Big Laugh Comedy festival director John Pinder spent five months luring the members of The Goodies into the show.

“This is a real comedy coup,” Pinder said. “The Goodies are British comedy royalty. I’ve always been a fan – and I’m definitely not alone. I asked literally hundreds of people which legendary comedy artists they would like to see and The Goodies topped the list, particularly with the 30-somethings who religiously watched their shows five nights a week on the ABC.”

Pinder had been talking with The Goodies for several months when figures for the first Goodies BBC DVD were released – showing a massive 50,000 had been sold in Australia.

“It was then I knew I was onto a good idea,” Pinder says.

The Goodies started out together at Footlights, The Cambridge University revue club, touring with the Cambridge Circus comedy revue. They have writing and performing credits that include the cream of UK comedy from the 60s to the present.

The Goodies television show – which ran for an astonishing 178 episodes - started out with a traditional sit-com element, but evolved quickly into a joyous, unrestrained, lightly satirical festival of visual humour with special effects, explosions, giant props, camera tricks and violent slapstick.

In the world of British humour dominated by verbal dexterity, The Goodies were classic visual comedians. The Goodies ran for over a decade before they called it a day in 1981, creating an unprecedented library of shows. The Goodies twice won the Montreux Silver Rose and made guest appearances on every major British tv show including the legendary first Amnesty benefit show A Poke In The Eye With a Sharp Stick.

A second BBC DVD and a new range of merchandise will be released by BBC Worldwide to coincide with their live shows in Australia in March 2005.

Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden currently present Beat The Nation, one of the UK's most original TV quiz shows, on Channel 4, and are panelists on the long-running radio show I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. Bill Oddie has been called 'Britain's best-known bird-watcher' and in recent years has presented a number of bird or general wildlife programs including Bill Oddie Goes Wild and three series of Birding with Bill Oddie.