O/T: The Goon Show - AWFUL!

[Ben]

Just listened to an episode on BBC7 (via Listen Again) and it was absolutely awful! I don't have a point, but, damn, it's bad! The episode I listened to was I Was Monty's Treble, for the record.

I also listened to an episode of Dad's Army, which was occasionally humourous, but I thought quite over-rated.

[trevmds]

Each to his own I guess (you really ought to preface your remarks with "I think"). Although I haven't listened to any Goon Shows for some years, and although I'd be unlikely to laugh out loud at any of it anymore, I do appreciate the writing, the vocal characterisations, etc. Bear in mind it's fifty years old now.

Perhaps you are just showing your age, but really, coming in here and saying what you said is a bit like saying "Hey that Shakespeare is a load of old rubbish". And I can guarantee you will not find a soul here who will take you seriously.

Ditto Dad's Army.

Guest-Ben said:

Just listened to an episode on BBC7 (via Listen Again) and it was absolutely awful! I don't have a point, but, damn, it's bad! The episode I listened to was I Was Monty's Treble, for the record.

I also listened to an episode of Dad's Army, which was occasionally humourous, but I thought quite over-rated.

[Ben]

Each to his own I guess (you really ought to preface your remarks with "I think").

I thought it was implied that my posts represent my own opinion. I do usually say "In my opinion" though just to clarify.

Perhaps you are just showing your age, but really, coming in here and saying what you said is a bit like saying "Hey that Shakespeare is a load of old rubbish". And I can guarantee you will not find a soul here who will take you seriously.

Not at all! I generally prefer older series/films to new ones, for example, some of my favourite films are Frankenstein (1930), The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1926) etc. I was just so surpised to find that this cult series was, in my opinion, boring and not at all funny.

Ditto Dad's Army.

I re-listened to the episode (High Finances?) and I could see myself enjoying this series. I wouldn't ever love it, but I could like it. I liked the melodramatic natuer of the episode, the general silliness.

I also listened to an episode of Steptoe and Son (the one with the Scrabble game and Vicar) and, as I thought, I loved it! Will definitely be picking up the DVDs.

What's The Navy Lark like? I was planning to listen to that, but 7am came around and I fell asleep listening to an epiode of One Foot in the Grave (the one where they're stuck in traffic - works much better on audio)!

[Dan]

Guest-Ben said:

The episode I listened to was I Was Monty's Treble, for the record.

That's from series 9. The later episodes are almost incomprehensible. Try listening to an episode from an earlier series.

[Ben]

Okay, I will do.

There are other classic radio series on BBC7 too that people here might be interested in, such as Hancock's Half Hour (which I won't be listening to as I know I'll find it boring). www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 (Listen Again link)

[Ben]

Are any of the following "Goon" episodes missing?

THE GOON SHOW(Note: Many Descriptions Of these shows do not seem to match official titles from books
And logs and some contradict one another - some may be duplicates):
*1953 10/16/53 The Greatest Mountain In The World R 1576
1953 11/13/53 The First Albert Memorial To The Moon 522 R 1576
1954 1/8/54 Number 10 Downing Street Is Stolen R 661
1954 1/22/54 Mummified Priest 179
*1954 2/15/54 The Case Of The Vanishing Room R 1576
1954 3/1/54 The Greatest Mountain In The World 181
1954 3/15/54 The Silent Burglar R 420
1954 3/29/54 The Saga Of The Internal Mountain R 131 R 1576
1954 9/28/54 The Whistling Spy Enigma 171
1954 10/5/54 The Lost Gold Mine R 121
1954 10/12/54 The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler R 459
1954 10/26/54 The Affair Of The Lone Banana 171
1954 11/9/54 Lurgi Strikes Britain R 459 R 1785
1954 11/16/54 The Mystery Of The Marie Celeste(Solved) R 121
1954 11/23/54 The Last Train R 459
1954 11/30/54 The Booted Gorilla R 459 R 2000
1954 12/7/54 The Spanish Suitcase R 459 R 1999
1954 12/14/54 Dishonoured,or The Fall Of Neddie Seagoon(NE) R 131
1954 12/28/54 Ye Bandit Of Sherwood Forest R 391 R 1999
1955 3/1/55 The Six Ingots Of Leadenhall Street R 850 R 1785
1955 3/22/55 Confessions Of A Secret Senna-pod Drinker R131-R460 R 2000
1955 9/20/55 The Man Who Won The War R 391
1955 10/4/55 The Lost Emperor R 458
1955 10/11/55 Napoleon's Piano 179 R 1785
1955 10/18/55 The Case Of The Missing CD Plates R 458
1955 10/25/55 Rommel's Treasure 180 R 1576
1955 11/1/55 Foiled By President Fred R 458
1955 11/8/55 Shangri-La Again 181 R 1576
1955 11/15/55 The Great International Christmas Pudding R 458
1955 2/20/55 The Greenslade Story R 420
1956 1/17/56 Tales Of Montmarte R 460
1956 1/31/56 The House Of Teeth R 458
1956 2/7/56 Tales Of Old Dartmoor R 131
1956 2/14/56 The Choking Horror R 460
1956 2/21/56 The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal R 391-R 458
1956 2/28/56 The Treasure In the Lake R 460
1956 3/6/56 Fear Of Wages R 458
1956 3/13/56 Scradje 180
1956 4/3/56 The Pevensey Bay Disaster R 460
1956 10/4/56 The Nasty Affair At The Burami Oasis R 458
1956 10/11/56 Drums Along The Mersey R 458
1956 11/1/56 The Spectre Of Tintagel R 131-R 460
1956 11/22/56 Personal Narrative R 460
1956 12/2/56 Robin Hood And His Mirry Mon R 458
1956 12/5/56 What's My Line R 391
1957 1/10/57 Wings Over Dagenham R 460-R 695
1957 1/17/57 The Rent R 420-R 458
1957 1/24/57 Shifting Sands R 460
1957 1/31/57 The Moon Show 522-R 420 R 1576
1957 2/14/57 The Sleeping Prince R 458
*1957 2/21/57 Round The World In 80 Days R 1576
1957 2/28/57 The Life Insurance Policy R 121 R 1576 R 1999
1957 3/7/57 The Africa Ship Canal R 391-R 460-R 695 R 1999
*1957 3/13/57 Three Met By Moonlight R 1576
1957 3/20/57 Birmingham Ring Road Construction R 695
1957 10/14/57 The Burning Embassy R 459
1957 11/4/57 The Space Age(NE) R 391 R 2000
1957 11/11/57 The Red Fort R 661
1957 12/23/57 The Plasticine Man R 391
1958 1/6/58 The Thing On The Mountain R 850 R 1999
1958 1/13/58 The String Robberies R 420
1958 1/27/58 The Curse Of Frankenstein R 391-R 459
1958 2/10/58 Ten Snowballs That Shook The World R 459
1958 2/17/58 The Man Who Never Was 520
1958 2/24/58 World War One R 459
1958 3/3/58 The Great Spon Plague R 459 R 1785
1958 3/24/58 The Great Statue R 850 R 1999
1958 11/3/58 The Sahara Desert Statue R 420
1958 11/10/58 I Was Monty's Treble R 459
1958 11/24/58 Pam's Paper Conspiracy R 391
1958 12/8/58 The Childe Harolde Rewarde R 391
1958 12/15/58 The Seagoons Memories R 850
1959 2/2/59 The Scarlet Capsule(Quatermass Spoof)(NO) R 131R 661
1959 12/24/59 A Christmas Carol R 131-R 459 R 2000
1959 12/31/59 Tales Of Men's Shirts R 131-R 661
1960 1/14/60 Robius Past: A Story Of Lord Seagoon R 850 R 1785
1960 1/21/60 The Silver Dubloons R 420
? ? Beau Geste R 420
? ? The Soft Jelly Murder R 420
? ? Lost Horizon 520
? ? The Crime Of the Century 520
? ? The Lost Colony R 460 R 2000
*? ? The Mysterious …… R 1576
*? ? The Last Smoking Seagoon R 1785
*? ? The Last Tram R 1785
*? ? The Farog R 1785
*? ? The Fireball Of Milton Street R 1785
*? ? Yehti R 1785
*? ? Seagoon M.C.C. R 1785
*? ? The Secret Escritoire R 1785
*? ? The Histories Of Pliny The Elder R 1999
*? ? The Mountain Eaters R 1999
*? ? The Lost Music Of Purdom R 1999
*? ? The Sinking Of The Westminster Pier R 1999
*? ? The China Story R 1999
*? ? The Flea(Some Static) R 1999
*? ? The Missing Boa Constrictor R 1999
*? ? The Chinese Legs R 2000
*? ? The Stolen Postman R 2000
*? ? Treasure In The Tower R 2000
*? ? Spanish Dubloons R 2000
*? ? The Illustriours Seagoon R 2000
*? ? Pevensey Bay Disaster R 2000
*? ? The Great British Revolution R 2000
MISCELLANEOUS:
1962 ? Bridge On The River Wye spood with Peter Sellers,
Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, Jonathan Miller, and others 30 minutes R 661 R 1419
1972 4/30/72 The Last Goon Show Of All 50 minutes R 661
1972 10/28/72 Michael Parkinson Interviews Peter Sellers, And Harry Secombe w/film
clip by Spike Milligan 45 minutes R 391
1975 ? The Missing Tapes - Watergate Spoof
w/Peter Sellers And Spike Milligan R 391

I started to check using the BBC Treasure Hunt list (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/treasurehunt/missing/goons.shtml), but, honestly, couldn't be bothered after awhile. The dates and titles don't necessarily match, so I thought it would be best for someone in the know about The Goon Show could check... and someone who has the motivation. If any turn out to be missing let me know.

[Dan]

Series 1 (1951) - no episodes exist but a very short clip of episode 9 exists in the fimn London Entertains

Series 2 (1952) - 2 episodes exists

Series 3 (1952/53) no episodes exist

Series 4 (1954/54) - 9 episodes definitely exist, plus in another thread on here someone said that another 4 existed.

Series 5 (1954/55) - all exists

Series 6 (1955/56) - all exist except 8.12.55 the missing xmas parcel (special) & 27.12.55 the hastings flyer - robbed

Series 7-10 - all exist

[Peter moore]

I have a mp3 copy of The Hastings Flyer - robbed that i downloaded from a Goon Show site ( I forget which one).

[Dan]

Guest-Peter said:

I have a mp3 copy of The Hastings Flyer - robbed that i downloaded from a Goon Show site ( I forget which one).

That story was broadcast later in the series retitled "The Pevensey bay Disaster" but with an identical script. Maybe it's that version.

Another thing that causes confusion is thew "Vintage Goons" series of episodes that are remakes of older episodes, but sometimes get labelled with the dates of the older ones they're remakes of.

[Peter Moore]

i have the Pevensey Bay disaster too and that is different (although ver similar).

I havn't compared the two all the was through but Hastings Flyer starts with a bit about THEGS (the highly esteemed Goon Show) and is announced as the "Hastings Flyer Robbed" while the pevensey bay disaster does not have THEGS and is announced as the Pevensey Bay disaster"

[Peter Moore]

Does anyone know where I can get a list of the original running times for The Goon Shows, ie as they were originally broadcast?

[Andrew Pixley]

Guest-Peter said:

Does anyone know where I can get a list of the original running times for The Goon Shows, ie as they were originally broadcast?

Hello Peter!

I'm afraid very little of this information has been retained as the BBC didn't necessarily log radio show durations that accurately in those days. Here are the bits and pieces of information that I have managed to gather together from what's left:


"Spon" 30’45”
"The Junk Affair" 30’17”
"The Burning Embassy"31’40”
"The Great Regent’s Park Swim" 29’21”+1’25” playout
"The Space Age" 28’55”
"The Red Fort" 30’40”
"The Policy" 35’34”
"King Solomon’s Mine" 28’35”+1’40” playout
"The Stolen Postman" 30’40”
"The Great British Revolution" 29’13”
"The Plasticine Man" 29’50”
"African Incident" 30’30”
"The Thing on the Mountain" 30’30”
"The Moriarty Murder Mystery" 30’55”
"The Curse of Frankenstein" 29’35”
"The White Neddie Trade" 31’00”
"Ten Snowballs That Shook The World" 29’20”
"The Man Who Never Was" 29’24”
"World War One" 29’38”
"The Spon Plague" 30’10”
"Tiddleywinks" 29’00”
"The Evils of Bushey Spon" 29’50”
"I Was Monty’s Treble" 29’35”
"The Pam’s Paper Insurance Policy" 30’28”
"The Childe Harolde Rewarde" 31’46”
"The Seagoon Memoirs" 30’15”
"Queen Anne’s Rain" 29’50”
"The Battle of Spion Kop" 30’45”
"Ned’s Atomic Dustbin" 30’53”
"Who is Pink Oboe?" 29’45”
"The Call of the West" 31’13”
"Dishonoured - Again" 30’48”
"The Scarlet Capsule" 30’55”
"The Tay Bridge" 30’35”
"The Gold Plate Robbery" 30’48”
"The £50 Cure" 29’56”
"A Christmas Carol" 28’48”
"The Tale of Men’s Shirts" 31’35”
"The Chinese Legs" 30’25”
"Robin’s Post" 30’45”
"The Silver Dubloons" 30’23”
"The Last Smoking Seagoon" 30’15”

Hope that helps!

Andrew

[Peter Moore]

Many thanks Andrew.

Also, I know there is a list of missing shows on the BBC Treasure hunt site but I have copies of many of the shows listed there. Is there a definitive list of what does not exist at the bbc in any form?

Peter

[Andrew Pixley]

Guest-Peter said:

Many thanks Andrew.

No problem Peter! Happy to help!

Also, I know there is a list of missing shows on the BBC Treasure hunt site but I have copies of many of the shows listed there. Is there a definitive list of what does not exist at the bbc in any form?

Oh goodness. This is a very trickly question because much of the time it's a matter of what is best and/or most complete version. Many of the shows held bv the BBC are TS versions and thus cut. Some have been restored by my truly amazing colleague Ted Kendall using either off-air recordings or - rarely - raw edits which have survived. Ted's done some brilliant work and has big plans for more which can do for this series, which he loves *very* dearly. I'm hoping that we can pool our resources sometime and determine which versions we do have access to.

But the bottom line is, if you believe you have something which the BBC don't have, contact the BBC a.s.a.p. I've not looked at the Treasure Hunt site in a while so I don't know how up to date it is. But definitely contact the BBC,

All the best

Andrew

[Gary Critcher]

Andrew, please e-mail me at [e-mail]