Tribute to Tim

I was shocked and very saddened to hear of the death from Coronavirus/ COVID-19 of one of my childhood heroes, Mr Tim Brooke- Taylor. I first came across him as the deeply patriotic Union Jack waistcoat wearing (I wonder where Geri Halliwell or the creator of the Spice Girls concept got her/their idea for the Union Jack dress, possibly from Tim in the Goodies) Goody in "The Goodies" which was a staple of the 1970's and early 1980's TV schedules and ran for 12 glorious years. Tim was accompanied by Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden to complete the iconic and deeply funny trio, all 3 masters of the comedic art. Something light- hearted that we especially need during these uncertain and unsettling times. I was a big fan of the show. It was a major part of my childhood. The achingly funny and often satirical scripts were written by both Bill and Graeme and Tim was portrayed as the posh fall guy, who would often go into his hilarious "I'm a teapot" routine, whenever he was stressed. Tim's character was the brunt of many jokes and he would perform many death defying and acutely dangerous stunts himself, in order for us to have a laugh. I loved the comedic situations that they encountered and of course, Bill's fondness of birdwatching. I was delighted to complete my collection of all the Goodies episodes, which were only officially released last year on DVD for the very first time. About time too! Although their clothes, hair styles and their office environment look very dated and reflect the 1970s fashion, the comedy hasn't dated one bit and remains deeply funny and hilarious today. Although I never met Tim, I am told he was such a nice man and very down to earth. But I did see him live in the "Goodies live" show at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester on Saturday 17th March 2007, where he performed live on stage together with Graeme Garden, sadly Bill Oddie was unable to appear live at the time and he had pre-recorded his bits by video link, interacting seamlessly with Tim and Graeme, it was a very funny and nostalgic show from these three masters of comedy. I'm so glad I was in the audience to witness the magical comedic routines. I remember my good friend, Ricky and I talking about the latest Goodies episodes broadcast on TV at school, one episode particularly springs to mind, when the trio were marooned inside a cabin with appalling weather outside and Graeme dressed up as a Crane (the bird), to perk up Bill and peek his interest from his boredom, it was a masterful ornithological and comedic moment and we almost split our sides laughing so much. The whole show's premise was for the team to do "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime", which was a masterstroke, as they could dream up all sorts of comedic situations. The show was a mixture of sharp banter between the 3 main protagonists, excellent witty repartee (not fully lauded to the fullest extent in some quarters, in my opinion) and slapstick, with speeded up elements borrowed and updated from the silent Buster Keaton era of comedy of the 1920s. It was iconic with the three stars riding on a tandem bike as their main form of transport (and rather ironically they found it extremely difficult to ride) and the wonderful music composed and written by Bill, especially tunes such as the famous top five hit "Funky Gibbon", which landed them a spot on "Top of the Pops", wonderful stuff. Both that deeply memorable tune and the Goodies signature theme tune "Goodies...goody, goody, yum yum" are indelibly etched in both my memory and the memories of many children of the 1970's. Of course Tim had also appeared for many years in "I'm Sorry, I'll Read that Again" and his masterful comedic, wit and timing of contributions contributed greatly to the long running success of this iconic radio show. A truly unique master of comedy, who will be very sadly missed. R.I.P. Tim.