Goon Pod: Recent Episodes
Goon Pod
A podcast celebrating the legendary Goon Show and the Goons themselves - Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan (and Michael Bentine)
Each episode host Tyler welcomes a guest to examine an actual Goon Show, a solo Goon project (films, TV, radio, books, albums etc) or practically anything within the Goon universe!
Please follow on Twitter @goonshowpod
This is the earliest Goon Show we've covered on the podcast so far - the second show of Series 4 and while not fully matured to the level of quality we've come to expect it is still a solid and amusing edition with both cast and audience on fine form.
It begins with a short sketch about Handsome Harry trying to save an heiress from drowning in order to glom a large reward but the story proper begins following Max's number.
London is gripped by terror as a madman is at large threatening to blow up notable landmarks. Seagoon is tasked with tracking him down and enlists help from the likes of Bloodnok, Eccles and Henry Crun - a bomb diviner. Bluebottle is easily confused by pins and we also meet William Gladstone... or is it Churchill?
Roger Stevenson joins Tyler and along the way they discuss Eva Bartok, Anna Neagle, Edwardian Dynamite genre fiction, Mrs Dale's Diary, the Robin Hood radio panto, James Finlayson, Ray's A Laugh, Hermione Gingold, Marilyn Monroe... and there's a couple of rounds of "Is It Spike Or is It Peter?" for good measure.
They also look at the lead up to Series 4 and the mysterious 'Fred Flange'.
Goon Pod listeners were asked to send in their questions and comments about the show, the Goons or comedy in general and they didn't disappoint!
Adam Leslie (Award-Winning Novelist) joined Tyler to work through the list of listener folderol and there was so much that they only managed to get through half of it!
So - in a packed show you will hear us covering a wide range of topics and among many other things we discussed:
- Puckoon
- The different Goon Show theme tunes
- Alexei Sayle's Stuff
- Andrew Timothy
- The best Spike film?
- Great Scott It's Maynard!
- Young Barry Cryer
- The Bride of Frankenstein
- Shows for newbies?
- The Ray Ellington Quartet lineups
- Hancock vs Steptoe
- Later Bentine collaborations
... and much much more!
At first glance you may be forgiven for thinking this fairly obscure 1962 British film was one of those forgettable ‘let’s put the show on right here!’ teensploitation flicks full of popular music acts of the day, bland and generic enough to offend nobody other than crusty old colonel-types who objected to young people being seen to have fun.
But this film, the feature directorial debut by Richard Lester, was something a little different, with an eye for visual flair to differentiate it from the formulaic British musical films which had preceded it. Lester pretty much determined that he had to make the absolute most of what he was given to work with and we see in the film the earliest knockings of what would later become known as the music video; and he would use these techniques to greater effect a couple of years later in A Hard Day’s Night.
There was also actual proper comedy, not in abundance but any dads in the audience would have been reassured by the presence of Derek Nimmo, Mario Fabrizi, Frank Thornton and Hugh Lloyd – not to mention the soothing tones of Deryck Guyler as ‘The Narrator’. Lester employed cartoonish, one might almost say Goonish flourishes throughout the film: fast motion, reverse spooling, the aforementioned omnipresent narrator who’s in on the joke and there’s even a custard pie gag.
The pairing of just-about-still-relevant pop stars Helen Shapiro and Craig Douglas as the film’s colourless leads was necessary to draw the target audience but by 1962 how many teenagers were still into Mr Acker Bilk, Chris Barber or even Chubby Checker? The Beatles’ heavy footfall was a creak on the stair and within months this sort of music would be swept away as Merseybeat and beat groups in general bestrode the Hit Parade.
Joining Tyler to discuss “the whole swingy parade [which] goes like a good-humoured bomb” (The Daily Mirror) is Andrew Hickey, host of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs who believes it is a standout film of its genre, but says the credit is largely owed to Richard Lester and his unique directorial style. He discusses the musical and cultural climate in Britain at the time, the origins of Trad Jazz, the early career of Lester and how films like this were usually largely cinematic landfill, plus talks about his show and plans for the future.
(Recorded February 2025 and first heard on Goon Pod Film Club)
The year is 1656 in Ninfield, Sussex. Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty arrive at the stately home of Lord Neddie Seagoon, seeking shelter for the night. As he shows them to their room, Lord Seagoon notices that the seats of their trousers are burned out... a ghastly indication of the dreaded Nadger Plague!
This is definitely one of those Goon Shows where you have to ask yourself, how did they get away with it? This week Tyler and returning guest Sean Gaffney discuss all things nadgers - plagues and otherwise.
It's definitely a rather unsettling episode with a gothic undercurrent and a couple of ideas which prefigured Harry Potter by a good forty-odd years. There's a witch, an apothecary, talking clocks and gas-stoves, treasure chests, lantern slides and even early homeopathy!
They also discuss the death of Son Of Fred, The Telegoons, Bernard Levin getting chinned on live telly, Lady Docker and Liberace!
Over the course of his relatively short film career Peter Sellers appeared in a lot of movies but this week we are looking at those film projects that he was at one stage attached to and were either never made or made without his involvement.
Joining Tyler is actor Patrick Strain and the two of them consider such 'might have beens' as The Alien, God Ha Ha, Arigato, I'm All Right Jack 2 and The Phantom Vs The Fourth Reich. They also wonder how different 10, Topkapi and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - among many others - might have been had Sellers starred in them.
This week a bit of a diversion. MJ Price of Quite A Boast podcast - all things Reeves & Mortimer - joins Tyler to talk about his love of the Goons and considers what sort of influence or impact (or otherwise) they may have had on future comedians, specifically Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer.
Later the chat turns more generally towards R&M and their body of work, including Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Smell of Reeves & Mortimer, Bang Bang It's Reeves & Mortimer, Shooting Stars and Catterick (with dishonourable mentions to Randall & Hopkirk Deceased and that Ulrika special).
They muse on how different generations of comics and comedians tended to flit into and out of each others' orbits and turn up in each others' shows and this is a tradition which applied equally to the Goons as it did to Reeves & Mortimer.
It's a fun chat about a pair of comedy legends who crop up all too infrequently on Goon Pod but whose humour and inventiveness chimes with that of Milligan (although he would never have acknowledged that at the time!)
You can find Quite A Boast here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL11Ba_QI4Z2_rczxZtu83mE7L4ZW6npL_&si=66WgrMaYtKOT0jEl
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Jim Dale, Arthur Lowe and Spike Milligan. It is based on Milligan's best-selling first volume of war memoir of the same name but differs markedly in several respects.
It was adapted by Milligan, Cohen and Johnny Byrne; Byrne said of the film: “We want to get away from the idea that Milligan is a clown. He is a clown but first of all he is a human being. As this is a film about the early Milligan, Milligan was more of a human being than a clown at that time.”
The casting of Jim Dale as young Spike was inspired, and he received a BAFTA nomination.
While the film prioritises comedy, it occasionally crowbars in a clunky 'war is hell' narrative and it struggles to find the right tone. Nevertheless it is a serviceable 90 minute 70s British comedy with a host of familiar faces such as Bill Maynard, Tony Selby, Geoffrey Hughes, Pat Coombs and Windsor Davies.
Joining Tyler this week to discuss the film is comedy writer Matt Owen who can be found at https://www.mathew-owen.co.uk/
The Life & Death of Peter Sellers caused something of a stir upon original publication in 1994. Rather than being a dispassionate account of the actor's life and work it leaned in quite heavily on his failings as a man and the author himself wasn't afraid to offer his personal views.
That author, Roger Lewis, joins Tyler this week as the book is out in a brand new edition to coincide with Sellers' centenary this year. Roger has written a new afterword: The Centennial Sellers and Steve Coogan supplied a foreword.
They discussed Sellers' strengths and weaknesses, his films, the Goon Show, people he worked with and fell in and out with and tried to nail down what it was about his self-destructive melancholy private personality that so absorbed Roger early on in the writing of the book. Alexander Walker comes in for a bit of a kicking too! There's also quite a bit about the film of the book and speculations about what Sellers might have done had he lived beyond 1980.
Added to this, Roger talks about his previous book on Charles Hawtrey which is being reissued next year and the book he is currently engaged upon: Victoria Wood, and the women in comedy who influenced and shaped her unique talent.
“I like the Pickwick score, it’s robust and British. I’ve often been offered parts in American musicals but I’ve always turned them down. No matter how good they are, I always feel they are not part of us. That’s why I waited and thought of this idea of making a musical of ‘Pickwick.” - Harry Secombe, 1963.
And so the idea was realised, based on the 1837 Charles Dickens novel The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known simply as The Pickwick Papers.
Harry got the idea for the musical while on holiday in the Bahamas, inspired by the success of Oliver! The writer Wolf Mankowitz agreed to turn it into a musical but faced the considerable challenge of condensing the 250,000words and loosely-linked anecdotes from the original novel into a workable stage production. He eventually decided to use the Pickwick-Bardell breach of promise action as a basic skeleton from which to hang the two-act musical adaptation.
Pickwick premiered in Manchester in summer 1963 and as well as Secombe as the titular rotundity featured the likes of Anton Rodgers, Julian Orchard, Hilda Braid, Peter Bull and Norman Rossington among the cast.
It swiftly transferred to the West End and two years later opened in the United States. Some of the original British cast reprised their roles (obviously including Harry) but Charlotte Rae came on board as Mrs Bardell and a young scapegrace called Davy Jones took up the part of Sam Weller. The story is he was spotted and signed up for The Monkees during this, and was subsequently replaced by the great Roy Castle.
An original cast recording was released on LP in 1963 and in 1969 the BBC broadcast a 90-minute colour adaptation of the musical, adapted for the screen by James Gilbert and Jimmy Grafton. It reunited Secombe with Roy Castle and Julian Orchard and introduced us to Hattie Jacques as Mrs Bardell, Aubrey Woods as Mr Jingle and Robert Dorning as Tupman.
This week returning guest Tim Worthington talks all things Pickwick but as you would expect with someone like Tim the conversation is wide-ranging and he pulls many a thread from the tapestry of sixties popular culture!
"What's become of that crispy bacon we had before the war?"
Yes, this is that episode. 'Fireball' doesn't perhaps get the love it deserves, as it contains a fairly strong plot (by Goon Show terms). Henry Crun believes the sun is on fire, ergo the world is coming to an end and soon his fellow villagers are drawn into the drama. Seagoon is dispatched to see the Queen, a dissenting lad climbs a 200-ft ladder with a bit of bread on the end of a toasting fork and a rocket is constructed out of wood, brown paper and string, the idea being that it will transport the villagers up to the sun with buckets of water to put it out. Still with me?
Joining us this week is Jeff Walker, host of Podcasto Catflappo - a podcast all about Filthy, Rich & Catflap.
This week Goon Pod welcomes Gavin Sutherland, conductor, musician, composer, arranger and general music nut with a passion for both the high-brow and the not-so-high-brow. As well as all that he's involved in podcasts such as The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour and has just released an album of old TV tunes, idents and ephemera: 'The Next Programme Follows Shortly'.
Gavin has long been a fan of the Goons and thanks to his job and connections has met a number of former musicians who have played on the Goon Show, as well as, most notably, Angela Morley. Gavin talks about Angela fondly and describes how she was much in demand for her musical arrangements.
He and Tyler talk about some music heard in the Goon Show over the course of the series, some of it highly memorable, while some of it merely a useful example of dependable linking music.
It's a hugely enjoyable conversation which will appeal to comedy and music fans alike!
In 1966 Jonathan Miller's BBC Television adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic children's story caused something of a moral panic, even before it was broadcast. Amidst much foot-stamping, harrumphing and letters to the Editor the point was very much missed - yes, it was to be screened after nine o'clock in the evening and was not aimed at children but not because it contained questionable material (or, as some believed, 'X-rated filth'!).
The writer and performer Bob Fischer first saw Miller's Alice In Wonderland about twenty-odd years ago and was immediately drawn in. It was a snapshot of the time it was made despite the period trappings, an example of early psychedelia with offbeat performances, thought-provoking visuals (inspired by Victorian photography), and an overall dreamlike undercurrent set to music by Ravi Shankar. All of it conveyed the torpor of an endless summer.
Miller eschewed actors in animal costumes and was blessed with a stellar cast including Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Brambell, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Leo McKern and even Malcolm Muggeridge, not to mention the girl at the centre of the film, Alice herself, played by Anne-Marie Mallik.
Bob & Tyler immerse themselves in the film and discuss its background, the controversy, the casting, story, score and much else besides. Bob throws in the odd Alan Bennett impression and wonders if 1966 AIW could in some ways have inspired both The Prisoner and The Rutles, and even draws some parallels with Revolver, released around the time the film was in production.
Bob is @bobfischer.bsky.social and as well as writing for the Fortean Times, Electronic Sound and Doctor Who Magazine is one of the people behind Mulgrave Audio and Summer Winos and tours with Scarred For Life.
In May 1991 At Last The Go On Show was broadcast on BBC Radio 2, designed to celebrate the Goon Show's 40th anniversary. It was a stunning documentary that still sounds fresh and relevant today and two of the three men behind it - Dirk Maggs and Ted Kendall - joined Tyler and Graeme Lindsay Foot to discuss how it all came about and the challenges they faced.
Ted (who it turns out wanted to be a racing driving before getting into audio engineering) talks about bringing together the clips and sequences which proliferate throughout and the techniques employed to improve their quality.
Dirk recalls interviewing Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine and the marathon session putting everything together.
Graeme looks back at it from the fan's perspective and recalls GSPS get-togethers from years gone by.
They also talk about the series of restored shows that aired the following year and the necessary cuts needed in a wide-ranging and thoroughly enjoyable conversation.
John Antrobus is 92 years old and still going strong! He is the last living link with the Goon Show inasmuch as he co-wrote (with Spike Milligan) two shows from the eighth series and would later go on to collaborate with Milligan on a regular basis - mostly notably on The Bed Sitting Room.
Fifteen years Milligan's junior, young fresh-faced Antrobus joined Associated London Scripts soon after its formation and worked with all the older hands - including Johnny Speight, Galton & Simpson and Eric Sykes. It was an education!
A fine comedy writer and playwright, John is long overdue a proper appreciation and joining Tyler this week to bend the knee is Mike Haskins. Mike recalls interviewing Antrobus for some Radio 4 documentaries and examines his career with particular emphasis on his relationship with Spike.
“At least 53 ‘bloodies’ in half-an-hour last night. This is definitely not British sir! I suggest you study the British working man more!"
So thundered a disgruntled viewer in 1969 after watching an episode of the Johnny Speight & Spike Milligan sitcom Curry & Chips. One notes with interest it was the word 'bloody' which triggered him, as opposed to any of the other bad language with which the series as a whole was replete.
Starring Spike Milligan in brownface as Kevin O'Grady, Curry & Chips is chiefly set in the factory of Lillicrap Ltd, a supplier of novelty goods managed ineptly by Arthur Blenkinsop (Eric Sykes) with jumped-up mini-tyrant shop steward Norman (played by Norman Rossington), Kenneth (played by Kenny Lynch) and Young Dick (Geoffrey Hughes) among the workers.
Much of the 'humour' was racist in tone, with Kevin subject to regular verbal abuse by his colleagues, although he usually gave as good as he got. There were also swipes at religion, class, politics, sexuality and pretty much any topic that confused, enraged or affected the grumbling Lillicrap staff.
It has been suggested that Milligan and Speight hoped that the series would produce audience empathy for immigrants and put a mirror up for the working classes to see their own prejudices reflected back at them. Nice try, lads.
Joining Tyler is John Williams, co-host of World Of Telly, who brings his considerable knowledge of the British television landscape in the late sixties to great use, explaining the background and build up to the show, the backlash and eventual cancellation.
Curry & Chips was a pretty bloody (that word again!) awful programme but not completely without a few laughs - thanks chiefly to Spike - tune into our chat to find out what had the pair chuckling once or twice in between the wincing and sighing!
Over a long and rightly celebrated career Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were careful to file away, log and generally archive much of their written output, correspondence, contracts and other ephemera.
Now York University's Borthwick Institute for Archives is attempting to secure the collection for the nation and the Institute's Gary Brannan joins Tyler to talk about the G&S archive and the fund-raising campaign - appropriately titled 'Innit Marvellous'.
More information here: https://yustart.hubbub.net/p/galtonandsimpson/
Among the tantalising discoveries in the Galton & Simpson archive are several short sketches featuring Goon Show characters which were specifically written for Peter Sellers to perform on a long-forgotten radio variety show in late 1954 - literally days before the first episode of Hancock's Half Hour was broadcast. One of these scripts was brought back to life and performed at the York Festival of Ideas recently by actor and voice-over artist Richard Usher, who is also acting Chair of the Goon Show Preservation Society.
Richard joins Tyler and Gary to talk about these scripts and the conversation ranges from Galton & Simpson's career to the importance of archive preservation. Richard talks about how he believes the GSPS can evolve to remain relevant and Gary discusses other collections the Institute currently holds.
There is absolutely no connection between the Goons and the Simpsons so what on earth is this special bonus episode all about?
Well, my very good friends Ian and Michael over at the Lord Of Adders Black podcast - celebrating all things Blackadder - joined me to share our love for The Simpsons and talk through our favourite episodes!
(Their podcast is really good - find it here: https://shows.acast.com/lord-of-adders-black )
Great comedy is great comedy and while it's fair to say that few people could describe most post-2000 Simpsons content as 'great comedy' the stuff that came before remains sublime. I'm not sure what a Venn diagram of Goon Show fans and Simpsons fans would look like but hopefully it's more or less a circle.
So indulge me for this special bonus episode with Michael & Ian where I get a rare chance to gush about comedy from the 1990s!
How young Ned Seagoon journeys by steam packet to the Americas to find the Lost Gold Mine and how, after being foully tricked by several desperadoes, he eventually triumphs. The action takes place aboard the S.S. Filthmuck, in a New Orleans dustbin, near the desert town of San Fairee Ann, and in a dried-up gulch near Hammersmith.
Sandwiched between The Whistling Spy Enigma and The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-On-Sea, this episode of The Goon Show is an often overlooked gem from early on in Series 5. It's a cracking yarn, invoking Treasure of the Sierra Madre-type themes as Neddie tries to retrieve the map of a gold mine he lost to Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty. Much double-crossing and map-tearing abounds, and we even get the opportunity to discuss 1830s pornography!
Returning guest Paul Abbott is co-host of The Big Beatles & Sixties Sort Out and the podcast can be found HERE:
https://linktr.ee/bigsort
One of the few actors who could genuinely command respect and admiration from Peter Sellers, Irene Handl is mainly remembered now for her multitudinous 'mum', 'gran', 'landlady/charlady' and general 'dotty old dear' roles in films and on TV.
She and Sellers appeared together in films, on record, on stage and on television. Perhaps the pairing is most well known from the 1959 film I'm All Right Jack, in which they played Mr & Mrs Kite. That same year saw the release of the LP Songs For Swinging Sellers which includes two tracks featuring Handl - The Critics and Shadows On The Grass, which she also wrote.
Poignantly the two were reunited in 1979 on the LP Sellers Market, on the track The Whispering Giant and Sellers' death a year later upset Handl terribly - she said she never got over it. Clearly the two had had a unique friendship and understanding of each other that few others could equal.
This week we welcome back Donna Rees to discuss the work they did together and Irene Handl in particular. She was a fascinating figure: not getting into acting until relatively late in life; the daughter of well-to-do parents with servants; a woman who never married yet received regular marriage proposals as she travelled the world in her twenties; a published novelist and huge fan of Elvis Presley and owner of many chihuahuas; she quite liked pornography, hated ET and her favourite actress was Yootha Joyce. And she pretty much worked with everyone.
Commissioner Dreyfus had for years wanted to see his infuriating underling Inspector Jacques Clouseau dead and buried and for a while, with the death of Peter Sellers in 1980, it seemed like the shambolic Sûreté shamus had indeed been laid to rest...
... Until somebody had the bright idea of filming two new movies back-to-back trading on the Clouseau character - after all, the Pink Panther film series had been a massively successful franchise, why spoil it all just because the main actor was dead?
First was Trail Of The Pink Panther which featured out-takes and deleted scenes from previous films, which was bad enough. Then Blake Edwards ran out of old footage so hit upon the idea of introducing a brand new character for the second feature, Curse Of The Pink Panther.
This bumbling new detective, Clifton Sleigh, would be tasked with finding the missing Inspector Clouseau, and in the course of which would be just as hapless and hilarious and hopefully be seen as the heir to Sellers. In fact, the idea was to make six more films with Sleigh! I know right?
It didn't quite work out. Jon Auty from Behind The Stunts joins Tyler to pick over the bones of this thoroughly-flogged dead horse and while acknowledging one or two genuine titters and some pretty impressive stunt work there's little else of any merit.
Ted Wass, as Sgt Clifton Sleigh, tries to make the most of what he's given to work with (including an inflatable woman) and there's some fun to be had spotting familiar faces including Michael Elphick, Bill Nighy and - appearing as Turk Thrust II - Roger Moore. But the fact remains that it's a lame film that should never have been made and really should have been the final nail in that particular coffin. Yet amazingly it wasn't! (That's a story for another time)
Jon talks about the various stunt coordinators involved with the film including Joe Dunne and Roy Alon and Behind The Stunts can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/behind-the-stunts/id1547078357
When Adam Faith and chums decide to make a fake Loch Ness monster they set off a chain of events too hilarious to describe.
With a script by Terry Nation, What A Whopper! is a serviceable British comedy film of the early sixties slightly let down by rather colourless leads but lending solid support are the likes of Sid James, Wilfred Bramble, Charles Hawtrey and - you guessed it - Spike Milligan, who plays a tramp fishing on the bank of the Serpentine.
Returning guests Tilt Araiza and Gary Rodger from The Sitcom Club mull over Scottish stereotypes, Terry Scott's potty mouth and rubber salmon. Also:
- Recasting Adam Faith as Harold Steptoe?
- Is Sid James the Paul Eddington of dirty old men?
- How does the film compare to Psycho?
- Is Terence Longdon a young Tommy Cockles?
- Who thought casting Freddie Frinton was a good idea?
- Is it a sort of sequel to What A Carve Up?
- And who brought along Eccles cakes?
Tune in to find out the answers to all this and more!
Issued on BBC LP in 1979, The Rent Collectors is still often overlooked which is a bit unfair. Although given of a slight plot - not unusual for a Goon Show! - it has some marvellous set pieces and gags and an interesting guest performer in the shape of actor Bernard Miles.
It also heralded the first official appearance of Little Jim whose catchphrase has delighted audiences ever since (it says here).
We talk about Miles' appearance (which was very much last-minute), Sellers' ATV Saturday night specials scripted by Eric Sykes in which he portrayed the likes of Bloodnok & Willium, and we touch on Aldous Huxley, Marilyn Monroe and General Gordon (what a party THAT was!)
This week's guest is performer and podcaster Ciarán Moffatt who posits that the episode is possibly two unfinished shows bolted together. Later the discussion turns to talk of inflatable dolls and manatees... something for everyone folks!
This week a slight departure as we go back forty years to the alternative comedy landscape of the 1980s and Tyler chats with Rowland Rivron, that difficult-to-define Swiss army knife of a man who has done a bit of pretty much everything: musician, comedian, actor, writer, voice-over artiste, panel game captain, television presenter, dancer and at least a dozen other things.
Rowland was partly responsible for one of the funniest hours of British television: The Comic Strip Presents Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, starring Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmondson. Tyler was keen to discuss this in particular with him in a conversation which also covered:
- Interviewing Spike Milligan
- Sharing a flat with Rik Mayall
- Raw Sex and The Idiot Bastard Band
- Money for old rope voiceover work
- Interviewing Tony Blackburn in the middle of the Thames
- The Groovy Fellers and Set of Six
- Working with French & Saunders
- Winning Let’s Dance For Sport Relief doing Weapon Of Choice
- Getting drunk with Kevin McNally
- Shooting Stars & Jack and Jeremy’s Real Lives
- Caravanning around Europe
… And a whole lot more!
This week Tyler talks to Robert Sellers, author of a new book detailing the entire history of the Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseau film series from Peter Sellers to Steve Martin.
There's loads of interesting stuff discussed - did you know:
- Peter Sellers was once upstaged by Richard Burton & Elisabeth Taylor at the premiere of Return Of The Pink Panther?
- The creator of Asterix tried to claim authorship of the plot of The Pink Panther Strikes Again?
- Blake Edwards broke his neck diving into a swimming pool?
- Carole Cleveland was almost totally cut out of a Panther film?
- Dudley Moore was supposed to play 'The Ferret'?
Robert is also the author of many other books on comedy and popular culture and they also talk sitcoms, Oliver Reed and why 1971 was the greatest year in film.
This week we fire up a Wurlitzer and crack open an oyster as we celebrate one of the aspects of the Goon Show that made it so unique: the sound effects.
Joining Tyler to talk about some of our favourites are Chris Smith and Graeme Lindsay-Foot and the idea for the show first occurred to Chris when he heard a news item on the radio several years ago. According to Chris:
"They covered the recent creation of a "sounds archive", dedicated to preserving sounds previously very familiar butwhich are fast fading in popular memory, such as a steam train or bakelite telephone dialling tone (or its ring for that matter), or cine camera or film projector. The point being that the "lifespan" of familiar sounds is becoming shorter as technology and equipment changes - leading tothose sounds literally fading away from popular memory."
Taking this as a starting point, they consider what effects in the Goon Show would totally baffle younger listeners today, before running through some of the greatest (and some fairly obscure) FX and GRAMS inclusions throughout the show's run, including many listeners' favourites such as Tom the piano-playing penguin, someone knocking on the door with a duck and the otherworldly Radiophonic Workshop effects used in 'The Scarlet Capsule'. There's also a salute to those unsung lads who made the magic happen!
We revisit some beloved children's television series from the seventies and eighties this week as Chris Diamond returns to talk about those occasions when Spike Milligan would pop up as a special guest in shows such as Super Gran, The Sooty Show, Pob's Programme, Jackanory, The Muppet Show, Number 73, Tiswas and The Ratties (which Spike narrated).
Wiping a nostalgia-fuelled tear from his eye, Chris regrets the lack of original children's programming which has cut-through these days and warmly reminisces about other shows from the period such as The Wombles, The Smurfs and The Trap Door (with Willie Rushton).
There's also time for a game of 'Which Major Celebrity Of The Eighties Didn't Guest Star In Super Gran?' and an attempt by Chris to remember the lyrics to that show's infectiously catchy theme tune.
With huge thanks to the exceptional Roger Langridge for this episode's artwork!
"Ah, here is is Christmas Eve and still no offers of pantomime!"
One of the best-known Goon Shows ever, Dishonoured - Again went out in January 1959 and before the year was at an end was commercially released (with Tales Of Old Dartmoor) on the LP The Best Of The Goon Shows. It was subsequently repeated more frequently than most Goon Shows and its script was published in a Roger Wilmut book.
A remake (superior in every respect) of a Series 5 episode, due to Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens both being unwell and unable to produce an original script, it positively pops and the cast are clearly having a ball.
Steve Hatcher joins us this week to talk about this very fine episode which somewhat gives the lie to the lazy belief that by this late point in the show's run the team were coasting and looking to their own individual careers and future success.
As well as the episode itself they discuss Harry on stage in Large As Life, Sellers' major film commitments and Spike's rather muddled version of some tragic events.
This week we’re turning our attention to Peter Sellers’penultimate film (if we disregard those pesky ‘flogging a dead Panther’ posthumous farragoes), and the film for which he came closest in his career to carrying off a Best Actor Oscar: Being There from 1979.
Very much a passion project for Sellers, the film, directed by Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude) and based on the novel by Jerzy Kosiński, centres around the character of Chance, a gardener and late middle-aged ward of an elderly man whose death throws Chance’s entire world into disarray, if he didbut know it. Chance has the mental age of a child and is cut off from the outside world; his limited understanding of anything outside his immediate surroundings is entirely informed by what he glimpses on TV. Through a series of incidents, Chance (now rechristened Chauncey Gardiner after a misunderstanding) is thrust into the world of the American political establishment when he is invited to stay at the home of dying billionaire Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) and his wife Eve (Shirley Maclaine). He meets the President (Jack Warden) and somehow he is assumed to be some sort of oracle, with people believing his every banal utterance to be invested with great truth and meaning.
Podcaster Antony Rotunno (host of Glass Onion podcast) joins Tyler to talk about the film and tries to work out quite why it gets under his skin.
Can you believe that for half a century student bars the length and breadth of the land have resounded to the excruciating cries of "Nii!"?
Yes, the film the Spanish call 'The Knights of the Square Table and Their Crazy Followers' turns 50 and to mark the occasion here's a bonus episode with Tyler and writer, podcaster & performer Tom Salinsky in which they talk at length about the film.
Tom thinks that Life of Brian has more to say but Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the most consistently funny of their films, with barely a moment left gagless, from the inspired opening titles to the demonic camp of Tim the Enchanter.
They discuss highlights such as the cartoonish violence of the King Arthur vs Black Knight sequence; Brave Sir Robin and his minstrel Neil Innes; Gilliam the gatekeeper of the Bridge of Death (later rented out to William Friedkin for Sorcerer?); Dennis the mud-ridden firebrand decrying systems of government; Carole Cleveland as Zoot, Mistress of Castle Anthrax; the weakly insipid Prince Herbert and his overbearing dad; the witch trial; Brother Maynard and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and, of course, Frank the TV historian who suffers a violent slaying.
Tom also talks of his love for the LP and compares the film to the script book – whither Brian the Wild from the final cut? – and reveals that parts of the original script were later repurposed for the fourth series of Monty Python. He also touches on Spamalot and springing from that there’s an interesting overview of the recent Dr Strangelove production starring Steve Coogan.
Also: the coconuts for horses gag – A Show Called Fred got there first! So that ticks the box marked 'Goon Content'!
Tom is co-host of Best Pick podcast: https://bestpickpod.com/
"Do you want a taste of the lash?"
"No thanks, I've just had some cocoa."
In 1974 the BBC issued the first Goon Show Classics LP. On one side was The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea and on the other side was the show we're talking about today: The Histories of Pliny the Elder, Spike Milligan's attempt to pen a sword-and-sandals Goonish epic.
It has become one the most beloved Goon Shows ever, with some highly memorable gags and an end-of-term looseness about it. They all sounded like they were just having a lot of fun.
Joining Tyler is returning guest James Page and as well as discussing the show itself pay tribute to a couple of the backroom boys, examine the difference between Cyril and Lew and give mention to Mark Kermode, Terry Scott and the Asterix books.
According to Peter Sellers: “It all started because Spike Milligan and I once said we wanted to experiment in visual humour. We got as many friends together as we could and went and found a field. That was all we had – friends, a field, a roll of film.”
What resulted was 'The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film' (1959), directed by the up-and-coming Richard Lester, a friend and collaborator of Sellers and Milligan.
The short film soon became a word-of-mouth hit and was even nominated for an Oscar. It helped pave the way for Lester to work with the Beatles several years later and Spike Milligan claimed that it was one of the very few true visual representations of Peter Sellers' sense of humour.
Although accounts vary it has become accepted that the total budget for the film was £70 (including the rent of a field) and the entire cast was made up of - as Sellers says - friends. So we see Graham Stark, Leo McKern, David Lodge, Mario Fabrizi, Bruce Lacey and Johnny Vyvyan, as well as the two Goons themselves.
This week film academic Dr Adrian Smith joins Tyler to talk about this highly influential 11 minutes of mayhem.
A darkly comic satire about an increasingly deranged leader of a Western power, tensions with Russia and the threat of World War 3 breaking out – sound familiar? That’s the premise of Whoops Apocalypse, the 1986 feature film very loosely based on the sitcom of the same name, created by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall. Sadly where the film fails to imitate real life is the presence of a female President in the White House and she’s the (relatively) sane one, while her British counterpart (played by Peter Cook) believes unemployment is caused by pixies and is quite happy to encourage those without jobs to leap to their deaths off Beachy Head. The film also features Loretta Swit (MAS*H), Richard Wilson, Michael Richards (pre-Seinfeld), Rik Mayall, Alexei Sayle, Ian Richardson, Herbert Lom and John Sessions.
Last December for Goon Pod Film Club Tyler spoke to Renwick & Marshall at length about Whoops Apocalypse and how it all came about and he decided to share it with the general Goon Pod listeners as a bonus episode before world events rendered its plot totally tame and entirely plausible. Andrew and David talked warmly about the film and revealed how it was chiefly the lousy scheduling of their earlier television show End Of Part One which compelled them to write the Whoops Apocalypse sitcom, which in turn led to producer Brian Eastman proposing a big-screen repurposing, involving a new storyline and characters. They discussed the writing process, the challenges of casting, the difference between what made critics laugh and audiences laugh and things they wish had worked a little bit better.
Goon Pod returns in late March. Goon Pod Film Club can be found here: patreon.com/GoonPod and you can sign up free for a seven day trial. Shows include Kind Hearts & Coronets, A Hard Days Night, Bedazzled (1967), Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Guest House Paradiso (aka the ‘Bottom movie’),Carry On Screaming, Billy Liar and, most recently, It’s Trad Dad.
In 2024 we asked Goon Pod listeners to nominate their all-time favourite British comedy film. It didn't have to have a Goon in it - no, we wanted to put together a comprehensive Top 20 chart which covered all the bases.
This week as we wind up the show this series Simon Meddings from Waffle On podcast joins Tyler to count down the list from Number 20 to Number 1.
While there will be films you'd expect to turn up in a list like this there's also a number of surprises and even omissions.
Will your favourite have made the final 20?
Waffle On: https://waffleon.podbean.com/
A special Christmas bonus edition! As part of Goon Pod Film Club - www.patreon.com/GoonPod - every month Tyler and a special guest discuss a British comedy film and in August this year Tim Worthington came to talk about his favourite: Billy Liar from 1963. Here's the full episode for Goon Pod listeners to get a taste.
As you’d expect from Tim the conversation takes many twists and turns – as well as analysing the film itself, its themes and ideas, its stars, its production, its position in the pantheon of British New Wave cinema, there are also nods aplenty towards popular culture connected with the film, including Ken Russell, the Four Yorkshiremen sketch and Saint Etienne!
Tom Courtenay is the titular Billy Liar, or, more accurately, William Fisher, a grammar school boy on a scholarship from a working class environment who finds himself constantly at odds with distant parents, girlfriends expecting greater commitment, a mocking colleague and a rather foolish boss. He is a provincial dreamer with aspirations to better himself but is somewhat lacking the drive. Prone to lapsing into fantasies in which he is a big wheel in a fictional state called Ambrosia, Billy’s doing a job he hates working as a clerk in a funeral directors firm. However, he almost finds a way out of it all, a chance to escape and spread his wings and soar, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shake off the cloying ordinariness of his Northern town and leave it all behind.
Other films covered on GPFC this year include A Hard Days Night, Carry On Screaming and Guest House Paradiso!
For a free 7-day trial of Goon Pod Film Club head over to patreon.com/GoonPod
The man behind the Goon Show Compendiums, audio engineer extraordinaire Ted Kendall returns to answer your questions in this Christmas edition!
“For a shortened version of this programme, please read AChristmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and you won’t find much resemblance.”
On 24th December 1959 the tenth and final series of The Goon Show got off to a thoroughly festive start with a show VERY loosely based on the classic Dickens story, in which Scrooge (played by Henry Crun) entrusts Eccles with a Christmas pudding full of gold threepenny bits. This attracts the attention of Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty and all manner of chaos ensues.
This really was the last hurrah for the Goon Show as Series10 only ran for six editions – Sellers was already a film star, Secombe was in huge demand as a singer and performer and Milligan (beset with personal dramas) had grown tired of doing it. It was an excuse for Sunday larks but as 1960 arrived they were all ready to move on.
Leading up to the start of the series the BBC publicity department announced: “Christmas is expected to get off to a disastrous start in the Home Service on Christmas Eve. For at exactly 7:30pm announcer Wallace Greenslade will announce over the ether “This is the Goon Show” and for thenext thirty minutes Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe will start a hilarious riot throughout millions of listeners’ homes.”
The show lacked any structure or discipline and yet containssome of the funniest material the Goons ever broadcast, chiefly centred around Scrooge, Eccles and Ned Scratchit. Willium is appearing as Sewerman Sam and Max Geldray defiles the acting craft with a brief role as a Welsh spouse. It wraps up on a musical note for want of a neater ending.
Joining Tyler is Andy Bell whose Welsh-language podcast isRhaglen Cymru - Andy can be contacted at rhaglencymru@hotmail.com.
Who were the key figures in getting the Goon Show to radio? Which people were pivotal to the Goons' success? Join Tyler and Roger Stevenson as they rank those within the Goon Show's orbit in order of importance and show their working.
Roger took the brief seriously and put a lot of thought and care into his choices; Tyler slightly misunderstood the brief and went more down that 'Who was the Fifth Goon?' route. What resulted was an interesting mix of names, and increasingly desperate attempts by Tyler to justify his ranking system.
Among the names bandied about are such worthies as Dennis Main Wilson, Valentine Dyall, Jimmy Grafton, Larry Stephens, Dick Emery and John Snagge.
On 4th December 1994 Jonathan Ross hosted the British Comedy Awards in front of an invited audience of the great and the good and Noel Edmonds.
It was a good year for the likes of Steve Coogan, Michael Barrymore and the Drop the Dead Donkey team but almost from the off Ross was beset by problems, including announcing the winner of the wrong award, having to deal with an out-of-control Meatloaf whose sole intention, it seemed, was to reduce Wossy to a quivering mess, and, most notably, attempting to wrest back control of the room in the wake of Spike Milligan calling the future King of England a 'little grovelling bastard'. The reaction and fallout was to dominate the redtops for days and raised Spike's profile so sufficiently that his chatshow bookings and requests for interviews quadrupled overnight.
Joining Tyler to talk about all that and examine the winners (and losers) of the evening are co-host of The Sitcom Club podcast Gary Rodger and the man behind Behind The Stunts, Jon Auty. There's clips aplenty and personal reminiscences from Clive Anderson and Jane Milligan.
It's a fun stroll down memory lane and a useful reminder that there was a time when Michael Barrymore was the biggest name in showbiz and the likes of Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris were still considered 'the new boys'.
A rare straight acting role for Peter Sellers in 1960, Never Let Go starred Richard Todd as a man for whom life outside of uniform has never been easy, as he struggles to put food on the table and his problems multiply when his new car is stolen.
The vehicle has been stolen to order by teen tearaway Adam Faith, who supplies local garage owner and all-round nasty piece of work Lionel Meadows (Sellers) with hot wheels which are subsequently re-plated and sold on.
John Cummings (Todd) is determined to get his car back and in doing so risks his own life and that of his family.
Sellers was rightly lauded for his portrayal of the sociopathic Meadows, although life off-screen was hardly harmonious for his wife and kids as he took the character home with him every evening after filming.
Joining Tyler to discuss this important film is Scott Phipps, co-host of the Reel Britannia, Stinking Pause & Talking Pictures TV podcasts.
In 1979 Peter Sellers released Sellers Market, an LP of all newmaterial which was recorded mostly in Paris and included contributions from the likes of Alan Clare, June Whitfield and Irene Handl.
While it failed to reach the heights of his previous hitrecords The Best of Sellers and Songs For Swinging Sellers, Sellers Market does contain some good stuff – notably The Whispering Giant (featuring Irene Handl ontop form) and The Eaton Square Blues.
Perhaps most intriguingly is what wasn’t included onthe album – a couple of tracks Sellers recorded as Fred Kite up against June Whitfield’s Margaret Thatcher. Fearing her displeasure, Sellers nixed these tracks as he hoped the real Mrs T might confer upon him a knighthood. As it was, he was dead less than a year later.
Joining Tyler to talk about the making of the LP and whatworks and doesn’t work is returning guest and Sellers expert Mark Cousins, who thinks it could have been a much better album had more time and effort been devoted by all involved; as it was it was a bit of a rush job and comes across a bit baggy and unfocused.
Released 69 years ago this week, The Cockleshell Heroes was a heavily fictionalised account of the real-life WW2 Operation Frankton, in which a group of marines, headed by Herbert ‘Blondie’ Hasler, covertly entered BordeauxHarbour in kayaks (or ‘Cockles’) to sabotage German cargo vessels. The film starred actor/director Jose Ferrer and Trevor Howard, with Anthony Newley and…drum roll… DAVID LODGE providing solid support as Marines Clarke & Ruddock respectively.
Although The Cockleshell Heroes was a hit with audiences and looks gorgeous in Technicolour it doesn’t tend to get talked about as much as other similar WW2 films of the period and perhaps this was partly down to the almost anti-climactic third act. However, thanks to shameless plugging by David Lodge on a frequent basis some two decades later as part of Spike Milligan’s Qseries the film is still regarded affectionately by some people, particularly listeners to this podcast, and it seemed a nice idea to put it under the scrutinisinggaze of your host and his special guest this week.
Joining Tyler is Warren Cummings, host of The CinematicSausage podcast and someone with a very direct link to the true events which this film depicts – his grandfather served alongside the ‘Cockleshell Heroes’ in WW2.
It’s a great chat with tons of fascinating factualinformation about Operation Frankton and how the film reflected the true events, plus there’s a long-deserved tribute to David Lodge, without whom this podcast would be poorer.
"In the little Essex hamlet of Great Bardfield, a tiger with influenza is mounting guard over a mysterious white box. What is the secret of the box of Bardfield—does it contain the dreaded International Christmas Pudding or is it really full of priceless Essex snow?"
So ran the Radio Times listing that week for the show we are discussing, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the International Christmas Pudding but has everything to do with selling snow to Sudan.
It's Tyler's favourite Goon Show of all, the third he ever heard and one which had been 'trailed' to him in a way by his father as he was growing up. His dad would occasionally mention the plotline of The White Box of Great Bardfield without naming it specifically; he merely considered it a quite genius idea for a comedy plot.
Joining Tyler to try and unpick it all is returning guest Molly McDade who thinks it's a show you should never expose to a newbie and was looking forward to seeing Coogan in Strangelove - which, by the time this goes out she will have done!
Everyone at Goon Pod Towers is very excited this week as this is the first time we've ever covered a Best Picture Oscar winner on the show, and this one features everybody's favourite beadle Harry Secombe who's in fine voice for this tremendous 1968 film based on the hit Lionel Bart stage musical!
Joining Tyler are those incorrigible urchins Chris Webb & Robert Johnson from Still Any Good podcast and among other things they discuss:
- The magnificent Ron Moody
- The novel vs the film
- Harry hits it out of the park
- That villainous Bill Sikes
- The wonderous Oliver! set
- Jack Wild's tragic life
- Max Bygrave's nice little earner
- The songs they dropped
- Carol Reed's Flap!
- Fagin puts in his 10,000 hours
- Leonard Rossiter's drunken turn
- Corrie does Oliver!
- Bullseye the dog in makeup
- Mark Lester's gift to Jacko
- Brucie as Fagin?
- Catflap's nod
Plus much much more!
Consider yourself entertained!
STILL ANY GOOD: https://stillanygood.buzzsprout.com/
In 1975 David Dimbleby conducted an interview on television with Spike Milligan, and as the Fates would have it Spike was in the perfect frame of mind for such a probing and personal interrogation.
They talked about his childhood, the war, his career, his mental health, the breakdown of his marriage in the fifties, his hopes and regrets and even touch on (then) contemporary events - the boy he shot in his garden and the fallout which resulted in him being dropped from several animal charities.
The conversation is punctuated by a series of filmed sequences in which people who knew Spike well give their views on the ex-Goon, such as his fellow ex-Goon Peter Sellers, writer and collaborator John Antrobus and old friend and mentor Jimmy Grafton.
As indicated, Spike takes it all largely in his stride, with only very occasional flashes of annoyance or irritation and the odd bemused frown and it remains one of the most insightful and honest portraits of the great man we have.
Our guest this week is actor & writer Lee Moone who previously has adapted Milligan's Phantom Raspberry-Blower of Old London Town for the stage.
Young Ned Seagoon, walking the streets of London during a particularly thick 'pea-souper,' accidentally knocks over a Miss Selina Clutch. Her strange behaviour mystifies young Neddie until a chance meeting with Dr. Rheingold Fnutt puts him on the track of an underground terrorist organisation led by the reckless 'Overcoat Charlie' intent on wrecking the capital's commercial life by blanketing London with an artificial foreign fog that makes people think nothing but the best of each other. Professor Crun is called in by the Government to find an antidote to 'Forog' but not before Professor Moriarty and Commercial Attache, Grytpype-Thynne, nearly succeed in bringing London life to a standstill.
So runs the synopsis to this week's edition but as is usually the case the actual show itself bears little relationship to Spike Milligan's fevered precis. Instead, we find an increasingly manic Ned Seagoon hell-bent on solving London's fog problem, conversing with statues and getting all xenophobic over atmospheric conditions.
Joining Tyler this week is James Page who loves Forog... but can our host say the same?
"There once was a beautiful moon,
"It was up in the sky, chum,
"When he said “What’s the time?”
"They replied ‘What?’
"And the horse departed leaving spon."
With poetry like that it's no wonder we lost the Empire. And it stands out as one of the most memorable bits of a Goon Show episode which is rather unfairly overlooked: The Moon Show from January 1957.
Neddie is a tramp poet, who buys a poetic licence from those chiselling spivs Grytpype Thynne & Moriarty and through further trickery believes himself to be the rightful owner of the moon. Then he realises that the moon is a forgery and pursues the villains across Europe.Joining Tyler this week is Ian Winick, co-host of the Lord Of Adders Black podcast: https://shows.acast.com/lord-of-adders-black
Take three Pythons, a Goon, the father of modern satire, some Mel Brooks regulars, a Young One, a rock legend, a couple of stoners and a host of familiar British character actors and put them all into a comedy pirate film and what have you got?
Arrrrrnswers on a postcarrrrrrd please.
Joining Tyler this week to discuss Graham Chapman's ambitious if undercooked 1983 film is writer and performer Adrian Mackinder: http://www.adrianmackinder.co.uk/
"... Sellers is very funny. Unfortunately, the movie’s general approach to hippiedom is what we’ve come todread. Hippies wear funny clothes, sleep on the stove, don’t wash, read the Los Angeles Free Press, bake pot brownies, put up posters everywhere and operatewith a sort of mindless, directionless love ethic. So the movie becomes conventional after all. If they’d dropped Sellers into a real hippie culture, we might really have had a movie here." (Roger Ebert, 1968)
Despite the misgivings of the exalted Mr Ebert, I Love You Alice B. Toklas is a pretty good film generally. This week's guest, the writer John Williams, and Tyler both had fun watching it and talking about it, and were particularly impressed by Peter Sellers' winning turn as lawyer Harold Fine who undergoes a mid-life crisis and embraces the patchouli-scented hippy lifestyle.
With solid support from the likes of Joyce Van Patten and Leigh Taylor-Young, the film is a fine showcase for Sellers' talents and despite dated fashions more or less holds up. So turn on, tune in, drop out and enjoy Goon Pod this week!
In 1966, at the height of World Cup fever, an unassuming little British comedy film came out and caused nary a ripple despite a stellar cast of well-known faces.
Michael Bentine stars as Horace Quilby, the titular Sandwich Man, who walks the streets of London and seems to know everyone he passes.
Without anything so distracting as a plot the film meanders somewhat and is essentially a series of sketches loosely linked together, an indication perhaps of Bentine's lack of experience in long-form storytelling, having come off the back of his hugely successful television series It's A Square World.
The film features a host of well-known figures from the world of comedy including Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas, Bernard Cribbins, John Le Mesurier, Fred Emney, Harry H Corbett, Stanley Holloway and Ron Moody and has possibly the most incongruous ending to a film ever!
Joining Tyler this week are Rob & Guy of the podcast Britcom Goes To The Movies, a show in which they examine big-screen spin-offs of small-screen comedy series and characters - ko-fi.com/britcomgoes
This week a slight departure as Chris Diamond returns to take a leisurely meander through the world of British comedy, randomly choosing from a selection of topics (such as Who Was The Fifth Goon?) and pondering upon the genius (or otherwise) of such performers as Kenneth Williams, Michael Bentine, Bob Monkhouse, Arthur English, Hinge & Bracket, Bernard Manning and Spike Milligan, plus shows such as 15 Stories High, The Good Life, One Foot In The Grave, Blackadder, Nearest & Dearest, French & Saunders and Rising Damp.
Seven years after the publication of Vladimir Nabokov's scandalous novel Lolita Stanley Kubrick brought it to the big screen, having adapted the author's screenplay sufficiently, assembled a fine cast and applied the directorial flourishes that would come to mark his films out as unique.
As Humbert Humbert Kubrick cast James Mason, who portrayed the predatory intellectual with just the right amount of creepiness, while allowing his character enough vulnerability and weakness that audiences, while not rooting for him by any means, weren't wholly repulsed.
His antagonist, and the shadow that hangs over the entire film, is Clare Quilty, played with aplomb by Peter Sellers in his first collaboration with Kubrick. Although his actual screen-time is limited, Quilty is a ubiquitous presence, a quietly menacing threat to Humbert's happiness and ultimately the agent of his downfall.
Most people know the story and it wasn't for nothing that the tagline for the film was 'How did they make a movie of Lolita?' Through masterful direction, insinuation and nuance Kubrick managed to do it, and did it well, and while we can feel disgust towards some of its themes there's no denying that it's a powerful film.
Joining Tyler to talk about it is actor Patrick Strain, who puts up a spirited argument that it is one of Kubrick's best.
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!
Best known to audiences around the world as Lt Gruber from 'Allo 'Allo! Guy Siner joins Tyler this week to talk about the show, his career and his brand new podcast - Listen Very Carefully - in which he and friends & colleagues Kim Hartmann (Helga) and Richard Gibson (Herr Flick) look back fondly and drink gin.
Before landing the role of Gruber Guy had appeared in Genesis of the Daleks up against Tom Baker and had a brief role in Secret Army - ironically the very programme which inspired 'Allo 'Allo!
Post-'Allo 'Allo! his career has flourished and as well as films (such as Pirates of the Caribbean) and television (including Seinfeld) Guy is (possibly) the only person to have appeared in all four major sci-fi franchises: Dr Who; Star Trek; Babylon 5 and Star Wars (he did voice work on the game Star Wars: TIE Fighter)
We talk briefly about the Goons and the Kenneth Connor connection but this episode is very much given over to focusing on Guy and 'Allo 'Allo! in particular - both shows share a silliness and sense of the absurd so there should be a big crossover of fans.
Listen Very Carefully (Guy's new podcast): https://podqp.podbean.com/
A chaotic naval lieutenant, who cannot be discharged due to his connections, is transferred from the Admiralty to a mothballed destroyer whose crew is running dodgy Bilko-esque money-making schemes.
David Tomlinson stars as Lt Fairweather and Peter Sellers, with a whiskery Irish brogue, plays Chief Petty Officer Doherty.
Returning guest Graham Rinaldi discusses Val Guest's 1958 comic romp - does it still hold water after all these years?
A quick preview of this month's edition of Goon Pod Film Club - Billy Liar (1963) with special guest Tim Worthington.
More: patreon.com/GoonPod
John Rain & Paul Litchfield join Tyler to discuss Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's 1978 adaptation of the classic Sherlock Holmes story, an attempt to make a hit mainstream comedy but which failed to find an audience.
Mostly owing to it not being very good.
Directed by American Paul Morrissey this was the first major film project he made without the involvement of Andy Warhol. Rather bizarrely Morrissey was a fan of the Carry On films and he was keen to bring that sort of humour to the screen, enlisting Kenneth Williams to play Sir Henry Baskerville and stuffing it full of familiar faces from the world of British comedy.
The result was a bit of a mess, with indoor fog and urinating dogs small compensation for proper belly laughs but there is still plenty to talk about and some titters among the dross. It's not a complete dog of a film.
And why are we covering it on Goon Pod? Why, for the small scene-stealing cameo from Spike Milligan as a policeman. Enjoy!
Many thanks to the wonderful Jonathan Roberts for this episode’s artwork! There’s also a taster of August’s edition of Goon Pod Film Club, in which Tim Worthington talks Billy Liar! Head over to www.patreon.com/GoonPod
It's 50 years since Spike Milligan recorded an LP version of his children's story Badjelly the Witch, with music by Ed Welch.
The story is simple and hilarious. Two children, Tim & Rose, go in search of their lost cow Lucy and along the way have adventures with characters such as Binklebonk the tree goblin and his grasshopper Silly Sausage, Mudwiggle the worm and Dinglemouse, a former banana. Peril is just around the corner however, as they are captured by the terrifying witch Badjelly who wants to eat them up for breakfast!
The record was a huge hit with kids in New Zealand, thanks to radio broadcasts in the seventies and eighties, and even today the mere mention of the name 'Badjelly' will elicit broad grins of recognition across generations, yet oddly it barely registers with people in Britain.
Hoping to put this right is cartoonist and writer Roger Langridge (who also designed this week's delightful artwork) who chats to Tyler about the history of Badjelly and shares favourite moments.
There's also a lovely return visit from Jane Milligan who talks warmly about the baddest witch in all the world and hints at what the future holds.
In early March 1958 the elderly actor A.E. Matthews staged a protest outside his cottage in Bushey Heath – he sat on a chair over a hole the council had dug with the intention of erecting a lamp post there. A minor squabble which quickly caught the ear of the media, Matthews’ stand against his local council became a cause célèbre and he was interviewed on television.
Spike Milligan liked the cut of his jib and within a week the Goons were recording The Evils of Bushey Spon, all about the erection of a lamp-post. Matthews himself makes a guest appearance in the closing minutes and everything perfectly falls apart.
It was such a slight story on the face of it, only attracting interest due to an octogenarian celebrity being involved, and would have been very quickly completely forgotten had it not been for the Goons - as such, it remains a tiny ‘and finally’-type news story immortalised for the ages.
Joining Tyler to talk about it is returning guest Chris Diamond, who also takes the opportunity to pay tribute to the late great Donald Sutherland.
At last the Ted Kendall show!
In 2022 Tyler spoke with genius sound engineer Ted Kendall about his career with an emphasis on the work he did in lovingly restoring Goon Shows to their original broadcast length and best possible quality. For a number of technical reasons this interview lay in the Goon Pod vaults for the longest time but finally it can be heard!
Ted talks warmly about his career and displays a forensic knowledge of Goon-related minutiae. He worked closely with Dirk Maggs in the early nineties to bring about At Last The Go On Show and subsequent R2 & R4 seasons of fully-restored Goon Shows, but it is his work on the Goon Show Compendiums for which we fans should adopt the position and intone "We are not worthy!"
A fascinating exploration of audio restoration which will enthral all radio enthusiasts.
The first edition of Goon Pod Film Club has dropped - and here's a taster plus huge thanks to all those who have supported it already!
Head over to www.patreon.com/GoonPod to sign up and receive every month a brand new premium episode in which guests discuss their favourite British comedy films!
60 years ago the Labour Party won the UK General Election, booting the Conservatives out of office after thirteen years. It is not known if Harold Wilson listened to the LP 'How To Win An Election (Or Not Lose By Much)' but even if he had it is highly unlikely he would have found it instructive.
Leslie Bricusse brought together Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe to record this album one afternoon in early 1964 after a lunch in which vast quantities of wine had been dispatched. Peter Sellers recorded his parts a number of weeks later and very soon after technically died (he did, however, recover).
This week Brett Tremble - @agnes_guano on Twitter - joins Tyler to tell the tale behind the making of the LP. The conversation includes predictions about the forthcoming General Election and as such could leave them with red faces should opinion polls turn out to be wrong!
* Sign up for Goon Pod Film Club here: www.patreon.com/GoonPod - first episode on Kind Hearts & Coronets out Saturday 6th July! ***
“Then I submit, Inspector Ballon, that you arrived home, found Miguel with Maria Gambrelli and killed him in a rit of fealous jage!”
The Pink Panther received its world premiere in Italy inDecember 1963 and was officially released in the US in March 1964. Despite David Niven topping the bill, the character of Inspector Jacques Clouseau - played by Peter Sellers - stole the film.
Just three months later, in June 1964, Inspector Clouseaureturned and this time in the lead. A Shot In The Dark was brought forward for a summer release, to capitalise on the success of The Pink Panther. It would be released in the UK in January 1965.
A Shot In The Dark was adapted for the screen from an original French play and changed almost beyond recognition, thanks to the combined talents of Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty (who would later go on to pen The Exorcist).
Maria Gambrelli, a maid employed in the service of the millionaire Benjamin Ballon, is accused of murdering chauffeur Miguel Ostos. Clouseau is assigned to the case and almost immediately is smitten by Maria. A series of subsequent murders occur and even Clouseau himself becomes a target. What we get is an almost perfect comedy film, with Sellers at the peak of his powers - just months away from his series of heart attacks in Hollywood - and crisp, tight direction by Edwards.
The film also marks the first appearances of Herbert Lom as Clouseau's long-suffering boss, Commissioner Dreyfus, André Maranne as Dreyfus's assistant François and Burt Kwouk as Clouseau's devoted manservant Cato.
So, as it is the 60th anniversary of ASITD's release what better excuse than to talk about it at length for Goon Pod? It's your host's favourite Peter Sellers film of all time and he spends what seems like the show's entirety giggling and chuckling so it falls on this week's guest - newly published novelist Adam Leslie - to inject a bit of professionalism to proceedings!
Lost In The Garden can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Garden-Adam-S-Leslie/dp/1915368480
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/
"... 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 secondseries 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 toItaly.
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.
"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.
In 1972 a film was released which is generally regarded asone 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!
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!
“Something’s been worrying me. You’re a Frenchpolice officer and yet you’ve got a Scottish accent.”
-“Aye. It worries me too.”
Before Daniel Craig was even a twinkle in his father's eye (give it a couple of months) there was the 1967 original big screen version of Casino Royale, a far-from-subtle James Bond spoof based extremely loosely on Ian Fleming's first novel, which would go on to become the bedrock for all subsequent Austin Powers movies!
How to best describe Casino Royale? Baffling, bloated, self-indulgent, messy - yes, all these apply. However, it's a fascinating celluloid confection and there are plenty of interesting aspects to the film, plus a handful of chuckles along the way.
Famously suffering from temperamental stars (step forward Mr Sellers) and multiple directors, and shot through with the psychedelic sentiment of the time, Casino Royale is worth watching for the cast alone: along with the aforementioned Peter Sellers we have Orson Welles, David Niven, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, Ursula Andress, John Huston, Bernard Cribbens, Ronnie Corbett, Anna Quayle, John Bluthal, John Wells, Geoffrey Bayldon, Peter O'Toole and even Derek Nimmo!
This week Tyler is joined by Martin Holmes, the host of Vision On Sound - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/visiononsound - to try and make sense of it all!
In 1954 Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes, along with Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Frankie Howerd, formed Associated London Scripts, envisaged as a comedy scriptwriters' cooperative, situated above a greengrocers in Shepherd's Bush.
Soon it would swell in number, with the likes of Johnny Speight, John Antrobus, Terry Nation, Brad Ashton and Dick Vosburgh coming on board, with the mighty Beryl Vertue acting as sort of de facto agent for them all.
Between them they were responsible for much of the comedy coming out of Britain in the late fifties and sixties, including The Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour, The Army Game, Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe & Son, Sykes And A..., The Arthur Haynes Show and many more, while Terry Nation wrote for Tony Hancock and then came up with the idea for some pepperpot-shaped Timelord-botherers and never looked back.
The story of ALS is too big a topic to condense down to ninety minutes, but Tyler and guest Mike Haskins try their best - Mike was involved in a Radio 4 documentary about ALS some twenty years ago and had access to the likes of Antrobus and Galton & Simpson and has some fascinating tales to share!
In 1990 the airwaves were set alight with the arrival of Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel to BBC radio.
Based on material from a series of the same name broadcast on American radio in the early thirties, these modern adaptations benefited hugely from great production, excellent scripts and a highly talented cast, particularly the two lead performers Michael Roberts and Frank Lazarus, both of whom totally captured the energy and spirit of Groucho & Chico Marx, retaining their timeless character while giving them a contemporary tweak. The then up-and-coming BBC radio wunderkind Dirk Maggs (who later gained audio industry national treasure status via his collaborations with the likes of Neil Gaiman) directed the show and it ran for three series on BBC Radio 4, attracting huge listening figures and much popular acclaim.
One of its biggest champions was a man who by this point in his life was critical about what he considered the state of modern comedy: Spike Milligan. Confessing to having been delighted and enchanted by the series – and coming from a huge Marx Brothers fan from whom he had drawn much inspiration this was high praise indeed – Spike was invited onto the show. The former Goon ended up appearing twice, and despite nerves seemed to relish every moment of it.
This week Goon Pod has the rare honour of playing host to Dirk, Michael and Frank, who look back at the series and recall how it came about, sharing favourite moments and behind-the-scenes gossip and remembering the rather challenging circumstances in which they welcomed Spike onto the show.
News of the remake was huge at the time and received international television coverage from the likes of CNN. We hear some rare clips and Frank talks about appearing on the Dick Cavett Show in an earlier iteration of Chico,while Michael explains about how ad-libbing was positively encouraged. There is also tribute paid to Mark Brisenden, the man behind the scripts, and the supporting cast including Lorelei King and Graham Hoadly, not to mention the great Dick Vosburgh, the accomplished comedy writer who did so much to revive the Marx Brothers in the seventies and eighties and who acted as consultant on FS&F.
A must-listen for fans of the Marx Brothers, the Goons or great comedy in general!
It is June 1970. Ted Heath is days away from becoming British Prime Minister. Mungo Jerry are riding high at the top of the charts. And popular television personality Simon Dee's career is just about to collapse in a spectacular fashion.
How ironic then that Dee should co-star in the film we're discussing this week, playing a popular television personality!
Doctor In Trouble was the last of the Doctor film series, which by 1970 had fully committed to aping the Carry Ons. As well as Dee, Harry Secombe is one of the principle cast, and the star is Leslie Phillips playing Dr Tony Burke, who somehow manages to stow away on a luxury cruise liner and spends much of the voyage trying to evade the clutches of Master-At Arms-Freddie Jones!
Oh, and Robert Morley's in it too.
Secombe is brilliant, as you would expect, and Dee (although not given a huge amount to do) puts in a fairly creditable performance. Leslie Phillips is, well, Leslie Phillips and how did we forget to mention that the peerless Irene Handl pops up too?
Joining Tyler this week is writer, director and actor John Hewer. John has been behind some tributes to and revivals of classic British comedy performers and shows, including The Bed Sitting Room, Tommy Cooper and Steptoe & Son.
They talk about the history of the Doctor series, the sad decline of James Robertson-Justice, the rise and fall of Simon Dee, problematic gay stereotypes from around this period, seventies posh nosh and consider the prospect of a nude Welshman on the film set!
You'll really dig it!
"All trams have been melted down and made intomelted-down trams."
In 1952 London's last tram rolled into the depot. Two years later the Goons decided to mark the occasion with a show - better late than never!
At the London Pleasure Transport Board, Redundant Tram Department, Inspector Ned Seagoon receives a phone call informing him that there’s still a tram at large on the Highgate-Kingsway route, and, indeed, the tram map still has one flag pin stuck in it, for a number 33.
Driver Henry Crun refuses to move the tram unless he is afforded a proper last tram ceremony. Seagoon has to negotiate with the corrupt Chairman of the Country & Town Planning Society who agrees to the ceremony, but on the cheap.
Writing was credited to Spike Milligan & Eric Sykes but it seems fairly certain Eric took the lion's share of work that week.
The Last Tram (from Clapham) is a real gem of a Goon Show - well structured, well-paced, with some interesting one-off characters, a nice pay-off and the odd unusual choice of sound effect (such as the otherworldly harp).
Joining Tyler to talk about it is our Welsh-language correspondent from Down Under, Andy Bell!
As well as chatting about the show they discuss Britain's Rudest Man, the length of Alan Ladd, the Telegoons version of the show, Spike in Australia, the history of London's tram network and... Menace Strain Bullshine?
Andy can be found on Twitter/X: @obelloz
"In ye year of Grace, Mary and Uncle Fred, 1190, WallaceGreenslade, an itinerant announcer, was bounde for Nottingham when ye coach was stoppd inne Sherwood Forest by Robin Hood who did persuade himme to join hysbande as second sackbuttist and part-time dustman. Greenslade did don Lincoln Green and did assiste ye outlaws in their recklesse adventures."
(Radio Times listing for 'Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest', December 1954)
This week Tyler and guest Chas Early look at the Robin Hood-themed episodes of The Goon Show - Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest from Series 5 and the special from 1956, Robin Hood, as well as some brief chat about the earlier Christmas Pantomime of Robin Hood from Series 3 which only exists now in script form.
All three shows share some similar dialogues and scenes and each featured special guests: Charlotte Mitchell in Ye Bandit; Dennis Price and Valentine Dyall in the 1956 Robin Hood; and Dick Emery & Carole Carr back in 1952.
There's a lot to unpick so splug yourself on a gillikin spike and tune in!
"One small brown pot containing... another small brown pot."
With its memorable cover, photographed by Angus McBean and voted Number 25 in the NME's list of Genuinely Disturbing Record Sleeves, Milligan Preserved was released in late 1961 and featured a series of songs and sketches written and performed by Spike Milligan, with assistance from the likes of Valentine Dyall and Graham Stark.
It was produced by George Martin and as such our guest this week is Jason Kruppa, host of Producing The Beatles podcast. Jason is a big fan of the record and shares a lot of interesting background information.
The LP includes three tunes which were originally featured in Goon Show episodes – interestingly, all were shows from Series 8 and all were broadcast between January & February 1958.
There's also some joyful flights of nonsense such as Another Lot, Word Power and Underneath It All (coming to you live from a nudist colony) and aside from the occasional jarring note (we're looking at YOU, Hit Parade!) the album stands the test of time.
All together now! "Sideways, through the sewers of the Strand..."
This week's guest is a man more used to asking the questions - the writer and broadcaster Clive Anderson.
A former barrister, Clive turned to comedy and wrote for the likes of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones before gaining radio & television fame as the host of top improvisational comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway?
He then went on to present a series of chat shows and interviewed some of the biggest stars on the planet, including Spike Milligan, and it's this that we take as our starting point.
Clive talks about his career and many of the shows and people he's been involved with, including WLIIA, Loose Ends, If I Ruled The World, Peter Cook, Tony Slattery, John Sessions, Graeme Garden and Keith Allen.
He also talks about his reaction to the Brass Eye segment claiming he'd been shot dead by Noel Edmonds, remembers seeing Harry Secombe miming on stage and shudders as he recalls that interview with the Bee Gees.
"Excuse me, what is the price of sliced ham per portion?"
And so this enigmatic enquiry opens the first episode of Series 7 of The Goon Show - and to launch the new series of Goon Pod Graeme Lindsay-Foot returns to talk about it!
Broadcast in October 1956 as the situation in Suez was worsening, it was a busy period for the Goons - The Ying Tong Song was riding high in the Hit Parade, Son Of Fred was showing on ITV and Harry had a song in the charts. Producer Pat Dixon was too busy to helm the first couple of episodes of the new series so former producer Peter Eton agreed to briefly return. There were also tensions between co-writer Larry Stephens and the BBC.
As well as discussing this and the show itself, Graeme & Tyler touch on Morecambe & Wise, Bob Dylan, Little & Large, George Harrison, Anita West and others!
Plus: Goons in rehearsal, Bentine vs Dawson and the best Goons theme tune!
Comedian Rory McGrath is this week's guest and he freely admits that it was the Goons that got him into comedy.
The conversation ranges hither and yon and among other topics we talk about:
The creation of Chelmsford 123
Peter Cook
The genius of Phil Pope
Rory's falling out and eventual reconciliation with Jimmy Mulville
Who Dares Wins and Tony Robinson letting it all hang out
Barry Cryer - aka 'Lord Crap'
They Think It's All Over and Lee Hurst's departure
Three Men In A Boat with a reluctant Griff Rhys Jones
Frankie Howerd being inappropriate
Clive Anderson in a kilt
... plus much more!
(Caution: contains some content which some listeners may find offensive)
Mark Cousins, Mike Haskins & Sean Gaffney join Tyler for a very special New Years Eve bonus episode!
Earlier this year listeners to Goon Pod were asked to nominate their favourite Peter Sellers films and they didn't disappoint - hundreds of people responded and thus a Top Twenty list emerged.
The chaps count down the list and although most of Sellers' more notable movies appear there are a few surprises! The maddening suspense as our guests await Ghost In The Noonday Sun is palpable!
They also consider those that just failed to make the Top 20, any notable omissions and find out which actors appeared alongside Sellers the most.
Tune in to see if your favourite made the chart!
As it's Christmas this week we wanted to shake things up and try something a little different... so we decided to talk about a British comedy film which doesn't feature a Goon!
A change is as good as a rest and anyway, the film is a cracker.
In 1986 John Cleese starred in a Michael Frayn-scripted comic farce called Clockwise, in which he plays headmaster Brian Stimpson who needs to get to far-flung Norwich in order to deliver a speech.
Having missed the train, Stimpson enlists the help of one of his pupils to drive him and what follows is a series of hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings with countless laws being broken along the way.
It was the film that inspired Cleese to embark upon A Fish Called Wanda and is one of the greatest - if sometimes overlooked - British comedy films of the eighties.
Chris Diamond of TV Cream returns for a fourth time and finally gets the key to the executive washroom. Having not seen the film since it was released he had a lot to say and props are given to the supporting cast including Stephen Moore, Joan Hickson, Tony Haygarth and Penelope Wilton. As for Stimpson: is he, as Tyler suggests, a 'less Tory' Basil Fawlty? This and many more questions are asked, and some of them are even answered!
This week our very special guest is John Lloyd, much admir'd comedy producer and writer, whose credits range from The News Quiz and Quote Unquote on the radio, to Not The Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, Spitting Image and much much more.
At the height of his career he could boast of more BAFTAs than Dame Judi Dench yet so much success took its toll and John freely admits to having suffered a form of mid-life crisis in his forties. Having spent most of the nineties directing highly-acclaimed commercials (such as the Barclaycard series with Rowan Atkinson, later reimagined as Johnny English), John bounced back to mainstream television light entertainment with a show originally conceived as 'The Homework Helper' but which hit our screens in 2003 as QI, hosted by Stephen Fry.
John talks about his career and the few brief occasions he worked with Spike Milligan, plus the time he had a crush on Anna Ford, The Spitting Image Golden Brain hunt, writing Dr Snuggles with Douglas Adams, the problems with Blackadder, Mel Smith on Not the Nine O'Clock News, working with Genesis, an early collaboration with Barry Cryer and more!
Emmy-winning screenwriter, author, cartoonist and performer Andy Riley is this week's guest - and rather appropriately, given the time of year, we're talking about the classic series six Goon Show episode The International Christmas Pudding.
In a far-ranging conversation Andy and Tyler talk about his history with the show and some of the topics this specific episode raises - such as the old-fashioned notion of British prestige abroad. It was also the show in which Peter Sellers got into very hot water with producer Peter Eton for his behaviour. What triggered it?
They examine the moral, spiritual and physical malaise inherent in most of the Goon Show characters, especially Thynne & Moriarty - at this point in the show's history the first signs of their wretchedness become apparent. Harry Secombe's performance and aptitude for getting a laugh out of fluffs is rightly praised, while Bluebottle comes in for a bit of flak.
Having worked in radio, Andy brings his knowledge of tricks producers would employ to avoid under-running programmes, and we hear from audio engineer and famed Goon Show restorer Ted Kendall on how he managed to piece back together a shortened version of The International Christmas Pudding to its original length.
Oh, and what's the connection between the Goons and hit US political satire Veep? Tune in to find out!
In 1963 a film was released which, had its original casting remained intact, would probably be barely remembered today - The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards. With Peter Ustinov as a sure-footed and dependable French police inspector on the trail of a notorious jewel thief it would doubtless have made respectable money and garnered warm reviews but would hardly have spawned a slew of spin-offs - while in fact, the follow-up film, A Shot In The Dark, came out a mere three months after The Pink Panther opened in North American theatres.
All this was due to the last-minute casting of Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau, following Ustinov's departure from the project. Between them, Sellers and Edwards totally revised the character of the inspector, making him much more comedic, and what emerged was one of the most beloved and memorable characters in cinema history.
Although the film was a starring vehicle for David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton AKA The Phantom – described by Clouseau as “the surest, cleverest most ingenious criminal in all the world” - and very much in the style of one of those undemanding frothy sixties romps set in glamourous international locations, Sellers went into it a supporting actor and emerged as the standout star.
This week one half of The Sitcom Club and Jaffa Cakes For Proust Gary Rodger joins Tyler to talk about The Pink Panther. Some questions arise:
... How did Clouseau rise to prominence in the French Sûreté?
... What motive did Mme Clouseau have for marrying him in the first place?
... Would the film have benefitted from 100% less Wagner?
... What was an original Pink Panther?
... Who might have had a hand in the famous car chase sequence?
... How did the Princess change ethnicity?
... Who are the audience meant to root for?
... How is this a sex comedy if nobody gets any?
... Just who WERE in those gorilla suits?
... Why was Michael Trubshawe in this film?
... And wasn't Colin Gordon marvellous?
Plus much more!
The Sitcom Club: https://www.podnose.com/the-sitcom-club
Writer and host of Comfort Blanket podcast Joel Morris joins Tyler this week to talk about Monty Python's Life Of Brian, released in 1979 to howls of impotent rage from those who refused to accept it for what it was but considered by everyone else as just a really funny film.
In some ways a satire on the nature of organised groups, be they politically or religiously motivated, the film centres around the character of Brian (Graham Chapman) in 33AD Judea, who although briefly seized by ideological zeal really just wants a quiet life and a girlfriend.
With every member of the Python team at the top of their game and a memorable cameo by Spike Milligan (who just happened to be holidaying in Tunisia when filming was taking place and agreed to stick on a robe for a morning) it has lost little of its impact despite being in its fifth decade.
As you'd expect from such a percipient observer of comedy (his book Be Funny Or Die: How Comedy Works And Why It Matters is published next year), Joel had a lot to say about Life of Brian, which he once described as 'The holy grail of Python films'.
Be Funny Or Die details: https://unbound.com/books/comedy-basic
In 1973 Richard Lester's rollicking romp The Three Musketeers was released - subtitled 'The Queen's Diamonds' (The Four Musketeers was filmed at the same time and followed a year after) the movie starred Michael York as D'Artagnan, Oliver Reed as Athos, Frank Finlay as Porthos and Richard Chamberlain as Aramis.
Perhaps most memorable was the pairing of Raquel Welch with Spike Milligan, as Monsieur and Madame Bonacieux - she the close confidante to the Queen of France and he an easily-bought informant to the villainous Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston).
The movie also featured Lester regular Roy Kinnear, the (recently) late Joss Ackland, Faye Dunaway and Christopher Lee.
It's a joyous adaptation of the Dumas novel with a script that pops and fizzes courtesy of Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser. Featuring the stylistic flourishes that always mark out a good Richard Lester film, plus realistic depictions of early 17th Century Paris - the squalor as well as the wealth - edge-of-your-seat sword fights and shot through with bawdy humour, The Three Musketeers was a commercial and critical triumph upon release and it is the topic of this week's edition of Goon Pod. Joining Tyler once again are the hosts of Still Any Good podcast - Christopher Webb and Robert Johnson, live from a shed somewhere in the Antipodes during a noisy Guy Fawkes celebration - appropriate for discussing a film which culminates in a grand fireworks display!
Still Any Good can be found here: https://linktr.ee/stillanygood
Comedy writer, novelist and playwright Jon Canter joins Tyler this week. He talks about Spike Milligan and some of the people he's had the pleasure of working with over the course of his career, including Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, Douglas Adams, Lenny Henry, Richard Wilson, Mel Smith & Griff Rhys-Jones and John Lloyd.
They also discuss Margaret Thatcher trying comedy and Prince Charles dancing to Hot Stuff.
It's a packed show folks!
“Don’t you see? If I’d had a barrister who’d asked questions and made clever speeches then I’d be dead as mutton! Your artfulness paid off! The artful way you handled it, the dumb tactics, it saved me!"
Released in America as Trial & Error, The Dock Brief starred Peter Sellers as Wilfred Morganhall, a long-in-the-tooth barrister whose career has been blighted at every turn by a lack of opportunities.
One day, however, his hopes are answered when he is appointed Defence Counsel to Herbert Fowle, a meek, humourless uxoricide (Richard Attenborough). The two strike up an unusual friendship and find the only way to transcend their mutual hopelessness is through the power of imagination and whimsy, until real life puts an end to their daydreaming and they land back to earth with a resounding thump.
The Dock Brief was written by John Mortimer of Rumpole fame, based on his play, and features a solid score by Ron Grainer, plus David Lodge, fourth billed, as a cackling ex-copper called Frank Bateson whose relationship with Mrs Fowle (Beryl Reid) leaves budgie-fancier Herbert hopeful of an end to his problems. When events don't go as expected Herbert cracks and finds himself in a gaol cell.
Returning guest Roger Stevenson joins Tyler to talk about this rarely-examined Sellers film, made more or less before his international fame skyrocketed. Warning: contains spoilers! Well, it WAS made over sixty years ago!
This week Tyler is joined by the delightful Katy Secombe, who talks warmly about her dad Harry and reveals what it was like growing up as the daughter of a Goon.
They discuss Harry's career and family life: how he met Katy's mum Myra under rather inauspicious circumstances; his alter-ego Neddie Seagoon; health issues in the 1980s; his relationship with the other Goons and various leading figures of British light entertainment; his general disapproval of boyfriends; female admirers; occasional 'darker' roles and much more!
What comes across is a portrait of a man blessed with an incredible talent but also given of tremendous warmth and generosity of spirit.
Comedy writer Andrew Marshall is this week's special guest. Andrew, along with former writing partner (and Goon Pod guest) David Renwick, wrote for Spike Milligan in the eighties but is perhaps best known for the television programmes 2.4 Children, Alexei Sayle's Stuff, Whoops Apocalypse (and its film spinoff), Hot Metal and The Burkiss Way for radio. More recently he and Rob Grant have created the Quanderhorn series for Radio 4.
He talks about the relationship he and David developed with Spike and what influence Milligan has had on him. Having sold his first comedy idea at a very early age, Andrew has barely stopped working and we discuss many of the best-known (and some lesser-remembered) projects he's been attached to.
Andrew talks about the sheer joy he experienced making Alexei Sayle's Stuff, the relative freedom he was given to make 2.4 Children and the challenges he, cast and crew faced making Health & Efficiency in the early nineties.
He also acknowledges his own unwitting contribution to the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy universe, his friendships with both Douglas Adams and John Lloyd and speaks at length about his working relationship with David Renwick.
And fans of the film Wilt will be pleased to hear that we talk about that too!
"Happens to all of us y'know... being born."
Between 1970 and 1975 Peter Sellers made films which mostly fell flat commercially, and some of which didn't even get released, but there was the odd little gem and The Optimists of Nine Elms, directed by Anthony Simmons and based on his novel, is perhaps one of Sellers' most personal films. The task of embodying Sam, a washed-up old music hall entertainer, prompted Sellers to channel both his father and his great hero Dan Leno and look back to his youth, trailing around theatre after theatre with his parents, soaking up the patter and the hoary old routines, the songs and the stagecraft.
Joining Tyler this week is writer and presenter Bob Fischer to talk about the film, released exactly 50 years ago. It centres around Sam, who is reluctantly befriended by two children seeking a distraction from boredom. With their parents both too busy working to give the children much in the way of attention, by contrast Sam has all the time in the world to keep the children occupied and entertained in his own slightly irascible fashion. The three, along with Sam's beloved dog Bella, form such an unusual bond that occasionally you are left wondering who are the children and who is the adult.
Shot through with some great songs and a terrific score by George Martin, plus really great performances by the young actors and Sellers, not to mention the ever reliable and slightly shifty David Daker, The Optimists of Nine Elms is well worth a watch - a sweetly melancholy tip of the hat to an entertainment tradition that had all but passed from memory, as well as showing the last knockings of London's slum culture and the general post-war malaise.
As well as talking about the film Bob & Tyler's chat includes a whole bunch of conversational diversions, taking in the Simon Park Orchestra; Behind the Fridge; Tucker's Luck; Bowie; Boon; Cheggers AKA 'Passion in Pants'; The Ladykillers; The Ballad of Sam Hall; Fulham FC; Coronation Street and much much more!
This week writer and journalist David Quantick on Ned's Atomic Dustbin.
As someone who spent time with the band while writing for the NME and a former member of the GSPS, David was the ideal person to tackle NAD.
The band took their name from a Goon Show episode, with band member Jonn Penney suggesting it after flicking through the More Goon Show Scripts book.
The Goon Show itself was from the 9th Series in 1959 and contained vague Cold War themes as well as digs at BBC censorship and notably featured the debut of the Radiophonic Workshop-devised sound effect Bloodnok's Stomach.
The conversation veers from the indie music scene of the early nineties to a joke about a talking dog and John Snagge working with the Sex Pistols.
We also touch on 'terrible band names', Spike Milligan's complicated attitude to racial depictions in comedy, about Peter Sellers possibly inspiring Peter Cook with a thinly-veiled Harold Macmillan impression and consider whether the scripting of this particular episode was Spike 'on autopilot'.
You can listen to the Goon Show episode Ned's Atomic Dustbin here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6pGHhb9SLNeBoy20AMTg9L
More about the band here: http://www.nedsatomicdustbin.com/
David is on Twitter @quantick and follow the podcast @goonshowpod
October 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of The Telegoons, a television spin-off of The Goon Show which ran for two series and 26 episodes between 1963 and 1964.
Each fifteen-minute show was adapted by Maurice Wiltshire from an earlier Goon Show episode, many of which were firm fan favourites such as Napoleon's Piano, The Canal and Lurgi Strikes Britain, with new soundtracks specially recorded by Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and, straight off Dr Strangelove, Peter Sellers.
This week's special guest is Alastair Roxburgh, and few know more about The Telegoons than him - having first viewed them via a grainy 1964 New Zealand television screen they became a lifelong passion and he has done a huge amount to keep the memory alive (see his website: http://roxburgh.org/telegoons/index2.htm)
Alastair talks about the origins of the series, the technical challenges, the people behind the puppets and much more.
The Telegoons have come in for a bit of stick due to many Goon Show fans complaining that trying to realise the characters and situations from a series which fully exploited the limitations - and possibilities - of radio was doomed to failure, sentiments reinforced by the pretty poor copies of the show which did the rounds for years.
However, as Alastair argues, The Telegoons should not be compared to the show whence loins it sprang but judged as a television programme in its own right - and if somehow it could emerge blinking into the sunlight from the bowels of Copyright Hell and warrant a decent HD restoration and DVD/blu ray release it would surely be time for a reappraisal and who knows? A Telegoons Renaissance perhaps!
2023 is the centenary of Larry Stephens, writer and collaborator with the Goons and Tony Hancock, a unique comedy creator whose life was cruelly cut short in 1959.
To celebrate Larry's contribution to British comedy this year, as part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival, the team who previously breathed new life into the Goon Show by restaging a handful of classic episodes has come back together for one night only to perform two shows which Larry co-wrote with Maurice Wiltshire: The Moriarty Murder Mystery and The Seagoon Memoirs.
Joining Tyler to talk about it all are Richard Usher (Sellers), Jimm Rennie (Secombe) and Mark Earby (Milligan), as well as producer/director Dave Freak and Julie Warren, author of the recent Larry Stephens biography 'It's All In The Mind' - Julie will be holding a Q&A ahead of the shows on Sunday 8th October 2023.
As well as talking about the creative process involved in putting together such a performance, the team talk about Larry's life and his relationship with the Goons and Hancock, including the scripting of a pre-Hancock's Half Hour vehicle for the lad himself: Vacant Lot, performed live in 2017 as part of the Festival.
It promises to be a magnificent show and tickets are on sale now for £15 - please visit Birmingham Comedy Festival presents The Goon Show. (bhamcomfest.co.uk)or phone the box office on 0121 780 3333
"Mrs Wilberforce..? I understand you have rooms to let."
And so we are introduced to the sinister and mysterious Professor Marcus, performed with brio by Alec Guinness as a sort of unhinged Alastair Sim grotesque, in Alexander McKendrick's sublime 1955 Ealing comedy The Ladykillers.
The film – described by McKendrick as a film about Britain in subsidence - was the first major film role for Peter Sellers, after a string of low budget and mostly forgettable little comedies. Although his role as the aging Ted and spiv Harry Robinson is very much a supporting one, it did get him noticed, and his subsequent career in films grew steadily with a BAFTA for Best Actor five years later and international super-stardom in less than a decade.
Alongside Guinness and Sellers are the splendidly menacing Herbert Lom as Louis Harvey, Cecil Parker as Major Courtney and Danny Green as 'One Round', posing as members of a string quintet who have robbery on their minds. Playing the role of her lifetime as the titular 'lady' is Katie Johnson in her penultimate film as Mrs Wilberforce, a performance which won her a BAFTA.
Joining Tyler to talk about the film is Graeme Lindsay-Foot, for whom this film remains one of his all-time favourites after having first seen it as a teenager. Together they break down the film from its earliest beginnings, as fragments of a dream occurring to the writer William Rose, to the production process. casting, plot and - yes- there WILL be spoilers. Fans of Frankie Howerd are duly warned that he comes in for a bit of flack.
We answer these questions:
WHY did Herbert Lom wear a hat throughout the film?
WHO was the inspiration for the look of Professor Marcus?
WHAT bits of the film were cut out, causing Sellers much annoyance?
HOW did Sellers commemorate the film in the form of a gift for cast and crew?
WHERE was Mrs Wilberforce's lopsided old house actually situated in London?
... And much more!
In 1977 BBC Records released Goon Show Classics Volume 4. It became one of their biggest sellers and no wonder: on the A-side was the episode considered the greatest Goon Show of all time (as voted for by people of impeccable taste, breeding and judgement - Goon Pod listeners) - Napoleon's Piano; on the B-side was the show we're talking about today: The Flea.
You heard her back in January talking about The Greenslade Story and back by popular demand is Donna Rees, trying to get her head around the plot of this stone cold classic from December 1956 set in 1665. Samuel Pepys, never one to pass up the opportunity to sport with Mrs Fitzsimmons, is the target of a dastardly ruse by Grytpype-Thynne and Count Jim 'Thighs' Moriarty (Minister Without Underpants to the Principality of Monte Carlo), who claims to have been bitten by a flea while lodging with Pepys. With Pepys being sued for damages and the prospect of war, the guilty flea, a lively fellow named Francois, is detained in a prison cell and guarded over by a formidable duo - Eccles and Bluebottle. However, they are easily overpowered by the villains and with a daring switcheroo the nationwide hunt for the fugitive flea is soon on!
As well as discussing the show itself other topics include Tony Hancock in The Man Who Could Work Miracles, Charlie Brown and a football, the genius of Peter Cook and a whole lot more... and remember: You Gotta Go Owww!
This week we look at the life and career of the late great Dick Emery (1915-1983), as Tyler and Chris Diamond talk to his son Nick.
Dick worked with the Goons both collectively and individually: appearing in a number of Goon Shows, as a substitute for Secombe in The Case of the Mukkinese Battlehorn and briefly in the Sellers film The Wrong Arm of the Law, as well as working extensively with Michael Bentine on television.
Nick talks warmly and openly about his father's career and personal life in a conversation which covers a lot of ground - from Dick's early life and wartime escapades to later fame as one of the biggest stars on British television.
Topics include: Holidaying with the Milligans... Dick's relationship with Tony Hancock... the many marriages... working with Peter Cook and an intriguing 'Derek and Dick' tape.... the film Ooh You Are Awful... the origins of Lampwick... Dick's striking parallels with Peter Sellers... going AWOL during WWII... Ralph Reader's Gang Show... 'worrying Pat Coombs'... The Dick Emery Show and how he was ill-served by some of the later material... Clarence and portrayals of homosexuality in the seventies... It's A Square World... working with Wonder Woman... his appearance in the film Yellow Submarine... 'The Man Who Fixed Churchill's Son's Boiler'... the 1973 Royal Variety Show... Eric Morecambe, Clive Dunn, Harry Enfield and much much more!
Writer and film academic Graham Rinaldi joins the pod this week to discuss the much admired 1963 British comedy romp The Wrong Arm of the Law, starring Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries and Bernard Cribbins.
Very much a soulmate of the earlier film Two Way Stretch, and featuring many of the same cast, The Wrong Arm of the Law drew upon the talents of the cream of British comedy at the time - scriptwriters Galton & Simpson (and John Antrobus), plus supporting cast including Bill Kerr, Graham Stark, Dick Emery, Dennis Price and others. It also supposedly features an uncredited early appearance by Michael Caine but good luck spotting him!
Sellers plays Pearly Gates, the self-assured head of a London crime syndicate whose legitimate business is within high class ladies fashion, where he masquerades as a Parisian fashion designer – M. Jules - with impeccable society connections.
Maison Jules is of course a front for Pearly’s more illegal interests and he employs a hapless gang principally consisting of Graham Stark, Davy Kay and John Junkin. When these three are conned into handing over the spoils of a daring postal van hijack to three Australians purporting to be policemen, and when six of Pearly’s subsequent operations are stymied by the same trio of uniform-clad colonials, it is clear that this so-called ‘IPO Mob’ is seriously threatening Pearly’s livelihood – and not only his: a fellow crime boss, Nervous O’Toole (played by the wonderful Cribbins) has been similarly hit and the two criminal fraternities come together to try and decide how best to tackle this problem.
Enter the ever-angular Lionel Jeffries as ‘Nosey’ Parker, an ambitious if bumbling police inspector, and the eventual collaboration of the entire London Metropolitan Police with the Gates and O’Toole syndicate to pool resources and catch the IPO Mob.
Cue a sting operation, car chase and daring escape with a perfect ending - The Wrong Arm of the Law has it all.
It's Part 2 of The A-Z of Q with Adam Leslie!
We talk large noses, Costume Dept tags, Ed Welch, public lavatories, the Queen, a man inside an elephant, terminal dandruff, Neil Shand, 'the w-word', scouts, Hitler, Bob Todd in blackface and much more, plus we discuss how the comedy landscape had altered beyond recognition by the time Q9 bowed out and even include some interesting thoughts on the series by Mark Lewisohn! And there's also time to talk about when Spike interviewed Van Morrison for Q.
A packed show folks!
The A-Z of Q - Part One!
Writer & podcaster Adam Leslie joins Tyler for the first of a two-parter, examining Spike Milligan's Q series on BBC Television, from Q5 in 1969 to Q9 in 1980 (there was also There's A Lot of It About in 1982 but we don't really talk about that).
It was heralded as a massively influential show, particularly upon the group which would shortly after the transmission of Q5 come together to create Monty Python's Flying Circus, yet by the end, while it was still extremely funny in places, it was showing its age with some of Spike's comedy stylings seeming creaky when compared to those hip and happenin' young comedy turks behind Not The Nine O'Clock News.
Adam & Tyler run through Q from A-N this week, taking in such topics as David Lodge's greatest film, Jehovah's Burglars, bosoms & battleaxes, raspberries, Michael Parkinson with a Black & Decker and much much more! There's also some background to the creation of Q5 and a salute to the many stalwart regulars, including the aforementioned Lodge, Bob Todd and, of course, John Bluthal.
Next week: O-Z!
This week Duncan Gray - the man behind the GSPS's brand spanking new website - joins Tyler to talk about an underrated Goon Show from Series 7 - The Sleeping Prince.
Although the show may not figure highly on fans' lists of favourite Goon Shows, it contains arguably one of the funniest bits of music in the show's history - the glorious national anthem of Yacabaku!
The episode was bumped from broadcast due to the Hungarian Uprising and BBC management felt some of the show's themes - including a revolution - were inappropriate so it was shelved for broadcast later in Series 7 and replaced by a repeat of The Greenslade Story.
Duncan had a special reason for wanting to cover this particular episode and all will be revealed..!
"Things had been going too smoothly to continue as they were. It really was time we had another bout of applied chaos."
In 1971 Spike Milligan published the first volume of his war memoirs: Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall. The preface to it anticipates that it would be the first of a trilogy; in actual fact six further books were written over the next twenty years. Although AHMPIHD is shot through with Milligan's trademark humour there are moments of sadness and melancholy. Milligan writes: "There were the deaths of some of my friends, and therefore, no matter how funny I tried to make this book, that will always be at the back of my mind: but, were they alive today, they would have been the first to join in the laughter, and that laughter was, I'm sure, the key to victory."
Joining Tyler to talk about this wonderful book is Walter Dunlop and together they tease out the highlights, including:
- Commanding Office 'Leather Suitcase'
- 'Postern blasts'
- Gunner Naze and the high jump
- Throwing a brick at the enemy
- Putting up a tent
- The unique way the soldiers kept their boots soft and supple
- Chamberlain doing Prime Minister impressions on the wireless
- 'Jankers'
- The sheer artistry of Gunner Plunger Bailey
- The faint stirrings of the Goon Show as Spike collaborates with Harry Edgington
- Playing jazz to keep sane
- And, of course, the BLOODY AWFUL Warsaw Concerto
They also examine how the war informed Spike's worldview and subsequent career. If the war hadn't occurred, would we be talking about Spike Milligan today?
Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall remained one of Milligan's proudest endeavours and as he wrote to his friend Robert Graves: "... It sold 30,000 copies and it had to reprint almost at once. I can't tell you how good it feels, for a person whose education ended at 14, to be a bestseller."
Canadian comedian and writer Zach Mitchell spent an entire summer vacation listening to every existing Goon Show. While others on the beach were indulging in aquatic horseplay, flicking towels at each other or kicking sand in the faces of skinny sunbathers, Zach was on board Ned Seagoon's snow-plough, avoiding falling pianos outside London embassies and taking up the flugelhorn as a precaution against the dreaded lurgi!
This week he joins Tyler to talk about his love for the show - he mounts a robust defence of Series 8, is bewildered by its seeming obsession with knees and is keen to examine Spike Milligan's motives behind some of the show's more 'questionable' content. As well as older comedy they discuss more contemporary offerings, including The Simpsons, The Young Ones (ok, sure, it IS 40 years old but a mere stripling as compared to The Goon Show or The Honeymooners) and even Tim & Eric.
They even briefly go all Late Review and talk about Kafka and how his work partly influenced Milligan - or not.
It's a fun chat with a lot of diversions - well, what do you expect with this show?
John Williams returns to talk about one of the strongest - and confusing - Goon Shows from Series 8!
This episode of Goon Pod goes out literally days after Larry Stephens' centenary and Treasure in the Tower sees the debut of an enduring phrase he gifted to the Goon Show - you'll have to listen to find out!
Set in the year 1600 and the year 1957, Sir Walter Raleigh brings back treasure from the New World and wants to bury it at the Tower of London while at the same time Seagoon of the Ministry of Works tries to dig it up! Throw in a pair of scheming steamers who scam Seagoon out of £10,000, a couple of elderly treasure-divining experts, a lowly sentry conversing across the centuries with a spotty nit in National Health spectacles and three soldiers occupying one battledress and you've got a show they could never do on television!
John and Tyler discuss the show and events surrounding it plus possible influences - Nigel Kneale, JB Priestley and Iggy Pop all get a mention!
Also: the problem the Goons had holding down producers at this period, 'smut by stealth' and a tribute to the late Lord Hailsham!
Exactly two weeks before his first encounter with the band which was to change his life, producer George Martin, assisted by Stuart Eltham, recorded a parody of the 1957 film The Bridge On The River Kwai at EMI Studios in London. Featuring the vocal talents of Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and an uncredited Dudley Moore, Bridge On The River Wye was released on LP in November 1962.
The script was a revised and expanded episode of a Goon Show which had been broadcast in late 1957, 'African Incident'.
Bringing together the hottest young satirists of the moment with two men who had been such an indelible influence upon them was a stroke of genius and their producer - Martin - was largely instrumental in making everything happen. Up to this point in his career he was well known for comedy and novelty records and it's highly possible he would have continued down this path had the fates not conspired to have him meet and agree to record the Beatles, however reluctantly at first.
Writer Jason Kruppa, host of the Producing The Beatles podcast, joins Tyler to talk about the creation of the LP, drawing on documentation derived from EMI vaults and other information provided by the likes of Mark Lewisohn.
https://www.producingthebeatles.com/
What happens when one man, a criminal mastermind, who is desperate for immortality and will stop at nothing to achieve it, comes up against his greatest foe - a weary pensioner with a lawnmower fixation?
As if out of a Trap, this week actors & comedians Paul Litchfield & Jeremy Limb join Tyler to hem and haw and (occasionally) howl at Peter Sellers' final film, The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu from 1980.
Released two weeks posthumously, Sellers plays both the title role and that of Nayland Smith, a dogged detective who has foiled many a Fu Manchu scheme over the years and who is called out of retirement for one last job. Assisted by a cast which includes Helen Mirren, David Tomlinson and Sid Caesar, Sellers oftentimes cannot help coming across as tired and jaded and the parallels between his real life health problems and Fu Manchu's desperation to cling onto life are too obvious to go unobserved.
Jeremy and Paul have been fascinated by this film for many years and have a lot to say about it - Jeremy in particular delivers an impassioned argument in its defence!
Carry On Stre@ming: https://pod.link/1641768797
Comedian Pierre Novellie is this week's guest. Born in South Africa, his family moved to the Isle of Man when Pierre was turning seven and it wasn't long after this that he discovered the Goon Show - he was hooked and has loved it ever since.
Pierre joins Tyler to talk about this and other influences, and the two share memories of assimilating into a culture which was instinctively familiar while being a bit weird as well!
Also: is the Oxbridge Comedy Mafia not dead, only sleeping?
Podcasting - we discuss BudPod which he co-hosts with Phil Wang.
Why is the military is no longer considered a subject for comedy?
And... Sabrina's measurements?
Plus much more!
Pierre will be touring his new show - Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things? - this autumn, details can be found here: Pierre Novellie
BudPod: https://linktr.ee/Budpod
Real movie stardom pretty much eluded Spike Milligan, although he appeared in quite a few. He was an unlikely leading man and there are only a small handful of films in which his name appears above the title - this week Jeremy Phillips of Cinema Limbo joins Tyler to mull over one of them: arguably Spike's 'biggest' film, Postman's Knock from 1962.
In the early sixties Spike was signed to MGM with a view to launching him on the same road to cinematic success as his erstwhile Goons colleague Peter Sellers but a lack of available projects and, frankly, the difficulty in finding something which suited Milligan's unique style put paid to any ambition he may have harboured of being honoured by the Academy.
He made Invasion Quartet with Bill Travers and then soon after Postman's Knock, in which he starred as Harold Petts, a rural village postman who gets a job in London, and naturally havoc ensues. Add a rather weak romantic subplot and some comedy villains and the result is a pretty formulaic British black & white comedy film - the inclusion of Arthur Mullard, Mario Fabrizi and Warren Mitchell to the cast further cements it.
But for all that it's not a bad film; there's some nice touches here and there and Spike does his best with what he's been given. Oh, and you'll be whistling the theme tune all day!
Cinema Limbo can be found here: http://www.podnose.com/cinema-limbo/
"Good heavens! It's Evans!"
Jon Auty from Behind The Stunts returns this week to discuss the 1972 fish-out-of-water comedy film Sunstruck, starring Harry Secombe as Welsh schoolteacher Stanley Evans. His romantic intentions towards a colleague stymied by a beefier rival, Stanley sees a poster offering jobs to British schoolteachers in New South Wales. Stanley applies, imagining a life of sun, sea and Sheilas, but reality brings him back to earth with a bump. Posted to remote Kookaburra Springs Stanley soon discovers that a new life Down Under is not all it's cracked up to be, with irritants including mozzie bites, beer-swilling barflies and an obnoxious child called Stevie... however, a burgeoning romance and the chance to win a national schools singing competition restores Stanley's sense of purpose.
It's an interesting and gently humorous film featuring some fine Australian acting talent and Secombe acquits himself well in a rare leading role. Jon and Tyler have a lot of fun talking about it - we decide it definitely ISN'T suitable as part of a double bill with Wake In Fright (1971) - tip the hat to Network DVD (RIP) & remember the time that Baldrick met John Wayne.
ALSO: LISTENERS' QUESTIONS! Feedback from listeners is always important and the opportunity to interact is something we at Goon Pod Towers are keen to do as much as possible! A few hours before recording the Sunstruck episode Tyler asked people on social media if they had any questions about the podcast, the Goons or comedy in general. There was a good response and unfortunately not enough time to answer everybody but maybe in the future we'll do an entire show of listeners' questions - let's see how this goes down.
Do please let us know via Twitter, Facebook or email (tyler.adams1974@gmail.com) if this is a feature you enjoy...
@goonshowpod
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2537487143226771
BEHIND THE STUNTS: https://linktr.ee/behindthestunts
"Who would have suspected him? I mean, nobody ever noticed him. I never did."
In 1969 Canadian director Alvin Rakoff directed a big screen version of his successful television play Call Me Daddy, which had starred Donald Pleasance and Judy 'Keeping Up Appearances' Cornwell. Now renamed Hoffman, the film starred Peter Sellers and newcomer Sinead Cusack. Benjamin Hoffman, a manager at a cigarette company, blackmails one of the office girls into staying with him at his flat for a week. His intentions are never wholly made explicit but Janet Smith (Cusack) has a pretty good idea and very reluctantly agrees. As the days go by very gradually the power dynamic shifts and we come to recognise Hoffman for what he really is: a rather sad, pathetic figure.
Sellers famously hated this film, or didn't hate this film, depending on who you spoke to - but in any case he saw in the character of Hoffman too many traits which sat uncomfortably close to home. Some good did come out of it, in a way - he enjoyed a brief romance with Cusack which ended almost as soon as it began. And the film is quite absorbing, even if some of the content and themes are problematic when viewed from a 21st century perspective.
It is pretty much a two-hander (the supporting cast, including Jeremy Bulloch and David Lodge, don't get much to do) and hardly full of belly laughs but is amusing enough in its own way.
Joining Tyler to talk about it is actor Patrick Strain and among the many questions raised is "Could you make it today?"
Patrick was introduced to Sellers' film work via three relatively cosy black & white British comedies and then this film - QUITE the gear change! As he explains, it's a film he's fond of as much for the history and background of its production as for the finished product.
The film was recently released on blu-ray with oodles of extra features including an essay by former Goon Pod guest and host of Smersh Pod John Rain.
Actor & writer Chas Early first heard the Goons when he discovered in his dad's record collection a 1967 LP called Goon But Not Forgotten, featuring Six Charlies In Search of An Author and Insurance, the White Man's Burden.
It's the latter show which he discusses this week, a tremendous episode which at first appears to focus on a flannelled fool's attempt to make a fortune out of a piano-playing penguin but then swiftly pulls a handbrake turn as Ned lucklessly tries to set fire to the English Channel in order to claim insurance money. An unwitting mark in the latest crooked scheme cooked-up by those confidence tricksters Thynne & Moriarty, along the way Ned meets an employee of a match factory who sunbathes in the snow and tries to start a fire with a boy-scout's legs!
Oh, and Wallace 'The Pelvis' Greenslade has to beat them off while belting out some rock & roll!
Plus there's the usual mix of tangents, conversational meanderings and general blather for which Goon Pod is uniquely suited!
It's all here, folks!
Originally formed in 1972, The Goon Show Preservation Society (GSPS) has for over fifty years championed all things Goon and achieved remarkable success in keeping the show fresh and relevant into the 21st century. One of its patrons recently got fitted for a crown so it can count among its supporters folk from the highest echelons of society right the way down to poor wretches kipping in dustbins!
Over the course of Goon Pod we have played host to a number of former and current members of the GSPS, many of whom were or are active participants in society events and meetings, but this week's guest is undoubtedly one of the society's most significant figures: Chris Smith.
Chris, among other things, found time to put together the quarterly GSPS newsletter, overseeing its transition from rather rudimentary, stapled together A4 sheets to a much more professional A5 booklet form. He was a key co-organiser of major GSPS events down the years (including the Fred weekends) and was fortunate enough to spend time with the three surviving Goons on a number of occasions.
Chris joined the GSPS soon after its formation, while still in short trousers, and there could be nobody better to help navigate through the society's history - its highlights and (sometimes) lowlights, from the earliest days corresponding with founder Mike Coveney and putting on regional shows with the legendary Steam Count, right up to the present day (with a few gaps here and there).
The GSPS would have been nothing without the enthusiasm and support of its members and has done more than most to keep the Goon Show alive, and by extension reminding us, especially in the crazy times we live in now, of mankind's capacity for idiocy.
goonshow.org
@TheGSPS
Think of all the great comic characters brought to life by Peter Sellers - Bluebottle, Clouseau, Strangelove, Percy Quill, Dr Pratt, Fred Kite and countless others - but chances are you won't think about Tommy Grando. Who?
In 1972 Sellers made a surprise guest appearance in his old mate Eric Sykes' titular sitcom, co-starring the sublime Hattie Jacques. Although Tommy Grando could hardly be described as a complex three-dimensional character (Sellers plays it very broad in keeping with the general tone of the show) his arrival is rather akin to a fox let loose in a henhouse. This disreputable roughhouser is an uninvited visitor who disrupts the calm and boredom which had previously pervaded the Sykes home. What follows is pure farce as Eric and his sister try ever more outlandish wheezes to rid themselves of the menace.
Joining Tyler this week to discuss 'Stranger' are Andrew Trowbridge and Lisa Parker, the pair behind Round The Archives, a podcast dedicated to scrutinising the dustier fringes of archive telly as well as revisiting firm fan favourites.
Round The Archives: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/round-the-archives-524254
@Roundthearchiv1
@goonshowpod
In 2022 Spike Milligan’s family opened up his archive to selected guests – and what an archive it is! Hundreds of tapes, film rolls, scrapbooks, photographs, unpublished novels & scripts, box files and albums, much of it meticulously documented and annotated by Milligan himself, including bound volumes of family history, wartime journals and assorted paraphernalia covering his earliest childhood memories right up until his final years.
Sky Arts filmed a documentary which originally aired in December last year where viewers saw the likes of Joanna Lumley, Ian Hislop, Eddie Izzard and Sarfraz Manzoor (as well as former Goon Pod guests David Quantick and Al Murray) nosing around this treasure trove.
Spike’s whole life is under the spotlight, from his early days in India to his underwhelming introduction to a Britain of fog, cold baths and terrible food, a world away from what he’d been used to; the wartime highs and lows (a whirlwind romance, being blown up); The Goon Show; his marriages and children; his post-Goons career on television; his campaigning and activism; his books, poetry, music and much more.
Joining Tyler is Simon Meddings - Meds - from Waffle On podcast – a trailblazer in terms of telly and film review podcasts and certainly one of the few to have covered such diverse topics as School For Scoundrels, Fight Club and Donald Sinden! Meds and Tyler talk at length about Spike and his life as filtered through the documentary but find plenty of time to go off on tangents (within the first four minutes they've talked about Michael Caine and The Smiths, for instance) so there's plenty here for everybody who likes a good natter about old films, old telly... and old comics.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/waffle-on-podcast/id298729068
Chris Diamond returns with the second part of our chat about 1957's The Smallest Show On Earth.
We talk much more about the actual film and highlight several delightful moments, such as the scene in which the three elderly staff watch an old silent movie while the kinema is closed, and projectionist Percy Quill's evident elation following a (nearly) faultless film showing. We also ask the question: should sympathetic characters get away with committing arson? Off on a tangent, Arthur Lowe's wife comes in for a drubbing (which I'm sure nobody expected) and even podcast favourite Hylda Baker crops up in conversation.
It's all good fun and there's even a knotty connection question posed for listeners to answer.
The Smallest Show on Earth stars Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles, Leslie Phillips, Francis De Wolff and Sid James.
Chris Diamond returns once again to examine one of Peter Sellers' most beloved earlier films, the 1957 Basil Dearden-directed The Smallest Show On Earth. As well as Sellers the film features winning turns from Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles and Francis De Wolff, with stolid support from the film's nominal stars, husband and wife Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna.
Matthew & Jean Spenser inherit a crumbling old cinema - The Bijou Kinema (aka 'the fleapit') - and as well as the fixtures and fittings soon discover that they've also inherited a trio of elderly, shambling staff: Mrs Fazackalee (Rutherford), the cinema's cashier, bookkeeper and pit pianist; Mr Percy Quill (Sellers), a projectionist with a powerful thirst; and Old Tom (Miles), whose exact role is undefined but encompasses general caretaker and commissionaire duties.
Meanwhile Mr Hardcastle (De Wolff), the owner of The Grand (the town's other cinema which far outclasses the Bijou in terms of size and sophistication), offers the couple a derisory sum to sell the Bijou to him so he can knock it down for a carpark. The Spensers decide to attempt to run the fleapit as a going concern, hoping this will persuade Hardcastle to up his offer.
It's a wonderfully warm film with particularly delightful turns from Sellers and Rutherford and a rather surprising ending.
Chris and Tyler talked so much that it's been split into two halves (part two next week) - in this first part we establish the characters, talk about the gradual decline in cinema attendance at the time, our memories of going to the pictures as kids and even spend a fair chunk talking about a different Sellers film: Heaven's Above!
Mark Cousins returns to look again at the radio career of Peter Sellers, this time concentrating on the 1950s and largely eschewing his Goon Show activity.
Sellers was constantly in demand, and nowhere more so than on the wireless; indeed, it wasn't until the latter half of the decade that he began to wind down his appearances behind the microphone and focus more on the silver screen.
He more or less abandoned radio completely as the sixties dawned, apart from interviews or promotional appearances - and the odd thing like The Last Goon Show of All.
Hear Mark talk about some forgotten - and mostly lost - radio series in which Sellers cropped up such as Finkel's Cafe, Curiouser & Curiouser, Paradise Street, Happy Holidays, Ted Ray Time, Me And My Shadows and many more!
For this 100th edition of Goon Pod writer and podcaster Tim Worthington dons a sailor's tunic with arrows printed on it and returns to discuss the classic Goon Show Tales of Old Dartmoor, which was on the first LP ever issued of Goons episodes in late 1959.
We discuss the show itself and what was happening in the world around the time it was broadcast... and listeners can expect to hear us chat about Monty Python's Election Night special, Vic & Bob, a 96-year-old with a secret, a young Jane Asher, Tim Buckley, the Monkees, the Telegoons, Sabrina, Reginald Maudling, a singing parrot, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Victor Lewis-Smith, The Goodies and Shirley Bassey!
More Tim: timworthington.org
Twitter: @goonshowpod and @outonbluesix
As next week sees the 100th edition of Goon Pod drop, here's a special 100-minute long Easter bumper bonus episode!
Tyler shares clips of some of the many guests he's hosted on the pod over the last hundred shows - the selection is designed to showcase how the show has developed and evolved and (in theory) can be enjoyed by anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Goons, as long as they like fifties, sixties and seventies (and eighties & nineties) popular culture and especially comedy. Typically they'll like the Beatles and have heard of Jimmy Clitheroe - that's the sort of person who listens to Goon Pod.
So you'll hear from the likes of Al Murray, David Quantick, Mike McCartney, Griff Rhys Jones, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Mike Fenton Stevens as well as many others PLUS some never-before-heard material!
(This episode is better than an Easter egg because it's less fattening, won't stain the furniture and even your dog can enjoy it)
Twitter: @goonshowpod
"There was only one man for the job... there was only one man available!"
And so begins The Case of the Vanishing Room, the earliest Goon Show we've covered so far on this podcast, from 1954. It was later remade for the Vintage Goons series and that is the version most people will be familiar with but it stuck very closely to the original script.
This week returning guest Mike Haskins joins Tyler to examine both and try to fathom what this 'murder mystery' was all about! Did Spike lose interest halfway through the writing? Did he like the title and try to write a show around that? Who exactly WAS the murderer? And how did the room vanishing and turning up in Paris actually resolve itself? All these questions and precious few answers!
Also: Tyler's great new game "From Peter To Piper" which we are confident will never return for a further round.
Plus: dog lovers are well catered for as Huxley the hound makes his podcast debut!
This week's guest is John Williams, who joins Tyler to examine a couple of classic telly interviews from the seventies hosted by Barnsley's favourite son Michael Parkinson.
In 1972, fresh from their triumphant return in The Last Goon Show Of All, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers joined Michael Parkinson for a special show, with Spike Milligan on VT and Ray Ellington providing the music. A couple of years later, shortly before his big comeback as an international superstar via The Return of the Pink Panther, Sellers joined Parky again and chatted about his life and career for over an hour. Both shows were subsequently issued on LP and are considered among the very best of Parkinson's interviews.
In this week's podcast we discuss:
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The many iterations of the solo Sellers show: the original broadcast was 1974, with an edited tribute repeat in 1980, a further truncated repeat in 1996 and the LP version. Does the original still exist?
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The ubiquitous German army helmet
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Sellers' list of ex-wives
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Warrington Minge
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Harry Secombe's nervous energy
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Fred Roper and his Midgets
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The Spirella Corset Factory
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Ghostwatch!
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Sellers' childhood touring the theatres
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Spike in Australia
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"I seen him! I seen him!"
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Impersonating officers in the army mess
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Michael Caine
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Who else appeared with Parky on the cover of Band On The Run
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The Goon Show Scripts
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Derek & Clive
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Thora Hird
... And much much more!
Last year the sky was dark with hats when it was announced that a missing Hancock's Half Hour radio show had been discovered, and for once Hancockians and Goonatics were able to put aside their differences and embrace like sisters because it turned out that this newly discovered episode featured the vocal talents of Peter Sellers!
The hosts of Very Nearly An Armful, the Tony Hancock podcast - Tim Elms, Jon Street, Martin Gibbons and James Griffith - join Tyler this week to talk about "The Marriage Bureau" and Tony Hancock's history with Sellers and Secombe in particular.
One of the biggest revelations was that Sellers had barely fifteen minutes to read and run through the script before recording yet pulled it off like a pro and the episode is now regarded as one of the standout shows from the first series of Hancock's Half Hour.
It's a fun, fact-filled 90 minutes of chat which will appeal to all fans of the Goons, Hancock or radio comedy in general!
http://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/
https://goonshow.org/
Twitter: @goonshowpod @NearlyAn @theGSPS @TonyHancockAS
"He opened the door and there he was standing in just a pair of gold boxer shorts..."
This was how a young BBC Radio producer named Griff Rhys Jones met Frankie Howerd for the first time!
Sometimes on this podcast we like to open it up and talk more generally about comedy - and especially when we get a special guest of Griff's calibre! Rude not to.
Griff - who will be touring his new show from May and filming Griff's Vietnam Adventure this year - joined Tyler to talk about his career (which does include a prominent role in the film adaptation of Spike Milligan's Puckoon) and was more than happy to reminisce about his time on the likes of Not The Nine O'Clock News, Alas Smith & Jones and The Young Ones, as well as university revues, radio, plays and his subsequent documentaries and travel shows over the last twenty years.
Includes chat about:
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Mel Smith and their long comedy partnership
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Some favourite S&J sketches (including Porno & Bribeasy)
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The Homemade Xmas Video
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The Two Ninnies and Ronnie Barker's reaction to it
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Being Bambi
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Alexei Sayle
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Douglas Adams
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John Lloyd
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Chris Langham
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Beryl Reid flirting with him
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The post-war generation of comedians
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Almost appearing in Blackadder the Third
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Restoration
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Cleaning skyscraper windows in New York
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Performing in Australia and New Zealand
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The television landscape
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Reacting to critics
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And working with Frankie of course!
As well as his thoughts and observations on Spike and the Goons in general.
Griff was extremely generous with his time and tickets for his forthcoming tour are available here: https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/g/34307/griff_rhys_jones
How to salvage London's sunken Westminster floating Pier? Simple. Don't raise the pier - lower the river!
And so begins another (mis)adventure in which the two arch fiends Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty hoodwink the hapless Neddie Seagoon in what was probably one of the most topical shows the Goons ever attempted - The Sinking of Westminster Pier, broadcast the week after that historic landmark had indeed sunken into the Thames in early 1955. Spike was amused by a photograph in the newspaper of an 'Out Of Order' sign sticking out of the river and so, fired by inspiration, wrote this episode to replace the scheduled show, The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street. Much to Wallace Greenslade's chagrin.
Having previously come on Goon Pod to investigate The String Robberies, Molly McDade returns to talk about piers, oysters, farting mules, Russian frogmen, television police procedurals, David Attenborough, George Raft and even Winston Churchill! Along the way she performs an impressive Willium 'Mate' impression, delivers a heartfelt plea for more Goon-type animation and, most importantly, talks in some detail about seeing the recent Hislop & Newman play 'Spike' a total of three times last year!
Molly is on Twitter @AuthorOfNebulae
President Fred of Argentina owes the South Balham Gas Board four pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence and thus begins a thrilling tale of international intrigue, replete with revolutionaries, counter-revolutionaries, forged money, real money, red sacks, blue sacks and even coercion by liquorice allsorts!
Joining Tyler to unpack this awfully knotty Goon Show from 1955 is Jeffers, the man behind the new podcast Podcasto Catflappo!
Jeffers is doing God's work by scrutinising the unfairly overlooked Rik Mayall & Ade Edmondson one-series sitcom penned by Ben Elton: Filthy, Rich & Catflap - an important link in the chain between The Young Ones and Bottom. He's also co-host of Sitcom Showdown and waaaaay back in the day cut his teeth on The Goodies Podcast.
He's also Australian but we won't hold that against him.
It's fair to say that Jeffers saved Tyler's bacon on more than one occasion during the recording of this episode, having made copious notes and being properly organised. He was able to navigate through Milligan's peasouper of a plot whenever the hapless host got lost, however, thanks to judicious editing and money down to buy Jeffers' silence the listening audience will remain blissfully unaware of this fact.
https://t.co/SMjiQkp5Gm
He's someone who refuses to embrace modernity and is still scandalised by the obsolescence of wax cylinders in favour of shellac discs, however this week your hidebound host Tyler has been listening to sound recordings via the medium of Compact Disc, albeit with a stiff brandy and a cool damp flannel to hand.
But he needn't have worried - "An Album Called Fred" is a delightful new CD recently released on Jasmine Records and compiled by producer & sound engineer (and Goons fan) Richard Moore.
Bringing together a varied assortment of rare and in some cases never-before released recordings of songs and numbers from the likes of Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Ray Ellington, Max Geldray, Angela Morley and George Chisholm, as well as a couple of original recordings which were musical staples of the Goon Show and the original theme music from I'm All Right Jack and Two Way Stretch, "An Album Called Fred" takes its name of course from the 1956 Associated-Rediffusion series A Show Called Fred (and the CD even features the famous 'Jump Into A Dustbin and Dance' number!)
Richard joins Tyler to talk about the creation of the album and where the idea originally came from - the CD can be ordered directly from Jasmine here:
https://jasmine-records.co.uk/gb/comedy/3660-the-goons-an-album-called-fred.html
"I remember he once castigated me for picking up a wine bottle by its neck."
That's David Renwick talking about dining out with Spike Milligan, and in the early eighties Renwick, along with his regular writing partner Andrew Marshall, worked on Spike's 'Q10-by-another-name' There's A Lot Of It About.
David joins Tyler this week to talk about Spike the man, the comic, the creative juggernaut, and how to a certain extent the incorrigible Milligan acted as a sort of self-appointed patron to the two younger writers.
That said, by this point in their careers they were well on the way to becoming household-name comedy writers with hit shows such as The Burkiss Way on the radio and End Of Part One on television, and Whoops Apocalypse just around the corner. David also had regular writing responsibilities on other shows, notably The Two Ronnies, and within a few years Renwick and Marshall would be the driving forces behind shows such as Alexei Sayle's Stuff.
However, it is for two major series in the 1990s (and into the 2000s) that David Renwick is best known: One Foot In The Grave and Jonathan Creek.
As well as discussing Milligan, David talked at length about other aspects of his career, in particular One Foot In The Grave (including an explanation as to how the series is shot through with Neil Simon's creative DNA), as well as his early comedy influences, attending recordings of I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again and Monty Python's Flying Circus (and is it any wonder that Tim Brooke-Taylor from the former and Eric Idle from the latter were both involved with One Foot In The Grave?), his short-lived career as a journalist on a local newspaper, writing for Mike Yarwood, Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, working with David Jason again in the 2010s on the radio show Desolation Jests and... Bill Cosby.
Tyler's only regret? That he forgot to ask about that episode of Father Ted.
This week Chris Diamond returns to discuss Ghost In The Noonday Sun, a film in which Peter Sellers in a bad wig and bad accent fannies about for ninety minutes.
Goon Pod has clocked up 91 episodes - good grief - and so far we’ve talked about a dozen or so films either starring or featuring Peter Sellers and mostly they’ve been pretty good– true, The Blockhouse, Down Among The Z Men and The Great McGonagall are not universally loved (and it still surprises me the number of people who get wound up by The Magic Christian) but none of them are total stinkers.
Is GITNS really THAT bad? It's certainly up there as one of the worst films Sellers was ever attached to but it's no Where Does It Hurt.
The film features some great actors and performers such as Spike Milligan, James Villiers, Murray Melvin, Clive Revill and blink-and-you'll-miss-him Peter Boyle as well as Anthony Franciosa (described by Chris as being like one of those uncles you had as a kid who wasn't really your uncle) and Dave Lodge with very little to do. The script is pretty wretched, even though it was Milliganised, and had the film actually been released in cinemas at the time no doubt it would have sunk quicker than a pirate ship foundered on rocks.
But of course it did result in a memorable telly advert for gaspers. More on that in the show.
"I want to kill people but... they're all dead!"
Director Peter Medak had a less than shipshape experience making the 1973 'pirate romp' Ghost In The Noonday Sun, starring Peter Sellers & Spike Milligan. The film from day one was beset by difficulties, dramas and indignities and as an exercise in therapy in 2016 Medak made the feature-length documentary The Ghost Of Peter Sellers. It charts the many obstacles to making GITNS that Medak had to grapple with, and the largest obstacle was its star.
Tyler and returning guest Chris Diamond watched the documentary and the 1973 film and had a lot to say so their conversation has been broken down into two halves - this week their focus is largely on The Ghost Of Peter Sellers and next week's episode covers the actual film Ghost In The Noonday Sun.
"Let those undisciplined sprites, The Goons, do their worst - he, Wallace Greenslade, will be true to BBC traditions!"
Officially voted listeners' second favourite Goon Show episode of all time, The Greenslade Story is a love letter to the Goons' beloved announcer, 'The Massive Greenslade' (as a colleague nicknamed him) who joined the show in 1953 and stayed with it right to the end in 1960. Big in every sense, Wal fitted right into the show and had no qualms about joining in, often playing odd characters as the script required alongside his official announcer responsibilities.
Joining Tyler to talk about this wonderful show is Donna Rees and the pair had a great time talking all things Greenslade!
Also: Sellers' vocal fireworks; why they remade The Pevensey Bay Disaster on the same night; Irene Handl swearing; Ray Ellington barking; some Eccles continuity; Wallace in chains; the Coventry disaster; whatever happened to Morecambe & Wise?.... and Stanley Unwin.
In summer 2022 listeners to Goon Pod were asked what their favourite episodes of The Goon Show were and the response was brilliant - so many of you voted that it took Tyler and a team of unpaid interns several weeks to collate the data, interpret the results, hem and haw and finally prepare THE definitive list of Listeners’ Top 20 Goon Shows.
Tyler is joined by Mike Haskins & Sean Gaffney to run down the list, tease out interesting titbits and generally grumble like middle-aged men tend to do.
Where is YOUR favourite show placed? Will it be in the Top 10? The Top 5? Will it be the coveted Number 1?!
You’ll have to cancel all plans and strap in for ninety minutes of frenetic Goon chart chat to find out!
Actor, writer and director Lee Moone joins Tyler this week to talk about the history of Spike Milligan's The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town and how he brought it to the stage in 2015 with 'Guest Phantoms' Jon Culshaw, Danny Baker and John Challis.
Following on from last week's chat with Joel Morris, Lee and Tyler look at the genesis of the original script and dig a bit deeper into its intended purpose: to be a one hour television special for Milligan, Sellers and Secombe that never came off. They talk about its subsequent seventies versions with Ronnie Barker solo and then, more famously, as part of The Two Ronnies.
Lee tells Tyler how challenging it was adapting the script for the stage production. The biggest obstacle to its success would have been the non-cooperation of Norma Farnes, Milligan's agent, but thankfully she was supportive of the project and gave it her blessing. A major turning point was enlisting the services of Dirk Maggs as director and with him on board it all began to come together. Lee explains how it could have gone on with an extended series of shows but various factors conspired to prevent this happening - however, Lee is hoping to bring the show back.
It's a great conversation with a really interesting guy and we wish Lee all the best in his endeavours to revive the show and keep alive the memory of The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town!
Comedy writer, author, podcaster and musician Joel Morris is our special guest this week and what could be more Christmassy than a chat about The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town? (Plenty - Ed.)
Originally conceived by Spike Milligan as a vehicle for him, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe, this proposed Goons special was stymied early on by Sellers' filming commitments elsewhere. A couple of years later Milligan dusted off the script and repurposed it for an episode of Six Dates With Barker, Ronnie Barker's 1971 series of one-off plays (similar to the Comedy Playhouse format which spawned a number of sitcoms) and if it had been left at that then it's highly likely that few people would remember it today.
However, in 1976 Ronnie Barker collaborated with Milligan to expand the length of the play and serialise it in weekly episodes for the fifth series of The Two Ronnies. It is this version that is most fondly remembered by the public and is generally considered to be the strongest of the Ronnies' serials.
Joel joins Tyler to laud the lost art of the comic play and talks about Milligan's genius, with a few caveats (Joel presents a strong argument that when writing without the grounding influence of collaborators Spike’s ideas were often in danger of becoming loosed from their moorings) and there's also plenty of time to talk about other comedy too, including Peter Cook, The Office and Python.
Joel is currently writing a book about comedy and is the host of the podcast Comfort Blanket: https://pod.link/1614879928
One of Peter Sellers' favourite episodes of The Goon Show, the inspiration for The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI was torn from the pages of the news as Spike Milligan picked up on a story in the Telegraph about abuses of taxpayer money overseas.
James Page joins Tyler to discuss the show and they talk about how a neat happenstance in the previously referred to newspaper article provided the perfect hook for Milligan and a gag which over time has lost its original relevance; the many memorable lines and sequences which still get quoted today (and who knew g-strings were around in 1956?); a new theme tune; plus negotiations at the time for a new series with the BBC.
There's also time for some Ratties praise and that time an audience member walked onto the set of Wogan during a Harry & Spike interview.
As it's nearly Santa's birthday what better way to mark the occasion than by two podcasts doing a crossover episode?
Christopher Webb & Robert Johnson are the hosts of Still Any Good which examines films and television shows that they enjoyed in their misspent youth and now revisit to see if they still hold up today. A perfect example is the 1981 Mel Brooks anthology comedy movie History Of The World Part One which qualifies for Goon Pod due to a small but significant role for Spike Milligan playing, as Chris puts it, "the Birdman of the Bastille".
The film purports to tell the history of the world since man evolved from the fish, although skips most of it - what we do get is Sid Caesar and pals ugging it up as comedy cavepeople; a memorable Moses moment; a sword-and-sandal saga which outstays its welcome; the circumstances surrounding The Last Supper (with John Hurt as Jesus); the Spanish Inquisition as reimagined by Busby Berkeley; and the first stirrings of the French Revolution (it's highly doubtful Mel Brooks troubled himself to read Thomas Carlyle on the subject, being more interested in portraying Louis XVI as a randy old goat with a bums and bosoms fixation - hump or death? Purrrrlease.)
Still, there's chuckles to be had along the way as Rob & Chris join Tyler to ask the question: is it Still Any Goon?
SAG is here: https://stillanygood.buzzsprout.com/113660
If there's one thing the public cannot reach agreement on it's what was the greatest British black & white Peter Sellers film of all time.
There is obviously a strong groundswell of support for that popular favourite, I'm All Right Jack, while trendier types (sneering metropolitan elites looking down on the hoi polloi) insist that Only Two Can Play is far superior. Others argue for The Naked Truth, with some justification, while a handful of nitwits push for The Ladykillers, completely misunderstanding the notion of 'black & white' as opposed to 'colour'.
However, they are all wrong. Sensible people everywhere acknowledge that the correct answer is Two Way Stretch from 1960, a film which has only gained in popularity over the years.
Directed by Robert Day from an original screenplay by John Warren & Len Heath (and with additional dialogue by Alan Hackney, writer of I’m All Right Jack), the working title for the film was Nothing Barredand it clearly provided inspiration for one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time - Porridge.
It reunites Sellers with his 'Jack co-stars Irene Handl and Liz Fraser and teams him up with David Lodge and Bernard Cribbins, but the film's most memorable performance is delivered by the peerless Lionel Jeffries as Chief Officer Crout.
Joining Tyler this week to do a bit of stir is returning guest Jeremy Limb - musician, actor and one third of The Trap.
Comedian and podcaster Ben Van Der Velde joins Tyler this week to discuss The Fear Of Wages, Spike Milligan's favourite Goon Show ever and a neat parody of the classic French film The Wages Of Fear (later remade as Sorcerer).
Broadcast in March 1956 its entry in the BBC Transcription Services catalogue reads: "For fourteen years Major Bloodnok and Captain Neddie Seagoon have been fighting the Japanese in Burma. For eleven of those years the war has been over, but the two sides have only recently awoken to this fact. Preparing for a triumphal return to Britain, complete with Japanese prisoners and Japanese saké, Neddie has the honour to be put in charge of the truck containing nitro-glycerine."
Tyler and Ben talk comedy influences, contemporary politics, favourite gags and characters, topics and language 'of its time', ask why the Ray Ellington number Pink Champagne was edited out of the later versions while an aural joke was fixed, and point out a Bluebottle inconsistency.
Ben's podcast Worst Foot Forward is HERE: worstfootforwardpodcast.com
Our guest this week is podcaster and producer Tilt Araiza, who joins Tyler to talk about Michael Bentine and his ground-breaking television series It’s A Square World.
Written by Bentine and John Law, It’s A Square World ran on the BBC from 1960-64 totalling 57 episodes and was a clear influence on later comedy series, notably Monty Python’s Flying Circus. As well as Bentine the programme featured the likes of Clive Dunn, Frank Thornton, Deryck Guyler, John Bluthal, Benny Lee, Dick Emery, Ronnie Barker and Sherie Winton. It won the Press Prize at the Rose d’Or Festival in Montreux in 1963 and scooped a Light Entertainment BAFTA award the year before.
This week’s show is roughly divided into two parts: the second half mainly focuses on It's A Square World but firstly Tilt & Tyler talk more generally about Bentine’s extraordinary life.
Having grown up enjoying many of the trappings of privilege his early years were marked by an inability to communicate properly, thanks to some avoidable home-surgery on his tonsils. Later he faced innumerable barriers to entry into the Second World War due to his Peruvian roots and when he finally did enter the services he was almost killed due to a mistake during a routine typhoid vaccination and was in a coma for several weeks. He later recovered and joined Military Intelligence and was among those who helped liberate Bergen-Belsen.
Despite all this he retained an optimistic, positive disposition and swept away on the currents of his imagination and facility for invention he found success as a comedian and performer in the late nineteen-forties. He met Harry Secombe who in turn introduced him to some friends of his, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers, and the seeds of The Goon Show were planted.
Bentine would later go on to find fame on television with shows like It’s A Square World and also his childrens’ series such as the much-loved Potty Time in the seventies.
A committed believer in the paranormal he became President of the Association For the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena and somehow found time to sail yachts, shoot, practise archery and go on hovercraft expeditions up the Amazon.
As for It’s A Square World, producer Barry Lupino told the Radio Times in 1961: “It has been called a diversion for the low in brow – but I wonder? The topics are lofty enough. What could be more uplifting than the opening of the Royal Academy?... Nor of course shall we overlook the situation in Volcania, of the effects of children’s television on the adult viewer, and the arrival and departure of distinguished personages in the great metropolis.”
The series also has the distinction of likely producing the first Dr Who parody – with Clive Dunn turning up barely a month after DW began dressed in an unmistakably Hartnellesque fashion.
All this and more is up for discussion in what is likely to be the first of a two part Bentine retrospective (Tilt will return next year).
Phil Cannon from the Who's He? podcast joins Tyler this week to discuss a film unfairly overlooked by the Academy - Spike Milligan's The Great McGonagall from 1974.
Written by Spike and Joe McGrath (Casino Royale, Digby the Biggest Dog in the World, Not Only But Also) and starring Milligan as the titular poet & tragedian, the film also featured Peter Sellers as Queen Victoria (kneeling on a skateboard), John Bluthal, Victor Spinetti and Julia Foster.
Considered by many to be the worst poet who ever drew breath, William Topaz McGonagall had long been a favourite of Sellers and Milligan and indeed had been woven into the fabric of The Goon Show, turning up as a character in occasional episodes (notably The Tay Bridge in 1959). This film takes constant liberties with the truth and is about as far away from being a faithful account of the poet's life as any biopic could credibly claim to be. That said, several of his poems were used and a handful of scenes were at least partly based on actual events.
The film was shot over three weeks entirely at Wilton's Music Hall and was not a success, receiving only limited release. It did garner a few fairly favourable notices (Richard Eder, writing in the New York Times, described it as a "radiant failure") but most reviewers were chilly towards it.
Time Out thundered: "The humour is forced and the social/political comment embarrassingly exposed... it looks like some tiresome theatrical junket brought out in the wake of the departing Lord Chamberlain, crammed full of previously vetoed references to the Royal Family!" Calm down Time Out, it's a low-budget British comedy, it's not trying to be Pather Panchali.
Despite this (or perhaps because of it!) Tyler and Phil had an enjoyable time chatting about it and would welcome listeners to check out the film if they haven't already seen it: available for a few quid on DVD and for free on YouTube (as of time of writing).
Who's He?: http://www.whos-he-podcast.co.uk/
Novelist and writer Jonathan Coe is our guest this week. He is the author of several novels which your host holds dear, including What A Carve Up! and The Rotter's Club and his latest book, Bournville, is published this week.
A master of social & political satires, state-of-the-nation sagas and generation-spanning comic narratives, Jonathan often plays with the form and, as we find out, before he discovered influential writers such as B.S Johnson and Flann O'Brien he was introduced to experimental comic prose via Spike Milligan's 1963 novel Puckoon.
His enthusiasm for comedy as a youth drove him to seek out more Milligan as well as the likes of David Nobbs and he built up a sizeable library of comic novels, sitcom tie-in books and comedy books in general. He talks to Tyler about the comedy and humour he grew up with, especially the work of Milligan, and how it informed his way of looking at the world.
'Bournville' will be published by Viking on 3rd November.
Read a review of it here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/30/bournville-by-jonathan-coe-review-hugely-impressive-state-of-the-nation-tale
EVERYBODY OUT!
For this week's show Tyler and comedian & writer Meryl O'Rourke downed tools and refused to record a podcast until their demands were met!
To pass the time they chatted about the cracking 1959 film I'm All Right Jack, starring Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael, Margaret Rutherford, Terry-Thomas, Dennis Price, Richard Attenborough, Sam Kydd, Victor Maddern and many others.
They ascribed superlatives aplenty to Irene Handl and Liz Fraser and proposed a motion to officially acknowledge that Esma Cannon was criminally underused!
The film is still strikingly relevant in many aspects and they were able to draw parallels between some of its themes & issues and current events some 60+ years later. Has the world really moved on all that much?
As well as talking about the film itself there were many conversational meanderings via The Young Ones, Battleship Potemkin, Frankie Boyle, Mick Lynch and what is likely to be the first and last reference to Little Mix ever on Goon Pod!
Check out Meryl: https://watch.nextupcomedy.com/videos/merylorovanilla0
This is where the story really starts: Having enjoyed success on the stage with The Wipers Times and Trial By Laughter Nick Newman & Ian Hislop hit upon the idea of writing a play about Spike Milligan, focusing on his Goon Show years and highlighting his running battles with the BBC. And so they did.
As the play's publicity puts it: "Flanked by his fellow Goons and bolstered by the efforts of irrepressible sound assistant Janet, Spike takes a flourishing nosedive off the cliffs of respectability, and mashes up his haunted past to create the comedy of the future. His war with Hitler may be over, but his war with Auntie Beeb - and ultimately himself - has just begun."
SPIKE premiered at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury at the beginning of 2022 and was a big success. Regular listeners to this show will know that Tyler spoke to Nick, to John Dagleish (who played Milligan) and to Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Janet) earlier this year - all those shows are available in the archive.
Then it was announced that SPIKE would be setting out on a nationwide tour from September and that there would be a few new additions to the cast - most notably the role of Spike himself was to be taken on by actor Robert Wilfort (known for Gavin & Stacey, Sex Education and going down a waterslide in his underpants). Although it was a hugely challenging role to tackle Robert threw himself into it with brio and the new production is drawing rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Tyler managed to catch Robert for an entertaining chat ahead of a run of shows at the Malvern Festival Theatre last month.
The show is running until 26th November and fast selling out: for more information and booking see SPIKE | Touring the UK this autumn (spiketheplay.co.uk)
This week Tyler talks to voice actor and restorer Keith Wickham about his history with the Goons, about a show he has produced for Radio 4 called Raiders of the Lost Archive (which is being broadcast the day after this podcast goes out, on the 13th October) and a recently discovered Hancock's Half Hour featuring Peter Sellers.
One of this country's most in-demand voice artists, Keith discovered Sellers at a tender age thanks to an indulgent schoolteacher and was immediately hooked. He soon abandoned his ambition to become a surgeon to focus on comedy and he recounts visits to watch classic radio comedy series being recorded, including I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Just A Minute.
He also developed an interest and talent for restoring radio shows, and as well as The Goon Show one of his proudest achievements in this field has been the complete I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. He talks about collaborating with people like Ted Kendall, Richard Harrison and Steve Arnold and how he went about sourcing material - old tapes, discs etc - and the challenges he faced.
Raiders of the Lost Archive tells the story of the audio engineers, enthusiasts and hobbyists who have spent years tracking down lost radio shows, dusting them off, cleaning them up and releasing them back into the world. Of particular note is the recently unearthed Hancock's Half Hour episode 'The Marriage Bureau', long thought lost forever, which featured Peter Sellers in a one-off appearance standing in for Kenneth Williams.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cxx2
If you are listening to this show on the day it goes out - Wednesday 5th October 2022 - then it is exactly 60 years since the Beatles' first single, Love Me Do, was released*. It's also exactly 50 years to the day since The Last Goon Show Of All was broadcast!
We've previously dedicated a show to the connections between the Beatles & The Goons and an argument could be made that were it not for the Goons the Beatles (as we know them today) may not have existed.
Had an EMI producer named George Martin not made a children's record called Jakka and the Flying Saucers in 1953 with an up-and-coming radio comedian then he may not have gone on to oversee Peter Sellers' (for it was he) subsequent hit comedy LPs at the end of the decade. He also may not have met and worked with Sellers' colleague Spike Milligan, and were it not for Martin's involvement with those two Goons on records which had entertained the teenage Beatles then he may have failed to have impressed them much when he met them in 1962. Things could have been so different...
... Ok, maybe that's a stretch but the importance of George Martin in British - in world - popular culture is undeniable. And without his experience creating those comedy & novelty records in the fifties and early sixties it is possible that much of the Beatles' later work may have lacked the levels of inventiveness and technical complexity that they achieved.
This week Tyler is joined by Andrew Hickey - from the hugely popular podcast A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs - to talk about George Martin and specifically his work with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, as well as some of the other records he had a hand in, pre-Beatles.
We talk about The Best of Sellers, Songs For Swinging Sellers, Unchained Melody, You Gotta Go Oww, the Sellers Beatles covers, Milligan Preserved, Bridge On The River Wye, Peter & Sophia and much more!
- We're now as far away from that day as the Beatles were from the funeral of Émile Zola.
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs: 500songs.com/
Returning guest Sean Gaffney is back to talk about the Series 9 opener The Sahara Desert Statue - the one about what would happen if a nude Welshman holding a rice pudding in the middle of the desert got hit by an atom bomb.
We talk a great deal about the events and circumstances leading up to the beginning of Series 9 and how it almost didn't get made. Spike Milligan was in Australia issuing demands to the BBC, Peter Sellers was making his first faltering steps in a legitimate stage production which famously collapsed under the weight of its star's self-indulgence, Harry Secombe was also appearing in a stage show and preparing for the Royal Variety Performance, while Max Geldray narrowly avoided the chop!
Sean and Tyler discuss the episode itself, and Sean explains why it is his go-to show when he needs a bit of comfort listening.
There's also a slightly wince-making recording of Wallace Greenslade trying to do Goon voices... hats off to the old man for trying but wiser counsel should have prevailed!
Roger McGough, John Gorman and Mike McCartney first performed together sixty years ago and very quickly found fame and success as The Scaffold, combining comedy, poetry and music. With Top 10 singles (including a Number One with Lily The Pink in 1968), a slew of acclaimed live shows, albums, television appearances and collaborations with the likes of the Bonzos (as Grimms), The Scaffold proved to be a unique creative force who could count the Queen Mum and Harold Wilson among their fans.
They've reunited for a special show in October at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool: An Audience With The Scaffold (more details at: An Audience with The Scaffold | Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres (everymanplayhouse.com) )
Like many of their peers and contemporaries they were influenced by The Goons and were happy to talk about growing up listening to the show as well as later encounters with Spike Milligan.
We also discover how they first got on TV, why Mike's name went through a few variations, beating Richard Burton to the bar, hobnobbing with Royalty and an explosive evening with Vivian Stanshall.
Also: memories of working with Graham Nash, Jack Bruce and Elton John and the time Mike had to give musical direction to Jimi Hendrix!
All this and much more!
This week we welcome to the show Chris Shaw of the mighty I Am The Eggpod podcast, who came along to talk about a loch, a sunken galleon, a family inheritance and a faithful old man dog.
Yes, it's The Treasure In The Lake (also known as The Treasure of Loch Lomond) from Series 6 which was issued on LP by the BBC in 1978 (with The Greenslade Story on side 2) and is a fondly-regarded fan favourite.
Down-at heel and down-on his luck, Ned Seagoon is busking in Leicester Square when he is approached by Norris Toof who tells him that upon the death of his Scottish uncle, the Laird McGool, he stands to inherit £10,000. Ned hotfoots it to Castle McGool and meets the Laird but the nephew’s rather cavalier attitude towards his uncle’s wellbeing results in Eccles – disguised as a dog - driving him from the castle. Ned is then duped into a villainous scheme to drain Loch Lomond by drinking it, a plan devised by Grytpype Thynne and Moriarty in order to gain access to a sunken Spanish treasure galleon. But has someone else got there before them..?
We also get a rendition of I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas and Chris asks a question about it which I think many of us have wondered from time to time... among other things under discussion are The Goons Hit Wales, Derek & Clive, Tony Hancock and Prince (now King) Charles doing Bluebottle impressions. Jings!
https://iamtheeggpod.com/
The Goons made China Story twice: once as part of the fifth series and a year or so later as part of The National Radio Show at Earls Court. It was producer Peter Eton's favourite show and a Spike Milligan/Eric Sykes collaboration although exactly who had the lion's share is unclear - probably Spike but Eric must have had a hand in the overall structure.
It's a firm fan favourite, despite perhaps a number of 'of it's time' moments!
Notable for the memorable appearance(s) by Adolphus Spriggs, a frustrated balladeer, whose attempts to earn some coin by singing I'm Only A Strolling Vagabond are doomed to failure, it also contains one of the show's greatest sound gags of all time.
Joining Tyler this week to talk about both versions of the show is Roger Stevenson, who among other things raises a very interesting point about Spike's generosity with gags.
It was a fun conversation. Enjoy!
Actor Jeffrey Holland is best known for his role as Spike Dixon, the third rate camp comic in the popular BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi! but he is of particular interest to this podcast as he took on the rather daunting task of performing Peter Sellers' characters in the much-acclaimed 2001 show Goon Again, alongside Andrew Secombe, Jon Glover and Christopher Timothy and produced by friend of the show Dirk Maggs.
Tyler and Jeffrey discuss that show and what the Goons mean to him, as well as running through his career in general - as well as Hi-De-Hi! they talk about You Rang M'Lord (and why it's so popular in Hungary), Are You Being Served, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Dad's Army.
Jeffrey was a delight and very generous with his time - hope you enjoy the show.
Steven Cockcroft, co-host of the tremendous Nothing Is Real podcast, joins Tyler this week to delve into the many connections between the Beatles and the Goons.
A major influence on all four Fabs - especially John - The Goon Show ran until 1960 but Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan were to go on and develop friendships with all the Beatles and even work with them professionally (notably Sellers and Ringo appearing together in The Magic Christian).
Tyler and Steven try to identify as many connections as they can (no matter how tenuous!) and among the things they touch on are:
Spike & Across The Universe; George Martin; Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds; Richard Lester; Sellers in Get Back; The Beatles Cartoon; Paul's poem to Spike; I Am The Walrus; George and Peter in Disneyland; Sellers does A Hard Day's Night; The Grandma Awards; The Goon Show Scripts; You Know My Name Look Up The Number; Unchained Melody; Spike and The Primal Scream; The Nerk Twins... and much much more!
It's a fun conversation which anybody with even a passing interest in the Goons and/or the Beatles will enjoy!
(And it wasn't until the show was edited and in the can that Tyler realised that the young John Lennon could not have possibly seen Idiot Weekly or A Show Called Fred on television as these were only screened in the London region - HOWEVER, he could have seen Son Of Fred as apparently that show was screened in the North in late 1956!)
Nothing Is Real: https://www.nothingisrealpod.com/
Over a career spanning seven decades the composer and arranger Angela Morley brought something special to every project she was involved with, be it movie soundtrack, record, radio show or television programme. Working with such heavyweights as John Williams, Shirley Bassey, Noel Coward, Scott Walker, Andre Previn and Frankie Vaughan she gained a reputation as a talented, reliable and resourceful musical collaborator.
Although her latter career based mainly in the US was primarily focused on film scores (including Watership Down, Star Wars, Home Alone and Schindler's List) plus TV shows such as Dynasty and Dallas, it is for her earlier work that listeners to this podcast are probably most familiar with her - on The Goon Show and Hancock's Half Hour.
Writer Louis Barfe joined Tyler to talk about the life of Angela Morley and some of the standout work and notable musicians with whom she collaborated.
Plus: the generosity of Harry Secombe, being told off by Ken Dodd and a warm tribute to the recently departed Bernard Cribbins.
The One Where We Chart The Development Of Peter Sellers' Beard!
Writer and Summer Wino Bob Fischer is this week's guest - he came along to talk about one of the most obscure and little-seen Peter Sellers films of all: The Blockhouse, from 1973.
Despite the film's bleak, at times harrowing depiction of desperate men entombed awaiting the inevitable, it was a very upbeat and enjoyable conversation which naturally flitted all over the shop. Warning: Includes chat about Last Of The Summer Wine, Scarred For Life and Jack Douglas...
Bob recalled interviewing one of the actors from The Blockhouse, the incomparable Peter Vaughan, who said he'd enjoyed working with Sellers on the film - by all accounts the former Goon had been on his best behaviour. Several theories abound as to why this might have been.
If you haven't seen The Blockhouse - and not many people have - this podcast episode is the next best thing. With laughs.
More Bob: hauntedgeneration.co.uk
Joining Tyler this week to discuss this very fine Series 8 show is Molly McDade, who explains why The Goons mean so much to her.
We spend a fair chunk of the episode talking about the behind-the-scenes dramas getting this show aired and ask the question, why was someone who didn't like The Goon Show put in charge of producing it for a couple of weeks? And how many four-letter oaths did Milligan and Sellers give vent to during the rehearsals and recording of this show? It IS a classic but could it have been classicker?
Who knows?
In any case, Molly makes your host feel very elderly indeed, damn her eyes. But she's great. Have a listen.
Recorded at Cambridge University in December 1973 and issued as a double LP in Spring 1974, An Adult Entertainment brought together the inspired lunacy of Spike Milligan and the musical whimsy of Jeremy Taylor.
Spike read extracts from some of his books, recited poetry, shared anecdotes and generally treated the audience to a cornucopia of classic Milligana. Jeremy Taylor played some of his songs, some satirical, others sweetly melancholy, all of them shrewd observations of the human condition.
Not all of it worked but what resulted was an interesting confection which could have benefited from more structure and consideration of content - however, all in all it is a record to make you smile and occasionally laugh out loud.
Joining Tyler this week is musician and podcaster Paul Abbott whose parents had the record in their collection when he was growing up and he explains its appeal.
Paul's band Good Grief have recently released a new album, Shake Your Faith: https://goodgriefliverpool.bandcamp.com/album/shake-your-faith
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:
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Pixies, Fairy Kings and Badjelly!
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Harry, Peter & Mike!
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Spike's opinion of 'newer' comedy and his love for the greats!
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On the set of The Muppet Show!
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Wine, Wossy and THAT comment!
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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
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:
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Why was Little Jim originally referred to as 'Lenin' in the script?
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Would the show have been better without Royal patronage?
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When exactly was that famous Michael Caine catchphrase coined?
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Just how peevish was Andrew Timothy?
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How might Michael Bentine have fitted into the reunion show?
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Did the absence of Angela Morley significantly impact upon the show's sound?
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Was the final 'freak out' better in rehearsal?
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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 discussHancock’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!
“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
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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 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
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In 1954 the Goons produced a special show without an audience which is considered by many to be an absolute classic, but by others as a rather muted curio. The Starlings preceded the start of the fifth series of the Goon Show by a month and in some ways showcased the direction the show was to take. A satire based on actual attempts by local councils across the country to rid their public buildings and spaces of starlings, it was presented as a radio play but lacked some of the wilder excesses that Goons fans would come to expect.
On the podcast this week is Jeremy Phillips, host of the Cinema Limbo podcast, who joined Tyler to discuss The Starlings. As well as asking if the show works without an audience (no spoilers), we look at some of the slight departures from character continuity and examine the ‘controversial’ scenes that had BBC executives at the time fanning their armpits with fury. Also: Ray Ellington on an errand of mercy, Seagoon vs Pureheart, Happy Holidays featuring Peter Sellers… and we almost come to blows over whether it was Secombe or Bentine who was touring with Sellers in late 1954.
Please follow Jeremy @cinema_limbo and Goon Pod @goonshowpod on the appropriately named Twitter
It’s Milligan and Bentine back together again! (sort of!)
Joining Tyler this episode it’s the welcome return of former guest, writer and film academic Dr Adrian Smith, who has written the viewing notes to accompany the recent release on blu ray of the 1972 British film Rentadick. A film which strains every sinew to be a sex comedy but never quite pulls it off, Rentadick qualifies for inclusion on this podcast because both Spike and Mike appear!
With the original concept devised by Cleese & Chapman we look back at the film’s protracted and difficult journey from script to screen and find out how an Oscar winner came to direct it; inevitably there is talk about Python, including their involvement with Birdseye peas; we also give three hearty cheers for the appearance of Richard Briers in the movie, who offers much in the way of comic relief; naturally we examine the two former Goons and where they fit in - plus we mull over the acting chops of your dad’s old favourite Julie Ege, scratch our heads over a grown man in a mouse costume and discover that one of the film’s stars is currently appearing in the latest Marvel movie!
Adrian is the co-host of two film podcasts, Second Thoughts and Wild Wild Podcast, details of which can be heard at the end of this week’s episode and he is on Twitter @retroramblings
Joining the pod this episode is Barnaby Eaton-Jones – celebrated writer, producer and actor – to talk about the much lauded and garlanded audio drama There Used To Be A Me, starring the mighty Alfred Molina as Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers and Peter Sellers (and, er, Peter Sellers). Written by Ian Billings and directed by Barnaby it is a rambunctious and at times moving reimagining of the life and inner thoughts of the former Goon as he contemplates his mortality.
Along the way Barnaby talks about his rather short-lived stint as an ersatz Harry Secombe, his triumphal revival of I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again and audio releases including the return of The Goodies and some up-to-the-minute breaking news about Chelmsford 123! Plus much more besides!
There Used To Be A Me: Peter Sellers is available in most places you get audio books but maybe try these guys because I think they need the business: https://www.amazon.co.uk/There-Used-Be-Me-Sellers/dp/B095XHZ531
Have a gorilla!
Napoleon’s Piano is one of the most loved Goon Shows of all time and joining Tyler this week to talk about it is Angie Budd.
Angie has a lot to say about the show and among other things we discuss Wallace Greenslade’s ripe French accent, the art of piano leg sawing, Anthony Eden and the Cambridge Spies, the ubiquity of Maurice Ponk, Britain claiming ownership of a final piece of soil (well, rock), the launch of Associated-Rediffusion and the technical pitfalls of performing a Goon Show in a pub – not to mention the Goons getting nuked!
Please follow on @goonshowpod and rate & review in the right places!
Comedy writer, novelist and Goon Show fan David Quantick is Tyler’s guest this week. With Spike Milligan being one of David’s earliest influences as a writer he was keen to explain how, for him, the Goons had more of an impact than the Pythons and helped sharpen his comic sensibilities, along with the likes of absurdist playwright NF Simpson.
As well as general Goon chat there are conversational meanderings such as: Meeting Spike on Saturday Zoo; the brilliance of Barry Cryer; bringing back Dangermouse; Chris Morris on ‘aardvark comedy’; John Cleese; The Beatles (for a change); David freaking out his mother with his first typewritten script; Sabrina in Stoke Newington and noddin’ along to Val Doonican on Pam & Tony’s old Dansette record player.
Please follow the show on The Twitters @goonshowpod and rate & review on iTunes!
On the 8th September 1921 Harold Donald Secombe entered the world and the world was never quite the same again! To mark his centenary Tyler and comedy writer Mike Haskins present this special episode of Goon Pod as a tribute to the multi-talented Ned of Wales whose legendary voice, infectious giggling, kindness to others and unfailing good humour held him high in the public’s affection for over five decades.
We touch on pretty much every aspect of his career post-war and take a more detailed look at some of his seventies television appearances; along the way we find time to talk about his family and friends, contrast his life with his fellow Goons and there’s a fairly in-depth examination of his starring feature film debut Davy (1958).
It’s 70 minutes of Secombe and we hope you come away having maybe learned a few things about Harry you didn’t know before – if not then (raspberry)!
Please follow @goonshowpod and @MikeHaskins11
This week we remove our legs from the vulgar gaze of public and refuse to have a haircut as we pay tribute to the quite wonderful Michael Bentine’s Potty Time!
First there was the Goon Show, then The Bumblies, then It’s A Square World and then, erm, Rentadick, but after that there was Michael Bentine’s Potty Time which enchanted children and adults alike in the 1970s with Potty adaptations of classic works of literature and famous events from history.
Guesting on the show this week are Andrew Trowbridge and Lisa Parker, hosts of the ever-popular retro television podcast Round The Archives, who joined Tyler (who’s actually seen episodes of The Gnomes of Dulwich on New Zealand TV don’t you know) with tales to tell of Potty Time and the semi-Peruvian polymath.
Please follow on the Twitters @goonshowpod – Lisa and Andrew can be found @lisacartman and @Roundthearchiv1
This week Tyler welcomes a senior scoundrel to the pod in the shape of Tilt Araiza, who popped along to talk about the Series 9 episode Queen Anne’s Rain and much more besides.
This episode includes: Tilt’s relationship with and occasional astonishment at the Goon Show, the rhythm of jokes and the art of building audiences up to a state of comic ecstasy, the wonderful Wal Greenslade and his unique contribution to the show, Ray Ellington doing Goon impressions on vinyl, BBC Christmas tapes, the Marx Brothers, Ken Dodd and even Sabrina!
Tilt is co-presenter of The Sitcom Club and Jaffa Cakes For Proust podcasts, details of which can be found on this episode!
This week Tyler chats to writer and comedy historian Mark Cousins about Peter Sellers and some of the lesser-known aspects of his career.
Mark has neared completion of a sizeable Sellers chronology which has been years in the writing and he has advised on and contributed to several radio and television documentaries on the life of the former Goon.
Sellers’ radio, television, film and stage work is all under discussion and during the course of the conversation such topics arise as Sellers on Sykes, the influence of Ted Ray, the Goons on vinyl, his friendship with Irene Handl, the ‘lost’ Peter Sellers shorts and, intriguingly, Dudley Moore as ‘The Ferret’!
This week Tyler chats with Richard Usher, actor, performer and voiceover artist, who as a member of the Fred Theatre Company has brought the magic of The Goon Show to new audiences, appearing as part of The Birmingham Comedy Festival. Richard has taken on the role of Peter Sellers in a number of sell-out live Goon Show performances in recent years (staging such shows as The Phantom Head Shaver of Brighton and The House of Teeth) as part of a highly-skilled troupe and he talks about the highlights and challenges involved in such an undertaking! How did he manage to master the likes of Bluebottle and Bloodnok?
He also explains how he came to discover the Goons in the eighties and there’s some marvellous tales of meeting the Goons in the flesh, including being invited to Spike’s house for a cup of tea and being a hedonistic teenager attending Harry Secombe concerts.
Richard also speaks warmly about Michael Bentine and how he had a real influence and impact on Richard’s life growing up.
It’s an all-too-short conversation with a fascinating man and Richard’s website can be found here: www.richardusher.co.uk
Pull up a chair and cock an ear to the latest episode of Goon Pod! This week Tyler is joined by Paul Abbott of the Head Ballet and Big Beatles Sort Out podcasts to rhapsodise about one of the best-known and most fondly remembered Goon Shows of all time: The Whistling Spy Enigma from 1954.
We explore the show itself, the characters and gags and acknowledge how this show marked the beginning of a new chapter for the Goons. As Paul is a huge music enthusiast we naturally spend some time talking about Ray, Max and the orchestra and we even at one point stray dangerously close to a proper conversation about football! There’s also an intriguing insight into how American children reacted to hearing the Goon Show for the first time!
Please follow on Twitter @goonshowpod and rate and review on iTunes to help spread the good word!
Well, we know what it is, we know who done it but for heaven’s sake tell us where it is!
This episode of Goon Pod we’re joined by Scott from the Reel Britannia & Talking Pictures podcasts (among others) to cast an ear over the Series 9 episode ‘I Was Monty’s Treble’ which is a near as damn it faithful scene-by-scene tribute to the 1958 John Mills feature film I Was Monty’s Double (not really!)
Along the way we discover just what the Goons mean to Scott and how Adrian Juste changed his life!
What we cannot promise is an answer to the burning question of the moment: Who is Eccles?
New episode - cunningly disguised as the 7:20 train to Bradford!
Joining me on the pod this week is motorsport commentator and presenter Jake Sanson who has a deep and enduring love for the Goons and his enthusiasm is really infectious. We had a great conversation about one of his favourite Goon Show episodes (and mine), “The Great Bank Robbery” from series 7. Along the way we touched on such topics as A Show Called Fred/Son of Fred, Sheila Van Damm, Victor Meldrew and even Superman III.
Attach the zeppelin hooks to the horsehair-stuffed podcast and haul away!
An episode of Goon Pod where we’re talking about puppets?
Can only be The Telegoons right?
WRONG!
There was a time when Hollywood A-listers would be queuing around the block for the opportunity to sing a duet with a bit of coloured felt with ping-pong ball eyes. The Muppet Show was one of the biggest TV successes of the 1970s and today we welcome guest Manning Krull to the pod where we will be talking about how a pair of Goons appeared with Kermit & Co: Peter Sellers in 1978 and Spike Milligan in 1979. It’s safe to say the two episodes could not be more different!
Also, as he’s from the other side of the pond and therefore a damn foreigner Manning had never experienced The Goon Show before and having now heard a handful he shares his thoughts – was he baffled or bewitched? Or bemused? Or something else beginning with B?
It's time to put on make up, it's time to dress up right, it's time to raise the curtain on the, erm, Goon Pod! Download and listen now! (Warning: contains references to cigareets)
Let the needle drop on the latest episode of Goon Pod as Tyler chats to writer and broadcaster Tim Worthington about Sellers’ and Loren’s 1960 collaboration on vinyl: “Peter & Sophia”.
We discuss Tim’s relationship with the record and Sellers’ LPs in general (step forward George Martin), with conversational forays taking in that mucky pup Serge Gainsbourg, The Last Goon Show Of All and a certain popular sketch show from the nineties.
We examine each track on the album and find time to address some obvious issues – if you have even a passing interest in comedy on record then this episode is a must listen!
Fill up your horses with three gallons of hay as we welcome guest John Dredge to the podcast!
We're talking about the classic Series 9 Goon Show episode The Call of the West but also find time to talk about The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, dying in Coventry, laughs filched from I Love Lucy and even Tiswas!
We also address the burning question - who WAS that at the beginning of The Ying Tong Song?
Please rate and review on iTunes and all comments welcome @goonshowpod
In the fifth episode of Goon Pod it's the welcome return of Adam from RetroTube podcast - despite concerns that he’ll see the big board!
We have a right old chinwag about what is arguably Peter Sellers’ second greatest cinematic performance(s) – in the 1964 Stanley Kubrick Cold War satire Dr Strangelove.
Among many other things we talk about the fact that Spike Milligan was possibly partially responsible for Quentin Tarantino’s career and how one of the most memorable lines of dialogue in the film could have been inspired by Eccles. We also discuss Kubrick’s oeuvre, Sellers’ six best films (as voted for by the good burghers of Twitter), 'precious bodily fluids', George C Scott tripping over and even Slim Pickens’ winning turn in The Black Hole.
So join us as we celebrate Peter Sellers lighting up the screen as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley & the titular (and rather Goonish) Dr Strangelove!
We Need To Talk About Larry: In this episode the special guest is Julie Warren, author of the wonderful new book It's All In the Mind - The Life & Legacy of Larry Stephens.
We talk about the man who was one of the most important figures in helping shape and develop the Goons, as well as being a close friend and collaborator of Tony Hancock. Stephens was of the hardest-working comedy scriptwriters in the country, writing also for television (notably The Army Game) yet he has all but been forgotten as one of the leading creative forces in British radio comedy.
We discuss Larry's often eventful and never dull relationship with Spike Milligan, his close friendship with Hancock and Peter Sellers, the many struggles he faced in terms of receiving credit where it was due and some of the shows he worked on (including the infamous UFO show), as well as examining Larry's comedy writing style, his early life, wartime experiences and his tragically early death in 1959.
It's a fascinating and illuminating conversation and one which any serious radio comedy enthusiast should download and listen to immediately!
The Goons on film! All four of 'em! In glorious black and white! This week Adrian from @SecondFeatures podcast guests on the pod to discuss the only - to date - full length feature film starring the original Goon quartet! Tune in to discover everything you need to know about this classic British movie about which Roger Ebert said "Never heard of it."
In the second part of our discussion on The Man Who Never Was from Series 8, Tyler and Adam continue to talk about all things Goons (with occasional conversational meanderings via Alan Alda, Steptoe & Son and even K9!)
(BTW please rate and review on iTunes, it all helps!)
Join host Tyler and guest Adam Leslie as we kick off a brand new podcast all about the Goons (look 'em up teenagers)
On the 70th anniversary of the very first episode of the Goon Show Tyler and Adam discuss all thing Goons with particular focus on the celebrated 1958 episode The Man Who Never Was. Along the way we talk about our time in the Goon Show Preservation Society, our history with the show itself and its performers, Python, the Beatles, and much much more - and we guarantee this will be a funny-voice-free zone!
Part two will land next week.