Big Foot (Goodies episode)

Infobox The Goodies episode
name = Big Foot


number = 71
airdate = 23 January, 1982
(Saturday — 6.45 p.m.)
director =
producer =
guests = Charlie Stafford as the
"Spider Man"

series = 9

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

This episode is also known as ""Bigfoot" and as "In Search of Bigfoot" and as "Arthur C. Clarke" and as "In Search of Arthur C. Clarke"'.

Plot

Tim and Bill sit down to watch "Part 97" of their favourite show "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 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 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 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.

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 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 — "The Quest For Arthur C. Clarke: Man Or Myth".

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.

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, 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" (ie. 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".

poofs and imitations

* Arthur C. Clarke
* Stonehenge
* Loch Ness Monster
* Bigfoot
* Yeti
* UFO
* Patterson-Gimlin film

References

* "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

External links

*