Jump to content

Big Foot (The Goodies): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary
 
(43 intermediate revisions by 22 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox The Goodies episode
{{Infobox television episode
| name = Big Foot
| series = [[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]
| image =
| number = 73 (of 76)
| image =
| caption =
| airdate = 23 January 1982 <br>(Saturday &mdash; 6.45 p.m.)
| director =
| series_no = 9
| producer =
| episode = 4
| director =
| guests = [[Charlie Stafford]] <small>as the </small> <center>'''''Spider Man'''''</center>
| series = 9
| writer =
| production =
| airdate = {{Start date|1982|01|23|df=yes}}
| length =
| guests = [[Charlie Stafford]] as the Spider Man
| prev = [[Football Crazy (The Goodies)|Football Crazy]]
| next = [[Change of Life (The Goodies)|Change of Life]]
| episode_list = List of The Goodies episodes
}}
}}


"'''Big Foot'''" is an episode of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[comedy]] television series ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'', made by [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] for [[ITV]]. It is also known as "Bigfoot", "In Search of Bigfoot" and as "Arthur C. Clarke" and as "In Search of Arthur C. Clarke".{{citation needed}}
"'''Big Foot'''" is an episode of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[comedy]] television series ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]''.


The episode is also known as "'''Bigfoot'''", "'''In Search of Bigfoot'''", "'''Arthur C. Clarke'''" and "'''In Search of Arthur C. Clarke'''".{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}
==Plot==
{{Cleanup|reason=useless information, inappropriate tone|date=February 2013}}
Tim and Bill sit down to watch "Part 97" of their favourite show [[Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World|''The Mysterious World Of Arthur C. Clarke'']], in which the famed British inventor and writer [[Arthur C. Clarke]] debunks various sci-fi related mysteries. Arthur (really Graeme in disguise) journeys to [[Stonehenge]] and inadvertently reveals that the giant stones are in fact [[filling station|petrol pumps]] for spacecraft. Then it's off to [[Loch Ness]], where he laughs off the existence of Nessie and claims that it was in fact a [[Rhinoceros|rhino]] lying upside down in the water, carrying a French loaf in its mouth and balancing a [[tortoise]] on the end. Finally, "Arthur" treks to the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] foothills to track down the [[Yeti]]. Encouraging Bill and Tim to yell out if they spot such a creature, Arthur stubbornly refuses to believe them when they tell him to turn around to catch a glimpse of the monster. When they ask him to investigate the teeth marks left in the "bait" he left for the Yeti (his book), he claims it was the work of mice.


This episode was made by [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], and was written by [[Graeme Garden]] and [[Bill Oddie]], with songs and music by Bill Oddie.
A voice-over at the end of the episode then informs Bill and Tim that they've just watched the last episode of the series, as it has just been discovered that Arthur C. Clarke does not exist. Bill and Tim are shocked, but Graeme, who is none-too-subtlety putting away his Arthur C. Clarke wig and glasses, explains to his oblivious fellow Goodies that the show was cancelled when they discovered his [[deception|ruse]]. Bill and Tim then debate the existence of the great explorer, and Graeme presses Tim for some proof of Arthur's existence. This leads to Tim getting his own TV special on the air &mdash; "The Quest For Arthur C. Clarke: Man Or Myth".


==Plot==
Tim explains, in voice over, how he's on a quest to track down the legendary and elusive Arthur C. Clarke. Asking passers-by whether they recognise a picture of Arthur is of little help, as is a bizarre visit by a man who eats spiders and claims to have seen Arthur (merely on a TV set, it is quickly established). Tim's evidence is inconclusive, so he mounts an expedition to find Arthur once and for all.
Tim and Bill watch "Part 97" of their favourite show [[Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World|''The Mysterious World Of Arthur C. Clarke'']]. A voiceover then informs them that the show has been cancelled due to the non-existence of Arthur C. Clarke. Graeme is seen by the audience to be hiding a wig and nearly letting slip to the others that he is in fact Arthur C. Clarke, fired by the LWT when his disguise was discovered. And furthermore the trio fearfully discovered large footpaints that thought to belong to the mysterious Bigfoot, but later that night Bill and Greame surprisingly finds out the footpaints turns out that they were made by Tim's gigantic dodgy foot which was swells up to an enormous size after running around the steep mountains. Tim has become a laughing stock of the rockies as he flees into hiding with his foolish-looking foot exposes, As the time goes by Tim turns into a wild man becomes real proud of his own big foot. Meanwhile Bill and Greame hunts down Big Foot, in the end the duo chases Tim around the big hillside causing they own feet to grow into huge size.


==Cultural references==
Bill and Tim prepare for their trip. Tim is decked out in safari gear thinking they're off to Africa, when Bill informs him that they're off to the [[Rocky Mountains]]. Bill kits out Tim with all of his equipment for the expedition, while Graeme packs his Arthur C. Clarke gear and announces he's coming along too.

The trio arrive in the Rockies and quickly set about building a log cabin, with a range of surprisingly sophisticated technology. Bill and Tim visit the nearby Arthur C. Clarke Mystery Park, where they wander around in a tent-like observational [[bird hide]] that they use to run around the park spotting [[flying saucers]], yetis, [[plesiosaurs]] and bigfoots.

The next day, in the cabin, Bill boasts to Graeme that he had 73 sightings of various mythical beings the previous day, Graeme says that he had none. Tim, who now has a limp, enters the cabin and says that he has a film to show Bill. Graeme attempts to create a diversion to stop the film being shown, but it goes ahead. It shows an embarrassed Bigfoot (in a parody of the famous [[Patterson-Gimlin film]]) being caught relieving himself (and zipping up his fly) on film, then shows that very same "monster" throwing saucers in the air to simulate alien invaders. Finally, Arthur C. Clarke himself is caught on camera, and looks suitably startled before running off into the woods. Bill and Tim immediately recognise Arthur as being Graeme in disguise and order him to accompany them back to London to expose him for the fraud he is.

While exiting the cabin, the trio notice that giant footprints are totally surrounding the cabin. Bill and Tim laugh it off as another of Graeme's hoaxes, but Graeme insists he had nothing to do with it. The petrified Goodies run into the cabin and deduce that Bigfoot must be lurking behind it. A brave Tim decides to follow the path and embarks on a sped-up, [[Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner|Road Runner]]-style run along the trail of the footprints. Coming to the end of the path, Tim realises the footprints end at the cabin and the other two come scrambling out. The three of them then reason that the creature is probably more likely outside than in and make a bolt for safety.

Later that night, Bill is woken by strange noises in the night. He wakes up Graeme and tells him that there's something else in the room (besides Tim). He shines a torch over in Tim's direction to reveal a gigantic, ridiculous-looking giant foot on Tim's right leg. Bill and Graeme explode with laughter as a sleepwalking Tim wanders out of the cabin. They reason that he was responsible for the surrounding footprints and that his foot must swell up at night. Tim returns and wakes up from a bad dream he was having in which "five nude midgets" (i.e. his toes) were sitting on the end of his bed. Seeing his foot, he grabs a hammer and tries to bludgeon the offending little people. Bashing his foot, Tim screams in pain and Bill and Graeme roar with laughter. An embarrassed Tim leaves, claiming he can never show his foot in public again.

Tim, aka Bigfoot, ventures into the hills and a voice-over explains that legend soon got around about his presence in the mountains. The narrator says that it was fatal for anyone who saw Tim's massive foot, because it was so funny that you died laughing if you caught a glimpse of it. Tim tries a variety of methods to keep his foot hidden but none of them work, and with the body count of death-by-laughter increasing, a couple of "real tough Mounties" (Bill and Graeme) are dispatched to catch Tim, who is now a wanted man with a "price on his foot".

Tim slowly adapts to life in the wild and starts to take care of his comically large foot, including painting his toenails. He also grows a big hairy coat to cope with the cold weather up in the Rockies. After a quick musical interlude using some of his fellow forest critters as instruments, Bill and Graeme (now disguised as bears) finally catch up with their quarry. The pair callously step on Tim's foot, who proceeds to karate kick the pair and make his escape. After squashing (temporarily) the pair under a giant rolling boulder, Tim retreats to the top of the hill. Bill and Graeme pursue him up the hill but soon tire and fall down to the bottom of it. It's there that their own right feet swell up to the same size as Tim's, and, as Tim laughs riotously at the top of the hill, Bill and Graeme run away in shame to hide their very own "big feet".

==Spoofs and cultural references==
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]
* [[Stonehenge]]
* [[Stonehenge]]
Line 41: Line 33:
* [[Yeti]]
* [[Yeti]]
* [[UFO]]
* [[UFO]]
* [[Patterson-Gimlin film]]
* [[Patterson–Gimlin film]]
* ''[[The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams]]''
* ''[[The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams]]''
* [[Plesiosaur]]
* [[Plesiosaur]]
Line 58: Line 50:


==External links==
==External links==
* {{imdb title|id=0590987|title=Big Foot}}
* {{IMDb episode|id=0590987}}

{{-}}


{{The Goodies episodes}}
{{GoodiesEps}}
{{TheGoodies}}


[[Category:The Goodies (TV series) episodes]]
[[Category:The Goodies series 9 episodes]]
[[Category:1982 television episodes]]
[[Category:1982 British television episodes]]
[[Category:Bigfoot in television]]
[[Category:Television about Bigfoot]]

Latest revision as of 05:44, 7 October 2024

"Big Foot"
The Goodies episode
Episode no.Series 9
Episode 4
Original air date23 January 1982 (1982-01-23)
Guest appearance
Charlie Stafford as the Spider Man
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Football Crazy"
Next →
"Change of Life"
List of episodes

"Big Foot" is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.

The episode is also known as "Bigfoot", "In Search of Bigfoot", "Arthur C. Clarke" and "In Search of Arthur C. Clarke".[citation needed]

This episode was made by LWT for ITV, and was written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, with songs and music by Bill Oddie.

Plot

[edit]

Tim and Bill watch "Part 97" of their favourite show The Mysterious World Of Arthur C. Clarke. A voiceover then informs them that the show has been cancelled due to the non-existence of Arthur C. Clarke. Graeme is seen by the audience to be hiding a wig and nearly letting slip to the others that he is in fact Arthur C. Clarke, fired by the LWT when his disguise was discovered. And furthermore the trio fearfully discovered large footpaints that thought to belong to the mysterious Bigfoot, but later that night Bill and Greame surprisingly finds out the footpaints turns out that they were made by Tim's gigantic dodgy foot which was swells up to an enormous size after running around the steep mountains. Tim has become a laughing stock of the rockies as he flees into hiding with his foolish-looking foot exposes, As the time goes by Tim turns into a wild man becomes real proud of his own big foot. Meanwhile Bill and Greame hunts down Big Foot, in the end the duo chases Tim around the big hillside causing they own feet to grow into huge size.

Cultural references

[edit]

DVD and VHS releases

[edit]

This episode has been released on both DVD and VHS.

References

[edit]
  • "The Complete Goodies" — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000
  • "The Goodies Rule OK" — Robert Ross, Carlton Books Ltd, Sydney, 2006
  • "From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980'" — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980
  • "The Goodies Episode Summaries" — Brett Allender
  • "The Goodies — Fact File" — Matthew K. Sharp
[edit]