The Man Who Never Was
April the first, 1944. For the Allies, the first hope of victory was almost in sight. North Africa has been won with the aid of Lance...
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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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My boots have exploded!
Greenslade: We present the awesome, fearful and, on the admission of the authors, incomprehensible story of... Milligan: Scradje! The...
Put down that sake
At 8:30pm on Tuesday 6 March 1956, the Goons told the story of ‘The Fear of Wages’ – an episode that Spike Milligan later named as his...
The Treasure in the Lake
Episode 24 of the sixth series of the Goon Show was broadcast on 28 February 1956. The listing is in the significantly abridged...
Striking musicians and the birth of a hit single
In early 1956, television was reshaping the media landscape in the UK. As more and more households bought sets and commercial stations...
The Choking Ho-*cough cough cough*
Warning: I started writing this while suffering from the Covid-type lurgy. Please wash your eyes before and after you read this, and...
The House of Teeth
With ‘The Mighty Wurlitzer’ (Series 6 Episode 16), the Goons had demonstrated just how far they could push the BBC’s sound effects...
The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI
Major Bloodnok (voiced by Peter Sellers) regularly alludes to stealing money from various people. His character, so Sellers and Spike...
Neddie Toulouse-Lautrec
For episode 18 of the sixth series, the Goons travelled to Montmartre in France – taking with them once more Charlotte Mitchell....
Another helping of Christmas pudding adventures
Over Christmas we learned of the origins of the Great International Christmas Pudding, and the Goons’ adventures in tracking it down and...
The Mighty Wurlitzer
The year is 1956, and young Ned Seagoon wants to pursue a career as an organ player – “another Reg the Dixon, another Sandy the...
The Hastings Flyer - Robbed!
On 27 December 1955, the Goons took to the railways to tell of a fiendish plot to rob a train for the 15th episode of the sixth series....
Winds light to variable
For the past few episodes in series six, the Goons have been poking fun at announcer Wallace Greenslade for not being tapped up by the...
The Goons Hit Wales
A (slightly belated) happy St David’s Day to Welsh listeners. On this day in 1956, a short Goon Show episode themed around Wales –...
The Lost Year
Dear reader. You may remember the three blogs I wrote about the episode ‘Nineteen-Eighty-Five’. I do – I blathered on for ages. Aside...
Exploding saxophones
I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Spike Milligan that the word “saxophone” is inherently funny. Uncle Oscar (Secombe): Have you seen...
Reclaiming Manhattan for the Empire (kind of)
On 29 November 1955, the Goons journeyed to the United States for episode 11 of the sixth series. Those of you who are reading every word...
Lost Horizontally
The eighth episode of the Goon Show’s sixth series marked the first time Spike Milligan had embarked upon a literary spoof on his own as...
In Honour Bound
(Or, From Balham to Buenos Aires on a Waterproof Bicycle) The seventh episode of the Goon Show’s sixth series was broadcast on 1 November...
The Search for Rommel's Treasure
The scene is 1942. The date is El Alamein in North Africa. Kapitän Moriarty: Herr General Rommel, where are you? Rommel (Secombe,...
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