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...
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The Seagoon Memoirs
Chronicling a 21st century idiot's obsession with a 1950s radio comedy masterpiece.
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A digital
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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Canned Goons?
The Radio Times didn’t always ‘get’ the Goons. A case in point is this article from September 1958 previewing broadcasts of the Vintage...
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...
Count Jim ‘Thighs’ Moriarty
Moriarty is one of the longest running recurring characters in the Goon Show, and changed perhaps more than any other during the run of...
'A Show Called Fred' and 'Son of Fred'
On this day in 1956, Son of Fred was first broadcast on ITV (then known as Associated Rediffusion). It starred Peter Sellers and Spike...
Danger! Goons at Play
On this day in 1955, the Radio Times hit the newsstands with a lengthy article on the Goons by writer Richard Bennett. Headlined 'Danger!...
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...
We're just wild about Harry
A very happy birthday to Ned of Wales, aka Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE, who would have been 100 years old today. There are many things...
Will the real Peter Sellers please stand up?
In an odd coincidence, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers share the same birthday – 8 September. Sir Harry turns 100 tomorrow so, a day...
A variety summer
The life of a comedian in the 1950s was a tough one. For our intrepid Goon Show stars, the Sunday night recording of each episode was a...
The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn
One of the few examples of the Goons in a live action movie is The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn, starring Peter Sellers and Spike...
Spike’s poetry
English schoolchildren for generations were expected to learn certain “classic” poems and be able to recite them from memory. This was...
War is declared in all directions
Colonel (Jack Train): Now Seagoon, do you know we’re at war with naughty Germany? Seagoon: Well, I heard shouting. (from ‘Who Is Pink...
Spike's memoirs
Bloodnok: Waiter! One brandy, and pronto! Spriggs: One brandy and pronto coming up! Greenslade: Those were the last words said at peace....
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