The Goodies, a British comedy series that aired from 1970 to 1982, was known for its physical comedy and starred Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie. Its inventive sketches and quirky humour continue to delight audiences today; however, in early 1982, the series was cancelled. Despite attracting millions of viewers in its heyday, the sitcom has not been repeated on the BBC since. In 2018, Graeme Garden told the Mail on Sunday: “When fans have written in asking why they aren’t repeating The Goodies, the BBC always reply saying they’re looking forward and want to invest in new comedy. So, I thought, ‘Well, that means we won’t be getting the 6pm Dad’s Army slot then.’”

However, one reason the show hasn’t been screened regularly and may have led to its cancellation was that the broadcaster reportedly “hated” the series over the episode “South Africa.”

Despite it not going down well with executives, the episode was unable to kill the show off due to its huge popularity.

Eight series were screened on the BBC before the show was bought by ITV in 1981. One year later, it was axed. The BBC has been reluctant to screen any repeat episodes ever since, and the episodes have been left in the archives, rarely seeing the light of day.

The BBC only ever repeated one episode of the sitcom, and it was a nod to the show’s 30th anniversary. However, there was a new documentary and a repeat season for the 40th anniversary over the Christmas period in 2010, albeit during a late-night slot.

During an interview in 2020, Garden recalled the instance a fan wrote to the BBC regarding the show’s 40th anniversary. “He asked if there were plans to make a celebration show and was told ‘no’,” he said.

“The BBC official who replied stressed that they like to be forward-looking before stating that it must be remembered that The Goodies left the BBC to make their last series on ITV. That’s the closest to a reason I’ve come across. It seems they’ve held that grudge ever since.”

Tim, who died in April 2020 aged 79 from complications of Covid-19, met Bill and Graeme at Cambridge University.