Cecily (The Goodies)

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

"Cecily"
The Goodies episode
Episode no.Series 1
Episode 6
Directed byJim Franklin
Produced byJohn Howard Davies
Original air date13 December 1970
(Sunday — 10 p.m.)
Guest appearance(s)
  • Ann Way as Cecily's Aunt
  • Robert Bernal as Cecily's Uncle
  • Jill Riddick as Cecily
  • Lena Ellis

This episode is also known as "Servants" and "Haunted House".

Written by The Goodies, with songs and music by Bill Oddie.

Plot

The Goodies are asked to take care of 12-year-old Cecily and her house while her Uncle and Aunt (with whom she lives) are away for a day and night. It seems to be easy money for the Goodies, so they agree. Tim is to be Cecily's nanny, Bill is to be the cook, and Graeme is to be the gardener (a play on his surname).

The Goodies ride their trandem to the house and meet Cecily's rather grave, spooky-voiced uncle and nervous, giggly aunt. They tell the Goodies cryptically that Cecily will likely not be living with them for very much longer, and then leave. The pair seem to give the Goodies the shivers, but the trio agree to go through with the job, starting on the to-do list left for them. Graeme struggles with the garden, which is a practical jungle that seems to have a mind of its own, while Bill and Tim have the same issues in the kitchen with equipment and objects that bizarrely refuse to work. Eventually some of the garden plants come to life and steal the oven out of the kitchen, prompting Bill to give up the hopeless task of cooking an egg and cheese savoury pie and just make an urn out of the clay-like dough instead.

Tim goes to wake Cecily, who was taking a nap, only to be attacked by her as soon as he wakes her. She apologizes and says that she thought he was going to hurt her, and explains that her Uncle and Aunt mistreat her and kill any Nannies that come to the house whom she likes. Tim dismisses this, until Cecily shows him the skeleton of one of said nannies in the cellar. This sends Tim into a state of shock, and Graeme and Bill ask Cecily to explain what's going on. Cecily claims they kill all her nannies and leave the skeletons for her to find, attempting to frighten her to death. She shows them a will which states that she is the primary heir of a fortune, which reverts to her Aunt and Uncle if they outlive her. She also explains the whole house and garden are booby trapped in hopes of killing her or scaring her to death and making it look like an accident, and furthermore they have put a magic curse on her to haunt the house and grounds in further hopes of killing her. Tim, trying to be brave, says that this must all be a misunderstanding and takes her out to play. However, he finds himself bearing the brunt of many strange happenings and booby traps, including the famous kite and river scene that was used in the opening credits of the Goodies for many seasons.

At night, the three goodies send Cecily to bed and promise to stay up keep watch, starting a game of Happy Families. However, the house comes to life with monsters, ghouls, and goblins, prompting the trio to spend the night outdoors. In the morning, they whisper to Cecily at the breakfast table that they are going to help free her of her Aunt and Uncle. Said Aunt and Uncle arrive unexpectedly early, but the Goodies refuse to accept payment for their services (fearing it may well be a trap) and hurry out to the summer house, where they have packed some of Cecily's things. She meets them there and they give her what they've packed and send her away in secret. Almost immediately, they are confronted by her panicked Aunt and Uncle, who reprimand them for letting Cecily loose. It turns out SHE is the psychopath and author of all the strange happenings, not them, and this statement is proved a moment later when Cecily blows up both the summer house and the main house with dynamite, leaving the Aunt and Uncle and the Goodies to flee the scene in smoking rags.

Music
  • Early Morning Theme
  • Are You Coming Out To Play?

Goodies commercials

'Bob Murray's Supramatic', a spoof of adverts featuring Bob Monkhouse promoting the Polaroid Swinger instant camera, with Tim as Bob.

'Razz' washing powder, a spoof of the Daz two-for-one swap ad, Garden plays the interviewer and Brooke-Taylor plays the role of the 'old lady'. The sketch was originally written by Oddie and Garden for the BBC Radio 2 series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, and appeared on the edition broadcast on 22 February 1970. Brooke-Taylor's 'old lady' character was also that which he used in At Last the 1948 Show (ITV, 1967) and in the Marty Feldman sketch comedy Marty (BBC, 1968/69); for the old lady, Brooke-Taylor adopted his Lady Constance voice from I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which was based on that of Dame Edith Evans.

DVD and VHS releases
Main article: The Goodies videography

This episode has been released on DVD.

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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
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