The Goodies On DVD

The Goodies On DVD

With Episode 26 of 'Round The Archives' now released into the wild, I opened up an Audacity project for Episode 27 and it didn't take long before some 45 minutes of new material was sitting on the timeline, thanks to a couple of pieces from some familiar names.

One of whom, incidentally, pointed out that our article of 'The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes : The Case Of The Dixon Torpedo' seemed to be peppered with a large portion of innuendo, but personally I can't see anything wrong with the following...

"He's looking at a bloke who's got his torpedo out. He takes this weapon or whatever it is and he places it in the water. It's a decent size, and then it starts moving on its own."

Maybe we've been watching  too much 'Are You Being Served?', but we're only doing it once a week, which is surely not excessive?

But as the long-awaited Network release of 'The Goodies' arrived recently, we have had once-a-night sessions of the Boys From Cricklewood, with 'Give Police A Chance' accompanying our post-9pm cup of tea last night.

I've discussed the first episode on this blog already, so if you want to refresh your memory of that, head over here and then come back...

OK?

Good.

Of course, getting the complete run of BBC episodes is exciting enough, but the real icing on the cake has to be the two books by Andrew Pixley, which have barely left my side all week.

We had treated ourselves to his 'Super Chaps Three' and it was everything we could have hoped for, but these new works solve the slight problem of it being too large to easily hold in your hand.

They still run to over 850 pages, but splitting all this wonderful information into 'The Goodies' Book Of Criminal Recordings' and 'The Goodies DVD File' means it's all easier to navigate.

One thing that impresses me is the assumption that these books will be read in a hundred years time or more as an accompaniment to the actual episodes, so at no point is it taken for granted that the reader knows all the references to other shows and TV personalities.

Even now, some of the more obscure lines or jokes can easily draw blank looks ("That will do, Maynard!" being a nod to 'The Simon Dee Show'). In the same way that good editions of Dickens have copious notes at the back, a quick explanation of Tony Blackburn or Tommy Cooper will probably be needed in a generation or two.

It's something we've become aware of as our audience has grown beyond our immediate circle of friends. There's a fine line to walk between boring people who know far more than we do and explaining a series adequately to someone who has never heard of it.

But as always, Andrew Pixley's example is on hand to Show Me The Way!

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)