Below are two (yes, count'em two) lists of the Goon Show programs.
The first is the chronological listing, giving transmission,
recording dates, titles and notes.
The second is an alphabetical listing of programs, also giving
transmission dates.
Also at the end is a list of major characters Sellers, Secombe
and Milligan (plus Geldray and Elligton) played.
Much of this information was obtained from the excellent book on the Goons:
The Goon Show Companion
by Roger Wilmot
Corrections, words of comfort, congratulations, job offers,
or just small unmarked bills can be sent to me...
Russell Street (russells@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz)
"But that's your pigeon, Major"
"So it is. How did that get out! Abdul - take this pigeon
away and bring me a clothes brush!"
NOTES
Notes to each series (except the first two, which do not require detailed
notes) are on the page opposite each series listing. Announced titles which
differ from the official title have been detailed, together with any other
relevant information.
NOTE I indicates throughout that the show is not announced by any coherent title (except, of course, as 'The Goon Show'); for the purposes of these notes, only announcements at or near the beginnings of the show are being considered, not those after the musical items. The 3rd series shows are not included in this, as the titles given do not usually apply to the first sketch, which often does not have a title in any case. Those 4th series shows which are episodic have been detailed in the notes; there is usually no very coherent title given to the first episode in these shows.
1st Series
Billed as: 'CRAZY PEOPLE, featuring Radio's own Crazy Gang -- "The Goons" With Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, Michael Bentine, The Ray Ellington Quartet, The Stargazers, Max Geldray, and (except where stated the BBC Dance Orchestra, conducted by Stanley Black. Announcer Andrew Timoty except nos. 8-10, announcer Denys Drower.
Scripts written by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens, edited by Jimmy
Grafton. Produced by Dennis Main Wilson, except 11-14, produced by
Leslie Bridgront. Nos. 1-9 broadcast on Mondays, nos. 10-17 on Thursdays.
All pre-recorded the previous Sunday.
The shows consist of four or five short sketches separated by musical
items.
1 28-5-51 SLO 90268
2 4-6-51 SLO 90269
3 11-6-51 SLO 90452
4 18-6-51 SLO 90366
5 25-6-51 SOX 59949
6 2-7-51 SLO 91295 (with the BBC Revue Orch. cond.
by Roben Busby)
7 9-7-51 SLO 91565 (with the BBC Revue Orch. cond.
by Roben Busby)
8 16-7-51 SLO 92262
9 23-7-51 SLO 92468
10 2-8-51 SLO 92867
11 9-8-51 SOX 61088*
12 16-8-51 SLO 93368
13 23-8-51 SOX 61088*
14 30-8-51 SLO 93400
15 6-9-51 SBU 71149
16 13-9-51 SLO 94892 (with the BBC Revue Orch. cond.
by Roben Busby)
17 20-9-51 SL095143 (without Geldray, with Marie Benson
(vocalist) and the Skyrockets
Orch. cond. by Woolf Phillips)
SP 26-12-51 SLO 99928 CINDERELLA (pantomime)
with Lizbeth Webb as Cinderella, Grahan Stark
as Prince Charming: The Goons: The Starg;
Ray Ellington Quartet: Max Geldray and the
Augmented Dance Orchestra conducted by
Stanley Black.
Produced by Dennis Main Wilson.
Recorded 16-12-51
* obviously these shows can't both have the same number, but it not has been
possible to cross-check any further the informtion given in those offical
files which still exist.
2nd Series
Billed as 'THE GOON SHOW, featuring those crazy people . . .' Cast and musicians as for the previous series for the first six shows, after which the Stargazers left. Scripts by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens, edited by Jimmy Grafton (who also wrote special lyrics for some shows). Produced by Dennis Main Wilson. Broadcast Tuesdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except nos. 24 & 25).
1 22-1-52 SLO 1768
2 29-1-52 SLO 2147
3 5-2-52 SLO 2519
4 12-2-52 No transmission owing to the
death of King George
4 19-2-52 SLO 3334 (BBC Dance Orch. cond. by Stanley Andrews)
5 26-2-52 SLO 3627
6 4-3-52 SLO 4021
7 11-3-52 SLO 4179
8 18-3-52 SLO 5112 The Goons' version of Rider Haggard's
'She' -- entitled 'Her'*
9 25-3-52 SLO 5277
10 1-4-52 SLO 5380
11 8-4-52 SLO 5684 (without Milligan)
12 15-4-52 SLO 6306
13 22-4-52 SLO 6737
14 29-4-52 SLO 6959
15 6-5-52 SBU 83555
16 13-5-52 SLO 7761
17 20-5-52 SLO 8202
18 27-5-52 SLO 8179
19 3-6-52 SLO 9302 (with the BBC Revue Orch. cond. by
Robert Busby)
20 10-6-52 SLO 9307 (with the BBC Dance Orch. cond. by Wally
Stott)
21 17-6-52 SLO 9638 (without Bentine)
22 24-6-52 SLO 9955
23 1-7-52 SLO 10474
24 8-7-52 SLO 11378 (recorded 29-6-52)
25 15-7-52 SLO 10808 (recorded 6-7-52)
* this is the first in-series show to have a single plot right through
the programme.
3rd Series
>From now on billed as 'THE GOON SHOW'.
Basic cast - Sellers, Secombe, Milligan, with Geldray, Ellington and
orchestra conducted by Wally Stott. Announcer Andrew Timothy.
Bentine has now left.
Produced by Peter Eton, except 18 & 19 produced by Charles Chilton.
Scripts by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens, edited by Jimmy Grafton.
All except 7 broadcast Tuesdays: pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except
20-22).
The shows have 3 parts; the title given is usually that of the middle
episode.
1 11-11-52 SLO 17297 Fred of the Islands (2)
2 18-11-52 SOX 82948 The Egg of the Great Auk (3)
3 25-11-52 SLO 18332 I Was a Male Fan Dancer (2)
4 2-12-52 SL0 18613 The Saga of HMS Aldgate (2)
5 9-12-52 SLO 18848 The Expedition for Toothpaste (4)
(without Milligan)
6 16-12-52 SLO 19414 The Archers (2) (without Milligan)
7 26-12-52 SLO 19526 Robin Hoods (5) (Christmas Pantomime
-- 45 min without Milligan;
with Dick Emery & Carole Carr)
8 30-12-52 SLO 19783 Where Does Santa Claus Go in the
Summer? (6) (without Milligan, with
Ellis Powell)
9 6-1-53 SLO 20338 The Navy, Army, and Air Force (2)
(without Milligan with Dick Emery)
10 13-1-53 SLO 20695 The British Way of Life (2)
(without Milligan, with Graham Stark)
11 20-1-53 SLO 20948 A Survey of Britain (2)
(without Milligan, with Dick Emery)
12 27-1-53 SLO 21647 Flint of the Flying Squad (2)
(without Milligan, with Graham Stark)
13 3-2-53 SOX 86757 Seaside Resorts in Winter (2)
(without Milligan, with Dick Emery)
14 10- 2-53 SLO 22493 The Tragedy of Oxley Towers (3)
(without Milligan with Graham Stark
& Valentine Dyall)
15 17-2-53 SLO 22860 The Story of Civilization (2)
(without Milligan, with Dick Emery)
16 24-2-53 SLO 22973 The Search for the Bearded Vulture (3)
(without Milligan, with Graham Stark)
17 3-3-53 SLO 23540 The Mystery of the Monkey's Paw (8)
(Milligan ret with Dick Emery)
18 10-3-53 SLO 24224 The Mystery of the Cow on the Hill (9)
19 17-3-53 SLO 24432 Where Do Socks Come From? (3)
24-3-53 No transmission owing to the death
of Queen Mary
20 31-3-53 SLO 24764 The Man Who Never Was (10)
(recorded 22-3-53)
21 7-4-53 SLO 25520 The Building of the Suez Canal (3)
(recorded 29-3-53)
22 14-4-53 SLO 25873 The De Goonlies (3)
(recorded 5-4-53)
23 21-4-53 SLO 26517 The Conquest of Space (2)
24 28-4-53 SLO 26797 The Ascent of Mount Everest (3)
25 5-5-53 SLO 27952 The Story of the Plymouth Hoe Armada (3)
SP 3-6-53 SLO 29390 Coronation edition (11) (40 minutes;
recorded 1-6-53; without Geldray;
with Graham Stark)
Notes to 3rd series
The titles given (with one exception) are taken from the fronts of the
scripts in BBC Script Library, where they have been pencilled in. In most
cases the title is applicable to the middle section of the show (details
are given below). As these shows are episodic any titling is bound to be
somewhat arbitrary, but it should be emphasized that. from the point of
view of the listener, this series would not be regarded as having titles.
still being in the traditional variety format.
2. Title given is that of middle part of show.
3. Title given is that of parts 2 and 3 of show.
4. At this point Milligan went into hospital suffering from a nervous
breakdown. This show and the next had already been written; after a few
weeks Milligan resumed writing the shows in collaboration with Larry
Stephens. The title given here is of the middle sketch, which later
re-appeared in the 20th of the 4th series .
5. This show, which has a straight-through plot, is credited on the front of the script to 'Thomas Alcock & William Bull (from the original Alcock and Bull story)'. It was in fact mostly written by Jimmy Grafton (working for 36 hours continuouslyl), Milligan being in hospital and Larry Stephens unwell. The opening few pages were re-used in the 14th of the 5th series.
6. In the absence of an official title, the title of the final sketch has been adopted (the answer being that he stays in Greenland on account of Eskimo Nell). The middle sketch is a re-make, with a few additions, of 'The Archers' (middle part of no. 6 of this series). Ellis Powell, who makes a brief appearance, was the current Mrs. Dale of 'Mrs Dale's Diary'.
7. 'The Story of Civilization', which is the middle episode, is a re-make
of part of the 6th of the Ist series.
8. The title given here is of the first sketch; the remainder of the show
is 'The Search for Brigadier Winchmold'.
9. The title given here is that of the first sketch; the remainder of the show is 'The Siege of Khartoum', used again in no. 18 of the 4th series.
10. The title given is parts 2 and 3; this story appears again, in expanded
form, as the 27th of the 6th series, and then again as the 21st of the 8th
series.
11. This show, which sticks to one plot the whole way through, purports to present a recorded commentary on the Coronation procession.
4th Series
Scripts 1-9 and 11-20 by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens;
no. 10 by Larry Stephens; remainder by Spike Milligan.
Announcer Andrew Timothy (nos. 1-5); then Wallace Greenslade.
Produced by Peter Eton, except no. 15 produced by Jacques Brown.
Nos. 1-20 (except 13) broadcast on Fridays, nos. 21-30 on Mondays;
all pre-recorded the previous Sunday.
1 2-10-53 TLO 35079 The Dreaded Piano Clubber (2)
2 9-10-53 TLO 35432 The Man Who Tried to Destroy London's
Monuments (3)
3 16-10-53 TLO 35740 The Ghastly Experiments of
Dr. Hans Eidelburger (4)
4 23-10-55 TLO 36235 The Building of Britain's First
Atomic Cannon (5)
5 30-10-53 TLO 37145 The Gibraltar Storys (6)
6 6-11-53 TLO 37511 Through the Sound Barrier in an
Airing Cupboard (1)
7 13-11-53 TLO 37898 The First Albert Memorial to the Moon
8 20-11-53 TLO 38482 The Missing Bureaucrat (7)
9 27-11-53 TLO 37891 Operation Bagpipes
10 4-12-53 TLO 39091 The Flying Saucer Mystery (8)
11 11-12-53 TLO 39790 The Spanish Armada (9)
12 18-12-53 TLO 40412 The British Way
SP 25-12-53 TLO 40660 Short insert in 'Christmas Crackers'
(which also contained contributions
from other Variety shows)
(recorded 20-12-53)
13 26-12-53 TLO 40660 The Giant Bombardon (with Michael
Bentine)
14 1-1-54 TLO 40965 Ten Thousand Fathoms Down in a
Wardrobe
15 8-1-54 TLO 41242 The Missing Prime Minister
16 15-1-54 TLO 41552 Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Crun (10)
17 22-1-54 TLO 42416 The Mummified Priest
18 29-1-54 TLO 42842 The History of Communications
19 5-2-54 TLO 48011 The Kippered Herring Gang
20 12-2-54 TLO 49072 The Toothpaste Expedition (12)
21 15-2-54 TLO 49191 The Case of the Vanishing Room
22 22-2-54 TLO 49628 The Great Ink Drought of 1902 (13)
23 1-3-54 TLO 50206 The Greatest Mountain in the World
24 8-3-54 TLO 50546 The Collapse of the British Railway
Sandwich System
25 15-3-54 TLO 50871 The Silent Bugler (14)
26 22-3-54 TLO 51429 Western Story (15)
27 29-3-54 TLO 51769 The Saga of the Internal Mountain
28 5-4-54 TLO 52346 The Invisible Acrobats (16)
(Ellington pre-recorded)
29 12-4-54 TLO 52583 The Great Bank of England Robbery
(Ellington pre-recorded)
30 19-4-54 TLO 52599 The Siege of Fort Knight
(Ellington pre-recorded)
SP 11-6-54 TLO 55169 ARCHIE IN GOONLAND with
Peter Brough and Archie Andrews,
Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan,
Harry Secombe, Hattie Jacques,
and the BBC Variety Orchestra,
conductor Paul Fenoulhet.
Script by Eric Sykes and
Spike Milligan.
Produced by Roy Speer.
Notes to the 4th Series
With this series, the shows begin for the first time to take on the familiar dramatic format, although it is not until the second half of the series that the majority of the shows have a straight-through half-hour plot (apart from the musical items, of course). As yet the shows were not given titles at the time of writing, with the result that the situation has become rather confused. Spike Milligan has titled his own copies the scripts with abbreviated titles that are really more of a shorthand indication of the content. Someone has written in pencil on the fronts of the BBC Script Library copies titles which tend to be based on the opening announcements; however, as many the shows have a short opening sketch with the main part of the programme starting only after the first musical items, these titles tend to be misleading. The titles given in the list opposite are derived from both sources, with a tendency to use Milligan's titles where there is a choice between two reasonably acceptable alternatives. Only one show in this series has been preserved in BBC Sound Archives (no. 23); in this case the BBC title has been retained in preference to Milligan's.
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Three-episode show; the middle section is 'The Dreaded Piano Clubber'.
3. This story occupies the second and third episodes of the show.
4. The first part of the show is 'The Adventures of Fearless Harry Secombe',
a 'serial' which appears at the start of several shows; the title given for
the show is the subtitle of this first section. The remainder of the show is
about the ascent of Mount Everest.
5. Announced as title. This is the first show in this series to have a single
plot lasting through all three parts.
6. The title given applies to parts 2 and 3.
7. The first part of the show is 'The Further Adventures of Fearless Harry Secombe -- A Race to the Death'. 'The Missing Bureaucrat' is parts 2 and 3.
8. The first part of the show is again 'The Adventures of Fearless Harry
Secombe' (the title given on the BBC Script Library copy); however, the
main part of the show is about flying saucers, and as Spike Milligan's
copy of the script is missing and therefore no title has been given for it.
I have taken the liberty of inventing a title.
9. In the first part of the show 'Harry Proves he is Not a Dog'; parts 2
and 3 are the story of the Armada.
10. Announced as 'Crime Does Not Pay Income Tax'.
11. Part one of the script is 'The History of Communications', originally
part of the 7th of the Ist series and later re-worked into 'The GPO Show'.
Parts 2 and 3 are 'The Siege of Khartoum', originally part of the 18th of
the 3rd series.
12. The first part of the script was originally used in the 2nd of the 2nd
series; 'The Toothpaste Expedition' was originally used in the 5th of the 3rd
series.
13. Announced as 'Hansard Unexpurgated'.
14. The nearest to an announcement is 'take the case of Agent X2 . . .'.
15. Announced as 'Brainl' (inspired by the film, "Shane").
16. Announced as 'Bulletto'.
Fourteen of these scripts were re-worked for the 'Vintage Goons' series recorded in 1957/8 for Transcription Services.
SP 31-8-54 TNC 408 THE STARLINGS
Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe,
Spike Milligan and Andrew Timothy.
Written by Spike Milligan
Without musicians or audience.
Produced by Peter Eton.
Recorded 11/12-8-54
5th Series
>From now on the announcer is Wallace Greenslade.
Scripts for shows 1-6 by Spike Milligan, remainder by Milligan and Eric Sykes.
Produced by Peter Eton. Broadcast Tuesdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday,
except nos. 14 and 20.
1 28-9-54 TLO 62960 The Whistling Spy Enigma
2 5-10-54 TLO 63962 The Lost Gold Mine (of Charlotte) (2)
3 12-10-54 TLO 64018 The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler
(of Bexhill-on Sea) (3)
4 19-10-54 TLO 64443 The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)
5 26-10-54 TLO 64692 The Affair of the Lone Banana
6 2-11-54 TLO 65467 The Canal (with Valentine Dyall)
7 9-11-54 TLO 65972 Lurgi Strikes Britain (1)
(TS: Lurgi Strikes Again)
8 16-11-54 TLO 67106 The Mystery of the Marie Celeste
(Solved)
9 23-11-54 TLO 67320 The Last Tram (from Clapham)
10 30-11-54 TLO 67468 The Booted Gorilla (found?)
11 7-12-54 TLO 68322 The Spanish Suitcase (1)
12 14-12-54 TLO 68149 Dishonoured, or The Fall of
Neddie Seagoon
13 21-12-54 TLO 69220 Forog
14 28-12-54 TLO 69221 Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest
(recorded 19-12-54: with Charlotte Mitchell)
15 4-1-55 TLO 70044 Nineteen-Eighty-Five (5)
(orch. cond. by Bruce Campbell)
16 11-1-55 TLO 70045 The Case of the Missing Heir (1)
17 18-1-55 TLO 70610 China Story
18 25-1-55 TLO 72116 Under Two Floorboards -- A Story of
the Legion (1)
19 1-2-55 TLO 71797 The Missing Scroll (4)
20 8-2-55 TLO 71798 Nineteen-Eighty-Five (5)
(recorded 30-1-55: with John Snagge
--pre-rec. )
21 15-2-55 TLO 72450 The Sinking of Westminster Pier (6)
22 22-2-55 TLO 72538 The Fireball of Milton Street (7)
23 1-3-55 TLO 73044 The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street (8)
24 8-3-55 TLO 73495 Yehti
25 15-3-55 TLO 74145 The White Box of Great Bardfield (1)
26 22-3-55 TLO 74489 The End (9)
(TS:Ñreissue only: Confessions of a
Secret Senna-pod Drinker)
Notes to 5th series
With the beginning of this series, the first to be taken by the BBC
Transcription Services, the shows become the familiar and well-remembered
full-length stories, featuring by now most of the best-known characters.
This is the only series honoured byu Radio Times with a synopsis and cast
list for most shows (although these get progressively more divorced from
reality as the series wears on).
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'Death in the Desert'.
3. Announced as 'The Terror of Bexhill-on-Sea'.
4. Announced as 'The Lost Music of Purdom'.
5. Inspired by Nigel Kneale's television adaptation of Orwell's 1984.
The show was a success that the script was repeated by popular demand:
the second appearance is not a recorded repeat but a new performance
of the script, which was was re-typed, incorporating all but one of the
timing cuts made for the version. In the second show Snagge (pre-recorded)
reads the telescreen ouncement near the beginning: in the original this is
read by Sellers.
6. Billed in Radio Times (and Programme Index) as 'The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street'; the script was changed at short notice to a story inspired by the appearance of a photograph of the floating pier at Westminster under several feet of water with an 'Out of Order' notice being pinned to it. Greenslade tries to announce the show as 'The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street' (insisting that the Radio Times is never wrong): finally Sellers announces it as 'The Port of London Authority's valuable hand-carved, oil-painted, valuable floating pier'.
7. Milton Street' is the name of a village in Sussex.
8. The title situation for this show can best be described as confusing. The front of script, Radio Times, Programme Index and the 'Programme as Broadcast' files give the title as 'The Terrible Blasting of Moreton's Bank'. However, the the show is in fact 'The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street', the script postponed from 2-55 (see note 6), is announced as such, and titled as such by TS. Strictly speaking, the title opposite ought to match the official files; but since the 'Six Ingots' title makes more sense, and in fact would have been the official title of script had not the last-minute change of plan happened, I have decided to adopt it.
9. Announced as 'The Confessions of a Secret Senna-pod Drinker'.
6th Series
Scripts by Spike Milligan (SM) except where indicated;
ES=Eric Sykes, LS=Larry Stephens.
Produced by Peter Eton (nos. 1-21) and Pat Dixon (nos. 22-27).
Broadcast Tuesdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except nos. 10 & 15).
1 20-9-55 TLO 86722 The Man Who Won the War (2)
(SM & ES) (TS: Seagoon MCC)
2 27-9-55 TLO 87028 The Secret Escritoire (SM & ES)
3 4-10-55 TLO 87493 The Lost Emperor (1)
4 11-10-55 TLO 88253 Napoleon's Piano(3)
5 18-10-55 TLO 88477 The Case of the Missing CD Plates (4)
6 25-10-55 TLO 88977 Rommel's Treasure (5)
7 1-11-55 TLO 89727 Foiled by President Fred (6)
8 8-11-55 TLO 90136 Shangri-La Again (7)
9 15-11-55 TBU 52103 The International Christmas Pudding (8)
22-11-55 (No. 10 postponed to 3-4-56,9 replaced by
repeat of 'China Story', first broadcast
18-1-55)
11 29-11-55 TLO 91637 The Sale of Manhattan (10)
(TS: The Lost Colony)
12 6-12-55 TLO 92346 The Terrible Revenge of Fred
Fu-Manchu(11)
SP 8-12-55 TLO 92849 The Missing Christmas Parcel -- Post
Early for Christmas (ES) (15 minutes
-- broadcast in Children's Hour;
recorded 27-11-55: without musicians).
Devised and produced by Peter Eton
and John Lane
13 13-12-55 TLO 93483 The Lost Year
14 20-12-55 TLO 93839 The Greenslade Story (with John Snagge)
15 27-12-55 TLO 93838 The Hastings FlyerÑRobbed (12)
(recorded 18-12-55)
16 3-1-56 TLO 94673 The Mighty Wurlitzer
17 10-1-56 TLO 94832 The Raid of the International
Christmas Pudding (1)
18 17-1-56 TLO 95608 Tales of Montmartre (SM & ES)
(with Charlotte Mitchell)
19 24-1-56 TLO 95990 The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI (1)
20 31-1-56 TLO 96271 The House of Teeth (1)
(with Valentine Dyall)
21 7-2-56 TLO 97228 Tales of Old Dartmoor
(orch. cond. by Bruce Campbell)
22 14-2-56 TLO 97297 The Choking Horror
(orch. cond. by Bruce Campbell)
23 21-2-56 TLO 98295 The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal (13)
(without musicians, with John Snagge
Ñpre -rec.)
24 28-2-56 TLO 98661 The Treasure in the Lake (14)
(orch. cond. Bruce Campbell)
SP 1-3-56 TLO 98662 The Goons Hit Wales
(5 1/2 minute insert in St. David's
Day programme, recorded 26-2-56)
25 6-3-56 TLO 98778 The Fear of Wages (15) (SM & LS)
26 13-3-56 TLO 98950 Scradje (SM & LS)
(with John SnaggeÑpre-rec.)
27 20-3-56 TLO 99481 The Man Who Never Was (l6)
(SM & LS)
l0 3-4-56 TLO 90647 The Pevensey Bay Disaster (9)
(recorded 20-11-55)
SP 29-8-56 TLO 11466 China Story (SM & ES) (17)
(recorded 24-8-56 at the
National Radio Show. Produced
by Dennis Main Wilson)
Notes to 6th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'Seagoon MCC' (because he was a batman . . . ).
3. The script and the Programme Index entry are wrongly titled
'The Sale of Manhattan'.
4. Announced as 'A Strange Case of Diplomatic Immunity'.
5. Announced as 'The Search for Rommel's Treasure'.
6. Announced as 'In Honour Bound'.
7. Announced as 'Lost Horizon'.
8. Announced as 'The Great International Christmas Pudding'.
9. On the day the show was recorded there was a serious train crash at Didcot
in which 10 people were killed and 116 injured. In view of the fact that the
show contains a train crash, the broadcast was cancelled and replaced with a
repeat of 'China Story' from the previous series.
(See 'The Hastings Flyer -- Robbed' (12)),
10. Announced as 'The Lost Colony'.
11. Announced as 'Fred Fu-Manchu and his Bamboo Saxophone'.
12. This script is identical to that for 'The Pevensey Bay Disaster'
(see note 9), incorporating the timing cuts made for that occasion;
only the announcements are changed, to 'The Hastings Flyer'.
The earlier version of the show is the one issued by TS, as they recorded
directly by line from the studio, so that to them 'The Hastings Flyer' was
a repeat. 'The Pevensey Bay Disaster' was eventually broadcast two weeks
after the end of the series, so that to the British listeners 'The Hastings
Flyer' is the original version.
13. There was a musicians' strike on at the time. In common with other
Variety shows, the cast made do without music. This show and the next
also include Milligan's famous ballad 'I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas'.
The programme is not coherently announced.
14. Announced as 'The Treasure of Loch Lomond'.
15. Inspired by the film 'The Wages of Fear'.
16. This is an expanded version of the script which formed parts 2 & 3 of the 20th of the 3rd series. It appears again in the 8th series.
17. This is a new production of no. 17 of the 5th series -- the script is
almost identical.
7th Series
Scripts by Milligan and Larry Stephens, except nos. 2 and 23, by Milligan only. Produced by Pat Dixon, except nos. 1 and 2 produced by Peter Eton. Broadcast Thursdays, except nos. 10 and 13 broadcast Wednesdays. Pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except nos. 6, 14, 15 and 16).
1 4-10-56 TLO 12681 The Nasty Affair at the Burami Oasis(1)
2 11-10-56 TLO 11799 Drums Along the Mersey
(with Valentine Dyall)
3 18-10-56 TLO 14585 The Nadger Plague (2)
4 25-10-56 TLO 14586 The MacReekie Rising of '74
(without Milligan, with George Chisholm)
5 1-11-56 TLO 15209 The Spectre of Tintagel
(with Valentine Dyall)
8-11-56 (no. 6 postponed to 14-2-573;
replaced by repeat of 'The
Greenslade Story', first broadcast
20-12-55)
7 15-11-56 TLO 15801 The Great Bank Robbery
8 22-11-56 TLO 16600 Personal Narrative (4)
9 29-11-56 TLO 16989 The Mystery of the Fake Neddie
Seagoons (5) (TS: The Case of the
Fake Neddie Seagoons)
SP for TS only TLO 17360 Robin Hood (6) (with Valentine Dyall
and Dennis Price) (recorded 2-12-56;
not broadcast in Britain)
10 5-12-56 TLO 17361 What's My Line?
11 13-12-56 TLO 17963 The Telephone
12 20-12-56 TLO 18731 The Flea
SP 24-12-56 TLO 17962 Operation Christmas Duff (7)
GOS only (special overseas edition
recorded 9-12-56)
13 26-12-56 TLO 19238 Six Charlies in Search of an Author
14 3-1-57 TLO 19237 Emperor of the Universe (rec. 23-12-56)
15 10-1-57 TLO 20041 Wings Over Dagenham (rec. 30-12-56)
(with George Chisholm)
16 17-1-57 TLO 20042 The Rent Collectors (rec. 30-12-56)
(with Bernard Miles)
17 24-1-57 TLO 21509 Shifting Sands (1) (with Jack Train)
18 31-1-57 TLO 21793 The Moon Show
19 7-2-57 TLO 23090 The Mysterious Punch-up-the-Conker (1)
16 14-2-57 TLO 14930 The Sleeping Prince (3)
(recorded 4-11-56)
20 21-2-57 TLO 22507 Round the World in Eighty Days
21 28-2-57 TLO 23565 Insurance, the White Man's Burden
22 7-3-57 TLO 24413 The Africa Ship Canal (9)
23 14-3-57 TLO 24461 Ill Met by Goonlight
24 21-3-57 TLO 24999 The Missing Boa Constrictor (1)
25 28-3-57 TLO 26030 The Histories of Pliny the Elder
Notes to 7th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'The Great Nadger Plague'.
3. This show, which parodies a Latin-American type revolution, was
postpone owing to the international situation at the time (among other
things, the Hungarian uprising was taking place).
4. Announced as 'The Personal Narrative of Captain Neddie Seagoon, R.N.'.
5. Announced as 'The Great Art Mystery, or The Case of the Fake Neddie
Seagoon'.
6. Announced as 'Robin Hood and his Mirry Mon'. This show, which was
recorded specially for TS and not broadcast in this country (although
it has been issued on Parlophone PMC 7132) is partially based on the
script originally broadcast 28-12-54 as 'Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest'
(14th of 5th serles).
7. The BBC General Overseas Service was at this time broadcasting entirely on short waves, so that this show could only have been heard in this country -- and then not very satisfactorily -- by listeners equipped with short-wave receivers. The show was aimed largely at the British Armed Forces overseas.
8. As Colonel Chinstrap (from 'ITMA'). It is interesting that the character,
although from a different show a decade earlier, fits into the Goon Show
framework with no sense of strain.
9 Announced as 'The Great Trans-Africa Canal'.
SP 22-8-57 TLO 35307 THE REASON WHY
Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe,
Spike Milligan, and Valentine Dyall.
Announcer Wallace Greenslade.
Music pre-recorded: no audience.
Produced by Jacques Brown.
Record 11-8-57
8th Series
Scripts by Spike Milligan (SM), Larry Stephens (LS), John Antrobus (JA),
and Maurice Wiltshire (MW), as indicated.
Produced by Charles Chilton (nos. 1-5 & 17-26), Roy Speer (nos. 6-14),
and Tom Ronald (nos. 15 & 16).
Broadcast Mondays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except no. 18).
1 30-9-57 TLO 38857 Spon (SM) (without Secombe,
with Dick Emery)
2 7-10-57 TLO 39090 * The Junk Affair (1) (SM & LS)
3 14-10-57 TLO 39928 The Burning Embassy (1) (SM & LS)
4 21-10-57 TLO 40052 * The Great Regent's Park Swim (SM & LS)
5 28-10-57 TLO 40562 The Treasure in the Tower (1) (SM & LS)
6 4-11-57 TLO 41101 * The Space Age (SM & LS)
7 11-11-57 TLO 41712 The Red Fort (2) (SM & LS)
8 18-11-57 TLO 41935 * The Missing Battleship (1) (SM & LS)
(without Geldray)
9 25-11-57 TLO 42750 The Policy (SM & LS)
10 2-12-57 TLO 42899 * King Solomon's Mines (SM & LS)
11 9-12-57 TLO 43427 The Stolen Postman (LS)
12 16-12-57 TLO 44167 * The Great British Revolution (SM & LS)
13 23-12-57 TLO 44618 The Plasticine Man (SM & LS)
(without Ellington)
14 30-12-57 TLO 45270 * African Incident (1) (SM & LS)
(with Cecile Chevreau)
15 6-1-58 TLO 45929 The Thing on the Mountain (LS & MW)
16 13-1-58 TLO 46344 * The String Robberies (3) (SM)
(with George Chisholm)
17 20-1-58 TLO 47306 The Moriarty Murder Mystery (LS & MW)
18 27-1-58 TLO 47557 The Curse of Frankenstein (SM)
(rec. 19-1-58) (without Ellington,
with George Chisholm)
19 3-2-58 TLO 47740 The White Neddie Trade (LS & MW)
20 10-2-58 TLO 48542 Ten Snowballs that Shook the World (SM)
21 17-2-58 TLO 49421 * The Man Who Never Was (SM & LS)
22 24-2-58 TLO 49663 * World War One (6) (SM) (TS: '_____!')
23 3-3-58 TLO 50040 * The Spon Plaue (7) (SM & JA)
(with George Chisholm)
24 10-3-58 TLO 51225 * Tiddleywinks (SM) (with John Snagge)
25 17-3-58 TLO 50769 * The Evils of Bushey Spon (8) (SM)
(with A. E. Matthews)
26 24-3-58 TLO 51440 * The Great Statue Debate (1) (SM & JA)
* a special TS series of Vintage Goons' (based on scripts from the 4th series) was recorded on the same dates as the shows marked (see page 130 [next one!]).
Notes to 8th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'A Tale of India'.
3. Announced as 'The Great String Robberies'.
4. Announced as 'The Curse of Frankenstein -- BLAST!' and then continues as a story entitled 'My Heart's in the Highlands'.
5. This script is a re-working of no. 27 of the 6th series, itself an expanded version of part of no. 20 of the 3rd series. It is the 6th series version which has been issued by Transcription Services.
6. The script is titled '_____!', as are the TS issues: the announced title is written as '_______!' and pronounced as a faint murmur Milligan's interpretation of illegible writing on a faded manuscript.
7. Announced as 'The Great Spon Plague'.
8. Inspired by a real-life row A. E. Matthews was having with his local council about a concrete lamp-post they wanted to put outside his house. (There is also a reference to this in the previous show). Mr Matthews appears only in the last five minutes of the show, which are ad-libbed by all concerned owing to Mr Matthews's utter refusal to stick to the plot.
'Vintage Goons'
A series recorded specially for TS. Scripts by Spike Milligan. Produced by Charles Chilton (nos. 1, 2, & 9-14), Roy Speer (nos. 3-7), and Tom Ronald (no. 8) Recorded Sundays together with 8th series shows.
recorded TS tape no.
1 6-10-57 Tl/AG/2966 *The Mummified Priest
2 20-10-57 T7/AG/3654 *The Greatest Mountain in the World
3 3-11-57 Tl/AG/3054 The Missing Ten Downing Street (2)
4 17-11-57 T5/AG/4309 *The Giant Bombardon (with Valentine
Dyall)
5 1-12-57 T5/AG/4341 The Kippered Herring Gang
6 15-12-57 T5/AG/4382 *The Vanishing Room
7 29-12-57 T5/AG/4417 The Ink Shortage (3)
8 12-1-58 Tl/AG/3875 The Mustard and Cress Shortage (4)
9 16-2-58 Tl/AG/3965 The Internal Mountain
10 23-2-58 T5/AG/4597 The Silent Buglers (5)
11 2-3-58 T2/AG/4043 *The Great Bank of England Robbery (6)
12 9-3-58 Tl/AG/4025 The Dreaded Piano Clubber
13 16-3-58 T5/AG/4661 The Siege of Fort Night
14 23-3-58 T2/AG/4060 *The Albert Memorial (7)
* Six of these shows were broadcast on Mondays immediately prior to the
9th series:
broadcast BH tape no.
1 22-9-58 TLO 65468 The Mummified Priest
2 29-9-58 TLO 65469 The Greatest Mountain in the World
4 6-10-58 TLO 65470 The Giant Bombardon
6 13-10-58 TLO 65471 The Vanishing Room
11 20-10-58 TLO 65472 The Great Bank of England Robbery
14 27-10-58 TLO 65473 The Albert Memorial
Notes to 'Vintage Goons'
All scripts in this series are based on scripts from the 4th series, often with a certain amount of re-writing. When six of these shows were broadcast in the Home Service immediately prior to the 9th series, Radio Times contrived, in a badly-worded write-up, to give the impression that they were recorded repeats of 4th series shows. To add to the confusion, the repeat series broadcast in 1964 and 1970 were billed as 'Vintage Goons', although none of the shows concerned came from the original 'Vintage Goons' series, some of which have still never been broadcast in this country.
2. Based on 4/15 and announced as 'The Missing Prime Minister of 1953'.
3. Based on 4/22 and announced as 'Hansard Unexpurgated'.
4. Based on 4/24 and announced as 'The Collapse of the British Railway
Sandwich System'.
5. Based on 4/25; the nearest to an announcement is 'take the Case of Agent X2'
6. Announced first as 'Open Casebook' and later by the official title.
7. Announced as 'The First Albert Memorial to the Moon'.
9th Series
Scripts by Spike Milligan (except no. 7).
Produced byJohn Browell.
Broadcast Mondays, except no. 12 broadcast Tuesday; pre-recorded
previous Sunday.
1 3-11-58 TLO 68887 The Sahara Desert Statue (1)
2 10-11-58 TLO 68950 I Was Monty's Treble
3 17-11-58 TLO 69769 The 1,000,000 Pound Penny (2)
4 24-11-58 TLO 70536 The Pam's Paper Insurance Policy (1)
5 1-12-58 TLO 71336 The Mountain Eaters
6 8-12-58 TLO 71467 The Childe Harolde Rewarde (1)
7 15-12-58 TLO 72138 The Seagoon Memoirs (1)
(script by Larry Stephens and
Maurice Wiltshire)
8 22-12-58 TLO 72851 Queen Anne's Rain (1)
9 29-12-58 TLO 73413 The Battle of Spion Kop (1)
10 5-1-59 TLO 74315 Ned's Atomic Dustbin (1)
(with John Snagge -- pre-rec.)
11 12-1-59 TLO 75177 Who Is Pink Oboe (3) (without Sellers;
with Kenneth Connor, Valentine Dyall,
Graham Stark, Jack Train and
John Snagge, (who was pre-rec.))
12 20-1-59 TLO 76074 The Call of the West
13 26-1-59 TLO 76177 Dishonoured -- Again (5)
14 2-2-59 TLO 76513 The Scarlet Capsule (6)
(with Andrew Timothy -- pre-rec.)
15 9-2-59 TLO 77465 The Tay Bridge (1) (with George Chisholm)
16 16-2-59 TLO 77725 The Gold Plate Robbery (7)
17 23-2-59 TLO 78107 The 50 pound Cure (1)
(without Secombe, with Kenneth Connor)
Notes to 9th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'The Story of a Crime-Type Murder'. After the first
musical break it becomes 'Ned the Miser' -- it is this part which is
the story of the 1,000,000 Pound Penny. TS's publicity for their re-issue
of this as 'Pick of the Goons' No. 81 wrongly describes it as
'The 1,000 Pound Penny'. Inflation?
3. Announced as 'The Spy, or. . .'. Sellers developed throat trouble
shortly before the recording and the other four actors were brought in
by John Browell at very short notice. They take the various parts written
for Sellers, with minimal re-writing: Dyall replaces Grytpype-Thynne,
Connor replaces Willium and a few others, Stark replaces Henry Crun
(the Min and Henry episode becomes an Irish couple who are not as successful
as the other replacements) and Train, as Colonel Chinstrap, replaces Major
Bloodnok.
4. Announced as 'Captain Stingo, or Goon Law, or Anythinggggggg (Hern)'.
5. Announced as 'I Knew Terence Nuke' ('From the book, I Knew Terence Nuke, by Eileen Beardsmore-Lewisham, tiddley-doo spot, we present the play, "I Knew Terence Nuke", from the 'oook by Eileen Beardsmore-Lewisham'). This show is a new production of the script first broadcast as 'Dishonoured, or The Fall of Neddie Seagoon', 12th of 5th series; there are only slight variations in the text. It is this later version which has been issued on Parlophone PMC 1108, despite their title of 'Dishonoured'.
6. Announced as 'Quatermass O.B.E.'. This show is a parody of the highly successful BBC-TV serial 'Quatermass and the Pit'. Andrew Timothy, who is pre-recorded, reads announcements at the beginning and end of the show that were originally intended to be read by John Snagge.
7. Announced (eventually) as 'The Kleens of Blenchinehall, the story of
an ordinary English comedy half-hour'.
10th Series
Scripts by Spike Milligan.
Produced byJohn Browell.
Broadcast Thursdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday.
1 24-12-59 TLO 3710 A Christmas Carol (2)
2 31-12-59 TLO 4230 The Tale of Men's Shirts (3)
3 7-1-60 TLO 5015 The Chinese Legs (1)
(with John Snagge -- pre-rec.)
4 14-1-60 TLO 5454 Robin's Post (4)
5 21-1-60 TLO 6251 The Silver Dubloons (1)
(with Valentine Dyall)
6 28-1-60 TLO 6786 The Last Smoking Seagoon (5)
(with John Snagge -- pre-rec.)
Notes to 10th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'A Merrv Christmas and Custard'.
3. Announced as 'Tales of Men's Shirts (a story of down under)'.
4. Announced as 'The Story of Lord Seagoon, Playboy of the Western Approaches'.