Sean Gaffney returns to talk about a favourite Goon Show episode from 1956 - Six Charlies In Search Of An Author, loosely based on a play by Fred Pirandello.

Was it a cry for help from Spike? A thinly-veiled portrait of a man whose life was beset by the weekly demand for a funny script, pouring scorn and contempt upon the very characters he created? Or was it just a neat idea for a particularly shambolic (and funny) episode?

We shall see.

Plus: an AI-generated 80,000-word examination of Series 7 of The Goon Show which leaves a LOT to be desired!

Fred Nurke is missing!

An over-ripe banana in a deserted Cannon Street shipping office is the only clue to his whereabouts. Inspector Ned Seagoon follows the trail to a British Embassy in South America.

Why are Senor Gonzales Mess and his gang trying to cut down the only banana tree in the Embassy gardens, and what is the connection between Fred Nurke and the over-ripe banana? 

Find out (maybe) by listening to this week's edition of Goon Pod, in which Tyler is joined by Jonathan Roberts!

They also examine the wider usage of the word 'nurk' (in its various spellings), wonder at a major US news anchor referencing this particular show and discuss the Guatemala revolution of 1954. Larry Stephens gets some well-deserved props too and they even manage to squeeze in Ed Wood's Bride Of The Monster!

Johnny Speight, creator of Alf Garnett, had a long friendship with Spike Milligan, stretching back to the mid-fifties and the Associated London Scripts days. Speight wrote Till Death Us Do Part which delighted and shocked television audiences in equal measure, with Garnett given to frequent outbursts against what he perceived as society's ills: immigration & foreigners in general, socialism, young people, increasing secularism, homosexuals, lack of due deference to the Royal Family and the ruling elite, feminism and anything else that he didn't really understand and felt threatened by.

In the mid-1980s Speight wrote a follow-up series to Till Death Us Do Part called In Sickness and in Health, which reintroduced audiences to Alf, now older but hardly any wiser. From the second series Alf was a widower (after the death of his co-star Dandy Nicholls) and there gradually grew a new set of characters to antagonise and exasperate him.

In the third series Spike had a guest appearance as Fancy Fred, squaring up to Alf at a tea dance and later bickering over where he parked his van. It's not a huge part and Spike wasn't aiming for any Bafta awards, but it's an intriguing cameo and one which we thought was worth talking about this week on Goon Pod - as well as talking about the Alf Garnett universe in general.

Joining Tyler is comedian John Dredge, currently riding high with a new series of his sketch show The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show - which can be found HERE: https://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/john_dredge_show/

Who is The Fox? 

I am The Fox!

In 1966 Peter Sellers made a film which this podcaster considers one of his top five despite it being commercially and critically underwhelming. It rarely gets spoken about in the same breath as some of the actor's other movies such as Dr Strangelove, Being There, The Pink Panther or The Ladykillers yet is a highly entertaining international romp featuring a standout performance from Sellers as Aldo Vanucci (AKA 'The Fox') and his co-star the wonderfully ebullient Victor Mature, who sends himself up something rotten as faded Hollywood star Tony Powell. 

Devised and written by Neil Simon and directed by Vittorio De Sica and also featuring Sellers' then-wife Britt Ekland as Gina, Vanucci's sister, After The Fox centres around an attempt by The Fox and his gang to smuggle stolen gold bullion into Italy by posing as a film crew. Naturally things do not go according to plan! Joining Tyler to discuss it is film lecturer and writer Graham Rinaldi and both struggle manfully to rid themselves of the catchy Hollies theme tune earworm. 

The award-winning master of spoken word audio, this week's guest is the endlessly entertaining Dirk Maggs.

Dirk has been overseeing the production of The Sandman: Act III, the latest in a long line of collaborations with Neil Gaiman. He was first introduced to Neil via a mutual friend at DC Comics, as Dirk had been involved in audio productions of The Adventures of Superman, Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome and other projects and it was also due to the DC connection that Dirk met Douglas Adams and so began the protracted process of bringing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy 'back home to BBC Radio' as Adams put it. Dirk has also produced adaptations of Agatha Christie, Stephen King and Arthur C Clarke works.

But it is for his work in comedy that we are focusing on this week - Dirk devised and produced At Last The Go On Show in 1991 to mark the 40th anniversary of The Goon Show; he later was the brains behind Goon Again in 2001, a special one-off restaging of The Goon Show starring Jeffrey Holland, Andrew Secombe, Jon Glover and Christopher Timothy ('a genetically-engineered tribute band' was how he described it).

We also talk about his early break in BBC Radio comedy producing The News Huddlines and shows such as The Long Hot Satsuma starring Graeme Garden and Barry Cryer, and later programmes like Inside Sasha and Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel which introduced The Marx Brothers to new generations.

It's a terrific conversation about a wide-ranging and never-dull career. More on Dirk here: www.dirkmaggs.com 

Recorded recently during his latest tour as The Pub Landlord – Gig For Victory – Al Murray joined Tyler to talk comedy and revealed how The Goon Show formed the foundations of his comic sensibilities. Al explained why he considers Spike Milligan’s war memoirs to be among the greatest of their kind – brutally honest while blisteringly funny and as fine a testament to the day-to-day life of soldiers during World War II as anything ever written. 

It’s a conversation which took in a lot of topics including Peter Cook, Denis Norden, Spitting Image, Monty Python, Al’s podcast We Have Ways Of Making You Talk, Vic & Bob, Britain’s satire tradition and even prog rock. There's also an impromptu book club as Tyler asked Al for some reading recommendations!

https://thepublandlord.com/

In all, Peter Sellers played Inspector Clouseau in five films (within his lifetime that is!) - The Pink Panther, A Shot In The Dark, The Return Of The Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge Of The Pink Panther. The Clouseau character was also portrayed on screen in a 1968 film starring Alan Arkin as the hapless Inspector. 

Gary Rodger from podcasts The Sitcom Club & Jaffa Cakes For Proust joins Tyler for a bumper-length chat about the character and the films.

As might be expected, the conversation ranges far and wide and while the pair have a lot to say about Sellers and the franchise there are a handful of handbrake turns involving Hylda Baker, Dudley Moore, Yootha Joyce, Richard O'Sullivan and Talfryn Thomas, not to mention Never Say Never Again and The Melting Pot!

Gary can be found @garyrodger @TheSitcomClub @jaffasforproust

Novelist and scriptwriter Eddie Robson is this week's guest and we discuss the stone cold classic from Series 7, "Wings Over Dagenham" in which Seagoon & McChisholm invent the aeroplane (at a stroke putting the horse-drawn zeppelin market out of business), Henry Crun builds an aerodrome at Croydon and a flat-earther from the Geographical Society sets up a classic Goon Show gag.

The conversation, as ever, veers hither and yon and includes chat about Stanley Kubrick, Kenneth Connor, Die Hard (yes, really), George Martin, why the Coens remade The Ladykillers and we tip the hat to that top-notch trombonist and a man with a reasonable claim to the title of 'Fifth Goon': George Chisholm.

We also talk about the positioning of characters in the show, the effective use of sound effects, underrated gags and a sequence recycled from Series 1. 

This all hopefully will provide you with a mental picture of a particularly fine podcast episode. 

Eddie's new novel 'Drunk On All Your Strange New Words' is published soon: Drunk on All Your Strange New Words: Amazon.co.uk: Robson, Eddie: 9781250807342: Books

@EddieRobson

@goonshowpod

Sacré Fred! This week we're popping across the Channel to the Paris of 1880 and meeting Neddie Toulouse-Lautrec and his beloved Fifi in the classic Series 6 episode 'Tales Of Montmartre'. This was to be the last script collaboration between Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes on The Goon Show and that was not the only thing coming to an end - the following week there'd be a brand new theme tune and soon after a new producer too! 

Our guest this week is motorsport commentator and pundit Jake Sanson who confesses to a deep affection for this particular episode and over the course of an hour he explains what it is that makes it such a special listen for him. 

We also talked about actress Charlotte Mitchell those other rare sightings of actual women on the show, the story behind The Case of the Mukkinese Battlehorn and Tyler's uncle's fondness for the gee-gees. And was Toulouse-Lautrec the most parodied artist in comedy?

Jake is on Twitter @JakeSanson

@goonshowpod

@TheGSPS

Joining Tyler this week is Jon Auty from Behind the Stunts to talk about a 1971 British comedy film featuring some of the biggest names in comedy and light entertainment at the time. 

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins was conceived, directed and produced by Graham Stark and he managed to bring together the likes of Bruce Forsyth, Harry H Corbett, Leslie Phillips, Alfie Bass, June Whitfield, Ronnie Barker and others to appear in a series of interlinked sketches illustrating the titular sins. 

Notably, it also featured two Goons - Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe - the former writing and appearing in a standout sequence called 'Sloth' while his erstwhile colleague adopts a series of desperate disguises to hoodwink Geoffrey Bayldon in 'Envy'. 

Things discussed include: On The Buses, recasting with Terry Scott, Paul Hardcastle's The Wizard, walnuts, Keith Flint from The Prodigy, 'Boob Coverage', Bert Kwouk's stunt double, the extremely talented Madeline Smith, the mystery of DB Cooper and much much more!

Check out Jon's work: linktr.ee/behindthestunts

Laura Grimshaw is this week's guest, the producer behind some of BBC Radio 4 Extra's landmark deep-dives into legendary figures from the world of comedy, including Les Dawson, the Bonzos, Barry Humphries and, notably, Neil Innes. She is also a regular host on Podcast Radio Hour, showcasing the wide world of podcasts, and contributor to 4 Extra's Comedy Club. 

From an early age she developed a love of comedy, thanks to her mum and grandparents exposing her to such classics as The Goon Show, Monty Python and Round the Horne and this has informed her career ever since. 

Laura joined Tyler to talk about the Goons, Python, Neil Innes and much more, including how older comedy is received by modern audiences and why sometimes compromises have to be made, the proliferation of podcasts and how important they can be in giving a platform to talent, and how she feels blessed to have been able to meet and share with so many astonishing figures from the worlds of comedy and popular entertainment.

*** NOTE: This episode was recorded in mid-May 2022, shortly before the announcement that Radio 4 Extra was to be moved to BBC Sounds, with its future after that uncertain as of the time of writing. 

We revolt tonight!

High treachery abounds as Neddie Seagoon, on a walking tour of Austria, attends a Grand Ball in honour of the Emperor’s son, Kron Printz Arnold. Fooled into believing he is the rightful heir to the throne (although somebody's in there) by those two unspeakable traitors Colonel Grytpype and Count Moriarty, Neddie is soon embroiled in a plot to plant a bomb in the Kron Printz's bed... but things naturally do not quite go according to plan. 

This week joining Tyler is Anthony Mudge to talk about The Case of the Missing Heir from Series 5. With the aid of a copy of producer Peter Eton's original script the two compare how closely the broadcast show stuck to the words on the page and examine those instances where it departed. 

Anthony is on Twitter @awmudge

This week Tyler is in conversation with actor & musician Jane Milligan who very kindly agreed to talk about her father Spike.

Among things discussed:

* Pixies, Fairy Kings and Badjelly!

* Harry, Peter & Mike!

* Spike's opinion of 'newer' comedy and his love for the greats!

* On the set of The Muppet Show!

* Wine, Wossy and THAT comment!

* The misconception that Spike was truly mad

And much much more, including poetry, Milligan Preserved, The Bed Sitting Room, jazz, Larry Stephens, Dallas (yes, really) and why Spike in later years referred to himself as a 'parcel'! (Oh, and Jim McDonald from Corrie WAS in Puckoon, so he was.) 

Plus, Jane talks about her close involvement in projects which are keeping the memory of Spike alive. 

Jane is on Twitter @goonchild4

"... Must admit he was very funny. I laughed. I laughed a great deal. Thought I was going to cry. I did."

A Visit to Swansea was the fourth episode of the second series of Hancock’s Half Hour and was originally broadcast on 10th May 1955, two days before Tony Hancock’s 31st birthday.

It was long considered one of the missing Hancocks until it was discovered last year by Richard Harrison of the Radio Circle and came from the same collection of recordings as The Marriage Bureau – the only episode of HHH to feature Peter Sellers and one we covered on Goon Pod previously with the guys from the Very Nearly An Armful podcast.

It’s intriguing as this is another formerly missing show to feature a Goon – in this case Harry Secombe in a cameo, and it followed on from the three previous episodes of HHH in which Secombe stood in for Hancock who had undergone some sort of breakdown and gone off to Italy.

Naturally it warranted an evaluation on Goon Pod and who better to talk all things Hancock than friend of the show Scott Phipps, host of such shows as Reel Britannia and the Talking Pictures podcast.

Two stories for the price of one with The Sock Jelly Murders and Ned the Miser in a show called The £1,000,000 Penny? All rather confusing really. 

Harking back to earlier series formats, this excellent show from Series 9 begins with a mystery crime caper which then makes way for the episode's 'proper' drama, involving Miser Ned, a certain penny, two perfect scoundrels on a stagecoach pulled by chickens, a troop of boy scouts, some old jokes, Granny Min from Eastbourne, a cup of coffee with a bomb in it and Eccles giving Major Bloodnok the glad-eye, as well as some knotty dialogue for Peter Sellers to deliver which he manages to do with aplomb. 

Our guest this time round is Nick Reeve, the brain behind the excellent Goon Show blog The Seagoon Memoirs - Home | The Seagoon Memoirs - which is helping to keep the Goons' flame burning and well worth an intense scrute. 

He's very good you know. Very good indeed.

Recorded as part of the BBC's anniversary celebrations 50 years ago this week, The Last Goon Show Of All brought together Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers along with Max Geldray, Ray Ellington, announcer Andrew Timothy, producer John Browell and many of the original musicians from the show's heyday in the fifties for a ripsnorting rambunctious reunion!

On 30th April 1972 at the Camden Theatre in London the Goons recorded a special show which perhaps lacked the spark of the classic series but still served as a kind of aural comfort blanket, resurrecting such well-loved characters as Bluebottle, Eccles, Seagoon and Bloodnok. 

Joining Tyler to discuss it is author, playwright and stand-up Ian Billings (who has penned audio plays about Milligan and Sellers) and here's a bunch of questions thrown up during the conversation:

* Why was Little Jim originally referred to as 'Lenin' in the script?

* Would the show have been better without Royal patronage?

* When exactly was that famous Michael Caine catchphrase coined?

* Just how peevish was Andrew Timothy?

* How might Michael Bentine have fitted into the reunion show?

* Did the absence of Angela Morley significantly impact upon the show's sound?

* Was the final 'freak out' better in rehearsal?

* Can you tell the difference between a lump on the head and margarine?

Plus much much more!

Ian is on Twitter @mrianbillings and check his work out on ianbillings.com 

Recipe for a riotous sixties romp? Take two aging thespians, mix in a dozen dependable character actors, add three or four comic geniuses to bind it all together and season with a generous pinch of psychedelic Victoriana. Top it off with a rising young star and the director's wife and the result is a complex confection full of surprises which the whole family can enjoy!

Joining Tyler this week is writer, podcaster and occasional broadcaster Tim Worthington to talk about a film which he (rightly) argues is unfairly underappreciated: Bryan Forbes' 1966 ensemble comedy The Wrong Box.

It qualifies for this podcast owing to a film-stealing turn by Peter Sellers as Doctor Pratt, but he is only one of many delights - it also features Peter Cook & Dudley Moore as a pair of hissable villains, Wilfrid Lawson as a butler on the verge of collapse, Michael Caine as the dashing, if naive, romantic lead, Tony Hancock as a rheumy-eyed troubled 'tec and Ralph Richardson as an increasingly erratic epistemophilic uncle! Also in 'blink-and-you'll-miss-'em' terms, Valentine Dyall, John Junkin, Leonard Rossiter and Graham Stark! (Graham Stark appears by kind permission of Mr Sellers). And, of course, the Lovely Nanette Newman as Miss Julia Finsbury.

It's a fun, rambling conversation which, like the film itself, takes a lot of surprising turns!

Tim is on Twitter @outonbluesix 

Mesel': @goonshowpod 

Chris Diamond of TV Cream joins Tyler to talk all things Goon-related as well as a whole heap'o'other stuff.

Having been aware of the Goons for as long as he can remember, Chris shares stories of discovering things like Q, The Last Goon Show Of All and The Great McGonagall (the latter of which he expounds upon at length) and there is a brief digression on the genius of Ken Campbell. Plus: Spike on chat shows and Sellers as Clouseau. 

Those with weak bladders are advised that as Chris and Tyler spoke for so long this is a longer than usual edition of the podcast. 

Chris can be found on Twitter @wheeltappers

https://www.tvcream.co.uk/

@goonshowpod

The co-creator and star of hit Radio 4 comedy series Ed Reardon’s Week - Christopher Douglas - is this week’s special guest!

Christopher talks about radio comedy and its impact and influence on postwar Britain and his own involvement in the medium.

Apart from the Goons we talked about Muir & Norden’s writing partnership, June Whitfield working with Peter Sellers, Stars In Battledress, Tony Hancock, the importance of spot FX in radio comedy and the infamous (and highly proscriptive!) BBC Green Book.

As well as playing Ed Reardon and the hapless cricketer Dave Podmore, Christopher has been involved in radio series such as Beauty of Britain, Mastering The Universe and the recent Tinniswood Award-winning adaptation of Tristram Shandy.

If you include the bonus shows this is Goon Pod’s 50th episode folks, with plenty more fun to come, and my thanks to Christopher and everyone else who has contributed to the podcast’s success since it launched in May 2021 – here’s to loads more!

This episode is sponsored by Muc™ - it cuts down trees!

Actor, musician and comedian Jeremy Limb is this week's special guest as we discuss the Goons' foray into television in the mid-fifties, specifically A Show Called Fred. 

Although few of the Fred shows survive (and none of its immediate predecessor Idiot Weekly Price 2d) Tyler and Jeremy worked with what they could get and what results is (we hope) an enjoyable and informative conversation about something the like of which which had never been seen on television up to that point, and which shows a clear line to future Python material (coconuts standing in as horses etc).

We also celebrate Kenneth Connor, The Alberts and the ubiquitous (for this podcast in any case) Valentine Dyall.

Jeremy also talks about his dad who was a notable figure within the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and composer of music for the likes of Box of Delights and Doctor Who. 

Jeremy is on Twitter @jeremylimb

@goonshowpod

Mark Cousins makes a welcome return to the podcast this week to talk in some detail about the early wireless career of Peter Sellers leading up to the launch of the Goon Show (or Crazy People) in 1951. 

Following his famous episode of chutzpah telephoning Roy Speer, Sellers was within a very short space of time one of the hardest working performers on British radio and in huge demand by producers owing to his facility for voices. 

Mark and Tyler touch on most of the shows he was involved in during this period including Ray's A Laugh, Petticoat Lane, Third Division (where he first worked with Secombe and Bentine and Pat Dixon), Tempo For Today and Workers Playtime.

Tune in now!

*** Mark will return in the future to discuss Sellers' fifties radio output once he was established firmly as a Goon. 

Everyone’s favourite Goon Show character Reuben Croucher is discussed in this week’s episode, alongside other such heavyweights of the show: Justin Eidelberger and Flowerdew. Yes, this week we’re talking about Series 5’s The Canal and once again we find Mr Valentine Dyall in fine form and at his villainous best, chewing it up something rotten!

Joining Tyler to talk about the show is Singapore-based illustrator and reviewer Jonathan Roberts and among other topics they discuss Hancock’s Half Hour and a mooted Goon Show/Hancock crossover which never happened, the Telegoons, Appointment With Fear and a missing Bloodnok scene.

Jonathan is on Twitter & Instagram @jonrob5000

All hail the Roly-Poly Regent of Raspberries, the Moon-Faced Monarch of Mirth, the Spherical Sovereign of Song! (Alright, that’s enough – Ed.)

This week Tyler is joined by Tony Cross to talk about Harry Secombe, focusing on his two volumes of memoir Arias & Raspberries and Strawberries & Cheam.

The emphasis is on the pre-Goons days, particularly his wartime service and post-war pursuit of fame as a fledgling comedian and variety turn.

It’s a warm appreciation of the man who would go on to become Ned of Wales and one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers.

Features stories such as Jimmy Edwards and a case of mistaken identity, a troublesome kidney stone, that fateful first meeting with Spike, Harry as a young shaver belting out hymns from the outdoor thunderbox and his time touring Italy to entertain the troops. Some honourable mentions along the way for Bill Hall, Peter Sellers, Muir & Norden, Vivian Van Damm, Bruce Forsyth and Tony Hancock.

And we ask: Why hasn’t there been a definitive Secombe biography?

Check out Tony on Twitter @Lokster71 and his website is https://acrosstime.tv/

As always, check out the podcast @goonshowpod

Stand by thrills, spills and a stereophonic Moriarty as this week we examine the Series 10 episode The Silver Doubloons!

Joining Tyler is Graeme Lindsay-Foot who explains why he chose The Silver Doubloons as opposed to one of the more fondly remembered episodes and makes a strong case for it being a classic, despite its chaotic ‘end of term’ atmosphere. There’s a lot of love for Valentine Dyall and some time is spent discussing Harry’s waist measurement but Robert Morley fans should be warned: Tyler goes off on one about the man who has - as Graeme puts it - ‘a face like an affronted egg’.

In his youth Graeme was a fully paid up member of the Goon Show Preservation Society and he tells of attending a meal with Spike back in the eighties which was an unforgettable experience. He’s also full of praise for both Max and Ray and explains why he developed a much deeper appreciation for their musical spots within the shows.

All this and more – download and listen now!

"Being the account of the hole, the wonderful way it was filled, and with what. Written for the wireless by Spike Milligan."

On the 12th August 1957 a Daily Mirror reporter encountered Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan larking about around Cleopatra's Needle on London's Embankment:

""This is 1887!" yelled Spike Milligan, standing on the base in a pair of rust corduroy trousers, green shoes, a tail coat - and a topee.

""We've just brought this back from Africa, a well-known place."

"Alongside him were Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers in tail coats and toppers. Harry screeched (and ducked): "Look out - pigeon!" then started to sing a song about "Lord Palmerston I love you..."

"Having all convinced themselves that they had just brought the needle back across the seas, Harry announced: "I now declare this needle well and truly threaded!"

"Then they sang: "There'll always be an England" and gave three hearty cheers for the Empire."

Some three years after the interesting experimental edition of the Goon Show called The Starlings which was performed more as a radio play without an audience, in August 1957 the Goons reconvened ahead of the 8th series to record The Reason Why in a similar fashion. It purported to tell the story behind the transportation of Cleopatra's Needle from Alexandria to London but through a typically Goonish filter.

Produced by Jacques Brown and also featuring Goon Show rep company player Valentine Dyall, The Reason Why was not quite as successful in its execution as The Starlings, but still a fascinating curio and this week Phil Shoobridge joins Tyler to talk about it.

“Stale. Bloody stale!”

The meaning behind this bitter ejaculation from a formidable matriarch will be revealed as this week joining Tyler on the show are Michael Livesley and Paul Carmichael, the rum blades behind the hit podcast Nice Things, who pitched up with plenty to say on the subject of… well, everything really, but of course looming over the chat was the long shadow of the Goons.

It’s a sprawling and highly entertaining conversation which covers a lot of ground and as well as Milligan & Co they touch on Professor Bruce Lacey,  Basil Brush and Freddie Trueman’s glossy syrup.

Also: Michael Bentine as a comedy gangster, Leonard Rossiter and a hippo, Leslie Sarony and his comedy stylings, Reg Varney ironing a shirt and the evocative orangey-brown hue of 1972.

Tune in your cat’s whisker podcatching device to listen to the general gubbins!

Nice Things: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nice-things/id1417286704

Twitter: @goonshowpod @NiceThingsShow

In the second of our extra special bonus episodes in the company of stars from the hit show ‘Spike’ – written by Nick Newman and Ian Hislop – Tyler talks to the wonderful Margaret Cabourn-Smith!

Margaret can be seen and heard in so much top British TV, radio and podcast comedy over the last twenty years, such as Miranda, Motherland, Psychoville, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme & Do The Right Thing, and it was a real delight getting to speak to her.

She talks about the play and what it’s like creating sound effects on stage in front of an audience, as well as her career, being a comedy obsessive and the nuts and bolts of performing. Naturally the conversation focuses on Spike and the Goons but it does wander off onto other topics – as it the nature of this podcast – including a quite unnecessary digression upon the American sitcom The Ropers.

‘Spike’ is on at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury until 5th March so catch it if you can! https://www.watermill.org.uk/spike

Margaret is also launching a brand new podcast – details on the show.

Twitter: @MCabournSmith @goonshowpod

On Sunday it’s 20 years since Spike Milligan died and this week Tyler is joined by comedy writer, poet, performer and producer Henry Normal to talk about his memories of Spike and the Goons.

Henry, along with Steve Coogan, launched Baby Cow in the late nineties and over the course of 30 years Henry has been closely involved with a wide range of films and television series such as Paul Calf’s Video Diary, Coogan’s Run, Nighty Night, Philomena, 24 Hour Party People, The Mighty Boosh, The Royle Family, Gavin & Stacey, Mid-Morning Matters With Alan Partridge, The Parole Officer and much much more.

Henry talks about listening to the Goons growing up and about Spike in particular, and remembers the time he met him - Spike coined a phrase which has haunted Henry ever since. As a teenager he found he could separate Spike Milligan the Goon from Spike Milligan the Poet having discovered his book Small Dreams Of A Scorpion, and this had a major impact upon him which has stayed with Henry to this day.

He also talks about his close collaborations with both Coogan and Caroline Aherne, his poetry, writing and performing as well as working alongside the late Linda Smith. And he has a few words to say about dear old Uncle Baz.

Find out about Henry’s latest tour, The Escape Plan – details on his website: http://henrynormal.com/

In the wake of Storm Eunice a special fun-filled BONUS episode to listen along to as you pick up your roof slates off the lawn and extract next door’s cat from the trellis!

Tyler talks with actor John Dagleish, who is currently wowing audiences as the eponymous Spike in Ian Hislop & Nick Newman’s new play which is enjoying packed houses at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury (on until 5th March so book soon!)

As listeners to last month’s Nick Newman episode will know, ‘Spike’ explores Spike Milligan’s often fractious relationship with the BBC during the height of his Goon Show fame. John talks about the challenge of bringing such a complex and multifaceted character to life on the stage, discovering the Goon Show as a child, learning to master a tricky musical instrument for the role, the joy of working alongside such talented fellow performers as Jeremy Lloyd, George Kemp and Margaret Cabourn-Smith, and even throws in a funny voice or two. We also discuss his Olivier Award-winning role as Kinks frontman Ray Davies in the hit show Sunny Afternoon and John draws some comparisons between playing Ray & Spike.

Normal service (no pun intended) will be resumed on Wednesday with special guest Henry Normal talking about his love of the Goons, Spike and in particular Spike’s poetry.

Details about ‘Spike’ here: https://www.watermill.org.uk/spike

Comedy series tie-in books used to adorn the floors of many a lavatory and we all remember with fondness the likes of The Goodies Book Of Criminal Records and Janet Lives With Mel & Griff. 

In 1972 a bright spark named Jeremy Robson hit upon the genius notion of publishing a book of Goon Show scripts. At the time the Goons’ currency was high owing to The Last Goon Show Of All & its resultant publicity and when The Goon Show Scripts was published later that year it was a runaway bestseller. Featuring brand new content written specially by Spike Milligan and a range of new and archival articles about the show itself, as well as being peppered throughout with reproductions of original doodles lifted from the original scripts, the book featured nine shows taken from Series 5 & 6 including The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler, The Canal and Napoleon’s Piano. The question is: just how ‘carefully selected’ were these scripts…?

Joining Tyler to lick a finger and leaf through the pages is Mike Haskins, author and scriptwriter, who has done a deep dive into the history of the book and over the course of seventy minutes they touch upon many diverse and interesting titbits, including the mysterious Vera Colin, the Goons breaking Royal protocol and a curious link between the book and The Jimi Hendrix Experience!

Mike is on Twitter @MikeHaskins11

When blackmailer Dennis Price threatens to dig the dirt on Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount and Shirley Eaton the four of them do everything in their power to stop him!

Wee Sonny McGregor (Sellers) risks irreparable damage to his reputation as a cuddly television personality if his second job as a slum landlord is revealed; Lord Mayley (Terry-Thomas) has been indiscreet in a park and his wife must never find out; author Flora Ransom (Mount) fears book sales will suffer should her wild past in Shanghai be exposed; and model Melissa Right (Eaton)… well, we don’t actually find out what she did but all she wants is the love and affection of her Texan boyfriend!

The Naked Truth (1957) was Sellers’ first opportunity to really showcase his talents as a comedy chameleon, assume different personas and build upon his Goon Show reputation as the man of a thousand voices. Written by Michael Pertwee and directed by Mario Zampi it is a wonderful ensemble piece with terrific performances from all the leads, especially Sellers and the formidable Peggy Mount.

Joining Tyler to discuss the film is returning guest, podcaster Scott Phipps (Reel Britannia, Talking Pictures TV) whose knowledge of this era of British films makes for a highly entertaining and informative hour or so of chat.

It’s good to be alive in 1985!

Joining Tyler this week - after finishing his shift operating the pornograph machine in the Forbidden Records Dept – is Sean Gaffney, who was keen to talk about the Goons’ celebrated take on Orwell’s 1984 which had been dramatized for BBC Television merely weeks earlier. 1985 was received so warmly by listeners that it was swiftly followed by a restaged episode but the show we will be focusing on is the first (and best) version. We talk about how closely it follows the narrative of the source material, how its overwhelming topicality did not hinder the laughs and speculate as to the reasons for some script and performance decisions – what happened to the Ben Lyon gag? Was the old antique shop owner meant to be Crun or not? Plus we find out about Ronnie Waldman, Maurice Winnick, Len Hutton and Issy Bonn.

Available in the usual places – please rate & review on iTunes!

Sean is on Twitter @Toukochan

GoonPod: @goonshowpod

A new play about Spike Milligan opens on Thursday 27th January at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury. Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman (The Wipers Times, Trial By Laughter) SPIKE stars John Dagleish, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Jeremy Lloyd, George Kemp and Stephen Fry.

Focusing on arguably Spike’s most consistently creative period of his career – the 1950s and The Goon Show – the play examines his somewhat fractious relationship with the BBC drawn from reams of often hilarious correspondence which passed between Milligan and Corporation executives over the course of the show’s run and to which the writers were given exclusive access. There were very often threats and fireworks but it wasn’t always one-sided – sometimes BBC producers could give as good as they got.

Joining Tyler to talk about the play is co-writer Nick Newman, who also talks about his history with The Goon Show – he grew up listening to it in Singapore – and contrasts this with Ian’s relatively limited knowledge of the show prior to embarking upon the project, which significantly changed as he became more immersed in the material. There’s also some stuff to be said about Spike’s relationship over the years with Peter Cook and with Private Eye magazine and much much more.

As you’d expect from writers of their pedigree the play promises to be ‘an absurdly funny new play that delves into the inner workings of one of our most unique and brilliantly irreverent comedy minds’.

Details here: https://www.watermill.org.uk/spike

Twitter: @goonshowpod

During Series 8 of The Goon Show the team also recorded a dozen or so remakes of episodes which originally went out in 1954 and these were gathered together into a series especially for Transcription Services called Vintage Goons. Apart from a handful which were broadcast immediately ahead of the start of the ninth series the rest of the shows were not broadcast in the UK until the 80s & 90s, and in one case, 2008.

This episode returning guest John Dredge discusses the first of these, The Mummified Priest, from 1957. It centres around unprincipled gadabout Ned Seagoon, whose ruthless determination to discover a tomb full of untold riches sees him hotfoot it to Egypt upon a thrilling adventure!

Check out John and what he gets up to on Twitter @johndredge

Also: @goonshowpod

If this week’s guest and I were to find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic dystopian wasteland in which only twenty or so people survived, and podcasts didn’t exist anymore, we’d no doubt agree that our lives no longer had any purpose and head off to ask Nurse Marty Feldman for a couple of death certificates. On our way we’d be careful to avoid uxoricidal Shelter Man Harry Secombe, bewhiskered GPO Man Spike Milligan and barber-for-hire (& rubber fetishist) Roy Kinnear. 

Above all we’d make sure to KEEP MOVING!

Yes, this episode Adam from RetroTube joins Tyler to talk about Richard Lester’s big screen adaptation of Milligan and John Antrobus’s acclaimed stage play, surreal Cold War satire The Bed Sitting Room (1969) featuring Milligan, Secombe, Kinnear and Feldman as well as Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, Ralph Richardson, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Rita Tushingham and Frank Thornton (as “The BBC”)

The Third World War was the shortest war in history at 2 minutes 28 seconds in duration and left 40 million dead but almost everyone left in London is trying to put a brave face on it. Everyone, that is, apart from Lord Fortnum. He’s convinced he’s turning into a bed sitting room. What follows is a bewildering but often hilarious series of events, at times veering off towards some pretty bleak moments. Did Tyler enjoy it? Did Adam? Tune in to find out!

Adam is co-host of the all-conquering RetroTube podcast and can be found on Twitter @retro_tube

Tyler is @goonshowpod

yuf5dqZl6Rk7AbsKPwAy

In 1972 a film was released which is generally regarded as one of Peter Sellers' weakest films - Where Does It Hurt - and joining Tyler to kick it around for an hour or so are Jeremy Limb & Paul Litchfield.

Sellers plays administrator Albert T. Hopfnagel at Vista Vue Hospital, described by Sellers' biographer Roger Lewis as being like “every over-the-top insurance salesman and fraudulent television evangelist you pray you’ll never meet…. He’s a streak of brown lightning… he appears happy and comprehensively spurious as a minor Richard III, bribing and threatening.”

From the outset the film adopts a cynical framing of the US medical system.

When laid-off construction worker Lester Hammond arrives at Vista Vue seeking a routine check-up he gets more than he bargained for – Hopfnagel runs the hospital like a racketeer, where the age-old medical maxim “First do no harm” has been downgraded to “First bleed them for every dime they’ve got”.

As well as comprehensively trashing the film the chaps turn to other matters of import, such as My Mother The Car, Derren Nesbitt, Doctor Who, the Carry On films and Dick Emery.

10-4!

If you want it, here it is, come and get it!

This episode, the first of 2022, looks at the hugely ambitious if not entirely successful 1969 film adaptation of Terry Southern’s satirical novel The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr and a cast of familiar faces including Spike Milligan, Hattie Jacques, John Cleese, Richard Attenborough, Patrick Cargill, Roman Polanski, Raquel Welch and even Fred Emney!

Joining Tyler on the pod this week, having just done several laps of a vat full of animal waste, is the writer Jem Roberts whose latest book Fab Fools examines the Beatles and comedy and has recently been released as an audiobook. Jem has also written books on Blackadder, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue/ISIRTA, Douglas Adams and Fry & Laurie. We found a lot from the film to talk about and it was a highly enjoyable and entertaining conversation. 

Jem’s website:  www.jemroberts.comand he’s on Twitter @JemRoberts

Well now, here’s a thing – a Goon Pod Bonus Episode for New Year’s Eve!

Back in early November, with special guest and host of the Beatles Books podcast Joe Wisbey, we examined the landmark 1995 BBC documentary The Peter Sellers Story (see episode 24)

Now Joe has been talking to the director of that documentary, Peter Lydon, exclusively for Goon Pod and the resultant conversation is here.

Peter shares plenty of insights into the making of the Sellers documentary with its predictable (and unpredictable) challenges and general behind-the-scenes hoopla.

Many thanks to both Peter and Joe and thanks to everyone who has supported the podcast during its first six months or so – here’s to an even better 2022!

This week actor, writer and comedian Toby Hadoke guests on the show to talk to Tyler about the Nigel Kneale-influenced Goon Show episode The Scarlet Capsule, which aired the week after the final instalment of Quatermass & The Pit was shown on BBC Television in 1959.

Toby talks about his career and enthusiasms while also discussing the Goons and British comedy in general.

We discover that The Scarlet Capsule is in some ways a faithful parody of its source material while in other respects departs entirely from the plot – lawks, imagine a Goon Show doing such a thing – and remains one of the most fondly remembered episodes of the show thanks in no small part to its inclusion on the 1960 Parlophone release The Best Of The Goon Shows Number 2 (see last week’s episode of Goon Pod for more information)

Toby was a very warm and generous guest and it was a delight to speak with him – he even found time to play a short round of “How Many Characters Were Called [insert christian name here] In Doctor Who?” 

We hope you enjoy the conversation too. 

Despite him being officially The Hardest Working Man in Podcasting, the Goon Pod production team begged, bribed and eventually blackmailed the magnificent Mike Fenton Stevens and he agreed to appear on the show!

Mike looks back at some interesting highlights from a career on TV, radio and the stage spanning more than forty years and he explains how the Goons informed his early development in terms of performing comedy business in front of a crowd. We discuss the episode The Tale of Men’s Shirts which was the A-side of the 1960 Parlophone LP The Best Of The Goon Shows No.2 - one of many comedy records in the house as Mike grew up.

There’s plenty to talk about and as is customary the conversation veers off in all directions… it will be of interest even to those who have never heard The Goon Show but love British comedy in general. And yes, we do tackle the topic of exactly who it was who first came up with the “Ringo’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles” canard!

Mike is the host of the popular podcast My Time Capsule: https://linktr.ee/mytcpod and can be found on Twitter @fentonstevens

Follow Goon Pod @goonshowpod

In March 1957 the Dirk Bogarde second world war film Ill Met By Moonlight was released and little over a week later the Goons successfully parodied it with their own version. The Goons relished doing send-ups of WWII movies and some of their greatest shows included The Man Who Never Was, I Was Monty’s Treble, Rommel’s Treasure and, of course, the episode we’re covering today: Ill Met By Goonlight.

Phil Cannon is co-host of the long-running Doctor Who podcast Who’s He? and also a self-confessed Goon – and especially Spike – addict. He guests today to discuss Ill Met By Goonlight and remembers first hearing the show when it was included in a bunch of repeats on BBC radio in the early eighties.

Among other things we big up the often overlooked Jim Spriggs, marvel at Sellers’ vocal gymnastics, lift the lid on Sellers’ connection with the director Michael Powell even briefly mention war memoirs, a topic which would later feature heavily in a very fondly-remembered Goon Show (see next week for more details!)

Thanks to Phil - the Who’s He? podcast is available here: https://www.whos-he-podcast.co.uk/

Follow the show on Twitter: @goonshowpod

In 1976 a Neil Simon-scripted movie called Murder By Death was released which cleverly spoofed the detective fiction genre and featured one hell of a cast, including Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Peter Falk, David Niven, Maggie Smith and Truman Capote. Five world-famous ‘tecs accept an invitation to stay at the crazy house of the mysterious Lionel Twain and over dinner are informed that someone will be murdered! Hilarity ensues!

While there may be some content which hasn’t exactly aged well there are also genuine laughs to be had and joining Tyler this time round to discuss the film is Jon Morris - cartoonist, writer and one-half of the Just One More Thing podcast, which is all about Columbo and incredibly funny.

Download and listen now!

Check out Jon’s website: http://www.calamityjonsave.us/

Just One More Thing podcast: http://thecitydesk.net/justonemorething/

Twitter: @goonshowpod @calamityjon

Timed to go out exactly a month too late for Halloween, this week’s episode details the saga of the dread Spectre of Tintagel and joining your genial host is another ex-pat Kiwi now living in Blighty – cartoonist and comic book writer Roger Langridge.

The Spectre of Tintagel is not one of the better-remembered Goon Shows yet it remains powerfully atmospheric (well, as atmospheric as a Goon Show can get!) with some wonderful twists and turns and a winning performance by Mr. Valentine Dyall, AKA The Man In Black, as ‘The Butler’.

Join Tyler and Roger as they talk about growing up listening to Badjelly the Witch, Roger reminisces about ‘unlocking the Goon Show code’ and seeing Spike on stage in the early 80s, as well as Liberace laughing all the way to the bank, the unworkability of a notional Goon Show cartoon series, subverting catchphrases and, er, Roger’s feelings about the musical numbers (Paddington hard stare)

Check out Roger’s work here: http://hotelfred.blogspot.com/

Please follow on Twitter @goonshowpod and @hotelfred (spot the GS reference folks!)

We’re on a slightly more literary tip this week as actor, composer & voiceover artist (and YouTube sensation!) Darrell Maclaine steps into the pod to talk about growing up on a steady diet of Spike, such as A Book of Milliganimals and his books & poetry in general, and how it helped him ignore his draughty portacabin classroom & nurtured his comedy sensibilities. He also talks about Spike the man and how he perceived him as a child of the nineties.

There’s also a chance to hear Darrell’s stirring clarion call for the preservation and championing of the past, which is in part a demand that our cultural heritage not be easily dismissed because it’s ‘old’ - a rousing declamation which I’m sure will swell in the breast of every dedicated tapehead, archive enthusiast and listener to this podcast.

All this and much more!

Check out Darrell’s wildly inventive and eerily convincing videos – TV Themes Go Pop! – here: https://www.youtube.com/c/darrellmaclaine

What can be done about a BBC announcer who has gone over to the dark side? Find out this week as we welcome Heather Wainwright, co-host and beating heart of the ever-popular RetroTube podcast, who popped along to talk about the absolute stone cold classic The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton).

As Nugent Dirt enters the annals of criminology as the Phantom’s first victim and Wallace Greenslade’s tobacco business begins to thrive, so this taut 30-minute thriller builds to a nail-biting climax with barely a dry seat left in the house. We examine the episode, along the way taking many conversational detours and ask the really BIG questions:

What man can tame Minnie Bannister? Was Tom Cruise the Phantom Barber of Mississippi? Why is Seagoon a ‘big div’? Who WAS that heavyset bus driver? How exactly did Ellington the Hamster meet his end? Why did Sellers forget Ruxton Hayward? Just how cuddly is John Thaw?

These questions and many others are barely answered in this week’s show – tune in now!

Comedian, satirist and writer Mark Thomas has been holding the establishment to account for over thirty years through television, radio, live shows and activism, using comedy to expose often outrageous political and corporate abuses of power and influence.

Mark joined Tyler on the pod this week to talk about The Goon Show and Spike Milligan in particular, whose rebellious nature and healthy distrust of authority helped inform his worldview. He talks of first meeting Milligan on the C4 show Saturday Zoo in 1993 where he almost did himself a mischief heaving several bags of books up some stairs for a bemused Spike to sign.

He also talks candidly about his dad (a huge Spike fan) with great affection - a strong-willed, larger-than-life patriarch who would often wind down after a long-day’s graft by dropping his trousers to watch comedy like Steptoe & Son on the telly. Mark inherited his love of the Goons from his dad and from the many family friends and local characters who were such an indelible part of his formative years. Goon jokes and catchphrases were staples of everyday conversation and in trying to nail down what it was that made the show so important Mark reveals how listening to the Goons helped him cope with periods of being away from home at a young age.

Alongside Goon-related chat Mark talks about:

Sneaking into arts venues as a schoolboy to watch contemporary performative dance; cracking up in Kerala; the Art of Devilment; meeting David Amess MP dressed as a giant bear; writing for Dave Allen; Nicholas Soames and his three-tier mahogany buffet with partially reeded slender balustrade upright supports; dancing to Donovan with Nellie Boswell from Bread

… And much more! Please follow the podcast on Twitter @ goonshowpod and rate and review on iTunes!

The British sitcom film of the seventies - doesn't the very mention of the genre make your heart sing?

Sure, there were some stinkers, but this week we're talking about one which we consider to be a fairly successful adaptation: Man About The House from 1974.

Why is this being covered on Goon Pod? Two reasons. Firstly, Spike Milligan is in it, playing himself. Secondly, it's Tyler's podcast and he likes MATH, so there.

Joining him to talk about the film and wander down countless conversational backstreets are three chums: Gary Rodger & Tilt Araiza from The Sitcom Club and Jaffa Cakes For Proust podcasts and Andrew Hickey from A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.

Among other things they consider John Inman's career down under, speculate as to what exactly happened on George & Mildred's honeymoon and ponder the possibility of Harry Nilsson recording the theme tune to Porridge!

The telly equivalent of a bumper Beano summer special, the 1995 BBC Arena documentary about Peter Sellers was stretched over three episodes and clocked in at nearly three and a half hours. Made up of extensive home movie footage and interviews with most of the key players in Sellers’ life, as well as clips from his career and some wonderfully atmospheric music, it was arguably the second-most important multi-episode popular culture TV retrospective of 1995, behind The Beatles Anthology series. Obvs.

And *speaking* of The Fab Four, this week’s guest is Joe Wisbey, a man who spends an awful lot of time chatting to authors of Beatles books (paperback writers, if you will) for his marvellous Beatles Books podcast – available here: https://beatlesbooks.podbean.com/

Joe has probably watched the Sellers documentary more times than is strictly seemly but it holds an enduring fascination for him and he spoke eloquently about how he came to discover it and what it means to him.

Corps blimey! Live from a stench packing factory is this week’s guest: writer and podcaster John Rain, the man behind the mighty Smersh Pod and author of the recently published Explodobook (available from all good Amazons)

John first heard The Goon Show as a young shaver and joins the pod this week to talk about an episode very dear to his heart: The Case of the Missing C.D. Plates from Series 6.

Among other things we discuss the irredeemable Denis Bloodnok, the irreproachable Peter Cushing, the irreverent Ruxton Hayward and the irreplaceable Wallace Greenslade (and I apologise in advance!) as well as the delightfulness of extended corpsing, The Man From Laramie, the problems with The Last Goon Show Of All, David Lodge in Cockleshell Heroes and Bill Maynard’s Crumpet Code of Ethics™.

All this and much much more!

It’s another general chat about the Goons and much else besides with podcaster Martin Holmes this week!

The conversation took so many twists and turns that I confess I got quite giddy but we managed to squeeze into an hour or so’s chat a lot of Goon-related nattering. Martin briefly adopted an Australian accent at one point during a conversation about British sitcoms Down Under and it was so convincing Tyler briefly thought that Paul Hogan himself had walked in the room. The poetry of Milligan has affected us both in different ways and we talk a bit about that as well as Tony Hancock, Associated London Scripts and even, briefly, the 1983 series The Black Adder.

Martin can be heard at Vision On Sound here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/vision-on-sound/id1535571103 

yuf5dqZl6Rk7AbsKPwAy