Graeme Garden

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David Graeme Garden (born February 18, 1943 in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British comedy writer and performer. He also qualified as a medical doctor and is an accomplished actor, television director and author.

Contents 1 Education and comedy 2 Other information 3 Further reading 4 Bibliography 5 Reference 6 External links

[edit] Education and comedy

Graeme Garden went to Repton School, Derbyshire and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he joined the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the 1964 Footlights revue, Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Garden qualified in medicine at King's College Hospital in London, and he and Bill Oddie co-wrote several of the episodes of the television comedy series Doctor in the House — they co-wrote most of the first season episodes of the series — and co-wrote all of the second season episodes of the series. Later, Garden also wrote for Surgical Spirit (1994). Graeme Garden has also presented three series of the BBC's health magazine Bodymatters.

Graeme Garden was co-writer and performer in the classic BBC radio comedy show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (ISIRTA) (1965-1970 and 1973). Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, and this commitment made it difficult for him to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in Plymouth. However, he kept on sending scripts for the radio show by mail — and rejoined the cast of ISIRTA upon his return to his medical studies in London.

On television Graeme Garden was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn.

Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor (Bill Oddie joined the series for the second season).

Then Garden, along with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, became a co-writer and performer in the comedy series The Goodies (1970-1982). Later, he was the voice of the title character of "Bananaman", as well as "General Blight" and "Maurice of the Heavy Mob" in the children's animated television comedy series called Bananaman (1983), which also featured his fellow Goodies, Tim and Bill, and which parodied comic book super-heroes.

Garden appeared with Tim Brooke-Taylor in the theatre production The Unvarnished Truth.

In 1982 Garden and Oddie wrote, but did not perform in, a 6-part science fiction sitcom called Astronauts for Central and ITV. The show was set in an international space station in the near future.

Graeme Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (ISIHAC) in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes You'll Have Had Your Tea, a direct spin-off of ISIHAC, and has contributed to several books from the series including guides to the game Mornington Crescent. Garden is chair of the spoof radio game show Beat The Kids. Graeme Garden has also appeared on the UK version of the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which has a similar format. He was also a co-writer of the BBC Radio 4 comedy "Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off".

He has a successful stage career, and has acted in several National Theatre productions, as well as London's West End. He has also acted in several BBC Radio 4 comedy drama series, and television drama including Peak Practice and Holby City. He appeared in Bang-Bang-a-Boom!, a spin off audio drama based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who by Big Finish Productions.

Graeme Garden also appeared in the political sitcom, Yes Minister in the role of Commander Forrest of the Special Branch in the episode The Death List, as well as appearing as a Television Presenter in the Doctor in the House episode, Doctor on the Box.

Garden was a regular team captain on the political satire game show If I Ruled the World. Brooke-Taylor appeared as a guest in one episode, and during the game "I Couldn't Disagree More" he proposed that it was high time The Goodies episodes were repeated. Garden was obliged by the rules of the game to refute this statement, and replied "I couldn't disagree more...it was time to repeat them ten, fifteen years ago." This was followed by uproarious applause from the studio audience. (The BBC's long-time refusal to re-broadcast episodes of The Goodies has been very unpopular with the viewing public.)

In 2004, Garden and Brooke-Taylor were co-presenters of Channel 4's daytime game show Beat the Nation, in which they indulged in usual game show "banter", but took the quiz itself seriously. Oddie hosts a very successful series of nature programmes for the BBC.

Graeme Garden also writes and directs for the corporate video company Video Arts, famous for its training films starring John Cleese.

Currently (2006), Graeme Garden's voice is featured in the irreverent animated comedy series about a horrifically bad London comprehensive high school, Bromwell High. Garden has recently written a play called The Pocket Orchestra which ran in London from the 26th of April 2006 till the 20th of May 2006.

In June 2006, Garden became a panellist on the new BBC Radio 4 comedy quiz show, The Unbelievable Truth, starring, among others, Jeremy Hardy and Andy Hamilton. It is due for broadcast later in 2006.

In August 2006, Garden and Brooke-Taylor joined up to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in a show which looked back with some nostalgia to their work with the Goodies and in light entertainment.

[edit] Other information

Graeme Garden lives in Oxfordshire with his family; his leisure interests include painting and playing the banjo.

His son John Garden has played keyboard for the music group Scissor Sisters.

[edit] Further reading

Further information about Graeme Garden can be found in the following books:

• From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980' — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.

• Footlights! — 'A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy' — Robert Hewison, Methuen London Ltd, 1983.

[edit] Bibliography

(incomplete list)

• The Best Medicine — Graeme Garden's Book of Medical Humour
• The Skylighters
• The Seventh Man
• Graeme Garden's Compendium of Very Silly Games
• Stolvold's Mornington Crescent Almanac

Graeme Garden also co-wrote the following books with the other members of The Goodies

• The Goodies File
• The Goodies Book of Criminal Records
• The Making of The Goodies Disaster Movie

[edit] Reference

• CV from RDF Management

Preceded by: Tim Brooke-Taylor

Footlights President 1963–1964

Succeeded by: Eric Idle

[edit] External links

• BBC's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue homepage
• Graeme Garden at the Internet Movie Database
• Graeme Garden — BBC Guide to Comedy
• Graeme Garden - Comedy Zone
• Graeme Garden interview
• Graeme Garden — The Gazetteer for Scotland
• Graeme Garden — at TV.com
• ISIHAC interviews — with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Barry Cryer
• The Origin of Monty Python — mentions Graeme and ISIRTA

• "Stuff What Dreams are Made Of" - the 1964 Cambridge Footlights Club revue during the time when Graeme Garden was President of the Footlights, as well as being a member of the revue cast)

The Goodies
Tim Brooke-Taylor — Graeme Garden — Bill Oddie

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
Tim Brooke-Taylor — John Cleese — Graeme Garden — David Hatch — Jo Kendall — Bill Oddie
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
Tim Brooke-Taylor — Barry Cryer — Graeme Garden — Humphrey Lyttelton — Willie Rushton — Colin Sell
Twice a Fortnight
Tony Buffery — Graeme Garden — Terry Jones — Jonathan Lynn — Bill Oddie — Michael Palin

The Goodies — Bill Oddie,
Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden