Black and White Beauty
Encyclopedia
Black and White Beauty is an episode of the British
comedy
television series The Goodies
— a BAFTA
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
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 horrifying 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.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
— a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.
Plot
Graeme has set up a home for old pets, where he is extremely cruel towards them — using hamsters as tissues and stuffing dogs with turkey stuffing (that's still in the box). One old pet, which is delivered to the front door, is a black and white coloured pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
horse, which Tim names 'Black and White Beauty'.
Bill goes away and takes over a disused farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
, when Tim and Graeme start training Black and White Beauty to run in the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
. Bill times
Stopwatch
A stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when activated to when the piece is deactivated. A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance, as in a sports stadium, is called a stopclock.The timing functions...
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 horrifying cruel towards Black and White Beauty (even to the point of running over the horse with a tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
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
PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish is a discontinued photo editing software package, originally published by ZSoft Corporation. After The Learning Company acquired ZSoft, and was in turn acquired by Broderbund, PhotoFinish was discontinued....
, 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.
Spoofs and cultural references
- Black BeautyBlack BeautyBlack Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate bestseller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, long enough to see her first and only...
- Steptoe and SonSteptoe and SonSteptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
- steeplechaseSteeplechase (horse racing)The steeplechase is a form of horse racing and derives its name from early races in which orientation of the course was by reference to a church steeple, jumping fences and ditches and generally traversing the many intervening obstacles in the countryside...