The Goon Show

Goon Show.jpg

The remarkable all-leather steam-powered wireless talking-type  Goon Show was a BBC radio comedy series from the ’50s.

A manically brilliant mixture of absurdism, Alice in Wonderland logic, wordplay, and bizarre soundscapes, it influenced much of British comedy, including Peter Cook, Monty Python, Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett.

Throughout its run, the show starred Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, and Harry Secombe.  Milligan also wrote nearly all the episodes.

Secombe played the straight man, gullible Neddie Seagoon, to Milligan and Sellers’ double acts:

  • the Famous Eccles (Milligan) and lecherous boy scout Bluebottle (Sellers);
  • the criminals Hercules Grytpype-Thynne (Sellers) and his lackey Count Jim Moriarty (Milligan), “champion barbed-wire hurdler, until his tragic accident”;
  • Henry Crun (Sellers) and Minnie Bannister (Milligan), an elderly, unmarried couple; and
  • Major Dennis Bloodnok (Sellers), flatulent military coward.

(See here for more on characters.)

The early series (now mostly lost) also featured Michael Bentine, as Captain Osric Pureheart.

Other regulars:

  • Ray Ellington – of the Ray Ellington Quartet
  • Wallace Greenslade – announcer
  • Max Geldray – Dutch jazz harmonica player

More information

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episodes

Several episodes no longer exist; they are marked in red.

Series 1: Crazy People

  1. (28 May 1951)
  2. (4 June 1951)
  3. (11 June 1951)
  4. (18 June 1951)
  5. (25 June 1951)
  6. (2 July 1951)
  7. (9 July 1951)
  8. (16 July 1951)
  9. (23 July 1951)
  10. (2 August 1951)
  11. (9 August 1951)
  12. (16 August 1951)
  13. (23 August 1951)
  14. (30 August 1951)
  15. (6 September 1951)
  16. (13 September 1951)
  17. (20 September 1951)
  18. Cinderella (26 December 1951) – Special

Series 2

  1. (22 January 1952)
  2. (29 January 1952)
  3. (5 February 1952)
  4. (19 February 1952)
  5. (26 February 1952)
  6. (4 March 1952)
  7. (11 March 1952)
  8. (18 March 1952)
  9. (25 March 1952)
  10. (1 April 1952)
  11. (8 April 1952)
  12. (15 April 1952)
  13. (22 April 1952)
  14. (29 April 1952)
  15. (6 May 1952)
  16. (13 May 1952)
  17. (20 May 1952)
  18. (27 May 1952)
  19. (3 June 1952)
  20. (10 June 1952)
  21. (17 June 1952)
  22. (24 June 1952)
  23. (1 July 1952)
  24. (8 July 1952)
  25. (15 July 1952)

Series 3

  1. Fred of the Islands (11 November 1952)
  2. The Egg of the Great Auk (18 November 1952)
  3. I Was a Male Fan Dancer (25 November 1952)
  4. The Saga of HMS Aldgate (2 December 1952)
  5. The Expedition for Toothpaste (9 December 1952)
  6. The Archers (16 December 1952)
  7. Robin Hood (26 December 1952)
  8. Where Does Santa Claus Go in the Summer? (30 December 1952)
  9. The Navy, Army and Air Force (6 January 1953)
  10. The British Way of Life (13 January 1953)
  11. A Survey of Britain (20 January 1953)
  12. Flint of the Flying Squad (27 January 1953)
  13. Seaside Resorts in Winter (3 February 1953)
  14. The Tragedy of Oxley Tower (10 February 1953)
  15. The Story of Civilization (17 February 1953)
  16. The Search for the Bearded Vulture (24 February 1953)
  17. The Mystery of the Monkey’s Paw (3 March 1953)
  18. The Mystery of the Cow on the Hill (10 March 1953)
  19. Where Do Socks Come From? (17 March 1953)
  20. The Man Who Never Was (31 March 1953)
  21. The Building of a Suez Canal (7 April 1953)
  22. The De Goonlies (14 April 1953)
  23. The Conquest of Space (21 April 1953)
  24. The Ascent of Mount Everest (28 April 1953)
  25. The Story of the Plymouth Hoe Armada (5 May 1953)
  26. Coronation edition (3 June 1953) – Special

Series 4

  1. The Dreaded Piano Clubber (2 October 1953)
  2. The Man Who Tried to Destroy London’s Monuments, a.k.a. The Destruction of England (9 October 1953)
  3. The Ghastly Experiments of Dr. Hans Eidelburger, a.k.a. The Everest Project (16 October 1953)
  4. The Building of Britain’s First Atomic Cannon, a.k.a. The Piano-Firing Cannon (23 October 1953)
  5. The Gibraltar Story (30 October 1953)
  6. Through the Sound Barrier in an Airing Cupboard (6 November 1953)
  7. The First Albert Memorial to the Moon (13 November 1953)
  8. The Missing Bureaucrat (20 November 1953)
  9. Operation Bagpipes, a.k.a. Scradge (27 November 1953)
  10. The Flying Saucer Mystery (4 December 1953)
  11. The Spanish Armada (11 December 1953)
  12. The British Way (18 December 1953)
  13. Short insert in Christmas Crackers (25 December 1953) – Special
  14. The Giant Bombardon (26 December 1953)
  15. Ten Thousand Fathoms Down in a Wardrobe (1 January 1954)
  16. The Missing Prime Minister (8 January 1954)
  17. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Crun (15 January 1954)
  18. The Mummified Priest (22 January 1954)
  19. The History of Communications (29 January 1954)
  20. The Kippered Herring Gang (5 February 1954)
  21. The Toothpaste Expedition (12 February 1954)
  22. The Case of the Vanishing Room (15 February 1954)
  23. The Great Ink Drought of 1902 (22 February 1954)
  24. The Greatest Mountain in the World (1 March 1954)
  25. The Collapse of the British Railway Sandwich System (8 March 1954)
  26. The Silent Bugler (15 March 1954)
  27. Western Story (22 March 1954)
  28. The Saga of the Internal Mountain (29 March 1954)
  29. The Invisible Acrobat (5 April 1954)
  30. The Great Bank of England Robbery (12 April 1954)
  31. The Siege of Fort Knight (19 April 1954)
  32. Archie in Goonland (11 June 1954) – Special
  33. The Starlings (31 August 1954) – Special

Series 5

  1. The Whistling Spy Enigma (28 September 1954)
  2. The Lost Gold Mine of Charlotte (5 October 1954)
  3. The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea) (12 October 1954)
  4. The Phantom Head Shaver of Brighton) (19 October 1954)
  5. The Affair of the Lone Banana (26 October 1954)
  6. The Canal (2 November 1954)
  7. Lurgi Strikes Britain (9 November 1954)
  8. The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (Solved) (16 November 1954)
  9. The Last Tram (from Clapham) (23 November 1954)
  10. The Booted Gorilla (Found?) (30 November 1954)
  11. The Spanish Suitcase (7 December 1954)
  12. Dishonoured (or The Fall of Neddie Seagoon) (14 December 1954)
  13. Forog (21 December 1954)
  14. Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest (28 December 1954)
  15. 1985 (4 January 1955)
  16. The Case of the Missing Heir (11 January 1955)
  17. China Story (18 January 1955)
  18. Under Two Floorboards – A Tale of the Legion (25 January 1955)
  19. The Missing Scroll (1 February 1955)
  20. 1985 (8 February 1955)
  21. The Sinking of Westminster Pier (15 February 1955)
  22. The Fireball of Milton Street (22 February 1955)
  23. The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street. a.k.a. The Terrible Blasting of Moreton’s Bank (1 March 1955)
  24. The Yehti (8 March 1955)
  25. The White Box of Great Bardfield (15 March 1955)
  26. The End (aka Confessions of a Secret Senna Pod Drinker) (22 March 1955)

Series 6

  1. The Man Who Won the War (a.k.a. Seagoon M.C.C.) (20 September 1955)
  2. The Secret Escritoire (27 September 1955)
  3. The Lost Emperor (4 October 1955)
  4. Napoleon’s Piano (11 October 1955)
  5. The Case of the Missing CD Plates (18 October 1955)
  6. Rommel’s Treasure (25 October 1955)
  7. Foiled by President Fred (1 November 1955)
  8. Shangri-La Again (8 November 1955)
  9. The International Christmas Pudding (15 November 1955)
  10. The Sale of Manhattan (a.k.a. The Lost Colony) (29 November 1955)
  11. The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu Manchu (6 December 1953)
  12. The Missing Christmas Parcel – Post Early for Christmas (8 December 1955) – Special
  13. The Lost Year (13 December 1955)
  14. The Greenslade Story (20 December 1955)
  15. The Hastings Flyer – Robbed (27 December 1955)
  16. The Mighty Wurlitzer (3 January 1956)
  17. The Raid of the International Christmas Pudding, a.k.a. The Red Bladder (10 January 1956)
  18. Tales of Montmartre (17 January 1956)
  19. The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI (24 January 1956)
  20. The House of Teeth (31 January 1956)
  21. Tales of Old Dartmoor (7 February 1956)
  22. The Choking Horror (14 February 1956)
  23. The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal (21 February 1956)
  24. The Treasure in the Lake, a.k.a. The Treasure of Loch Lomond (28 February 1956)
  25. The Goons Hit Wales (1 March 1956) – Special St. David’s Day programme
  26. The Fear of Wages (6 March 1956)
  27. Scradje (13 March 1956)
  28. The Man Who Never Was (20 March 1956)
  29. The Pevensey Bay Disaster (3 April 1956)
  30. China Story (29 August 1956) – Remake

Series 7

  1. The Nasty Affair at the Burami Oasis (4 October 1956)
  2. Drums Along the Mersey (11 October 1956)
  3. The Great Nadger Plague (18 October 1956)
  4. The MacReekie Rising of ’74 (25 October 1956)
  5. The Spectre of Tintagel (1 November 1956)
  6. The Great Bank Robbery (15 November 1956)
  7. Personal Narrative, a.k.a. Captain Seagoon R.N. (22 November 1956)
  8. The Mystery of the Fake Neddie Seagoons (29 November 1956)
  9. Robin Hood (and His Merry Men) (recorded 2 December 1956) – Special
  10. What’s My Line? (5 December 1956)
  11. The Telephone (13 December 1956)
  12. The Flea (20 December 1956)
  13. Operation Christmas Duff (24 December 1956) – Special
  14. Six Charles in Search of an Author (26 December 1956)
  15. Emperor of the Universe, a.k.a. Bulldog Seagoon’s First Case (3 January 1957)
  16. Wings Over Dagenham (10 January 1957)
  17. The Rent Collectors (17 January 1957)
  18. The Shifting Sands of Waziristan (24 January 1957)
  19. The Moon Show (31 January 1957)
  20. The Mysterious Punch-Up-the-Conker, a.k.a. The Leather Omnibus (7 February 1957)
  21. The Sleeping Prince (14 February 1957)
  22. Round the World in Eighty Days (21 February 1957)
  23. Insurance, the White Man’s Burden (28 February 1957)
  24. The Africa Ship Canal, a.k.a. The Trans-Africa Aeroplane Canal (7 March 1957)
  25. Ill Met by Goonlight (14 March 1957)
  26. The Missing Boa Constrictor, a.k.a. The Birmingham Ring Road Construction (21 March 1957)
  27. The Histories of Pliny the Elder (28 March 1957)
  28. The Reason Why (22 August 1957) – Special

Series 8

  1. Spon (30 September 1957)
  2. The Junk Affair (7 October 1957)
  3. The Burning Embassy, a.k.a. Firechief Seagoon (14 October 1957)
  4. The Great Regent’s Park Swim (21 October 1957)
  5. The Treasure in the Tower (28 October 1957)
  6. The Space Age (4 November 1957)
  7. The Red Fort, a.k.a. Rebellion at Red Fort (11 November 1957)
  8. The Missing Battleship (18 November 1957)
  9. The Policy (25 November 1957)
  10. King Solomon’s Mines (2 December 1957)
  11. The Stolen Postman (9 December 1957)
  12. The Great British Revolution (16 December 1957)
  13. The Plasticine Man (23 December 1957)
  14. African Incident (30 December 1957)
  15. The Thing on the Mountain (6 January 1958)
  16. The String Robberies (13 January 1958)
  17. The Moriarty Murder Mystery (20 January 1958)
  18. The Curse of Frankenstein, a.k.a. My Heart’s in the Highlands (27 January 1958)
  19. The White Neddie Trade (3 February 1958)
  20. Ten Snowballs that Shook the World (10 February 1958)
  21. The Man Who Never Was (remake) (17 February 1958)
  22. World War One (24 February 1958)
  23. The Spon Plague (3 March 1958)
  24. Tiddlywinks, a.k.a. The TiddleyWinks Theft (10 March 1958)
  25. The Evils of Bushey Spon, a.k.a. The Lampost (17 March 1958)
  26. The Great Statue Debate (24 March 1958)

Vintage Goons

  1. The Mummified Priest (22 September 1958)
  2. The Greatest Mountain in the World (29 September 1958)
  3. The Missing Number 10 Downing Street (rec. 3 November 1957; never broadcast in the UK)
  4. The Giant Bombardon (6 October 1958)
  5. The Kippered Herring Gang (rec. 1 December 1957; first UK broadcast 9 April 1994)
  6. The Vanishing Room (13 October 1958)
  7. The Ink Shortage (rec. 29 December 1957; first UK broadcast 8 December 2008)
  8. The Mustard and Cress Shortage (rec. 12 January 1958; first UK broadcast 17 September 1994)
  9. The Internal Mountain (rec. 16 February 1958; first UK broadcast 28 December 1986)
  10. The Silent Bugler (rec. 23 February 1958; first UK broadcast 29 December 1986)
  11. The Great Bank of England Robbery (20 October 1958)
  12. The Dreaded Piano Clubber (rec. 23 March 1958; first UK broadcast 26 December 1986)
  13. The Siege of Fort Night (rec. 16 March 1958; first UK broadcast 27 December 1986)
  14. The Albert Memorial (27 October 1958)

Series 9

  1. The Sahara Desert Statue, a.k.a. The Nude Welshman (3 November 1958)
  2. I Was Monty’s Treble (10 November 1958)
  3. The £1,000,000 Penny (17 November 1958)
  4. The Pam’s Paper Insurance Policy (24 November 1958)
  5. The Mountain Eaters (1 December 1958)
  6. The Childe Harolde Rewarde, a.k.a. King Arthur’s Sword (8 December 1958)
  7. The Seagoon Memoirs (15 December 1958)
  8. Queen Anne’s Rain (22 December 1958)
  9. The Battle of Spion Kop (29 December 1958)
  10. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (5 January 1959)
  11. Who is Pink Oboe?, a.k.a. The Spy (12 January 1959)
  12. The Call of the West (20 January 1959)
  13. Dishonoured – Again (26 January 1959)
  14. The Scarlet Capsule (2 February 1959)
  15. The Tay Bridge (9 February 1959)
  16. The Gold Plate Robbery (16 February 1959)
  17. The £50 Cure (23 February 1959)

Series 10

  1. A Christmas Carol (24 December 1959)
  2. The Tale of Men’s Shirts (31 December 1959)
  3. Ned’s Chinese Legs (7 January 1960)
  4. Robin’s Post, A Story of Lord Seagoon (14 January 1960)
  5. The Silver Doubloons, a.k.a. The Spanish Doubloons (21 January 1960)
  6. The Last Smoking Seagoon, a.k.a. The Last of the Smoking Seagoons (28 January 1960)

Specials

  1. Tales of Men’s Shirts (8 August 1968)
  2. The Last Goon Show of All (5 October 1972)