Graeme Garden

Graeme Garden OBE
Graeme Garden in 2006, during a recording of You'll Have Had Your Tea
Birth name	David Graeme Garden
Born	(1943-02-18) 18 February 1943 (age 74) Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Medium	Stand-up, radio, stage, television
Nationality	British
Years active	1964–present
Notable works and roles	I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (1965–1973) Twice a Fortnight (1967) Broaden Your Mind (1968–1969) The Goodies (1970–1982) I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1972–)

David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a British comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies and for being a cast member on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he grew up in Preston, England. Garden was educated at Repton School, and studied medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he joined the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which he became President in 1964), and performed with the 1964 Footlights revue, Stuff What Dreams Are Made Of at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Garden qualified in medicine at King's College London, but has never practised. Asked how he justified making jokes rather than saving lives, he answered:

I don't think I would have done it as well. It's an interesting question – whether you've contributed more to the vast store of human enjoyment by doing comedy or by being a doctor, but the answer for me is that I don't think I would have been as successful or as happy being a doctor.

Garden was co-writer and performer in the classic BBC radio comedy sketch show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, in the late 1960s. Garden was studying medicine during the early seasons of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, and this commitment made it difficult for him to be a member of the cast during the third season because of a midwifery medical course in Plymouth. However, he continued sending scripts for the radio show by mail – and rejoined the cast upon his return to his medical studies in London. On several occasions his medical qualifications are lampooned; in the 25th Anniversary Show, David Hatch asks him if he is still a writer. Garden: "Here's something I wrote this morning". Hatch: "It's a prescription". "Yes," says Garden, "but it's a funny one..."

Garden is a permanent panellist on the long-running BBC Radio improvisation show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue in a cast which includes Tim Brooke-Taylor. He also stars in and co-writes, with Barry Cryer, 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.