3 million watch trio's revival

More than 3 million viewers watched BBC Two’s The Return Of The Goodies, reviving hopes the original series will be repeated.

Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie were reunited in a new version of their old set for the celebration of their long-running series.

The corporation has previously been reluctant to air reruns of the show, fearing that the wacky humour may have dated badly.

But the fact 3.3 million people tuned into Friday night’s 90-minute salute, which included clips from the programme with the usual succession of talking heads, has given fans new hope of a rerun.

The unofficial overnight figure represented 14 per cent of the total audience at the time, well above BBC Two’s average. A 2003 DVD release of classic episodes was also deemed a success.

The Goodies ran for eight series and 70 episodes on BBC Two from 1970 to 1980. A ninth series aired in ITV.

A BBC Two spokeswoman said it was 'too early to say' whether it would now repeat past episodes of The Goodies. 'But we certainly wouldn't rule it out given the audience interest,' she said.

• Political satire The Thick Of It, which was named best new TV comedy at last month’s British Comedy Awards, attracted 1.6 million viewers – or 6.5 per cent of the audience – when it transferred from BBC Four to BBC Two on Monday night.

Published: 4 Jan 2006