The Goodies have questioned why the BBC has not screened regular repeats of the 1970s comedy.

The show, featuring Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, attracted millions of viewers in its heyday.

Garden told the Mail On Sunday: “When fans have written in asking why they aren’t repeating The Goodies, the BBC always reply saying they’re looking forward and want to invest in new comedy.

“So, I thought, ‘Well, that means we won’t be getting the 6pm Dad’s Army slot then.'”

Bill Oddie
Bill Oddie (Ian West/PA)

The trio said that they were “slightly embarrassed” by some of the scenes which involved racial stereotyping and language in the comedy.

But Oddie said that the only viewers who found The Goodies offensive were “white liberals”.

He also complained that he did not receive a “proper explanation” at the time for being dismissed from BBC show Springwatch in 2008, although “unfortunately my bipolar element had come into it and I could be very irascible and tetchy, I don’t mind admitting”.