The Goodies in The Big Ben Theory (2019)

In 2019, The Goodies reunited to record a brand-new adventure for Audible, under the guidance of producer Barnaby Eaton-Jones – who gently persuaded them to get back on their trandem bicycle. This was called The Big Ben Theory, and was written by Gareth Gwynn and John-Luke Roberts, from a story by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, and directed by Dirk Maggs. It is still available online (read our review here).

In the cast were Dame Joanna Lumley, Jon Culshaw, Kate Harbour, Philip Pope, and Barnaby Eaton-Jones – alongside The Goodies themselves; Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, and Tim Brooke-Taylor. There was even a live band and studio audience.

This audio production was so well-received and successful that a series was commissioned, with the same team behind it and retaining the same company of actors as well.

Unfortunately, due to the sad passing of Tim Brooke-Taylor in 2020, from Covid, the audio series had to be cancelled. At that stage, material had been written and The Goodies had chosen the first six (of the twelve mooted) for the debut series on audio.

Fast forward to 2022, and the first of those stories has been turned into novella called Avengers Dissemble, which is a semi-sequel to the audio production (though you don’t have to have listened to the audio to understand it), as it features Dame Joanna Lumley – who has also written a beautiful and funny foreword for this book. This novella has been specifically produced by Chinbeard Books as a tribute to Tim Brooke-Taylor and 25% of the royalties will be going to the charity he was President of for over 25 years – Thames Valley Adventure Playground (who celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2022). You can read all about what they do here: www.tvap.co.uk/

If fans and the public get behind this first novella, then the rest of the series will also be written, and there could potentially be 12 ‘new episodes’ of The Goodies, that had comedic input from all three of the Super Chaps Three.