiar face of Graeme Garden (and the rest of him too). Jess and Peej started turning away and trying to hide. Not me! I grinned as I watched him walk past, and he smiled and said hello to us all as he went past. Jess and Peej were worried that he would have seen them, but I said if he did I doubted that he would have seen what they were wearing. Soon after Kirstyn arrived in her matching outfit, and I missed Tim arriving as I think he came the other way down the street.

After what seemed like hours we were finally led into the hall and, having been at the front of the queue, the six of us took our seats at the front of the auditorium, within touching distance of the stage. While we waited for the rest of the audience to come in and find seats we sang along to the Goodies songs that were playing in the background. I had chance to have a good look around the stage, which was decorated with Union Jack bunting, a big screen for showing the clips, a lectern and three chairs, each suitably decorated to represent each of the Goodies characters. And then the show began …

If you haven’t seen the show (and why not?), I’ll try not to give too much away. It opened with the familiar titles on the screen, after which Tim and Graeme appeared on a new type of trandem! The show consisted of some great banter between Tim, Graeme and Bill (who had recorded some video interjections especially for Edinburgh), lots of clips from the television shows, sketches, (a) song and talking. If you saw the recent Return of the Goodies on television you’ll have some idea of what was covered, but it was different watching the ‘live’ version. It was really great to see the clips, but also to watch Tim and Graeme’s reactions to them; Tim seemed to love watching them again, and he must have seen them so often. The best parts, for me, were when Graeme and Bill recreated their audition pieces for the Cambridge Footlights (where Tim was president, so no audition from him) and the I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again sketch, where I got to see Tim doing his Lady Constance voice live (hurray!). Just after this, there was a swanee kazoo moment (familiar from I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue), but poor Tim got his swanee whistle caught in the lead from his microphone and struggled. They were so close to the front of the stage at this point that I really wanted to go and help him, but thought I’d better not! All too soon the show was over, but I’d had such a great time watching and laughing. Could the day get any better?

Well, yes it could, because after the show we hung around in the bar waiting for Tim and Graeme to appear. Jess, Peej and Kirstyn had the scrapbooks, which lots of us from GROK had contributed to, to give them to celebrate the end of such a great show. I was waiting, with camera poised, ready to capture the moment. When they finally appeared I think they knew something was going to happen. Whilst waiting Tim looked round to me and said “That’s an Australian t-shirt”, to which I nodded and grinned. I was far too nervous and excited to do or say anything else. After much nudging and shoving Jess very nervously explained what they had and handed over Tim’s book. Kirstyn struggled to get Graeme’s out of her bag, but eventually managed. They both looked so thrilled with their books and immediately began looking at them with great interest. Peej also went to hand over Bill’s book, explaining that we’d hoped it could be passed on to him. Tim said he couldn’t take it, saying something about not exceeding his luggage allowance, and Graeme seemed reluctant too. I think we were all a little worried that no one wanted to take Bill’s book, but fortunately John Pinder (the show’s producer, a man with the grooviest glasses in the world) said he would take it and tried to do an impression of Bill as he accepted it. So it all worked out ok.

Then it was time for autographs. Kate and I decided to ask Graeme for his autograph first, although she shoved me forwards. So I nervously asked him if he could sign my programme, which he seemed very happy to do. (Reading it back since I’ve realised that he wrote a little message to me all in capital letters, which I think is fantastic because I always handwrite in capitals too!) We then went to Tim, but I made sure Kate asked first this time. I handed over my programme and asked if he could sign it, but with the pen I had. He already had a pen in his hand, but I pointed out that that one was blue, the same colour as the page. So Tim then struggled to hold his pen and my programme and try to remove the lid from the pen I had just handed to him. I wasn’t until afterwards that I thought I should have offered to help, but I was just too awestruck at the time. I was standing next to Tim Brooke-Taylor! Having got our autographs Kate then asked Tim for a hug. Of course, how could I have forgotten to ask Tim for one of his world famous hugs? So I asked if I could have a hug too. Wow! It was as good as I’d been told. For an all too brief moment it was just me and Tim in a big cuddle, all lovely and enveloped from the rest of the world. Tim did say something like this [the hug] was the best bit. I can’t be sure exactly as it’s very difficult to hear what someone’s saying when they’re talking over your left shoulder (sorry Tim)!

Then it was time for photographs. Jess, Peej and Kirstyn had a group one with the boys, then some individual ones too. I asked Kate if she would take a photo of me and Tim, and then asked Tim if I could have a photograph please. Tim put his arm around my shoulders and I can’t remember where I put mine, but with our arms around each other we posed for the photo (which is great – Thanks Kate), and then I asked Graeme if I could have a photo with him too. He said yes and I started to get very flustered with all the stuff I was carrying. I dropped my jacket, went to pick it up and then thought ‘bother it, I’ll leave it on the floor’. He put his hand on my shoulder and I placed mine in the middle of his back and we both smiled for the camera. It’s so good to have pictures to help with the memories of the day.

All too soon it was time for Tim and Graeme to have to go. Tim didn’t seem to want to say goodbye, and Graeme seemed reluctant to go, and hesitated with us even after he’d picked up his bags. I think Tim left quite quickly (I didn’t see), but Graeme said goodbye to everyone and as he left he patted my …. elbow, and said ‘thank you for coming’ just to me! That sort of makes up for the fact that I was far too in awe of him to ask for a hug (which I regretted afterwards), but it’s my special moment to remember.

So, what can I say. It was a fantastic day with lots of great memories for me. I know at times I felt like I was six, asking “can I have your autograph”, “can I have a photograph” and such like. Well, I suppose I was six when The Goodies were on the telly and I’ve been waiting all this time to finally meet them. It was really great to have my hug and photo with Tim, as he was the one I had a crush on when I was little, and it’s even better to know that he really is as lovely in real life as I’d imagined he would be. Graeme was the one I looked up to, and I suppose I’m still in awe of him and his intelligence and wit, so I was quite shy around him. But if I get the chance to meet him again, I hope I won’t be.