'Lighthouse Keeping Loonies' by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden

When Graeme misreads a job advert for a “‘a little light housekeeping”, he, Tim and Bill end up in a five-year stint as lighthouse keepers at the remote location of Jolly Rock. While Tim immediately declares himself in charge, Graeme activates the light and gets attacked by moths, and Bill goes stir crazy in the first five minutes. To cheer themselves up, the trio sing a sea shanty, but their choice of song just recounts how the Jolly Rock is a dreadful place plagued with the souls of the dead. Their predicament gets worse when Tim goes down with mumps, the radio announces a terrible weather warning, and the fuel supply for the light suddenly runs out. With two hundred ships rapidly approaching the cliffs, Tim and Graeme set Bill to work drilling for coal under the darkened lighthouse; Bill’s efforts are successful, and he soon strikes North Sea Oil – but then he accidentally sets light to it, and the resulting explosion sends the Lighthouse rocketing off into space…

Bill Oddie (Bill), Tim Brooke-Taylor (Tim), Graeme Garden (Graeme / Radio Announcer), Corbet Woodall (Newscaster), Patrick Moore (Himself)

Produced and Directed by Jim Franklin
Music by Bill Oddie and Michael Gibbs

TX (BBC 2):
31st March 1974

Notes:
*Featuring Tim, Bill and Graeme

*Alternative title: 'The Lighthouse Men'