The Goon Show was a British
radio comedyRadio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
programme, originally produced and broadcast by the
BBC Home ServiceThe BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...
from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the
BBC Light ProgrammeThe Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
. The first series, broadcast between May and September 1951, was titled Crazy People; all subsequent series had the title The Goon Show, a title inspired, according to Milligan, by
a Popeye characterAlice the Goon is a fictional character in E. C. Segar's comic strip Thimble Theatre and in the Popeye cartoon series derived from it.-History:...
.
The show's chief creator and main writer was
Spike MilliganTerence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
. The scripts mixed ludicrous plots with
surreal humourSurreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. Some of the later episodes feature electronic effects devised by the then-fledgling
BBC Radiophonic WorkshopThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
, many of which were reused by other shows for decades afterwards. Many elements of the show satirised contemporary life in Britain, parodying aspects of show business, commerce, industry, art, politics, diplomacy, the police, the military, education, class structure, literature and film.
The show was released internationally through the BBC Transcription Service (TS). It was heard regularly from the 1950s in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Canada, although these TS versions were frequently edited to avoid controversial subjects.
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
began broadcasting the programme on its radio network from the mid-1950s. The programme exercised a considerable influence on the subsequent development of British and American comedy and popular culture. It was cited as a major influence by
the BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
,
Monty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
(especially Cleese, Chapman, Palin and Jones, less so for Eric Idle)
and the American comedy team The Firesign Theater.
Background
The series was devised and written by Spike Milligan with the regular collaboration of other writers including
Larry StephensLarry Stephens was a professional wrestler in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions.-Career:Larry Stephens was trained by Gene Anderson and Nelson Royal in Mooresville, North Carolina and made his debut against The Midnight Express on TBS in late 1986 at 19 years old.He worked for Jim Crockett...
,
Eric SykesEric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
(who co-wrote most of the episodes in Series 4), Maurice Wiltshire and
John AntrobusJohn Antrobus is an English playwright and script writer. He has written extensively for stage, screen, TV and radio, including the epic World War II play, Crete and Sergeant Pepper at the Royal Court...
, initially under the watchful eye of Jimmy Grafton (KOGVOS - Keeper of the Goons and Voice of Sanity).
Milligan and
Harry SecombeSir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
became friends while serving in the
Royal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Famously, Milligan first encountered Secombe after
GunnerGunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....
Milligan's artillery unit accidentally allowed a large
howitzerThe BL 7.2 inch Howitzer Mk.I and subsequent marks were a series of heavy artillery pieces designed by the United Kingdom at the start of World War II. The 7.2 inch was not a new design, but instead a re-lined version of the 8 inch howitzers dating from World War I...
to roll off a cliff - under which Secombe was sitting in a small
wirelessRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
truck: "Suddenly there was a terrible noise as some monstrous object fell from the sky quite close to us. There was considerable confusion, and in the middle of it all the flap of the truck was pushed open and a young, helmeted idiot asked 'Anybody see a gun?' It was Milligan." Secombe's answer to that question was "What colour was it?" Spike met
Peter SellersRichard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
after the war at the
Hackney EmpireThe Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
, where Secombe was performing, and the three became close friends.
The group first formed at Jimmy Grafton's London public house called "Grafton's" in the late 1940s. Sellers had already débuted with the BBC, Secombe was often heard on
Variety BandboxVariety Bandbox was a British radio variety show transmitted by BBC Radio on the Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show helped to launch the careers of a number of leading British performers....
, Milligan was writing for and acting in the high profile BBC show Hip-Hip-Hoo-Roy with
Derek RoyDerek Roy was a British comedian famous in the late 1940s and early 1950s.His BBC Radio show 'Hip Hip Hoo Roy" was written by amongst others Spike Milligan, and was the show where Milligan's Goon Show character Eccles first appeared...
, and
Michael BentineMichael Bentine CBE was a British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goons. A Peruvian Briton by heritage as a result of his father's nationality, In 1971 Bentine received the Order of Merit of Peru because of his fund-raising work for the 1970 Great Peruvian...
, who appeared in the first series, had just begun appearing in
Charlie ChesterCharlie Chester was a British comedian and TV and radio presenter, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller.- Life and career :...
's peak time radio show Stand Easy.
The four clicked immediately. "It was always a relief to get away from the theatre and join in the revels at Grafton's on a Sunday night," said Secombe years later. They took to calling themselves 'The Goons' and started recording their pub goings-on with a tape recorder. The BBC producer, Pat Dixon heard a tape and took interest in the group. He pressed the BBC for a long term contract for the gang, knowing that it would secure Sellers for more than just seasonal work, (something the BBC had been aiming for). The BBC acquiesced and ordered an initial series - though without much enthusiasm.
The series had its premiere in May 1951 and audience figures grew rapidly, from around 370,000 to nearly two million by the end of the 17th show. The BBC commissioned a second series during which a number of changes occurred. Bentine left the show, citing a desire to pursue solo projects (although there had been an increasing degree of creative tension between himself and Milligan), the musical interludes were shortened, and
Max GeldrayMax Geldray was a jazz harmonica player, usually credited as being the first such.Born Max van Gelder to Jewish parents in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he was best known for his playing and occasional acting on the BBC comedy radio series, The Goon Show before emigrating to the United States...
joined the line up. Peter Eton, from the BBC's drama department, replaced
Dennis Main WilsonDennis Main Wilson was a British producer of radio and television programmes, mainly for the BBC.-Biography:...
as producer. Eton brought stricter discipline to the show's production. He was also an expert at sound effects and microphone technique, ensuring that the show became a far more dynamic listening experience. However, a few episodes into the series Milligan suffered a major nervous breakdown. He was hospitalised in early December 1952, just before the broadcast of episode five, but it, and the following episode, had already been written, and the next 12 episodes were co-written by Stephens and Grafton. Milligan was absent as a performer for about two months, returning for episode 17, broadcast in early March 1952. As with Series 2, all episodes were co-written by Milligan and Stephens and edited by Jimmy Grafton. No recordings of any episode of this series are known to have survived.
Spike blamed his breakdown and the collapse of his first marriage on the sheer volume of writing the show required. His then ground-breaking use of sound effects also contributed to the pressure.
[ "owing to the complexities of the technical side, the BBC were wanting the scripts delivered earlier and earlier - so that the boffins in the electronics department etc. could experiment with the new noises"] All this exacerbated his mental instability that included manic-depressive psychosis, especially during the 3rd series. The BBC however made sure he was surrounded by accomplished radio comedy writers—Sykes, Stephens, Antrobus, Wiltshire, and Grafton—so many of the problems caused by his health were skilfully covered over by composite scripts written in a very convincing Milliganesque style.
Many senior BBC staff were variously bemused and befuddled by the show's surreal humour and it has been reported that senior programme executives erroneously referred to it as The Go On Show or even The Coon Show.
This show was very popular in Britain in its heyday; tickets for the recording sessions at the BBC's Camden Theatre (now known as KOKO) in London were constantly over-subscribed and the various character voices and catchphrases from the show quickly became part of the vernacular. The series has remained consistently popular ever since – it is still being broadcast once a week by the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
in Australia, as well as on BBC Radio 4 Extra and continuously on the internet at
The GoonShowRadio.
The BBC as part of its archival policy, destroyed most of series one, two, three and some of four. All of series five to ten exist, and the Corporation is gradually releasing them, remastered and restored by
Ted KendallTed Kendall is a British musical restorer and a mastering engineer.-Biography:In the 1980s, Kendall was a recording engineer working for the British Broadcasting Corporation...
. Bootleg copies of all extant episodes exist on the web - (the show was widely recorded by devotees), including the first two episodes of series two, which the BBC had destroyed. The extant copies, and released discs are confused by the show existing in two formats - the original, and the Transcription Service edition. The TS version was the most widely circulated until the recent series of re-releases.
The scripts exist mostly in fan-transcribed versions via dedicated websites. Although three books were published containing selected scripts, they are out of print, and typically available only in libraries or second-hand bookshops. Some more recent biographical books contain selected scripts.
There were 10 series in total, plus an additional series called 'Vintage Goons', which featured re-recordings of early shows for which recordings had not survived. The first series had 17 episodes plus one special, Cinderella (1951); the second series had 25 episodes, (1952); the third series had 25 episodes plus one special - The Coronation Special (1952–53); the fourth series had 30 episodes plus one special, Archie In Goonland (1953–54); the fifth series had 26 episodes plus one special - The Starlings (1954–55); the sixth series had 27 episodes plus three specials,(1955–56); the seventh series had 25 episodes plus two specials, (1956–57); the eighth series had 26 episodes, (1957–58); the Vintage Goons were re-performances of 14 episodes from series four; the ninth series had 17 episodes, (1958–59); and the tenth series had six episodes, (1959–1960).
Format
Throughout its history, each episode of The Goon Show (which usually ran just under 30 minutes) was essentially structured as a comedy-variety program, consisting of scripted comedy segments alternating with musical interludes.
The first two series were mostly produced by
Dennis Main WilsonDennis Main Wilson was a British producer of radio and television programmes, mainly for the BBC.-Biography:...
; none of the episodes were given individual titles and these early shows were loosely structured and consisted of four or five unconnected sketches, separated by musical items. According to later producer Peter Eton, the musical segments took up around half the program. In this formative phase the show co-starred Milligan (who played only minor roles in the early shows), Sellers, Secombe and
Michael BentineMichael Bentine CBE was a British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goons. A Peruvian Briton by heritage as a result of his father's nationality, In 1971 Bentine received the Order of Merit of Peru because of his fund-raising work for the 1970 Great Peruvian...
as the nominal 'hero' of each episode, madcap inventor Dr Osric Pureheart. Musical performances were by virtuoso jazz harmonica player
Max GeldrayMax Geldray was a jazz harmonica player, usually credited as being the first such.Born Max van Gelder to Jewish parents in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he was best known for his playing and occasional acting on the BBC comedy radio series, The Goon Show before emigrating to the United States...
, singer
Ray EllingtonRay Ellington was a popular English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on The Goon Show from 1951 to 1960...
and his quartet (both of whom were recruited by Dixon) and vocal group The Stargazers, but they left after Episode 6 of Series 2, and for the remaining episodes Secombe filled in, singing a straight vocal number. Incidental, theme and backing music was provided by
Stanley BlackStanley Black OBE was an English Bandleader, Composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores and recorded prolifically for the Decca label...
and the BBC Dance Orchestra. Series 2 also saw the first appearances of popular characters Minnie Bannister (Milligan) and Henry Crun (Sellers).
Partly due to creative tensions between him and Milligan, as well as his desire to pursue a solo career, Bentine departed after the end of the Series 2. Dennis Main Wilson was replaced as producer by Peter Eton, who oversaw most episodes in Series 3, 4, 5 and 6. The last few episodes of Series 6 were produced by Pat Dixon, except for the Christmas special, which was produced by Main Wilson. Eton returned for the first two episodes of Series 7 but the remainder were produced by Pat Dixon, except the final episode, produced by
Jacques BrownJacques Brown was a British television producer. He produced The Goon Show, Beyond Our Ken, Much Binding in the Marsh and others for the BBC....
. In Series 8,
Charles ChiltonCharles Chilton MBE is a BBC radio presenter, a writer and a producer. Born in Bloomsbury in London, England, he never knew his father - who was killed during World War I - and when he was six his mother died as a result of having a botched abortion, so he was raised by his grandmother. He was...
produced Episodes 1-5 and 17-26,
Roy SpeerRoy Speer was the financial backing behind the Home Shopping Network. He was the first CEO of the company and saw its revenue from $1.9 million to over $1 billion annually...
produced Episodes 6-14 and Tom Ronald produced Episodes 15-16. Chilton, Speer and Ronald also variously produced the 14 episodes of the "Vintage Goons" series (1957–58) which were remakes of early programs for which recordings were no longer extant. Series 9 and 10 were entirely produced by
John BrowellJohn Logan Browell, was a radio producer who worked primarily in BBC Radio. He was best known for producing the final two series of "The Goon Show" and the special edition "The Last Goon Show of All". He also produced comedies with Spike Milligan, including "Milligna " in 1972.-References:...
.
From Series 3, The Goon Show (as it was now officially titled) gradually settled into its 'classic' format. Milligan, Stephens and Grafton began to work within a narrative structure and by the second half of Series 4 each episode typically consisted of three acts linked by a continuing plot, with Geldray performing between Acts I and II and Ellington between Acts II and III. Almost all the principal and occasional characters were now performed by Milligan and Sellers, with Secombe usually playing only Neddie Seagoon (who replaced Pureheart as the hero of most of the stories). The closing theme, backing for Geldray and incidental music was now provided by a big band of freelance musicians under the direction of composer-arranger-conductor Wally Stott, who had been writing for the show since the first series. After the end of Series 3 announcer
Andrew TimothyAndrew Timothy was an Anglican priest and BBC Radio announcer, who is best remembered for being the original announcer of the comedy series The Goon Show. Timothy announced for the BBC Home Service from 1947 to 1959. Later he became one of the first BBC television newsreaders from July to...
was replaced (at the suggestion of
John SnaggeJohn Derrick Mordaunt Snagge OBE was a long-time British newsreader and commentator on BBC Radio.Born in Chelsea, London, he was educated at Winchester College and Pembroke College, Oxford, where he obtained a degree in law. He then joined the BBC, taking up the position of assistant director at...
) by
Wallace GreensladeWallace Greenslade was a BBC announcer and newsreader. He is mainly remembered for being the announcer - and frequently the straight man - for the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show during most of its run.Greenslade was born at Formby, Lancashire...
, who provided spoken narrative links as well as occasionally performing small roles in the scripts.
From Series 3 onwards, the principal character roles were:
- Neddie Seagoon (Secombe)
- Eccles (Milligan)
- Bluebottle (Sellers)
- Henry Crun (Sellers)
- Minnie Bannister (Milligan)
- Hercules Grytpype-Thynne (Sellers)
- Count Jim Moriarty (Milligan)
- Major Denis Bloodnok (Sellers)
Secondary characters were the 'Indians', Banerjee and Lalkaka, the servant Abdul/Singez Thingz, Willium "Mate" Cobblers, Cyril, Jim Spriggs, Little Jim, Flowerdew and Chief Ellinga/The Red Bladder - both played by Ray Ellington The traditional plots involved Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty getting Neddie Seagoon involved in some far-fetched plan, and meeting the other cast members along the way.
Many characters had regular catchphrases which quickly moved into the vernacular; among the best known are:
- "He's fallen in the water!" (Little Jim)
- "You dirty, rotten swine, you! You have deaded me!" (Bluebottle)
- "You can't get the wood, you know." (Henry, Minnie)
- "You silly, twisted boy, you." (Grytpype-Thynne)
- "You can't park 'ere, mate" (Willium) -- Milligan's dig at officious BBC commissionaires.
Surrealism
The Goon Show has been variously described as "avant-garde," "surrealist," "abstract," and "four dimensional."
Broadly the Goon Show engaged in 'sound cartooning'. That is creating cartoons by means of sounds - voices, sound effects (FX), gramophone recordings of noises (GRAMS), orchestral effects etc. - all performed live in front of a studio audience. In the scripts themselves, Milligan explored the use of 'subject transference'. In particular he used three methods - transference of time, transference of place and transference of utility.
Examples are:
Transference of time
If time causes calendars, calendars can cause time. If you drop a bundle of 1918 calendars on German troops in 1916, then they will all go home, thus shortening the war. ("World War One", 22nd episode/ 8th series.) Two other shows with extreme examples of time transference are "The Treasure in the Tower", 5th episode/8th series; and "The Mysterious Punch Up the Conker", 19th episode/7th series. (The famous 'What time is it Eccles?' scene.)
Transference of place
If one lives in a house, and one can say that someone lives in their clothes, then the two are interchangeable. Therefore a recurring theme in the shows is of someone living in the basement of someone else's clothes, or of someone taking the lift up and down inside someone's suit. (e.g.: "What are you doing in my trousers?? - 'Slumming!') The best example of this is in "The Policy", 9th/ 8th series. Doors give you entrance into a different place, so a door can transport you anywhere. A door in the Himalayas can take you back to London etc.
Transference of utility
Milligan swapped functions between objects haphazardly and to comic effect. Pianos become vehicles of transportation, theatre organs become divining machines, two bananas become binoculars, Eccles becomes an omnibus ("Rommel's Treasure", 6/6th - "My, he's running well."), gorillas become cigarettes ("These gorillas are strong! Here, have one of my monkeys - they're milder."), photographs of money become legal tender, etc.
Medium games
Additionally, Milligan played games with the medium itself. Whole scenes were written in which characters would leave, close the door behind themselves, yet still be inside the room. Further to this, characters would announce their departure, slam a door, but it would be another character who had left the room. That character would then beat on the door for readmittance, the door would open and close and again the wrong character would be locked out. Spike also specialised in writing long scenes where a pair of characters would discuss a subject in a circle, coming back to the point they started. The best example is in "The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal" 23rd episode/ 6th series, in a scene between Minnie and Henry.
Locations
The settings for the shows were a revolution in themselves. Rather than the tepid everyday world of Britain in the '50s, Milligan set most of the shows in foreign locations, especially India, North Africa, South America, the Wild West, places where he had lived or had been posted during WWII, or had been fascinated with when a boy. It gives the shows a "boys'-own-story" atmosphere to the plots, and also an extraordinary sense of realism. The episodes set during wartime, and those located in India are particularly poignant, highlighting the absurdist humour played out against the realistic backdrops they provide.
Violence
Apart from the background, and the scripts, is the question of violence. Milligan had been blown up at the
Battle of Monte CassinoThe Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during World War II, fought by the Allies against Germans and Italians with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans...
during the war, and weekly he would blow up either Bluebottle, Eccles, or the whole cast. (The whole cast is blown up in, e.g., "The Sale of Manhattan", 11th episode/6th series.) Bombs, cannons, dynamite, TNT; anything and everything was used. Eccles breaks his leg in "Shangri La Again", 8th/6th series. How? "I just got a big hammer and went WHACK!" This was weekly fare. The most violent episode is considered to be "The Last Tram", 9th/5th series, where the cast and announcer belt each other with shovels for the last 2 minutes of the show.
The Goon Show paved the way for surreal and alternative humour, as acknowledged by comedians such as
Eddie IzzardEdward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...
. The surreality was part of the attraction for Sellers. All this exacerbated his mental instability especially during the 3rd series. Many of the sequences have been cited as being visionary in the way that they challenged the traditional conventions of comedy. On p. 73 of the Pythons autobiography,
Terry JonesTerence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
states "The Goons of course were my favourite. It was the surreality of the imagery and the speed of the comedy that I loved - the way they broke up the conventions of radio and played with the very nature of the medium." This is reiterated by
Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and
John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
in their contributions to Ventham's (2002) book. Cleese recalls listening to The Goon Show as a teenager in the mid-1950s "and being absolutely amazed by its surreal humour. It came at a key stage in my own development and I never missed a show" (p. 150).
Music and sound effects
Orchestral introductions, links and accompaniment were provided by a hand-picked
big bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
made up of London based session musicians. The arrangements and musical direction were done by
Wally StottAngela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
(who later underwent gender reassignment and became
Angela MorleyAngela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
), from the 3rd to the 10th series. She produced many arrangements and link passages, further improved by the first class sound quality the BBC engineers managed to achieve. Members of the band featured prominently in the comedy proceedings, particularly jazz trombonist
George ChisholmGeorge Chisholm may refer to:* George Chisholm , British geographer* George Chisholm , British trombone player and bandleader*George Chisholm...
.
In keeping with the
varietyA variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
requirements of the BBC's "light entertainment" format, The Goon Show scripts were structured in three acts, separated by two musical interludes. These were provided by the
Ray EllingtonRay Ellington was a popular English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on The Goon Show from 1951 to 1960...
Quartet—who performed a mixture of
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, rhythm & blues and
calypsoCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
songs—and by harmonica virtuoso
Max GeldrayMax Geldray was a jazz harmonica player, usually credited as being the first such.Born Max van Gelder to Jewish parents in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he was best known for his playing and occasional acting on the BBC comedy radio series, The Goon Show before emigrating to the United States...
who performed mostly middle of the road numbers and jazz standards of the 30s and 40s accompanied by the big band. Both Ellington and Geldray also made occasional cameo appearances; Ellington was often drafted in to play stereotypical 'black' roles such as a tribal chieftain or native bearer.
It was in its use of pre-recorded and live sound effects that The Goon Show show broke the most new ground. Part of the problem was that "not even Milligan knew how to capture electronically the peculiar sounds that came alive in his head - he just knew when it had not yet happened". An example of this comes from an often cited story of Milligan filling his two socks with custard in the Camden Theatre canteen, in an attempt to achieve a squelching effect. Secombe recalled "Back in the studio, Spike had already placed a sheet of three-ply near a microphone." One after the other, he swung them around his head against the wood, but failed to produce the sound effect he was seeking. Secombe noted that "Spike used to drive the studio managers mad with his insistence on getting the sound effects he wanted. In the beginning, when the programme was recorded on disc, it was extremely difficult to achieve the right sound effect. There were, I think, four turntables on the go simultaneously, with different sounds being played on each - chickens clucking, Big Ben striking, donkeys braying, massive explosions, ships' sirens - all happening at once. It was only when tape came into use that Spike felt really happy with the effects." Over time, the sound engineers became increasingly adept at translating the script into desired sounds, assisted from the late 1950s onwards by specialists in the BBC's newly-formed Radiophonic Workshop.
In creation of the Goon shows, long and acrimonious shouting matches occurred between Spike and the BBC as he tried to get his own way. Was he a diva? "I was in the Goon Show days", he told Dick Lester. "I was trying to shake the BBC out of its apathy. Sound effects were 'a knock on the door and tramps on gravel' - that was it, and I tried to transform it." Using techniques already developed by the drama department, he went on to give the show an indelible sense of reality, going out of his way to achieve maximum believability by the use of FX (live sound effects) and GRAMS (pre-recorded sound effects), making the show the first comedic production of its kind to try actively to persuade the listeners that the happenings were real, and especially to create alternate realities or surreal audio imagery that would be impossible to realise visually. This approach was approximated on television in the 1970s by Monty Python through the surreal animation inserts created by
Terry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
.
Many of the sound effects created for later programmes featured innovative production techniques borrowed from the realm of
musique concrèteMusique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, and using the then new technology of magnetic tape. Many of these sequences involved the use of complex multiple edits, echo and reverberation and the deliberate slowing down, speeding up or reversing of tapes. One of the most famous was the legendary "Bloodnok's Stomach" sound effect, created by the
BBC Radiophonic WorkshopThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
to represent the sound of Major Bloodnok's digestive system in action, which included a variety of inexplicable gurgling and explosive noises. Lewis (1995, p. 218) states Bloodnok's stomach "was achieved by overlaying burps, whoops from oscillators, water splashes, cork-like pops, and light artillery blasts". This effect kept turning up on later comedy shows, and can even be heard on a track by
The OrbThroughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
.
Cast members and characters
- Harry Secombe
Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
's characters
- Major: Neddie Seagoon
Neddie Seagoon was a character in the 1950s British radio comedy show, The Goon Show. He was created and performed by Welshman Harry Secombe....
- Minor: Uncle Oscar • Private Bogg • Nugent Dirt • Izzy • Welshmen • Yorkshiremen
- Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
's characters
- Major: Eccles
T.F. Eccles is the name of a comedy character, created and performed by Spike Milligan, from the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show. In the episode "The Macreekie Rising of '74", Peter Sellers had to fill-in for the role in Milligan's absence...
• Minnie BannisterHenry Crun and Minnie Bannister are two of the charactersfrom the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show. Crun and Min are performed by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, respectively...
• Count Jim MoriartyCount Jim Moriarty is a character from the 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show. He was voiced by Spike Milligan...
- Minor: Throat • Little Jim • Spriggs • Yakamoto • Cor blimey • Singes Thingz • Hugh Jampton • Fu Manchu • Mr Banerjee
- Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
' characters
- Major: Major Bloodnok
Major Denis Bloodnok, IND. ARM. RTD. coward and bar is a fictional character from the 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers.-Basis of character:...
• Hercules Grytpype-ThynneHercules Grytpype-Thynne was a character from the British 1950s comedy radio programme The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers. In the episode "Who Is Pink Oboe?", Valentine Dyall filled-in for the role in Sellers' absence....
• BluebottleBluebottle is a comedy character from the Goon Show, a 1950s British comedy radio show. The character was created and performed by Peter Sellers....
• Henry CrunHenry Crun and Minnie Bannister are two of the charactersfrom the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show. Crun and Min are performed by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, respectively...
- Minor: Cynthia • Willium "Mate" Cobblers • Mr Lalkaka • Eidelberger • Flowerdew • Cyril • Fred Nurke • Gladys • Lew/Ernie Cash • Churchill • Hearn • And more...
- Michael Bentine
Michael Bentine CBE was a British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goons. A Peruvian Briton by heritage as a result of his father's nationality, In 1971 Bentine received the Order of Merit of Peru because of his fund-raising work for the 1970 Great Peruvian...
's characters
- Prof. Osric Pureheart and more
- Other cast members
- Guest cast members
Lurgi
Several of the words and phrases invented for the show soon entered common usage, the most famous being the word lurgi. In the episode "
Lurgi Strikes Britain", Spike Milligan introduced the fictional malady of Lurgi, (sometimes spelled Lurgy) which has survived into modern usage to mean any miscellaneous or non-specific illness. The symptoms of Lurgi included the uncontrolable urge to cry 'Yack-a-boo,' though even during the episode the ailment proved to be an extortionate attempt to sell
Brass BandA brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
musical instruments. Milligan was later to make up his own definition in Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan, where Jim Hawkins' mother describes it as "like brown spots of shit on the liver".
Brandyyy!
Alcohol was strictly forbidden during rehearsals and recording, so the cast fortified themselves with milk. The milk in turn was fortified with brandy. In later episodes the catchphrase "round the back for the old brandy!" or "the old Marlon Brando" was used to announce the exit of one or more characters, or a break for music. In "The Pam's Paper Insurance Policy" (Series 9, Episode 4) Ray Ellington, before his musical item begins, muses, "I wonder where he keeps that stuff!". In "The Scarlet Capsule" (Series 9, Episode 14) Ellington's reply to Secombe's cry of "Time for Ray Ellington and the old BRANDYYY there" was "The introductions he gives me...". In "The Moon Show" (Series 7, Episode 18), Ellington sympathises with the listeners, stating "Man, the excuses he makes to get to that brandy!", causing Milligan, Sellers and Secombe to wail "MATE!" in protest. However, Milligan got his own back by making Ellington laugh half way through the song by doing Minnie Bannister voices while Ellington was singing.
In the episode "The Rent Collectors", Secombe complains of not having a speaking part for the first five minutes of the show, "I can't sit out the back here drinking Brandy all night!" Sellers replies (as Grytpype-Thynne), "Why not? It's what you always do."
During the video of the warm-up segment of
The Last Goon Show of AllThe Last Goon Show of All, broadcast on 5 October 1972, was a special edition of the famous BBC Radio show, The Goon Show, commissioned as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the BBC. It was simulcast on radio and television, and later released as an audio recording on long-playing...
Milligan can be seen coming on stage three times during Secombe's song. First he brings on an empty glass jug, placing it in Secombe's hand. Next he appears with a small bottle of brandy, pouring it into the jug. Finally he brings a bottle of milk and pours it in after the brandy.
Watch out Moriarty!
Peter Sellers, as Grytpype-Thynne, usually pronounced the name of his henchman ˌmɒriːˈɑrti . However, if he (Sellers) was not in a good mood, or Milligan (as Moriarty) was overdoing his part, Grytpype-Thynne would start pronouncing the name mɒˈraɪ.əti . This gave Milligan a cue to simmer down.
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb!
During radio programmes of the 1920s and 1930s, the background noise for crowd scenes was often achieved by a moderately large group of people mumbling "
rhubarbIn American radio, film, television, and video games, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. A group of actors brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create this murmur is known as a walla group...
" under their breath with random inflections. This was often parodied by Milligan, who would try to get the same effect with only three or four people. After some time, Secombe began throwing in "custard" during these scenes (For example in "
The Fear of Wages" and "
Wings Over Dagenham"). About 10 years after The Goon Show ceased production, Secombe, Eric Sykes and a host of other well-known comic actors made the short film
RhubarbRhubarb was a 1969 British short film written and directed by Eric Sykes, starring Sykes and Harry Secombe. The dialogue consisted entirely of repetitions of the word "rhubarb", all the characters last names were "Rhubarb", and even the license plates on vehicles were "RHU BAR B"...
in which the entire script consisted of what Milligan called "rhubarbs".
Raspberry blowing
As well as a comic device randomly inserted into different sketches to avoid silence, the
blowing of raspberriesBlowing a raspberry or strawberry or making a Bronx cheer is to make a noise signifying derision, real or feigned. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing, making a sound redolent of flatulence. In the terminology of phonetics, this sound can be described as an unvoiced...
entered the Goons as Harry Secombe's signal to the other actors that he was going to crack up; you would hear a joke from him, a raspberry, and a stream of mad laughter. In the Goons' musical recording "The Ying-Tong Song", Milligan performed a solo for raspberry-blower, as one might for tuba or baritone saxophone. Milligan eventually had the Radiophonic Workshop concoct a sound effect recording of a donkey braying and then farting loudly; it appeared first in the show "The Sinking of Westminster Pier" as a sound to accompany an oyster opening its shell; it thereafter became known as Fred the Oyster, and appears as such in the scripts. This recording was often used as a reaction to a bad joke. Examples include
The Last Goon Show of AllThe Last Goon Show of All, broadcast on 5 October 1972, was a special edition of the famous BBC Radio show, The Goon Show, commissioned as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the BBC. It was simulcast on radio and television, and later released as an audio recording on long-playing...
where Neddie shouts old jokes into a fuel tank in order to "start the show".
Years later, Milligan collaborated with
Ronnie BarkerRonald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
on
The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London TownThe Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was a serial written by Spike Milligan and Ronnie Barker that ran every week on The Two Ronnies sketch show in 1976 on BBC One...
, in which the credits read, "Raspberries professionally blown by Spike Milligan", although David Jason has also claimed to have produced the sound effect.
Films
The following films were a product of Goon activity:
- Let's Go Crazy
Let's Go Crazy is a 1951 comedy film marking an early appearance of Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers playing multiple roles.-Cast:*Peter Sellers*Spike Milligan*Wallas Eaton*Tommy Manley*Florence Austin*Freddie Mirfield*Keith Warwick...
(1951)
- Penny Points to Paradise
Penny Points to Paradise is a 1951 comedy feature film. The film was the feature film debut of the stars of The Goon Show, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers....
(1951)
- Down Among the Z Men
Down Among the Z Men is a B/W 1952 British comedy film starring The Goons; Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine and Harry Secombe.-Plot:...
(1952) (with Bentine)
- The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn
The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn is a 30 minute comedy film starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Dick Emery. The film was made in November 1955, and released in 1956....
(1956)
- A two-reeler starring Milligan, Sellers and Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
- The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film is a short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. The film was released in 1960....
(1959)
- A surreal one-reeler short subject starring Milligan and Sellers and directed by Dick Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
Books
Spike teamed up with illustrator Pete Clark to produce two books of comic strip Goons. The stories were slightly modified versions of classic Goon shows.
- "The Last Goon Show of All", "The Affair of the Lone Banana", "The Scarlet Capsule", "The Pevensey Bay Disaster"
- More Goon Cartoons (1983)
- "The Case of the Vanishing Room", "The Case of the Missing C.D. Plates", "The Saga of the Internal Mountain", "Rommel's Treasure"
- The Goon Show Scripts (1972) by Milligan
- "Forward by Sellers", Details of the Show, Cast, Characters, etc, and "The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler", "The Phantom Head Shaver", "The Affair of the Lone Banana", "The Canal", "Napoleon's Piano", "Foiled by President Fred", "The Mighty Wurlitzer", "The Hastings Flyer", "The House of Teeth".
Films
- The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
- A recreation of a Goon Show broadcast before a studio audience is seen early in the HBO Original Movie, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is a 2004 film about the life of English comic actor Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis' book of the same name...
(2004), with Geoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
as Sellers, Edward Tudor-PoleEdward Tudor-Pole is an English musician, singer , TV presenter and actor.- Musical career :Tudor-Pole formed the band Tenpole Tudor in 1974, and eventually came to prominence after appearing in the film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle as a possible replacement for Johnny Rotten in the Sex Pistols...
as Spike Milligan and Steve PembertonSteve James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian, writer and performer, most famous as a member of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
as Harry Secombe. A very brief moment from that recreation is seen in the trailer for that film.
Stage
- Ying Tong: A Walk with the Goons
- Ying Tong is a play written by Roy Smiles which is set partly in a radio studio, partly in a mental asylum and partly in Spike Milligan's mind. It recreates the Goons recording the show, but part way through Spike has a mental breakdown and is committed to an asylum. While it features all of the Goons throughout (although Bentine is mentioned, the fourth character represents Wallace Greenslade), the focus is on Milligan and his breakdown.
Radio and television
- The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (TV, 1956) and The Idiot Weekly (radio, 1958–1962)
- The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d
The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d was the first serious attempt to translate the humour of the Goon Show to television. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion during 1956 and was broadcast only in the London area....
, which starred Peter Sellers, was the first attempt to translate Goon Show humour to television. Made for Associated-RediffusionAssociated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
during 1956 and only broadcast in the London area, it was mainly written by Milligan, with contributions from other writers in the Associated London Scripts cooperative including Dave FreemanDave Freeman was a British film and television writer, working chiefly in comedy.As well as writing sketches for comedians such as Tony Hancock and Arthur Askey, Freeman wrote screenplays for comedies including Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon and Carry On Behind as well as being a regular...
and Terry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, with Eric Sykes as script editor. The Idiot WeeklyThe Idiot Weekly was a radio programme made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.-Background:Transcriptions of the Goon Show were broadcast on Australian radio from late 1955. When Spike Milligan visited his parents in Woy Woy in 1958, the Australian Broadcasting Commission signed him for a...
(1958–1962) was an Australian radio comedy series written by and starring Milligan with an Australian supporting cast including Ray BarrettRaymond Charles "Ray" Barrett was an Australian actor. He was one of the more popular leading men on British television in the 1960s, where he was best known for his appearances in The Troubleshooters . Back in Australia he was a leading man in many TV series over the years.-Biography:Barrett was...
and John BluthalJohn Bluthal is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.-Early life:Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish...
. It was made for the ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
during Milligan's numerous visits to Australia (where his family had emigrated). Milligan adapted some Goon Show scripts and included his Goon Show characters (notably Eccles) in many episodes. Six episodes of The Idiot WeeklyThe Idiot Weekly was a radio programme made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.-Background:Transcriptions of the Goon Show were broadcast on Australian radio from late 1955. When Spike Milligan visited his parents in Woy Woy in 1958, the Australian Broadcasting Commission signed him for a...
were remade by the BBC as The Omar Khayyam ShowSpike Milligan made wrote and performed in three series of the radio comedy program The Idiot Weekly for the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1958-1962. Six episodes were remade by the BBC in 1963 as The Omar Khayyam Show....
in 1963.
- The Telegoons (1963–1964)
- The Telegoons
The Telegoons was a BBC television comedy puppet show adapted from the highly successful BBC radio comedy show of the 1950s, The Goon Show. Two series of 13 episodes were made. The series was briefly repeated immediately after its original run, and all episodes are known to have survived...
(1963–1964) was a 15-minute BBC puppet show featuring the voices of Milligan, Secombe and Sellers and adapted from the radio scripts. 26 episodes were made. The series was briefly repeated immediately after its original run and all episodes are known to survive (having been unofficially released on the Internet). It was not appreciated by long time Goon Show fans who had been avid listeners of the original BBC radio broadcasts. This is held to be because the Goon Show's radio broadcasts enabled readers to create mental images of the characters they heard, and when they saw the televised versions, there were grave mismatches in listener's mental imagery and the televisual characterisation of the rich and varied cast of characters.
- The Goon Show - The Whistling Spy Enigma (Seacombe & Friends) (1966)
- Filmed for Harry Seacombe's 6-part comedy series, of which only a portion was actually used for the original broadcast, this was similar to 'Tales of Men's Shirts' as a re-enactment of a radio play for television. Whilst initially it was thought that only the portion used in the TV show was kept, a full copy of the performance was found by the British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
.http://www.thegoonshow.net/film_tv_television.asp
- The Goon Show - Tales of Men's Shirts (1968)
- Essentially a re-enactment of a radio performance, the three Goons were joined by John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
as announcer for a special shown on Thames Television. Like many broadcasts in the age before home video, it was not seen of much historical importance and so the video tape was 'wiped'. However, an almost-complete copy of this broadcast is held by the British Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
.http://www.qype.co.uk/events/261363-The-Goon-Show-The-Whistling-Spy-Enigma-Tales-of-Mens-Shirts-The-Last-Goon-Show-of-All-British-Film-Institute-Elephant-and-Castle-London
- The Last Goon Show of All
The Last Goon Show of All, broadcast on 5 October 1972, was a special edition of the famous BBC Radio show, The Goon Show, commissioned as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the BBC. It was simulcast on radio and television, and later released as an audio recording on long-playing...
(1972)
- In 1972, the Goons reunited to perform The Last Goon Show of All for radio and television, before an invited audience that didn't, however, include long-time fan HRH The Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
(who was out of the country on duty with the Royal Navy at the time). The show was broadcast on BBC television and radio, and eventually released in stereo, first as an LP on vinyl, and later on a CD. The television broadcast was also released on VHS and later on DVD, although there were some unfortunate omissions which detracted from at least one delayed punchline.
- In 2001, the BBC recorded a "new" Goon Show, Goon Again, featuring Andy Secombe
Andrew Secombe , better known as Andy Secombe, is a Welsh actor, voice actor, and author.He played Rover the Dog in the Channel 4 children's series Chips Comic....
(son of Harry), Jon GloverJon Glover is a British actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including Play School, Survivors, the Management consultant in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Casualty, Bodger and Badger and Peak Practice....
and Jeffrey HollandJeffrey Holland is an English actor well known for roles in television sitcoms, as well as BBC Radio comedy, including Week Ending.-Early life and career:...
, with Christopher TimothyChristopher Timothy is a Welsh actor, television director and writer. Timothy is possibly best known today for his role as James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small; more recently he has starred as Dr. Brendan 'Mac' McGuire in the British television drama Doctors...
(son of Andrew Timothy) announcing and Lance Ellington (son of Ray Ellington) singing, based on two unpreserved series 3 episodes from 1953, The Story of Civilisation and The Plymouth Ho Armada, both written by Milligan and Stephens.
Records
The Goons made a number of records including I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas (originally sung by Milligan in the show to fill in during a musicians' strike), Bloodnok's Rock and Roll Call and its B-side
The Ying Tong SongThe "Ying Tong Song" was a novelty song written by Spike Milligan and performed by The Goons, usually led by Harry Secombe...
. The Ying Tong Song was reissued as an A-side in the mid-1970s and became a surprise novelty hit. The last time all three Goons worked together was in 1978 when they recorded two new songs, The Raspberry Song and Rhymes.
- Bridge on the River Wye (Parlophone 1962)
- A 1962 comedy LP with Milligan and Sellers as well as Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
and Jonathan MillerSir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
. A spoof of the film The Bridge on the River KwaiThe Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. It stars William...
, it was originally recorded under the same name. However, the film company threatened legal action if the name was used. Thus some clever editing of the recording by future Beatles producer George MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
removed the 'K' every time the word 'Kwai' was uttered, creating Bridge on the River Wye. The LP is based on The Goon Shows African Incident (30/12/1957), which featured Sellers' vocal impersonation of Alec GuinnessSir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
. Lewis' (1995, pp. 205–206) gives a good account of this background.
- How to Win an Election (1964)
- In 1964, Milligan, Secombe and Sellers lent their voices to a comedy LP, How to Win an Election (or Not Lose by Much), which was written by Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
. It was not exactly a Goons reunion because Sellers was in Hollywood and had to record his lines separately. The album was reissued on CD in 1997.
- He's Innocent of Watergate (1974)
- This featured Milligan and Sellers and John Bluthal
John Bluthal is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.-Early life:Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish...
, who also appeared in the Q seriesQ... was a surreal television comedy sketch show from Spike Milligan which ran from 1969 to 1982 on BBC2. There were six series in all, the first five numbered from Q5 to Q9, and a final series titled There's a Lot of It About...
, and was a response to Nixon'sRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
resignation and subsequent revelations about the Watergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
. It featured Milligan singing I'm Innocent of Watergate, a song which apparently absolved him of all responsibility for criminal action.
Impact on comedy and culture
In the Britain of 1950, humour was derived from three main sources: print, film and radio, and despite the advent of television, throughout the 1950s radio remained the dominant source of broadcast comedy. In this period, two radio comedy shows exercised a profound influence. The first was
Take It From HereTake It From Here was a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and starred Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and Joy Nichols...
, with its polished professionalism. The other was The Goon Show, with its absurdity, manic surreality and unpredictability."
On the influence of The Goons, Eric Sykes wrote that in the post-World War II years, "other shows came along but 'The House of Comedy' needed electricity. Then, out of the blue...The Goons...Spike Milligan simply blew the roof off, and lit the whole place with sunshine. At a cursory glance, The Goon Show was merely quick-fire delivery of extremely funny lines mouthed by eccentric characters, but this was only the froth. In The Goon Show, Spike was unknowingly portraying every facet of the British psyche".
Sykes and Milligan, along with Ray Galton, Alan Simpson,
Frankie HowerdFrancis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
and Stanley ("Scruffy") Dale, co-founded the writers cooperative Associated London Scripts (ALS), which over time included others such as Larry Stephens. In his book Spike & Co (2006, pp. 344–345), Graham McCann states "the anarchic spirit of the Goon Show...would inspire, directly or indirectly and to varying extents, Monty Pythons Flying Circus, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,
The Young OnesThe Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
,
Vic Reeves Big Night OutVic Reeves Big Night Out was a cult British comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special...
,
The League of GentlemenThe League of Gentlemen are a group of British comedians formed in 1995, best known for their radio and television series.The League of Gentlemen may also refer to:* The League of Gentlemen ,...
,
Brass EyeBrass Eye is a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries. A series of six aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001....
and countless other strange and bold new comedies". Other ALS-related comedies such as
Sykes and A...Sykes and a... is a black-and-white British sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques that aired on BBC1 from 1960 to 1965. It was written by Eric Sykes, Johnny Speight, John Antrobus and Spike Milligan...
,
Hancock's Half HourHancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...
,
Steptoe and SonSteptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
,
Beyond Our KenBeyond Our Ken was a radio comedy programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne . Both programmes starred Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, with announcer Douglas Smith. Musical accompaniment was provided by the BBC Revue Orchestra...
, and
Round The HorneRound the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
influenced their own genres of comedy.
Eddie Izzard notes that The Goons and Milligan in particular "influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as 'alternative'." In Ventham's (2002, p. 151) compilation,
John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
notes that "In comedy, there are a very small number of defining moments when somebody comes along and genuinely creates a breakthrough, takes us into territory where nobody has been before. The only experiences to which I can compare my own discovery of the Goons are going to see N F Simpson's Play One Way Pendulum...or, later on, hearing Peter Cook for the first time. They were just light years ahead of everyone else."
Peter Cook
Peter CookPeter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
is described as a "humourist much influenced by the Goons". Whilst at boarding school, Peter Cook used to feign illness on Friday evenings, just so he could listen to the Goons on the radio in the sick bay. A happy moment from his childhood concerns when he sent a script to the BBC and they sent it back, saying it was a great Goon script but not original. Despite this knock-back, this script somehow landed on the desk of Spike Milligan and brought about a meeting between Peter Cook and his heroes.
He and others from
Beyond the FringeBeyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain.-The...
were later to work with Milligan and Sellers on George Martin's LP production Bridge On The River Wye. They also appeared in the film version of Milligan and
John AntrobusJohn Antrobus is an English playwright and script writer. He has written extensively for stage, screen, TV and radio, including the epic World War II play, Crete and Sergeant Pepper at the Royal Court...
'
The Bed Sitting RoomThe Bed-Sitting Room is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and based on the play of the same name. It was entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:...
.
Both Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers appeared on Peter Cook and
Dudley MooreDudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
's TV show,
Not Only... But AlsoNot Only... But Also was a popular 1960s BBC British television series starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.-History:The show was originally intended as a solo project for Moore, called Not Only Dudley Moore, But Also His Guests...
.
Monty Python
Amongst the influences on
Monty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
, they are described as "indebted to BBC radio comedy, and particularly to the Goon Show." The future members of Monty Python were fans, and on many occasions they expressed their collective debt to Milligan and The Goons. Scudamore (1985, p. 170) cites an interview for example, in which John Cleese stated "the Goon Show influenced us enormously". He reiterates this point in his contribution to Ventham's (2002, p. 151) book: "We all loved The Goon Show in the Monty Python Team: it ignited some energy in us. It was more a spirit that was passed on, rather than any particular technique. The point is that once somebody has crossed a barrier and done something that has never been done before, it is terribly easy for everybody else to cross it".
Similarly, in the introduction to
Graham ChapmanGraham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
's posthumous anthology (2006, p.xvii) Yoakum notes that while other radio comedies influenced Chapman, "the show that truly astounded Graham, and was a major influence on his comedy was The Goon Show." And on page 23 Chapman states: "from about the age of seven or eight I used to be an avid listener to a radio programme called The Goon Show. In fact, at that stage I wanted to be a Goon".
The Beatles
The Goons made a considerable impact on the humour of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and especially on
John LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
. On 30 September 1973, Lennon reviewed the book The Goon Show Scripts for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. He wrote: "I was 12 when The Goon Show first hit me, 16 when they finished with me. Their humour was the only proof that the world was insane. One of my earlier efforts at writing was a 'newspaper' called The Daily Howl. I would write it at night, then take it into school and read it aloud to my friends. Looking at it now, it seems strangely similar to The Goon Show." Lennon also noted that
George MartinSir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
had made records with both Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers.
In a discussion of an accidentally Goonish nature, about introducing the next song during the 1963 BBC production of Pop Go The Beatles, Lennon is also recorded as quipping "Love these Goon shows". This was included in the four album LP and CD entitled
Live at the BBCLive at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
(side 4, track 10 of the LP; track 62 of CD).
Firesign Theatre
The Goons' influence was spread well beyond the UK; the members of the American comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre recall listening to The Goon Show at different times in their lives.
Philip ProctorPhilip Proctor is an American actor, voice actor and a member of The Firesign Theatre. He plays Rocky Rococo and Nancy in the Nick Danger series. He is from Goshen, Indiana...
claims that was enthused by the group's surrealist style of comedy that they adopted that style into their performances.
Peter BergmanPeter Paul Bergman is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of The Firesign Theatre. He plays Lt. Bradshaw in the Nick Danger series....
also met and got to know Spike Milligan while Bergman was a television writer in England during the mid-1960s.
Marvel comic book
Although the names, catchphrases and slang of The Goon Show came to permeate British culture, the same could not be said of the United States, so when an issue of a
Marvel comicMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
book,
The DefendersThe Defenders is the name of a number of Marvel Comics superhero groups which are usually presented as a "non-team" of individualistic "outsiders," each known for following their own agendas...
issue 148, used the character names Minerva Bannister, Harry Crun (i.e. Henry), and Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, it went completely unnoticed by American readers. The reactions of British readers, if any, were not recorded.
The characters were as follows:
- Minerva Bannister - villainous heiress
- Harry Crun - private detective, employed by Mrs Bannister and in love with her
- Hercules Grytpype-Thynne - policeman on their trail
Other references
In the movie
ShrekShrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
, Shrek refers to a constellation as Bloodnok, the Flatulent.
In the
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series Luna Lovegood refers to a sports team as having loser's Lurgi.
The rock band
Ned's Atomic DustbinNed's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin...
took their name from a Goon Show episode.
The character of
CatherwoodCatherwood is a surname of English origin. The name refers to:*Andrea Catherwood , Northern Ireland television news presenter*Christopher Catherwood , British author*David Catherwood , Irish composer and orchestra conductor...
in
The Firesign TheatreThe Firesign Theatre is an American comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor. Their brand of surrealistic humor is best known through their record albums, which acquired a cult following in the late 1960s and early '70s.The troupe began as live radio...
production of Nick Danger, Third Eye is vocally nearly identical to Major Bloodnok. This voice was also used in other Firesign productions. The character Tweety in David Ossman's solo work How Time Flys uses a voice very much like Eccles. In the book, The Firesign Theater's Big Mystery Joke Book, David Ossman references Spike Milligan as one of the comedians all four members admired the most, and Peter Bergman in fact worked briefly with Spike Milligan in London in 1966. The Firesign Theatre's most common format, an audio play lasting roughly thirty minutes with a clear if bizarre plot on which are hung surreal or buffoonish jokes, is, in terms of format, closer to the Goon Show than the work of either Beyond the Fringe or Monty Python.
Goon Show fan and one time
The Running Jumping & Standing Still FilmThe Running Jumping & Standing Still Film is a short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. The film was released in 1960....
collaborator,
Richard LesterRichard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
named
Clark KentClark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
's former schoolmistress "Minnie Bannister" in 1983's
Superman IIISuperman III is a 1983 superhero film and the third film in the Superman film series based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero. Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure and Margot Kidder are joined by new cast members Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn and...
.
In a 2007 interview with the BBC for his then-upcoming play, The Bicycle Men at
The King's Head TheatreThe King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
., Dan Castellanata said that The Goon Show had a small influence on the writing style and casting methods of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
The show is also frequently referenced in the 2011 50s-set BBC Drama The Hour.
Deaths
Peter Sellers died on 24 July 1980, aged 54. Michael Bentine died on 26 November 1996. Harry Secombe died on 11 April 2001. Milligan claimed to be relieved that Secombe had died before him, because had he died before Secombe then Secombe would have been in a position to sing at his funeral.
Terence "Spike" Milligan died on 27 February 2002, aged 83; Secombe ended up singing at his funeral anyway, as a recording. Two years later Milligan's wish to have the words "I told you I was ill" inscribed on his gravestone was finally granted, although the church would only agree if the words were written in Irish, as Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite.
See also
- Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
- The Milligan Papers
The Milligan Papers was a BBC radio comedy show, written by John Antrobus and starring Spike Milligan. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987, it also featured Chris Langham, John Bluthal, and Antrobus, and is sometimes referred to as A Goon Show for the '80s. It was produced by Paul Spencer...
– A BBC Radio comedy from 1987, often called "A Goon Show for the '80s".
- Goon Show Preservation Society
The Goon Show Preservation Society is a non-profit organisation formed to help preserve and research the history of the Goon Show. It was founded in 1972 by the Kent born Michael Coveney ....
External links