Flying saucers over East Acton
Eyes to the skies, dear listener! (Or would it be 'ears'?) On 30 October 1938, the Columbia Broadcasting Network in the US aired Orson...
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The Seagoon Memoirs
Chronicling a 21st century idiot's obsession with a 1950s radio comedy masterpiece.
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time capsule
Welcome, dear reader - pull up a bollard.
On 28 May 1951, four young men took to the airwaves on the BBC's Home Service to launch their unique brand of comedy on an unsuspecting world.
In the mid-1990s, an even younger idiot was introduced to recordings of their broadcasts - and there began a strange obsession crossing decades and generations.
The Seagoon Memoirs is an attempt to channel this obsession into something creative, chronicle the show's history, development and legacy, and in some small way contribute to preserving this masterpiece of British radio comedy.
Listen to me waffle on about the Goons on the excellent Goon Pod here. Alternatively, listen to more interesting people on other episodes of Goon Pod, including Jane Milligan, Al Murray, Dirk Maggs, and the cast of 'Spike!', the new Milligan/Goon-themed play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.
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Operation Bagpipes
Episode nine of the fourth series of the Goon Show was broadcast on the BBC Home Service – or “in” the Home Service, as was often written...
Minnie Bannister
We’re on to episode eight of the fourth series. On 20 November 1953 ‘The Missing Bureaucrat’ was broadcast – as can be clearly seen on...
Happy birthday, Maurice Wiltshire
The evening of 13 November 1953 saw the launch of ‘The First Albert Memorial to the Moon’ in the seventh episode of the fourth series. It...
Greenslade’s debut, and The Invasion Quartet
The Goons went ‘Through the Sound Barrier in an Airing Cupboard’ for episode six of the fourth series. They took with them for the very...
The Rock (no, not that one)
The Goons travelled to the Mediterranean for episode five of the fourth series, to tell ‘The Gibraltar Story’. It was broadcast at 9:30pm...
'No fit subject for mirth'
For episode four of the fourth series, Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens wrote a single story through the whole half-hour – one of the...
Justin Eidelburger
Episode three of the fourth series was broadcast on 16 October 1953, as per page 42 of the Radio Times. It was entitled, rather...
The Man Who Tried To Destroy London's Monuments
‘The Man Who Tried To Destroy London’s Monuments’ was broadcast on 9 October 1953. You’ll spot it on page 42 of the Radio Times. The...
The Dreaded Piano Clubber
Here it is folks! Series four, episode one: ‘The Dreaded Piano Clubber’. Broadcast on 2 October 1953, the Radio Times shows it at 9:30pm...
Vintage Goons and Japanese sparrows
The fourth series of The Goon Show launches tomorrow folks! A few notes about it before we get there. Several of these shows (14 in...
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