Black and White Beauty

"Black and White Beauty" is an episode of the award-winning British comedy television series The Goodies.

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

Plot

Graeme has set up a home for old pets, where he is extremely cruel towards them — using hamsters as tissues, pillow stuffing and stuffing dogs with turkey stuffing (that's still in the box) even freezing all the animals to keep them fresh. Tim and Bill were disappointed in Graeme for deceiving the pet owners but then he reveals the pet owners are rich people so Tim and Bill now finds Graeme's scheme wasn't a bad idea after all, One new and old pet, which is delivered to the front door, is a black and white coloured pantomime horse, which Tim names 'Black and White Beauty'.

Bill goes away and takes over a disused farm, when Tim and Graeme start training Black and White Beauty to run in the Grand National. Bill times Black and White Beauty during training and wants the horse for himself. During a strong wind, the horse is blown over the fence into Bill's property, and Bill steals it — following which Bill is horrifyingly cruel towards Black and White Beauty (even to the point of running over the horse with a tractor at one point). Later, Tim and Graeme, disguised as gypsies, try to steal the horse back, but when Bill almost catches them, they are forced to hide within Black and White Beauty.

Bill rides Black and White Beauty (with Graeme and Tim in the horse suit), through the Grand National (competing against other pantomime horses). They are neck and neck with another horse at the end, leading to a photofinish, where the two horses stop to pose for photos — and a third horse races through and wins.

Bill is incensed at the loss of the race, and he makes Black and White Beauty (with Tim and Graeme) earn money the hard way.

Cultural references

• Black Beauty
• Steptoe and Son
• steeplechase

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
• "TV Heaven" — Jim Sangster & Paul Condon, HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 2005

External links

• Black and White Beauty at the Internet Movie Database