He was the man who made headlines when he died from heart failure after laughing non-stop at The Goodies.

Alex Mitchell’s wife Nessie, who witnessed his death, even sent Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie a letter thanking them for making her husband’s final minutes so happy.

Now, 37 years on from the infamous ‘Ecky-Thump’ episode of the TV comedy, doctors think they know what caused the mysterious death.

Lisa Corke is recuperating (left) after she suffered a near fatal heart attack. Doctors believe it was caused by Long QT syndrome - a condition they believe killed her grandfather (right) in 1975

The clue came when Mr Mitchell’s granddaughter Lisa Corke, 23, recently suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest while relaxing at her home.

Doctors subsequently diagnosed her with Long QT syndrome, a rare form of heart disease which causes irregular heartbeats.

Kung Fu Caper: During the episode Tim Brooke-Taylor uses a set of bagpipes to defend himself against Bill Oddie who is hurling black puddings

THE BATTLE OF ECKY THUMP In this 1975 episode of The Goodies called Kung Fu Kapers, Bill Oddie demonstrates the made-up Scottish martial art of 'Hoots-Toot-Ochaye.'



This consisted of fights with various assailants played by the other two Goodies, including two boxers, a French stick fighter and an Australian with a boomerang. He wins by cunningly hitting them over the head with a black pudding.



He meets his match when Tim Brooke-Taylor takes him on armed with the bagpipes. However, Tim loses after he is hit over the head by the returning boomerang thrown earlier by the Australian. Oddie celebrates his victory after it's announced by the umpire. Advertisement

As the condition is hereditary, they believe Scottish Mr Mitchell, a bricklayer who lived in Norfolk, must have also suffered from it and triggered a collapse with his laughing fit.

Mrs Corke, from the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, said: ‘My granddad died from one of the most famous strange deaths.

‘I think at the time they probably thought he suffered a heart attack caused by the laughter, but doctors realised he died from cardiac arrest caused by Long QT syndrome after examining me.’

She now has a cardioverter-defibrillator in her chest, which detects arrhythmia and corrects it with a jolt of electricity, and will have to take medication for the rest of her life.

The Goodies ran from 1970 to 1982. The 1975 Ecky-Thump episode – actually called Kung Fu Kapers – featured Brooke-Taylor as a kilted Scotsman who uses his bagpipes to defend himself against Oddie, a master of the ancient Lancastrian martial art of Ecky-Thump, which involves hitting people with black puddings.

Mr Mitchell’s widow, who is now 86, said at the time: ‘Alex was a Scot and it tickled him to see a Scotsman fighting with his bagpipes. The programme was nearly over when he collapsed.’

Taking it easy: Lisa Corke with her husband Mick and her children Ellie (right) and Amelie. She can no longer do any strenuous exercise