Podcast
Goon Pod
Hosted by Goon Pod · EN
A podcast where we talk about classic comedy with particular focus on the work of Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe & Michael Bentine. You'll also hear us discuss the likes of Monty Python, Hancock, Blackadder, the Carry On films, Peter Cook, Steptoe & Son and countless other comedy figures & fixtures from the postwar era.
Please follow on Bluesky @goonpod.bsky.social and Twitter @goonshowpod
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Episodes
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Digby The Biggest Dog In The World (1973)
3d ago01:29:42Tap to summarize"He's only got to lift his leg and he'll drown 50 kids!"This week: Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World, a 1973 British family comedy in which an Old English Sheepdog accidentally drinks an experimental growth formula and raises the woof! Leading the cast is Jim Dale as Jeff Eldon, an animal psychologist at a NATO research facility; when Spike Milligan (playing a shameless German stereotype) moves in next door he is all for having him impounded as he mistakenly believes Jeff thinks he is a dog. It's part Disney family adventure, part monster movie parody and utterly British. Did we forget to mention that other cast members include Angela Douglas, Norman Rossington, John Bluthal and Victor Spinetti? There’s also a cucumber the size of a bus, a mischievous chimp and a wonderful scene set in a roadside café. Plus we ask: did Dulux pay for the outrageous product-placement? Do the special effects hold up? And why wasn’t Jim Dale a bigger star in Britain? Joining Tyler is Graham Rinaldi, film writer and academic and huge Bowie fan, and please feel free to join in the Bowie drinking game as we discuss this fine film.
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Fool Britannia (LP, 1963)
1w ago01:18:06Tap to summarize"Round the back for the old cherry brandy!"Recorded in New York on 6 August 1963, this satirical comedy album brought together Peter Sellers, Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Leslie Bricusse, Daniel Massey and Michael Lipton at the height of the Profumo Affair.The midnight session accommodated Newley and Massey, whose Broadway shows had only just finished. The idea had been conceived less than two weeks earlier while Newley and Bricusse were holidaying in Montauk and they were keen to capitalise on Britain's appetite for political satire.The recording became a celebrity gathering, attracting around 100 guests including Vivien Leigh, Sammy Davis Jr., Roddy McDowall and Peter Lawford. By 2am, according to one witness, Sellers and Newley were sharing Scotch from a thermos while cigarette smoke filled the studio. The entire session was completed in just three hours.They rushed to release the album before public interest in the Profumo scandal faded but some record labels - notably Decca - were sniffy about its content, with mockery of the Royal Family a particular point of contention. Sellers responded: "Only a prude could possibly be offended by it."The BBC banned it from radio play, although excerpts had appeared on television. Contemporary reviews ranged from praise to outrage, reflecting the record's deliberately provocative humour. The album remains a fascinating snapshot of Britain's early-1960s satire boom, when comedians and performers increasingly challenged the deference traditionally shown to politicians, celebrities and public institutions.Joining Tyler to talk through the LP is Brett Tremble, who can be found on Bluesky @agnes-guano.bsky.social
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Invasion Quartet (1961)
2w ago01:31:47Tap to summarizeThis week we look at Invasion Quartet (1961), one of the most significant, if forgotten, films in Spike Milligan's career. Set in a military convalescent hospital on the English south coast during 1942, the story follows three disabled service officers and an ageing military veteran who decide to launch their own private invasion of occupied France to destroy a German super-gun known as "Big Hermann", whose shelling is disrupting both the war effort and their cricket matches. The result is a whimsical wartime adventure that one hack at the time described as "a skit on The Guns of Navarone." The film was made shortly after Spike signed a contract with MGM's British subsidiary, soon after the Oscar nomination of The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film. Invasion Quartet was part of MGM British's first production slate under Lawrence P. Bachmann, alongside future hits such as Village of the Damned and Murder She Said. While those films became major successes and spawned sequels, Invasion Quartet was one of the few productions that failed to make much impact at the box office. The cast included Bill Travers, John Le Mesurier, Grégoire Aslan, Millicent Martin and Maurice Denham, with Eric Sykes appearing briefly as a German soldier. Spike himself later dismissed the picture as "desperately unfunny" and often lamented his lack of success in films. It did, however, result in at least one happy outcome for the Milligan family...Although Invasion Quartet quickly disappeared from view, it offers a fascinating glimpse of a period when British cinema attempted to turn Spike Milligan into a mainstream film star - and failed. Joining Tyler this week is John Hewer of Hambledon Productions, who are soon to hit the stage with a brand new production of The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town. John discusses this in the show and details can be found here: https://hambledonproductions.com/phantomraspberryblower/
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Marty Feldman - One Pair Of Eyes
3w ago01:30:03Tap to summarize“I don’t find myself funny… it came as a surprise to me that I didn’t really learn anything by watching myself.”In June 1969 BBC2 broadcast a documentary in which comedian and writer Marty Feldman tried to discover the essence of comedy by speaking with some of its leading lights such as Eric Morecambe, Dudley Moore, Denis Norden and... Peter Sellers. According to a critic on The Daily Mirror: “Given the low state of comedy on the box right now – well, there’s Father, Dear Father and The Gnomes of Dulwich to name triers; but no Till Death and no Steptoe – a high-flyer like Marty might have chosen to show us how it’s done. He could have played a few bad jokes off against his writing partner Mr Barry Took (who was present and correct), batted them about, and come up with an extemporary routine or two. But no. Marty was sold on contradiction.”Ignore that grump. The programme was a thoughtful, leisurely exercise in getting to the nub of of a very knotty topic where Marty philosophised and sometimes agonised while smoking a seemingly endless chain of cigarettes. From a bleak fairground in Margate via a kids' Punch & Judy show, a textile factory run by an ex-radio ventriloquist and a smoky jazz bar to a railway station in Henley where Peter Sellers was filming The Magic Christian, Marty never faltered in his pursuit of the truth: What is comedy? Joining Tyler to talk about the programme and in particular the very revealing bits with Sellers is returning guest and podcaster Jon Auty. They also look at the early career of Marty Feldman and a couple of Spike Milligan TV appearances. You can watch the programme on YT here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0it6iARj64&t=1907sBehind The Stunts: https://www.youtube.com/@behindthestunts
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The Goon Show At 75
May 2701:33:19Tap to summarizeIt's 75 years since the first Goon Show (billed as Crazy People) was broadcast and to mark the occasion Tyler welcomes listeners from all over the world - Ian Richards, Colleen Dawson, Martin Eggleston, Fred Velez, Colin Fee and Ted Webb - to share their Goon Show stories and memories in a special episode. Topics include where they first discovered the show, the importance of Harry Secombe, the show's legacy, favourite music in the show, how it has directly impacted on their lives, obscure references, favourite episodes, what 'lost' episode would they like to hear, best guests, Michael Bentine's role and so much more.It's a riotous 90 minutes of people trying to get a word in!
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The Missing Scroll
May 2001:26:52Tap to summarize"Now, Neddie… what experience have you had in translating ancient scripts? " - "Three years with Ray’s A Laugh."What do the Piltdown Man, a calculating canine, Norwich Castle Museum and a one-eyed cat peeping in a sea food store all have to do with this week's show? Listen as we discuss The Missing Scroll from Series 5 and offer a fascinating and in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Goon Show from this period. Neddie Seagoon is recruited by antique dealer Grytpype-Thynne to help recover a lost Babylonian manuscript containing ancient music for which the BBC Home Service are offering a reward. Seagoon travels to Mesopotamia, where he is abandoned in the desert by Willium but rescued by Eccles who accompanies him on his quest. Their search takes them to an antique shop run by Minnie and Henry, where confusion reigns and Seagoon learns the manuscript was discarded on a dust-heap at Sidi Rosaic. Can he recover the scroll in time? We also eavesdrop on a conversation taking place on a bus from Oldham and hear live from a revolutionary new type of prison.Joining Tyler from the USA is performer and Goon enthusiast Brian Phillips.
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Ooh, You Are Awful (1972)
May 1301:29:38Tap to summarizeIt’s 1972 and Dick Emery - once described as "a fugitive from The Goon Show" - is one of the most popular comedians on television. His show is a regular ratings-topper, featuring a cast of comic grotesques – toothy vicars, leering jezebels, cats-bum-mouthed frumps and camp as Christmas extroverts.With the success in the early seventies of the On The Buses films and other sitcom-to-big-screen transitions it was perhaps inevitable that Dick would make a movie, one that would showcase many of his best-loved characters, plus introduce one or two new ones. “Ooh… You Are Awful” (named after the ubiquitous catchphrase of his easily-confused slattern Mandy) concerns conmen Charlie Tully and Reggie Peek, who fleece a couple of Italian worthies for £500,000 and are about to hop on a plane to Switzerland until Charlie is arrested for trying to pull a stupid con on a pair of witless Americans in the airport lounge.Banged up for six months, Charlie finally emerges from prison and is about to be told by Reggie the bank account details when the latter is murdered by local villain Sid Sabbath for having it away with his sister. There follows a farcical sequence of events involving the Mafia, several Emery disguises, an exploding milk bottle and a lot of women’s bums. Yes, seriously.Joining Tyler are two-thirds of The Trap – Jeremy Limb & Paul Litchfield – for a loud, rambunctious journey through a film which the two have previously covered for one of their Film Commentaries - https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTrapComedy/posts Warning: contains language that would make Hetty swoon!
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Mr Topaze (1961)
May 601:15:28Tap to summarizeThis week we're discussing Peter Sellers' only directorial feature, Mr Topaze from 1961. Sellers plays Albert Topaze, an earnest, impoverished schoolteacher in provincial France whose rigid honesty ultimately proves his undoing. He teaches under the status-obsessed headmaster Muche (Leo McKern) and is in love with Muche’s daughter Ernestine (Billie Whitelaw). Living modestly with his colleague and friend Tamise (Michael Gough), Topaze supplements his income through private tutoring.His integrity leads to his dismissal when he refuses to falsify a report, leaving him vulnerable to manipulation. He is soon drawn into the orbit of the glamorous Suzy Courtois (Nadia Gray) and her corrupt associate Castel Benac (Herbert Lom), who install him as the front for their fraudulent business dealings. Initially oblivious, Topaze is horrified when he learns the truth, but agrees to continue in order to protect Suzy.Joining Tyler this week to chat about the film's background, themes and ultimate re-evaluation after decades languishing in obscurity is Vic Pratt of the BFI https://www.bfi.org.uk/profile/vic-pratt
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The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn
Apr 2901:25:01Tap to summarize“Their gags are paralysing. Sometimes the director has to let everybody have five minutes’ rest, so that we can laugh the laughs out.” (Pamela Thomas, supporting cast)In 1956 a short film was released which with hindsight was probably the most successful Goon Show celluloid transfer, despite only featuring two-thirds of the team. Ironically, it wasn't even intended for theatre release but a lack of interest by US television networks nixed any further forays so it ended up as a cinematic supporting feature. The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn (an early working title was The Yard Has Three Feet) starred Peter Sellers as Superintendent Quilt and Spike Milligan as Sgt Brown plus honorary Goon Dick Emery as Nodule, a museum curator. All three appear in multiple guises, including Sellers as Henry Crun, Milligan as Eccles and Emery as Maurice Ponque. Joining Tyler this week to talk about the background to the film, including the revelation that it sprang from The Adventures of Robin Hood on television and that Harry Secombe's absence could at least be partly laid at the door of Jimmy Grafton, is returning guest Chris Diamond.
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Neil Brand
Apr 2201:03:34Tap to summarizeThis week the great Neil Brand visits the show to share his love of the Goons and in particular the music. Neil of course is a well-respected writer, composer and broadcaster and the country's leading silent film accompanist. A self-taught musician, Neil describes the instinctive feel of the music in the Goon Show from people like Max Geldray and Ray Ellington and admires the sheer musical chutzpah of the boys in the band. He's also a huge fan of Angela Morley and the cinematic sweep of some of her arrangements. As well as talking about the show we get glimpses into Neil's career and passions, a description of the one time he met Milligan and a story about a chance encounter with someone very much within Sellers' and Milligan's orbit.Neil's podcast All About The Music: https://www.allaboutthemusicpod.com/
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