Kung Fu Kapers
| "Kung Fu Kapers" | |
|---|---|
| The Goodies episode | |
| Episode no. | Series 5 Episode 43 (of 76) |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | Tim Brooke-Taylor Graeme Garden Bill Oddie |
| Original air date | 24 March 1975 (Monday — 9 p.m.) |
| Guest stars | |
| Series 5 episodes | |
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| List of The Goodies episodes | |
Kung Fu Kapers is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies — a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.[1][2][3]
This episode is also known as "Ecky-Thump".
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
Contents |
[edit] Background
At the time the episode was made, Kung-fu was a craze which was sweeping the UK with films such as Enter the Dragon, the Kung Fu TV series, many martial arts schools appearing in gyms, and even a fragrance for men called Hai-Karate.
[edit] Plot
Tim and Graeme are attempting to learn Kung Fu in the Goodies' office, but Bill is extremely disparaging of their techniques, and shows them that he knows some rather impressive martial arts skills of his own. Under pressure from the other two, Bill reveals himself as a master of the secret Lancashire martial art known as "Ecky-Thump" — which mostly revolves around hitting unsuspecting people with black puddings while wearing flat caps and braces.
Bill agrees to demonstrate this "ancient Lancastrian art" with great reluctance, in a series of bouts against Tim and Graeme — posing as various martial arts experts who are "foreign members of their families". Bill wins against every "expert" merely by hitting them over the head with the black pudding (except the Scots one who is knocked out by a wayward boomerang). Tim ends up getting plastered, with his limbs in a "kung-fu" style formation, preparing to gain his revenge on Bill, who has meanwhile opened a profitable Ecky-Thump class, and subsequently stars in a series of Martial Arts flicks.
The night before Bill and his Ecky-Thump "army" are to go on the march to attack with their black puddings, Graeme adds a "remote control device" to the black pudding mixture — leading to unexpected wayward black puddings for a bewildered Bill and his equally bemused Ecky-Thump followers.
[edit] Viewer death
The episode is infamous for the documented example of a man laughing to death. 50 year old Alex Mitchell could not stop laughing for a continuous 25 minute period - almost the entire length of the show - and suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of the strain placed on his heart. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant. [4][5][6][7][8]
[edit] DVD and VHS releases
This episode has been released on both DVD and VHS.
[edit] References
- ^ Light Entertainment Production nomination — official BAFTA website
- ^ Best Light Entertainment Programme nomination — official BAFTA website
- ^ Information is given, by the BBC, about the BAFTA-nomination on the back of the "The GOODIES ... At Last ... Back for More, Again!" DVD cover.
- ^ Death by Laughing
- ^ The Complete Goodies — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000.
- ^ Man Dies Laughing at The Goodies, "Daily Mail", London (29 March 1975)
- ^ A Goodies Way to Go — Laughing, "Eastern Daily Press", Norwich (29 March 1975)
- ^ Slapstick! The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy — Tony Staveacre, Angus & Robinson 1987
- "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
- "TV Heaven" — Jim Sangster & Paul Condon, HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 2005
[edit] External links
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