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'''David Graeme Garden''' (born [[February 18]], [[1943]] in [[Aberdeen, Scotland]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[British comedy|comedy]] writer and performer. He also qualified as a [[medical doctor]] and is an accomplished [[actor]], [[television director]] and [[author]].
: ''This article is about cherry blossoms and their cultural significance to the Japanese; for other meanings, see [[Sakura (disambiguation)]].''


[[Image:GraemeGardenGoodies.jpg|right|thumb|Graeme Garden in ''[[The Goodies]]'']]
{{Taxobox begin | color = lightgreen | name = Japanese Cherry}}
{{Taxobox image | image = [[Image:SakuraHealed.png|250px|Somei Yoshino Sakura]] | caption = Somei Yoshino Sakura}}
{{Taxobox begin placement | color = lightgreen }}
{{Taxobox regnum entry | taxon = [[Plant]]ae}}
{{Taxobox divisio entry | taxon = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]}}
{{Taxobox classis entry | taxon = [[Magnoliopsida]]}}
{{Taxobox ordo entry | taxon = [[Rosales]]}}
{{Taxobox familia entry | taxon = [[Rosaceae]]}}
{{Taxobox subfamilia entry | taxon = [[Prunoideae]]}}
{{Taxobox genus entry | taxon = [[Prunus]]}}
{{Taxobox end placement}}
{{Taxobox section subdivision | color = lightgreen | plural_taxon = Species}}
''[[Prunus jamasakura]]''<br/>
''[[Prunus serrulata]]''<br/>
''Prunus x yedoensis''
{{Taxobox_end}}


__TOC__
'''Sakura''' (桜 or 櫻) is the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] name for ornamental [[cherry]] trees, ''[[Prunus serrulata]]'', and their blossoms. Cherry fruit (known as ''sakuranbo'') <!-- short o not long --> come from a different species of tree.


== Education and comedy ==
Sakura, a well-known and ubiquitous symbol of Japan, are represented on all manner of consumer goods, including [[kimono]], stationery, and dishware. Cherry blossoms are an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, and as such are frequently depicted in [[Japanese art|art]], and are associated with both [[samurai]] and [[kamikaze]]. There is at least one popular [[folk song]], originally meant for the [[shakuhachi]] (bamboo flute), titled "[[Sakura (folk song)|Sakura]]", as well as a number of [[j-pop|pop songs]].


He went to [[Repton School|Repton]] [[public school (England)|public school]] and studied medicine at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Emmanuel College]], at the [[University of Cambridge]] where he joined the prestigious [[Footlights|Cambridge University Footlights Club]] (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the [[1963]] Footlights revue, ''Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of'' at the [[Edinburgh Fringe Festival]].
[[Image:2UpcloseSakulower.jpg|thumb|left|Close up of cherry blossoms]]


Graeme Garden qualified in medicine at [[King's College Hospital]] in [[London]], and some of the television series he has written for have a medical theme including ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' ([[1969]]), which he co-wrote with [[Bill Oddie]],
Japan's most beloved variety is the ''Somei Yoshino''. Its flowers are nearly pure white, tinged with the palest pink, especially near the stem. The flowers bloom, and usually fall (or "scatter", &#25955;&#12427;, in Japanese) within a week, before the leaves come out. Therefore, the trees look nearly white from top to bottom. The variety takes its name from the village of Somei (now part of [[Toshima, Tokyo (ward)|Toshima]] in [[Tokyo]]). It was developed in the mid- to late-19th century at the end of the [[Edo period]] and the beginning of the [[Meiji period]]. The ''Somei Yoshino'' is so widely associated with cherry blossoms that ''[[jidaigeki]]'' and other works of fiction often depict the variety in the [[Edo period]] or earlier; such depictions are anachronisms.
Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie co-wrote several of the episodes of the television comedy series ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' &mdash; co-writing most of the first season episodes of the series - and co-writing all of the second season episodes of the series. Later, he also wrote for ''[[Surgical Spirit]]'' ([[1994]]). He has also presented three series of the [[BBC]]'s health magazine ''[[Bodymatters]]''.


Graeme Garden was co-writer and perfomer in the classic BBC [[radio comedy]] show, ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'' ([[1965]]-[[1970]] and [[1973]]). Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of "''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]''", and, because of this commitment, was unable to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in [[Plymouth]]. However, he kept on sending scripts for the radio show by mail - and rejoined the cast of ISIRTA upon his return to his medical studies in London.
Other categories include ''yamazakura'', ''yaezakura,'' and ''shidarezakura''. The ''yaezakura'' have large flowers, thick with rich pink petals. The ''shidarezakura'', or weeping cherry, has branches that fall like those of a weeping willow, bearing cascades of pink flowers.


On [[television]] Graeme Garden was co-writer and performer in the comedy series ''[[Twice a Fortnight]]'' with [[Bill Oddie]], [[Terry Jones]], [[Michael Palin]] and [[Jonathan Lynn]].
[[image:Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin cherry trees.jpg|thumb|left|Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin showing cherry trees in flower]]
Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series ''[[Broaden Your Mind]]'' with [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] (and also [[Bill Oddie]] who joined them during the second series).
Annually, the Japanese track the ''sakura zensen'', or Cherry-Blossom Front. Nightly forecasts follow the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in [[Okinawa]] in [[February]], and typically reaches [[Kyoto]] and [[Tokyo]] at the end of [[March]] or the beginning of [[April]]. Then it proceeds north, arriving in [[Hokkaido]] a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts. They will go to parks, shrines and temples with family and friends and hold a "flower viewing party" known as ''[[hanami]]'' (&#33457;&#35211;). ''Hanami'' festivals celebrate the beauty of sakura, and for many, it is a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful view.
Then, Graeme Garden, with [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] and [[Bill Oddie]], became a co-writer and performer in the comedy series ''[[The Goodies]]'' ([[1970]]-[[1982]]). Graeme Garden was the voice of the title character of ''"Bananaman"'', as well as ''"General Blight"'' and ''"Maurice of the Heavy Mob"'' in the children's [[animated]] television comedy series called ''[[Bananaman]]'' ([[1983]]), which also featured his fellow Goodies Tim and Bill, and which parodied comic book super-heroes.


In 1982 Garden and Oddie wrote, but did not perform in, a 6-part [[science fiction]] [[Situation comedy|sitcom]] called ''[[Astronauts (television)|Astronauts]]'' for [[Central Independent Television|Central]] and [[ITV]]. The show was set in an international [[space station]] in the near future.
Most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in [[April]], in many parts of [[Honshu]], the first day of work or school will coincide with the cherry blossom season.


Graeme Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue]]'' (ISIHAC) in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes ''[[Hamish and Dougal|You'll Have Had Your Tea]]'', a direct spin-off of ISIHAC, and has contributed to several books from the series including guides to the game [[Mornington Crescent (game)|Mornington Crescent]]. Garden is chair of the spoof radio [[game show]] ''[[Beat The Kids]]''. Graeme Garden has also appeared on the UK version of the television series ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'', which has a similar format. He was also a co-writer of the BBC Radio 4 comedy "[[Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off]]".
Japan gave 3,000 sakura as a gift to the [[United States]] in [[1912]] to celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship. These trees have since lined the shore of the Tidal Basin in [[Washington, DC]] (see [[West Potomac Park]]), and the gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in [[1956]]. The sakura trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual [[National Cherry Blossom Festival]]) when they reach full bloom in early spring.


He has a successful stage career, and has acted in several [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]] productions, as well as London's [[West End of London|West End]]. He has also acted in several [[BBC Radio 4]] comedy drama series, and television drama including ''Peak Practice'' and ''Holby City''. He appeared in ''[[Bang-Bang-a-Boom!]]'', a spin off audio drama based on the BBC [[science fiction]] television series ''[[Doctor Who]]'' by [[Big Finish Productions]]. Graeme Garden appeared in the political sitcom, ''[[Yes, Minister]]'' in the role of Commander Forrest of the Special Branch in the episode ''The Death List''; he also appeared as a Television Presenter in the ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' episode, ''Doctor on the Box''.
During the [[World War II]], the sakura served as a motivating symbol for the Japanese people. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before embarking on a suicide mission. A cherry blossom painted on the sides of the bomber symbolized the beauty and ephemerality of nature [http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780676975123]. The government encouraged the people to believe that the souls of downed warriors were reincarnated in the blossoms.


Garden co-chairs ''[[Beat The Nation]]'', a [[Channel 4]] game show, with [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]], with whom he has also worked in many other comedy shows. Currently, his voice is featured in the irreverent animated comedy series about a horrifically bad London comprehensive high school, ''[[Bromwell High]]''.
==See also==
* [[Prunus]]
* [[Kigo]]: discussion of the role of ''sakura'' in [[Japanese poetry]]


Garden was a regular team captain on the political satire game show ''[[If I Ruled the World]]''. Brooke-Taylor appeared as a guest in one episode, and during the game "I Couldn't Disagree More" he proposed that it was high time ''The Goodies'' episodes were repeated. Garden was obliged by the rules of the game to refute this statement, and replied "I couldn't disagree more...it was time to repeat them ten, fifteen years ago." This was followed by uproarious applause from the studio audience.
[[Category:Japanese culture]]
[[Category:Japanese terms]]
[[Category:Japanese names]]
[[Category:Rosaceae]]


In [[2004]], Garden and Brooke-Taylor were co-presenters of [[Channel 4]]'s daytime [[game show]] ''Beat the Nation'', in which they indulged in usual game show "banter", but took the quiz itself seriously. Oddie hosts a very successful series of nature programmes for the BBC.
[[de:Kirschblute]]

[[fr:Sakura]]
Graeme Garden also writes and directs for the corporate video company [[Video Arts]], famous for its training films starring [[John Cleese]].
[[ko:벚나무]]

[[he:&#1505;&#1488;&#1511;&#1493;&#1512;&#1492;]]
== Other information ==
[[id:Sakura]]

[[ja:&#26716;]]
Graeme Garden lives in [[Oxfordshire]] with his family; his leisure interests include painting and playing the [[banjo]].
[[pt:Sakura]]

[[th:ซากุระ]]
His son, [[John Garden (musician)|John Garden]] played keyboard for the music group [[Scissor Sisters]].
{{Link FA|id}}

==Further reading ==

Further information about Graeme Garden can be found in the following books:

*''From Fringe to Flying Circus'' - 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980' - Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.

*''Footlights!'' - 'A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy' - Robert Hewison, Methuen London Ltd, 1983.

==Bibliography==

(incomplete list)

*''The Best Medicine - Graeme Garden's Book of Medical Humour''
*''The Skylighters''
*''The Seventh Man''
*''Graeme Garden's Compendium of Very Silly Games''
*''Stolvold's Mornington Crescent Almanac''

'''Graeme Garden also co-wrote the following books with the other members of ''[[The Goodies]]'''

*''The Goodies File''
*''The Goodies Book of Criminal Records''
*''The Making of The Goodies Disaster Movie''

==Reference==
* [http://www.rdfmanagement.com/clients/graeme_garden.html CV from RDF Management]

{{start box}}
{{succession box|title=[[Footlights President]]|before=[[Tim Brooke-Taylor]]|after=[[Eric Idle]]|years=1963&ndash;1964}}
{{end box}}

==External links==
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clue/ BBC's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue homepage]
* {{imdb name|id=0306660|name=Graeme Garden}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/talent/g/garden_graeme.shtml Graeme Garden] - BBC Guide to Comedy
* [http://standanddeliver.blogs.com/dombo/2005/02/my_chat_with_gr.html Graeme Garden interview]
* [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst664.html Graeme Garden] - The Gazatteer for Scotland
*[http://www.tv.com/graeme-garden/person/88935/summary.html Graeme Garden] - at TV.com
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clue/interviews/team.shtml ISIHAC interviews - with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Barry Cryer]
*[http://orangecow.org/pythonet/otherprepythonshows.html The Origin of Monty Python] - mentions Graeme and ISIRTA

<br>
{{TheGoodies}}

<br>
<center>
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|- bgcolor="lightblue"
! <font size="2">[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]</font size>
|-
| [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] --- [[John Cleese]] --- '''Graeme Garden''' --- [[David Hatch]] --- [[Jo Kendall]] --- [[Bill Oddie]]
|
|- bgcolor="lightblue"
! <font size="2">[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]</font size>
|-
| [[Barry Cryer]] --- '''Graeme Garden''' --- [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] --- [[Willie Rushton]] --- [[Humphrey Lyttelton]] --- [[Colin Sell]]
|}

<br clear=all>
[[Image:TheGoodies.jpg|center|thumb]]

<br clear=all>

[[Category:1943 births|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Aberdonians|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British cartoonists|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British comedians|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British comedy writers|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British humorists|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British illustrators|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British stage actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British television actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British television directors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British television writers|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British voice actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:British writers|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Cambridge Footlights|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Doctor in the House TV actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Doctor Who actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Goodies actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Living people|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Radio actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Scottish actors|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Scottish cartoonists|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Scottish comedians|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Scottish illustrators|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Scottish writers|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Whose Line Is It Anyway? contestants|Garden, Graeme]]
[[Category:Yes, Minister actors|Garden, Graeme]]

Revision as of 21:50, 5 February 2006

David Graeme Garden (born February 18, 1943 in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British comedy writer and performer. He also qualified as a medical doctor and is an accomplished actor, television director and author.

File:GraemeGardenGoodies.jpg
Graeme Garden in The Goodies

Education and comedy

He went to Repton public school and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, at the University of Cambridge where he joined the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the 1963 Footlights revue, Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Graeme Garden qualified in medicine at King's College Hospital in London, and some of the television series he has written for have a medical theme including Doctor in the House (1969), which he co-wrote with Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie co-wrote several of the episodes of the television comedy series Doctor in the House — co-writing most of the first season episodes of the series - and co-writing all of the second season episodes of the series. Later, he also wrote for Surgical Spirit (1994). He has also presented three series of the BBC's health magazine Bodymatters.

Graeme Garden was co-writer and perfomer in the classic BBC radio comedy show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (1965-1970 and 1973). Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of "I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again", and, because of this commitment, was unable to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in Plymouth. However, he kept on sending scripts for the radio show by mail - and rejoined the cast of ISIRTA upon his return to his medical studies in London.

On television Graeme Garden was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn. Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor (and also Bill Oddie who joined them during the second series). Then, Graeme Garden, with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, became a co-writer and performer in the comedy series The Goodies (1970-1982). Graeme Garden was the voice of the title character of "Bananaman", as well as "General Blight" and "Maurice of the Heavy Mob" in the children's animated television comedy series called Bananaman (1983), which also featured his fellow Goodies Tim and Bill, and which parodied comic book super-heroes.

In 1982 Garden and Oddie wrote, but did not perform in, a 6-part science fiction sitcom called Astronauts for Central and ITV. The show was set in an international space station in the near future.

Graeme Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (ISIHAC) in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes You'll Have Had Your Tea, a direct spin-off of ISIHAC, and has contributed to several books from the series including guides to the game Mornington Crescent. Garden is chair of the spoof radio game show Beat The Kids. Graeme Garden has also appeared on the UK version of the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which has a similar format. He was also a co-writer of the BBC Radio 4 comedy "Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off".

He has a successful stage career, and has acted in several National Theatre productions, as well as London's West End. He has also acted in several BBC Radio 4 comedy drama series, and television drama including Peak Practice and Holby City. He appeared in Bang-Bang-a-Boom!, a spin off audio drama based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who by Big Finish Productions. Graeme Garden appeared in the political sitcom, Yes, Minister in the role of Commander Forrest of the Special Branch in the episode The Death List; he also appeared as a Television Presenter in the Doctor in the House episode, Doctor on the Box.

Garden co-chairs Beat The Nation, a Channel 4 game show, with Tim Brooke-Taylor, with whom he has also worked in many other comedy shows. Currently, his voice is featured in the irreverent animated comedy series about a horrifically bad London comprehensive high school, Bromwell High.

Garden was a regular team captain on the political satire game show If I Ruled the World. Brooke-Taylor appeared as a guest in one episode, and during the game "I Couldn't Disagree More" he proposed that it was high time The Goodies episodes were repeated. Garden was obliged by the rules of the game to refute this statement, and replied "I couldn't disagree more...it was time to repeat them ten, fifteen years ago." This was followed by uproarious applause from the studio audience.

In 2004, Garden and Brooke-Taylor were co-presenters of Channel 4's daytime game show Beat the Nation, in which they indulged in usual game show "banter", but took the quiz itself seriously. Oddie hosts a very successful series of nature programmes for the BBC.

Graeme Garden also writes and directs for the corporate video company Video Arts, famous for its training films starring John Cleese.

Other information

Graeme Garden lives in Oxfordshire with his family; his leisure interests include painting and playing the banjo.

His son, John Garden played keyboard for the music group Scissor Sisters.

Further reading

Further information about Graeme Garden can be found in the following books:

  • From Fringe to Flying Circus - 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980' - Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.
  • Footlights! - 'A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy' - Robert Hewison, Methuen London Ltd, 1983.

Bibliography

(incomplete list)

  • The Best Medicine - Graeme Garden's Book of Medical Humour
  • The Skylighters
  • The Seventh Man
  • Graeme Garden's Compendium of Very Silly Games
  • Stolvold's Mornington Crescent Almanac

Graeme Garden also co-wrote the following books with the other members of The Goodies

  • The Goodies File
  • The Goodies Book of Criminal Records
  • The Making of The Goodies Disaster Movie

Reference

Preceded by Footlights President
1963–1964 		Succeeded by



I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
Tim Brooke-Taylor --- John Cleese --- Graeme Garden --- David Hatch --- Jo Kendall --- Bill Oddie
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
Barry Cryer --- Graeme Garden --- Tim Brooke-Taylor --- Willie Rushton --- Humphrey Lyttelton --- Colin Sell



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