This is where the story really starts...

We'll soon be embarking on the fifth series of the Goon Show.

For the first four series there have been only a few surviving recordings, and some of those are only fragments. From here on in, though, every episode survives in some way, making the Goon Show one of the most well-preserved shows of its era.

Greenslade: This is the BBC Home Service. Presenting ... [FX: Gong] Neddie: And beautifully preserved, too.

(from 'Emperor of the Universe', Series 7 Episode 14, broadcast 3 January 1957)