Ex-Goodie member Tim Brooke-Taylor has complained that current TV bosses are not willing to take a risk on fresh comedy ideas or give commissioned shows enough of a chance to blossom.

According to Brooke-Taylor: "TV people used to be much more willing to take a chance on new things. The Goodies would never have been made now. It took us [The Goodies] a couple of series to really get our confidence up and go the whole hog. I feel sorry for TV comedians now: if something isn't an instant hit, they whip it off the air after two minutes."

"I am annoyed when they don't allow original comedy to have a chance. They have to judge it instantly. It either has to be very, very mainstream or very, very extreme."

Brooke-Taylor cites Andy Hamilton's "Trevor's World of Sport" as a perfect example. The sitcom about the murky world of sports agents it is still going strong on the radio (a third series was recently broadcast on Radio 4) however the TV version was quickly shunted off air when it was broadcast in 2003. "Trevor's World Of Sport was whipped off almost before it started. And I thought, 'is it because it is too clever for you?' - It was on primetime BBC1 and then after two episodes it was moved to late at night. Perhaps if it had been on Channel 4 it might have lasted."

The comedian doesn't just have a problem with new comedy. He, along with his fellow Goodies, is still un-happy about the BBC's treatment of their classic series. "We are very unhappy and feel very hard done by that The Goodies has not been repeated by the BBC", he recently told The Sun. "We do not understand it. The BBC did a Return Of The Goodies show two Christmases ago and it got incredibly good ratings. So we thought, 'this is it, they are going to repeat stuff' and for some strange reason they haven't. Nobody can quite explain why. A few years ago, Paul Jackson was head of comedy there and he priced it and got it ready and took it to the controller of BBC2 and she said 'no'."

There is some good news for fans of the landmark British comedy though – the Goodies are on tour and some of their episodes are now finally being bought out on DVD (order here).