We wouldn't get away with half our Goodies material today

As he is honoured with a lifetime achievement award in radio, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue legend Graeme Garden recalls a career filled with laughter, but admits things would be different for many UK comedy icons were they starting out now

- Richard Webber

TO MILLIONS of fans, he'll always be inextricably linked to the world of TV, thanks to being one-third of The Goodies, the anarchic comedy trio who introduced us to a giant cat which toppled London's Post Office Tower, the Lancashire martial art of Ecky Thump and countless wacky capers.

But it's radio where Graeme Garden's heart has always been, which makes the lifetime achievement award he recently received at the age of 81 all the more special.

The actor and writer, honoured at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, has spent most of his six-decade career in radio, including the long-running I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. So it was a hugely proud moment when he found out, as he reveals in a wide-ranging interview to mark the award.

"I've worked in radio every year since I started," he says. "I've got a great affection for the medium because it was my source of entertainment as a kid.

"Then, when my dad brought back mementoes after the Second World War ended, including a microphone, I tried making noises myself.

"I discovered that if I ran a wire from my bedroom to the kitchen, I could speak into the mic and it would boom out on the radio downstairs. So, I made my first broadcast aged eight."

But it's for The Goodies that he'll always be remembered, even though it's rarely repeated, something which baffles. Garden and the show's countless fans.

Running between 1970-82, 76 episodes were aired and, at the time, the humour appealed to all ages.

In fact, one fan Leicestershire woman a 32-year-old went into labour while watching the episode, Alternative Roots, but insisted on not rushing to hospital until the episode had finished.

Garden, who lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Emma, says the art of comedy currently has become a potential minefield thanks to the rise of wokeness.