Misleadingly described as a part-quiz, part educational programme, Broaden Your Mind was in fact a fast-paced themed sketch show, albeit with those two ingredients worked into the mix.
Tim Brooke-Taylor conceived the idea, which was subtitled ‘An Encyclopaedia Of The Air’, inspired by the proliferation of weekly part-work magazines that built eventually into an all-encompassing tome.
He realised that a spoof of the format would enable the players to fit any number of sketches around each week’s chosen theme.
One of the most popular recurring sketches featured two old men, Teddy and Freddy (Graeme Garden and Brooke-Taylor) lecturing on a given topic but finding it hard to stick to the subject.
Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Bill Oddie appeared as guest artists during the first series and Oddie joined the cast as a regular for the second series, meaning that the trio who would eventually make The Goodies was assembled.
As it was, adding Jo Kendall’s involvement, Broaden Your Mind featured four of the six troopers from the smash-hit BBC radio comedy series I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again, excepting John Cleese and David Hatch.
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Graeme Garden
Jo Kendall
Nick McArdle
Bill Oddie
Roland MacLeod
He realised that a spoof of the format would enable the players to fit any number of sketches around each week’s chosen theme.
