1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:03,760 OK, instead of reading me bedtime stories, when I was a 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,760 kid my mother used to read the scripts from The Goon Show. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,360 It was a favorite comedy show on the radio. 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,600 It was Spike Milligan, Harry Secon, and the other guy who was 5 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:17,560 the best, Peter Sellers, Michael Benton. 6 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,680 You know, early Monty Python would exist without the goons, 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,160 so on and so forth. Anyway, she'd read the scripts 8 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,560 to me and do the voices because it was all about silly voices. 9 00:00:27,230 --> 00:00:29,990 And she gave me the script because I really liked them. 10 00:00:30,310 --> 00:00:34,510 And we were looking for a name. We got our first gig and we we 11 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:35,950 haven't even thought about names. 12 00:00:36,390 --> 00:00:38,590 We got the first gig coming up. We thought, but all that's 13 00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:40,990 important is that it's something that no one else would think of. 14 00:00:41,230 --> 00:00:45,270 She's got to be original. And I got this script book out 15 00:00:45,270 --> 00:00:49,350 in One of the episodes in in the script was Ned's Atomic Dusty. 16 00:00:50,070 --> 00:00:51,990 And we thought, well, you know, I think it'll work because it's 17 00:00:51,990 --> 00:00:57,060 only the 1st gig, whatever. In all seriousness, now we're 18 00:00:57,060 --> 00:00:59,300 never going to be talking properly, serious, wherever, 19 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:00,580 long term with the name like that. 20 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:03,260 And it would become. I suppose it would become a 21 00:01:03,260 --> 00:01:39,540 problem. Here's the rather rambling 22 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:41,500 preamble. When I was a teen in the early 23 00:01:41,500 --> 00:01:45,820 90s, my group of friends were into comedy and music, mostly of 24 00:01:45,820 --> 00:01:50,420 the Wanda stuff and Vic Reeves variety, and you'd really see 25 00:01:50,420 --> 00:01:52,700 any of them without a copy of The Enemy sticking out of their 26 00:01:52,700 --> 00:01:56,050 school blazer pocket. But at this point in my life, I 27 00:01:56,050 --> 00:01:58,050 wasn't as into music as I later became. 28 00:01:58,970 --> 00:02:02,090 But I was obsessed with comedy. And it was because of this, or 29 00:02:02,090 --> 00:02:07,490 maybe despite it, that as far as I was concerned, the stunk by 30 00:02:07,490 --> 00:02:14,410 Helen Pace was just as valid musically as, say, Kinky Afro by 31 00:02:14,410 --> 00:02:16,690 the Happy Mondays. I know, right? 32 00:02:17,410 --> 00:02:20,130 I kept my interest in The Goon Show to myself. 33 00:02:20,690 --> 00:02:23,490 I figured that explaining why I love to read a comedy show. 34 00:02:24,140 --> 00:02:27,820 Which was then celebrating its 40th anniversary, might fail to 35 00:02:27,820 --> 00:02:31,100 register with a group of 17 year olds preoccupied with doing 36 00:02:32,060 --> 00:02:36,500 Graham Lister and Judge Nutmeg impressions or trading Trevor 37 00:02:36,500 --> 00:02:39,300 and Simon catchphrases. And remember them, they didn't 38 00:02:39,300 --> 00:02:42,140 do duvets. So when one day one of my mates 39 00:02:42,140 --> 00:02:44,980 mentioned he bought the latest Ned Stomach Dustbin single, I 40 00:02:44,980 --> 00:02:51,340 almost choked on a Viscount the The Minty Biscuit, I realized 41 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:53,900 this band had lifted their name directly. 42 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,720 From an episode of The Goon Show, and I blurted this out to 43 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,080 my friend who stared blankly at me and probably said something 44 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,040 like yeah. Anyway, and that was the end of 45 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,640 the matter. Fast forward 32 years and I am 46 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:10,080 now the proud father of a podcast, and the day has finally 47 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,600 come to talk about Ned's Atomic Dustbin. 48 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,400 The Goon Show episode. I mean, not, not, not, not the 49 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,840 band, although I do want to talk about them a bit. 50 00:03:19,950 --> 00:03:23,070 So I decided to invite back to the show, somebody suitably 51 00:03:23,070 --> 00:03:27,430 qualified to talk about both. Ex Enemy Scribe, comedy writer, 52 00:03:27,550 --> 00:03:29,950 screenwriter, novelist, David Quantic. 53 00:03:30,950 --> 00:03:33,990 Welcome to Goon Pod. I mean, last time you were on 54 00:03:34,270 --> 00:03:36,910 you talked in general about, you know, the goons and Spike and 55 00:03:36,910 --> 00:03:40,790 whatnot, and me asking if you'd like to return to talk about an 56 00:03:40,790 --> 00:03:42,510 actual or around an actual goon show. 57 00:03:44,030 --> 00:03:46,990 It's not a very well known one, and I wasn't sure. 58 00:03:46,990 --> 00:03:48,830 I mean, had you heard this show before or? 59 00:03:49,530 --> 00:03:52,690 Red Script, you know, I can't remember. 60 00:03:53,170 --> 00:03:56,930 I was aware of it at the time because I belonged to the Goose 61 00:03:56,930 --> 00:04:00,530 Show Preservation Society and somebody, one of the 62 00:04:00,530 --> 00:04:04,610 subscribers, used to make covers, imaginary covers for 63 00:04:04,610 --> 00:04:06,090 albums. And I remember there was an Ed 64 00:04:06,090 --> 00:04:11,090 Atomic Dustbin one. Yes, I was aware of it. 65 00:04:11,090 --> 00:04:14,490 And yeah, when the band started, obviously I became more aware of 66 00:04:14,490 --> 00:04:17,769 it, but I can't remember if I've heard it before. 67 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,400 I mean, having heard it now, perhaps for the first time, 68 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,440 would you rather be talking about the actual band? 69 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,200 And it's a tight dust because it's quite a fast-paced, 70 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,040 frenetic show this episode, isn't it? 71 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,840 Yeah, it's an unusual episode, while at the same time it's kind 72 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:37,200 of bog standard. It's my easy way of describing 73 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,800 it. But yes, it's a classic goon 74 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:45,690 show plot involving. Dodgy dealings, a little bit of 75 00:04:45,690 --> 00:04:48,690 political satire, tail torn from the headlines. 76 00:04:49,370 --> 00:04:52,250 A lot of the structure is just, you know, Milligan, like, oh, we 77 00:04:52,250 --> 00:04:54,530 need to get this character in, we get this character in. 78 00:04:55,730 --> 00:04:59,250 It is notable, though, for the extremely long time it takes to 79 00:04:59,250 --> 00:05:03,690 get started because it starts off with this massively 80 00:05:03,730 --> 00:05:06,610 irrelevant but quite funny thing about censorship. 81 00:05:06,610 --> 00:05:09,450 And there's a committee reporting on whether Wallace 82 00:05:09,450 --> 00:05:12,600 Greenslake can wear some holly. And then that ends. 83 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,480 And then you get a bit of music and it still hasn't started. 84 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,520 It's something like 10 minutes in before the story starts. 85 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,360 I call that the the what do you call it the Goon Show law where 86 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,720 the the first act bears no relation to the story And that 87 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,040 that's happened in the third series quite a bit and which we 88 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,360 don't hear anymore because there's barely any of them that 89 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,920 survive. But by this point in the goon, 90 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,800 show that there were a handful of shows with. 91 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,080 I've done that before where there's just spikes obviously 92 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,690 got. 2/3 of a story or 2/3 of a plot, and he just decides to 93 00:05:42,890 --> 00:05:45,450 tack on something at the beginning just to make up the 94 00:05:45,450 --> 00:05:49,970 time. But I wanted to ask you before 95 00:05:49,970 --> 00:05:54,490 we get onto that, Last year I was very taken by the 96 00:05:54,570 --> 00:05:58,490 documentary about Spike Milligan's archive. 97 00:05:58,850 --> 00:06:00,570 Oh yeah. And obviously you you 98 00:06:00,570 --> 00:06:02,250 participated in that. Yeah. 99 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:05,850 I mean, it was clearly his base for a very long time and it was 100 00:06:05,850 --> 00:06:07,780 kind of. A bit alarming. 101 00:06:07,780 --> 00:06:12,580 I mean, I opened the folder and it was just family photos and it 102 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:14,980 was just personal stuff and it's like I shouldn't really be 103 00:06:14,980 --> 00:06:17,380 looking. So I put it back, you know, it 104 00:06:17,380 --> 00:06:20,940 was he was surprisingly for a man who he would strike. 105 00:06:20,940 --> 00:06:24,660 She was somewhat chaotic. He was clearly an archivist and 106 00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:27,380 this was his archive. It wasn't done by a secretary. 107 00:06:27,900 --> 00:06:30,300 He'd done all this himself. So obviously he was quite keen 108 00:06:30,300 --> 00:06:33,380 on recording things. And yeah, I pretty much, if you 109 00:06:33,380 --> 00:06:35,620 were doing a biography of Spike Milligan. 110 00:06:36,340 --> 00:06:39,100 You would have all the resources you needed in that room. 111 00:06:39,740 --> 00:06:44,100 It was quite overwhelming and you didn't differentiate, so 112 00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:47,700 they'd be, you know, famous scripts next to obscure 113 00:06:47,700 --> 00:06:51,340 Australian shows. I was given some stuff that he 114 00:06:51,340 --> 00:06:55,700 had done to send to George Martin, little demos and things 115 00:06:55,740 --> 00:06:58,540 like that. The the song for Jane. 116 00:06:58,860 --> 00:07:01,100 Yeah, that was extraordinary. That's right. 117 00:07:01,100 --> 00:07:05,140 You took forwarded intro and yeah, two of my. 118 00:07:05,850 --> 00:07:08,530 Comedic hero is George Martin, the great producer of Spike 119 00:07:08,530 --> 00:07:12,090 Milligan. Exchanging materials now it's 120 00:07:12,090 --> 00:07:13,730 extra. It was extraordinary to be in 121 00:07:13,730 --> 00:07:16,450 that room. The connection between Spike 122 00:07:16,450 --> 00:07:19,690 Milligan and George Martin is incredibly close. 123 00:07:19,690 --> 00:07:22,770 They worked together in the 1950s in the goon era. 124 00:07:23,450 --> 00:07:27,610 They were very good friends and there's a very prevalent theory 125 00:07:27,610 --> 00:07:30,370 amongst Beatles fans that without the goons, without Spike 126 00:07:30,370 --> 00:07:34,170 Milligan Beatles wouldn't have sounded. 127 00:07:34,630 --> 00:07:36,230 The same. They wouldn't have been as good, 128 00:07:36,310 --> 00:07:39,110 but George Martin was like, yes, let's cut up all the tapes and 129 00:07:39,110 --> 00:07:41,590 throw them in the air. Let's have an audience cheering. 130 00:07:41,590 --> 00:07:43,990 Let's have chicken noises on this record, because he'd done 131 00:07:43,990 --> 00:07:50,190 it all with Spike Milligan. It's gorgeous. 132 00:07:53,070 --> 00:07:57,310 It has another worldly quality to it, and it has that. 133 00:07:58,110 --> 00:08:00,670 Childish, Childlike quality, which is good for a waltz 134 00:08:00,670 --> 00:08:03,590 written for a child, but also very typical of Spike Milligan. 135 00:08:07,310 --> 00:08:11,310 That's all on this tape, George. The band Ned's Atomic dustbin. 136 00:08:13,110 --> 00:08:15,950 I was never really into them. I kind of they sort of passed me 137 00:08:15,950 --> 00:08:18,550 by. But obviously you being an enemy 138 00:08:18,550 --> 00:08:21,070 scribe around that time that they were big. 139 00:08:21,550 --> 00:08:23,710 Did you actually meet them? Did you interview them? 140 00:08:23,710 --> 00:08:25,430 Did you have any encounters with them? 141 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,680 Yeah, I mean, because The Enemy was covering a lot of bands from 142 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,960 Stourbridge in the Black Country and the Midlands area, the 143 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,159 Wonderstaff, Pop, the league itself, Crazy had. 144 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:41,919 There were probably some others. And Ned's Atomic Dustbin were 145 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,360 kind of the second wave. I mean, they were, they were the 146 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:45,800 next wave. There weren't any others. 147 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,760 And they were young and they were obviously influenced by all 148 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,400 these Griebo bands and they were good. 149 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:54,240 They were interested. You know, they had two bass 150 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,260 players. Charismatic singer, so all them 151 00:08:57,300 --> 00:09:01,140 supporting the wonder stuff and they were. 152 00:09:01,180 --> 00:09:03,460 I really liked him. I remember once being at some 153 00:09:03,740 --> 00:09:07,780 Phoenix Festival and Rat, one of the band was called Rat For no 154 00:09:07,780 --> 00:09:09,020 other reason that he looked like Rat. 155 00:09:09,020 --> 00:09:12,420 Scabies from the damned. Having some fun with him. 156 00:09:12,420 --> 00:09:17,060 But my most memorable experience is that when they started off, I 157 00:09:17,060 --> 00:09:20,340 went to a party, a friend of mine's house and PR and a 158 00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:24,140 photographer called Jane Houghton and stayed over in the 159 00:09:24,140 --> 00:09:26,890 spare bed. And Edosomic dustbin slept on 160 00:09:26,890 --> 00:09:33,330 the floor in the same room. So yeah, I have slept with Ned 161 00:09:33,330 --> 00:09:35,650 Atomic Dustbin. And they were fascinated because 162 00:09:35,650 --> 00:09:38,570 they were young and they were a band and like all bands had 163 00:09:38,570 --> 00:09:41,730 their own private language. They basically spent all night 164 00:09:41,730 --> 00:09:45,330 farting on the floor and making incomprehensible comments about 165 00:09:45,330 --> 00:09:49,610 it. And in a kind of convoluted way. 166 00:09:49,610 --> 00:09:52,450 What struck me today thinking about this is the only real 167 00:09:52,450 --> 00:09:54,810 connection between them and the goons other than the name. 168 00:09:55,710 --> 00:09:57,510 It's one of the great things about the goons. 169 00:09:58,230 --> 00:10:04,030 This is a massive leap, but it is true is that the goons had a 170 00:10:04,030 --> 00:10:07,030 secret language which they shared with the world, which was 171 00:10:07,030 --> 00:10:11,190 the post war comedy was a new generation about. 172 00:10:11,190 --> 00:10:15,190 This new generation had come out of the war and there was a 173 00:10:15,190 --> 00:10:18,390 shared humor of conscription, of knowing what it was like to 174 00:10:18,390 --> 00:10:21,750 sleep in a tent in Algeria, knowing what it's like to be 175 00:10:21,750 --> 00:10:26,310 shot at, you know, in Sicily. And, you know, the goons were 176 00:10:26,310 --> 00:10:29,470 three regular soldiers and many of their audience, they were 177 00:10:29,470 --> 00:10:32,590 young, but they had that irreverence. 178 00:10:32,590 --> 00:10:35,150 Everyone's talked about, you know, the lack of respect for 179 00:10:35,150 --> 00:10:39,510 authority that came out of being in a war where all the classes 180 00:10:39,510 --> 00:10:41,550 met for the first time. And, you know, the upper 181 00:10:41,550 --> 00:10:44,710 classes, the officer class, did not come very well, come out 182 00:10:44,710 --> 00:10:48,630 very well from that war. So it was interesting because 183 00:10:48,630 --> 00:10:50,990 they were radical. This is the Goons, not atomic 184 00:10:50,990 --> 00:10:52,590 dustbin. They were radical. 185 00:10:52,590 --> 00:10:57,140 They were changing things. But at the same time, their 186 00:10:57,140 --> 00:10:59,900 attitude was something familiar and welcomed, You know, a few 187 00:10:59,900 --> 00:11:02,340 years before they voted in the Labour government to the 188 00:11:02,340 --> 00:11:05,780 surprise of Winston Churchill, and now they were voting in 189 00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:09,580 probably the most radical mainstream comedy of all time. 190 00:11:10,340 --> 00:11:13,620 Absolutely. The story is that that what 191 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:16,300 Who's the lead singer? My mango is John. 192 00:11:17,140 --> 00:11:19,980 John Penny, Yeah. He said that his mum used to 193 00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:23,120 read him. From read to him bedtime stories 194 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,880 but it was just you know the Goon show scripts that's where 195 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,760 he and that's where he just was randomly flicking through the 196 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,960 more Goon Show scripts book for a band name and then Stomach 197 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,080 dustbin jumped out My friend tilt said if he'd flicked a few 198 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,080 pages on it would have been the band would have been called The 199 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:47,640 Spy or Who Is Pink Oboe. It tells you something about 200 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,720 about the band, about John Penny, that. 201 00:11:51,430 --> 00:11:53,710 They thought that was a good name for a band because what it 202 00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:57,590 is, it's an old name in an era of, you know, the Wander stuff, 203 00:11:57,590 --> 00:12:00,310 Crazy Head and put release itself just to name those. 204 00:12:01,150 --> 00:12:04,430 It's a kind of it's a but it's a comedy name, you know, You 205 00:12:04,430 --> 00:12:07,390 couldn't imagine you too. Or Bob or Bruce Springsteen 206 00:12:07,390 --> 00:12:09,310 calling their bands Neds. Atomic Dustbin. 207 00:12:10,510 --> 00:12:13,230 It kind of suggests that it didn't have huge ambitions to be 208 00:12:13,270 --> 00:12:16,030 playing huge arenas, shall we say, with the. 209 00:12:16,470 --> 00:12:17,990 Kind of thing that you could see. 210 00:12:18,620 --> 00:12:20,860 A cool person wearing their T-shirt. 211 00:12:21,620 --> 00:12:24,940 It's one of those, I think a lot of bands by the by where they 212 00:12:24,940 --> 00:12:26,860 pick a name. They think that's a good name 213 00:12:26,860 --> 00:12:28,580 for a band, even though it actually isn't. 214 00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:30,780 It just sounds like a good name for a band. 215 00:12:32,140 --> 00:12:34,540 You know the wonder stuff. It's a good name for a band. 216 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:36,660 Populate itself is a good name for band. 217 00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:40,540 Metatomic Dustbin. You're kind of like, you know, 218 00:12:40,540 --> 00:12:42,740 they're going to be third support and they're going to be 219 00:12:42,740 --> 00:12:47,550 quite funny, which is fine, but. Yeah, I think it's kind of a 220 00:12:47,550 --> 00:12:50,550 bold statement. What about Toad the Wet 221 00:12:50,550 --> 00:12:53,550 Sprocket? God alone knows what's going on 222 00:12:53,550 --> 00:12:56,710 there. I mean, there was a surprisingly 223 00:12:56,710 --> 00:13:02,510 good heavy metal band called Ethel the Frog, and their name 224 00:13:02,510 --> 00:13:05,470 was a massive Monty Python reference, but their name was a 225 00:13:05,470 --> 00:13:12,350 massive hindrance if you ask me. I know that he's the drummer 226 00:13:12,350 --> 00:13:17,040 from Pink Floyd, Nick Mason. One of his early bands was 227 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,640 called something ridiculous and we are talking obviously mid 228 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:24,600 60s, something like Commander Henderson and his mouth full of 229 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,560 bees or something like that. That was, that was the name of 230 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:29,360 the man. That is bizarre. 231 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,720 The Neds, are they still are they still are going concern? 232 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,520 I think they come back from time to time. 233 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,720 I think John Penny does his own stuff from time to time. 234 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,480 Yeah. And looking on the Internet, 235 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,920 they released five years ago, now called Ned's Acoustic 236 00:13:44,920 --> 00:14:00,600 Dustbin. Desire or when? 237 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:07,640 You're it, desire. It has been found. 238 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:15,080 You'll be running far away or when you're. 239 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:21,440 It is a higher. It has been found. 240 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:29,800 You'll be running far away. You're telling me it's in the 241 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,520 trees and the trees It's not. It's inside me Now you're 242 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,360 telling me it's on the ground. It's. 243 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,920 On I say, what is all this joy? People in that night are trying 244 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:49,490 to sleep, you know. So this episode broadcast right 245 00:14:49,490 --> 00:14:53,450 at the beginning of January 1959 Peter's literally just signed A5 246 00:14:53,450 --> 00:14:57,450 year contract with the bolting brothers and he's got his eye on 247 00:14:57,450 --> 00:15:01,370 he's already signed up to to do I'm all right Jack you know in 248 00:15:01,370 --> 00:15:05,290 his head he's just thinking you know I want to be a movie star 249 00:15:06,450 --> 00:15:11,930 and Ned's Atomic Dustbin is is the 10th episode of the night 250 00:15:11,930 --> 00:15:14,090 series. So there's only, there's really 251 00:15:14,090 --> 00:15:17,230 only about. Another 10-12 goon shows until 252 00:15:17,230 --> 00:15:20,190 they call it a day. Wow, I didn't realize that. 253 00:15:20,950 --> 00:15:23,430 Yeah, so it wasn't. I mean, all I can say is it's 254 00:15:23,430 --> 00:15:27,750 not, with the exception of one section, which is Sellers at his 255 00:15:27,750 --> 00:15:30,750 best. It's not what I call a classic 256 00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:32,790 episode. It's very the section that I'm 257 00:15:32,790 --> 00:15:36,310 referring to is when he's doing the William Mate voice talking 258 00:15:36,310 --> 00:15:38,710 about a dog that he says can speak. 259 00:15:40,190 --> 00:15:43,230 And then it goes on quite a while and it says, no, dog don't 260 00:15:43,230 --> 00:15:45,510 speak and it's absolutely hilarious. 261 00:15:45,870 --> 00:15:52,230 It's a brilliant setup and yeah, it's he's fantastic and it's a 262 00:15:52,230 --> 00:15:55,590 beautiful piece of comic acting. When's the next train to London 263 00:15:55,590 --> 00:15:56,350 Town? Divine. 264 00:15:56,710 --> 00:16:00,190 Ask the airy doggy over there. Ask the dog. 265 00:16:00,190 --> 00:16:01,830 He Does he speak? Does he what? 266 00:16:02,070 --> 00:16:05,790 Does he speak? Yeah, listen. 267 00:16:05,950 --> 00:16:07,910 Listen to this. Hello, Doug. 268 00:16:08,470 --> 00:16:11,370 Hello, Dougie. Go and tell him Dog. 269 00:16:13,130 --> 00:16:23,810 No, he don't speak. That William Mate voice has has 270 00:16:23,810 --> 00:16:27,690 evolved over the course of 5-6 years of the Goon show. 271 00:16:28,570 --> 00:16:31,130 It was very high pitched at the beginning and now it's got to 272 00:16:31,130 --> 00:16:32,890 this. By this point it's very it's 273 00:16:33,770 --> 00:16:36,450 it's like Brandy laced the voice almost. 274 00:16:36,450 --> 00:16:38,410 I suppose. You know and you know the you 275 00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:41,640 know the. The story that Johnny Spate 276 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,960 wanted originally wanted Sellers to play Elf Garner, and Sellers 277 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,720 obviously was by that point. He was, you know, too bound up 278 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,200 in the movies. But I could imagine if if 279 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,200 Sellers had played Elf Garner, I could that this, this period, 280 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,040 this era. William Mate, this series 9. 281 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,560 William mate. As we hear on this episode, I 282 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,760 could imagine him using that voice, that kind of that kind of 283 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,359 cadence, that kind of tombra. I think Mate is a little bit 284 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,640 older because when when service does use that voice in the Mario 285 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,359 Zampi movies and the Bolting Brothers movies, he's generally 286 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,359 playing someone like a night watchman or a fairly old bloke. 287 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:26,599 But take your point. Yeah, he he he just sounds a 288 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,000 little bit more. It's slightly more useful in 289 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,800 this in this episode. But anyway, I'm even thinking it 290 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,400 and this show, obviously it's very topical considering that 291 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:42,240 Oppenheimer still. Packing them into the cinemas, I 292 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,240 can't believe cuz I've never. I haven't seen Oppenheimer, but 293 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:45,600 it's something like 18 hours long. 294 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,080 Yeah, he's 18 hours long. Isn't it just people in rooms 295 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,760 talking about stuff? I don't know cuz I haven't seen 296 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,440 it either, but I'm sure there's lots of pretty things in it too. 297 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:02,480 Oh yes, but this idea for going show is clearly inspired by 298 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,760 atomic testing which which was going on at the time like in 299 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,130 places like Christmas Island. Places that were as far away 300 00:18:10,130 --> 00:18:14,770 from Whitehall as possible And the whole atomic dustbin idea 301 00:18:14,770 --> 00:18:18,130 though it's it's an atom proof dustbin as we come to learn, but 302 00:18:18,130 --> 00:18:21,930 the whole atomic aspect seems to be quietly dropped and then it 303 00:18:21,930 --> 00:18:25,090 just becomes a dustbin to prove if a man can go over the Niagara 304 00:18:25,090 --> 00:18:27,370 Falls and somehow beat the Russians. 305 00:18:28,010 --> 00:18:32,890 Yes, it goes into a sort of arms race, jokes the Russians about 306 00:18:32,890 --> 00:18:35,450 something over the Vulgar Rapids, I believe. 307 00:18:35,850 --> 00:18:39,780 The media and the population. At this time was kind of space 308 00:18:39,780 --> 00:18:43,620 mad. The day that the show went out, 309 00:18:43,620 --> 00:18:47,860 the front page of the Daily Mail led with this banner headline 310 00:18:47,860 --> 00:18:51,500 saying leapfrog, moon man, Russians planned space town. 311 00:18:53,060 --> 00:18:56,020 One of Moscow's leading scientists revealed fantastic 312 00:18:56,020 --> 00:18:57,780 details of plans to conquer space. 313 00:18:58,380 --> 00:19:01,620 And there's references to space imperialism and interplanetary 314 00:19:01,620 --> 00:19:03,740 stations and factories to be built on the moon. 315 00:19:04,940 --> 00:19:08,170 Tractor factories, probably. And unusually for the Goon show, 316 00:19:08,170 --> 00:19:10,730 you do actually hear some Russian characters because 317 00:19:10,730 --> 00:19:12,570 there's a scene set in the Kremlin. 318 00:19:13,570 --> 00:19:18,610 Then it becomes rather confusing that Blue Bottle is a Russian 319 00:19:18,610 --> 00:19:22,650 agent, but this isn't. He's just they just, again, it's 320 00:19:22,650 --> 00:19:26,490 a sort of silly, you know, Cub Scout thing going on, but it's 321 00:19:26,490 --> 00:19:28,890 like you keep going, Oh, that's right, he's meant to be a 322 00:19:28,890 --> 00:19:31,210 communist. It doesn't quite. 323 00:19:32,310 --> 00:19:34,470 But again, Spike Milika doesn't seem to be able to get up to 324 00:19:34,470 --> 00:19:36,470 speed with that idea. He's like, Oh yeah, he's a 325 00:19:36,470 --> 00:19:38,750 communist. And the most bizarre moment for 326 00:19:38,750 --> 00:19:41,390 me is when there's a joke in the punchline, his apple saying 327 00:19:41,390 --> 00:19:47,590 Stalin. And I had to look up Stalin, 328 00:19:47,590 --> 00:19:50,230 who'd been dead for five years, so. 329 00:19:51,630 --> 00:19:54,790 I think he was dead, but he was also persona non granted I think 330 00:19:54,790 --> 00:19:56,990 by that point after. Crucial, right, So that my 331 00:19:56,990 --> 00:20:01,030 speech, yeah, the joke, it was a bizarre reference at that point. 332 00:20:01,770 --> 00:20:03,850 Yeah. Blue ball sort of bit of a spy 333 00:20:03,850 --> 00:20:06,490 and then he sort of vaguely loses interest in it. 334 00:20:07,370 --> 00:20:10,650 It's not what you call. I mean, I don't want to be down 335 00:20:10,650 --> 00:20:13,010 on it because I enjoyed the episode, but it is very generic. 336 00:20:13,010 --> 00:20:15,810 Oh, here's blood knock and there's some Oh my goodness, he 337 00:20:15,810 --> 00:20:19,810 soiled himself in a comical way. Here's Moriarty grit pipe thin 338 00:20:19,810 --> 00:20:21,890 with their own trying to sell something to Neddy. 339 00:20:22,970 --> 00:20:25,650 And it could be a lot of the IT could be anything. 340 00:20:26,170 --> 00:20:29,890 You know, is the tag of like, oh, atomic testing, but that's 341 00:20:29,890 --> 00:20:31,890 kind of. But again, that's where they do 342 00:20:31,890 --> 00:20:34,010 a joke about it at the start and they move away from it. 343 00:20:35,330 --> 00:20:39,370 It's definitely smart, Milligan writing on autopilot, which is 344 00:20:39,370 --> 00:20:42,210 basically better than most people's best efforts. 345 00:20:42,210 --> 00:20:45,970 But I would say it's a filler episode. 346 00:20:46,290 --> 00:20:49,130 Yeah, that's a great, you say about autopilot. 347 00:20:49,130 --> 00:20:52,970 There's that gag with Echoes and Blue Bottle, which does get a 348 00:20:52,970 --> 00:20:55,450 big round of applause, but it's Milligan phoning it in. 349 00:20:55,690 --> 00:20:57,890 Tiger, Yeah. Blue bottle doesn't want to go 350 00:20:57,970 --> 00:20:59,770 out. There's a spider in it and it's 351 00:20:59,770 --> 00:21:02,130 a tiger, yeah. Yeah, the effects don't. 352 00:21:02,130 --> 00:21:04,210 I've moaned a lot. The effects don't quite work on 353 00:21:04,210 --> 00:21:06,690 that got necessarily put down to Milligan. 354 00:21:08,170 --> 00:21:10,370 But there isn't the sense that you get a great goon show that 355 00:21:10,370 --> 00:21:13,730 you know, Echoes is somehow genuinely in in Threat and the 356 00:21:13,730 --> 00:21:15,610 sound effects are mad enough to cover it up. 357 00:21:15,610 --> 00:21:23,530 It's got a great punch line. There's a big spider out there. 358 00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:31,380 I ain't frightening a big spiders. 359 00:21:32,220 --> 00:22:04,220 I a fix. Yeah, where's all your clans? 360 00:22:05,620 --> 00:22:10,020 Huddle Say after me. I must learn the difference 361 00:22:10,060 --> 00:22:19,220 between a lion and a spider. You know my presumably it's an 362 00:22:19,220 --> 00:22:21,740 original joke, but you're never entirely sure. 363 00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:25,380 But it is beaten by the dog thing, which is just. 364 00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:28,340 Which is interesting because that that joke could be in any 365 00:22:28,860 --> 00:22:31,060 classic, could be much fun in the marsh, it could be in it. 366 00:22:31,700 --> 00:22:34,460 It's not particularly surreal gag. 367 00:22:34,740 --> 00:22:37,380 Generally, I don't laugh when people are enjoying themselves 368 00:22:37,380 --> 00:22:41,020 in a radio show, so I don't care if you're having fun, you're 369 00:22:41,020 --> 00:22:44,900 here to entertain me. But clearly sad as he's enjoying 370 00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:47,940 himself at this point and it's beautifully delivered. 371 00:22:47,940 --> 00:22:52,740 So that I'm not sure how Goon like it is, but it works really 372 00:22:52,740 --> 00:22:57,700 well. This show is is notable in that 373 00:22:57,700 --> 00:23:02,060 it it was the debut of what became known as blood Knocks 374 00:23:02,060 --> 00:23:04,020 Stomach sound effect. Oh yes. 375 00:23:04,020 --> 00:23:06,380 It's got really quite jarring as well. 376 00:23:06,780 --> 00:23:09,540 Yeah, because it was. It was devised, but I think it 377 00:23:09,540 --> 00:23:13,180 was Dick Mills from the BBC. Really fun at workshop. 378 00:23:13,340 --> 00:23:16,580 It's like a series of electronic bubbles and burps and belches. 379 00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:20,540 Major Blood Knock was a military gentleman and he was based or 380 00:23:20,580 --> 00:23:24,140 had a ex Indian colonial military career. 381 00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:28,740 During which he acquired a taste for very hot curries and very 382 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:33,100 Loose Women, not necessarily in that order, and they wanted a 383 00:23:33,100 --> 00:23:36,500 sound sequence to announce his presence on stage. 384 00:23:36,740 --> 00:23:42,860 They wanted something pretty violent, comic and short and 385 00:23:42,860 --> 00:23:45,060 explosive because of the Curry effect. 386 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,160 A similar sound is used in the film The Man in the White Suit 387 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,120 for his lab scenes, and it's also on a BBC sound effects 388 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:01,440 record. That kind of bloop, bloop, 389 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,040 bloop, bloop. Whether it's exactly the same or 390 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:06,720 not, I don't know. If it's the Radiophonic 391 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,600 Workshop, it's probably not being nicked. 392 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,960 But yeah, that did become and it doesn't. 393 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,600 It doesn't work because if it's not rude, obviously the BBC 394 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,960 couldn't really have the sound of somebody's bowel shifting on 395 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,620 prime time, but. It's not a funny sound effect 396 00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:29,220 but you you think because you know the last Goon show of all 397 00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:32,220 and I'm no prude, don't get me wrong, you know I love Derek and 398 00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:35,260 Clive and stuff like that. But the last Goon show of all 399 00:24:35,260 --> 00:24:38,980 this, there's a there's more there's a this coarseness for 400 00:24:38,980 --> 00:24:41,220 one of a better word that's crypt into the Goon show. 401 00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:44,380 And you just think if it had gone on, maybe if it, you know, 402 00:24:44,380 --> 00:24:46,860 if Sellers had lived and they'd been a another Goon Show 403 00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:51,660 revival, say in the mid 80s, you could imagine that, you know, 404 00:24:52,180 --> 00:24:56,780 blood Knock would be literally filling his trousers audibly. 405 00:24:57,980 --> 00:25:01,260 Yes, that does make sense. It's interesting that, you know 406 00:25:01,260 --> 00:25:05,500 the first couple of series of big raves are surprisingly clean 407 00:25:05,820 --> 00:25:08,540 and then I think the smell of raves in Mortimer or the one 408 00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:11,620 after that, suddenly they get quite vulgar, they start using 409 00:25:11,620 --> 00:25:13,580 bad language and it doesn't work. 410 00:25:14,380 --> 00:25:16,860 And similarly with the I was watching an old goodies episode 411 00:25:16,860 --> 00:25:19,060 towards the end of the BBC period. 412 00:25:19,910 --> 00:25:22,750 And they're talking about a woman and Bill says something 413 00:25:22,790 --> 00:25:25,350 and blah blah blah. And then Graham Garden, Graham 414 00:25:25,350 --> 00:25:27,950 Garden, the most prulliant character. 415 00:25:27,950 --> 00:25:33,590 And it says, and best of all, she's a great lay and it's, it's 416 00:25:33,710 --> 00:25:35,870 really quite shocking. Don't do, don't do that. 417 00:25:35,870 --> 00:25:37,870 Goodies don't do. That no, it's just not that 418 00:25:37,870 --> 00:25:39,190 thing. It would be like, I don't know, 419 00:25:39,550 --> 00:25:41,670 Danger Mouse getting his Willy out. 420 00:25:42,150 --> 00:25:45,790 It's gone. So yeah, with the, I mean, and 421 00:25:45,790 --> 00:25:47,830 again, the great thing about the goons, we put it out. 422 00:25:48,330 --> 00:25:51,530 You mentioned who is pink oboe character of Hugh Jampton. 423 00:25:51,890 --> 00:25:54,850 Constantly through the goons there was there were jokes for 424 00:25:54,850 --> 00:25:58,890 grownups or mostly jokes to get past sensors and that was kind 425 00:25:58,890 --> 00:26:01,530 of fun. You were again in a secret, you 426 00:26:01,530 --> 00:26:03,610 were not being having it, as they say, stuck down your 427 00:26:03,610 --> 00:26:09,090 throat, but it was funnier. Whereas I think if the goons had 428 00:26:09,090 --> 00:26:12,610 gone the way of the Carry on films, I don't. 429 00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:16,810 Yeah, I like vulgarity in its right place. 430 00:26:17,340 --> 00:26:20,180 It works in days. It works in the modern toss 431 00:26:20,180 --> 00:26:23,460 cartoons. It doesn't work in that. 432 00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:27,660 I think with childlike comedy. It's like Harry Hill, brilliant 433 00:26:27,660 --> 00:26:30,020 comedian, but I think if he started doing knob gags it would 434 00:26:30,020 --> 00:26:35,580 be horrific. Yeah, well, we did a show on 435 00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:41,300 Spikes Q Series A little while back, which required a lot of 436 00:26:41,300 --> 00:26:46,470 viewing of episodes of Q&A. Lot of it was great and a lot of 437 00:26:46,470 --> 00:26:49,350 it was terrible. There's some stuff in between, 438 00:26:49,350 --> 00:26:54,190 but a lot of it was just jokes about knockers and yeah, you 439 00:26:54,190 --> 00:26:57,470 know, and like you say, the beginning of this show, the 440 00:26:57,470 --> 00:27:02,270 first act is a dig at the BBC censorship department. 441 00:27:02,270 --> 00:27:05,190 But you kind of you glad that they are there, that they exist, 442 00:27:05,190 --> 00:27:09,990 I suppose, to keep Milligan from overreaching, shall we say. 443 00:27:10,150 --> 00:27:13,510 Yeah, when Q really is a hard watch because of that sort of 444 00:27:13,550 --> 00:27:16,020 thing. It's weird. 445 00:27:16,020 --> 00:27:17,860 I mean, I could invent something and say that, you know, the 446 00:27:17,860 --> 00:27:22,740 goons is like as if children made a radio show, but Q6 is 447 00:27:22,740 --> 00:27:27,580 like as if teenagers made one. It's much too kind of, yeah, I 448 00:27:27,580 --> 00:27:31,660 said here's some tits, yeah, I'm going to blackout. 449 00:27:31,660 --> 00:27:35,020 It's kind of not really into shock. 450 00:27:35,020 --> 00:27:37,020 It's kind of look how far we can go. 451 00:27:37,660 --> 00:27:39,740 You like you sort of watch now. I think these are the wrong 452 00:27:39,740 --> 00:27:43,500 extremes. These are not boundaries that we 453 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:47,790 should be testing. Don't go anywhere funny because 454 00:27:47,790 --> 00:27:51,910 this is late period Goon show. There was a few lines, like a 455 00:27:51,910 --> 00:27:56,390 reference to male hormones, for example, and Eroticism. 456 00:27:56,430 --> 00:28:04,630 And you've got Ned painting Miss Fruit nude and she says it's 457 00:28:04,630 --> 00:28:06,530 cold, he says. I've got the candle on, but he's 458 00:28:06,530 --> 00:28:08,130 painting the plans of a new British dustbin. 459 00:28:08,210 --> 00:28:11,690 Obviously in order to do that he needs a deposing you, but you 460 00:28:11,690 --> 00:28:14,810 know stuff like that, your Echoes up Cruns night shirt and 461 00:28:14,810 --> 00:28:17,490 everything's marked to touch because they're antiques. 462 00:28:17,530 --> 00:28:18,850 That's. Yeah. 463 00:28:18,890 --> 00:28:22,370 For the time, and also for the time and slot as well. 464 00:28:23,450 --> 00:28:27,090 Getting back to that first act in this episode, you've got a 465 00:28:27,090 --> 00:28:30,770 lot of Wallace acting, Wallace Greenslade, the announcement 466 00:28:30,770 --> 00:28:35,490 acting, which is always troubling because he's no, he's 467 00:28:35,490 --> 00:28:37,920 no, he's certainly no Lawrence Olivier. 468 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,320 Oh, I don't know. I enjoy. 469 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,680 I mean it's this range is what it is. 470 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,280 He's put a great voice and it's worth it just to hear Harry 471 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:51,200 Seacombe call him Wall Boy. Listen, Wall Boy Seacombes, a 472 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,400 great actor. He really doesn't get the the 473 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,600 kudos for it. But no, I mean it's still funny 474 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,720 to hear what is great, to hear something naughty like a BBC in 475 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,200 there, to being silly. I think John Snag turns up, 476 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,610 doesn't he? Towards the end, yeah. 477 00:29:05,690 --> 00:29:08,210 John Snag. He was always. 478 00:29:08,250 --> 00:29:11,690 John Snag was always on hand if they needed, because John Snag 479 00:29:11,690 --> 00:29:15,290 was the one that stopped them from being cancelled a number of 480 00:29:15,290 --> 00:29:21,130 occasions, but he was always, always happy to record a few 481 00:29:21,130 --> 00:29:23,570 lines for them. I just remembered, I don't know 482 00:29:23,570 --> 00:29:25,050 where. I think the last time last 483 00:29:25,050 --> 00:29:30,050 recording of John Snag is on the Sex Pistols album. 484 00:29:30,050 --> 00:29:34,070 Great rock'n'roll swindle. At last, the film you thought 485 00:29:34,070 --> 00:29:37,870 you'd never have to see. The Great Rock'n'roll Swindle, 486 00:29:38,790 --> 00:29:42,030 the staggering story of the punk group that rung the neck of 487 00:29:42,030 --> 00:29:53,350 rock'n'roll Sex Pistols, A Tamikaze gang of cat burglars 488 00:29:53,350 --> 00:29:56,510 and child prostitutes. They peddled bondage, whips and 489 00:29:56,510 --> 00:29:57,870 chains to the children of Britain. 490 00:30:05,590 --> 00:30:08,390 Sex Pistols. They held the record business to 491 00:30:08,390 --> 00:30:11,070 ransom and swindle the £1,000,000 in the process. 492 00:30:13,590 --> 00:30:18,550 I just looked up and yes, he does appear on the soundtrack to 493 00:30:18,550 --> 00:30:20,670 the Great Rock'n'roll Swindle is the tracks called Pistols 494 00:30:20,670 --> 00:30:24,750 Propaganda, which is him reciting Sex Pistols lyrics over 495 00:30:24,750 --> 00:30:28,070 orchestral tracks. And that's about 1979. 496 00:30:29,210 --> 00:30:32,530 Wow, what made? He loved the anarchy of the 497 00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:34,810 pistols, I suppose, because he loved the anarchy of the goons. 498 00:30:35,370 --> 00:30:36,850 Well, he's the only person who's worked. 499 00:30:36,850 --> 00:30:39,010 One of the probably the only person who's worked with the Sex 500 00:30:39,010 --> 00:30:41,810 Pistols and the Goons. So that's pretty impressive. 501 00:30:44,770 --> 00:30:47,810 Yeah, sticking, I said earlier. I was talking about the 502 00:30:48,210 --> 00:30:52,850 references to Sputnik and the space race and whatnot. 503 00:30:54,290 --> 00:30:58,910 There was a critic writing in the Listener that the week the 504 00:30:58,910 --> 00:31:02,950 show went out, and he said he said, like the Foreign Office 505 00:31:02,950 --> 00:31:06,550 spokesman commenting on the first Sputnik, I'm afraid that 506 00:31:06,550 --> 00:31:08,830 the program is rather out of my sphere. 507 00:31:09,790 --> 00:31:12,190 The vintage goon programs earlier in the year show that 508 00:31:12,190 --> 00:31:15,310 the goons now have, in contrast, no feet on the ground at all. 509 00:31:16,030 --> 00:31:18,830 They seem to be in free fall and their humor expanding into 510 00:31:18,830 --> 00:31:23,430 realms of intergalactic space. At one time, Mr. Greenslade held 511 00:31:23,430 --> 00:31:26,910 the guy ropes of the balloon, but he too now seems to be in 512 00:31:26,910 --> 00:31:29,390 orbit. The program is still great, but 513 00:31:29,390 --> 00:31:31,150 there are moments when it terrifies me. 514 00:31:33,710 --> 00:31:39,150 And yeah, the pace of it. As I said, it's so much seems to 515 00:31:39,150 --> 00:31:40,790 happen, but actually not a lot does. 516 00:31:41,630 --> 00:31:43,510 You know I. Think that's a good description. 517 00:31:44,190 --> 00:31:46,990 A lot of nothing happening with the usual 8 or 9 main characters 518 00:31:47,390 --> 00:31:52,510 and gibberish and sound effects and general asking about and 519 00:31:52,510 --> 00:31:55,230 then you've got this it's sort of climax with a with a real 520 00:31:55,230 --> 00:31:57,990 anti climax because Spike just couldn't be bothered as we saw 521 00:31:57,990 --> 00:32:01,430 with the Q series later on. Couldn't be bothered with the 522 00:32:01,430 --> 00:32:03,750 proper ending. So I know we're getting to the 523 00:32:03,750 --> 00:32:07,550 end already, but it sort of it sort of ends in a really sort of 524 00:32:07,550 --> 00:32:11,430 damp squib where they say we need to save echoes and then 525 00:32:11,430 --> 00:32:14,070 blood Knock says but we didn't. There we go. 526 00:32:14,110 --> 00:32:17,070 The the end. Yeah, I mean I kind of like it. 527 00:32:17,070 --> 00:32:19,950 It is. It is a bit of a let down, but I 528 00:32:19,950 --> 00:32:21,830 kind of like the brutality of it all. 529 00:32:23,030 --> 00:32:25,390 But yes, you can imagine just going, I'll stuff this and 530 00:32:25,390 --> 00:32:29,110 writing, but but we didn't. And giving it to the Courier or 531 00:32:29,110 --> 00:32:31,230 however it was transported to the studio. 532 00:32:32,630 --> 00:32:35,630 But yeah, you can. I'm really interested in your 533 00:32:35,630 --> 00:32:39,230 theory that it's all coming to an end and they're not quite 534 00:32:39,230 --> 00:32:42,350 bored because they're all got pastures new. 535 00:32:42,350 --> 00:32:46,430 But, you know, Salas is off. Seacombe's got loads of work 536 00:32:46,590 --> 00:32:49,750 lined up with the King of Light entertainment, and Milligan just 537 00:32:49,750 --> 00:32:54,450 wants to stop writing the goons. Well, Milligan will always say 538 00:32:54,450 --> 00:32:56,450 that he was, you know, drove him mad. 539 00:32:56,450 --> 00:32:58,330 And, you know, we, we know about that. 540 00:32:58,330 --> 00:33:01,810 But I think if push came to shove, I think Spike would have 541 00:33:01,810 --> 00:33:05,610 probably because he he'd actually written was it 5 542 00:33:05,810 --> 00:33:08,610 scripts which were never actually recorded. 543 00:33:09,330 --> 00:33:11,970 And I think he would have probably gone on and Harry 544 00:33:11,970 --> 00:33:14,810 probably would have as well. But it just, it basically boiled 545 00:33:14,810 --> 00:33:20,010 down to sellers. Sellers by 1960 was huge British 546 00:33:20,010 --> 00:33:22,920 star. But but then again, you know he 547 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:24,920 still had enough affection for the Goons that he would come 548 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,920 back three years later to record the soundtracks for the for the 549 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:33,320 Telegoons series. Which have you seen The 550 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:34,720 Telegoons? I can't remember if we discussed 551 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,320 this when. You're seeing clips of the 552 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,920 telegoons. It does look like something 553 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:43,480 after a nuclear war. Well, we, the day that you and I 554 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,480 are talking is the 60th anniversary of the first episode 555 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:47,880 of the Telegoons. Good Lord. 556 00:33:49,660 --> 00:33:52,260 But yeah, Sellers, obviously, you know, Sellers didn't need 557 00:33:52,260 --> 00:33:54,100 to. By 63, he just filmed Doctor 558 00:33:54,100 --> 00:33:57,420 Strangelove. He was about to film the Pink 559 00:33:57,420 --> 00:34:00,420 Panther and he, you know, he was quite well. 560 00:34:00,620 --> 00:34:05,340 I say happy he was. He was available to go and sit 561 00:34:05,340 --> 00:34:08,739 in the studio in London, somewhere in Soho, and record a 562 00:34:08,739 --> 00:34:10,900 bunch of telecoms, episodes that. 563 00:34:11,620 --> 00:34:14,860 Is amazing. And you know the the last good 564 00:34:14,860 --> 00:34:16,780 show? In fact, during the 60s there 565 00:34:16,780 --> 00:34:25,570 was 323 Goon Show restagings. There was a Thames Television 566 00:34:26,489 --> 00:34:30,489 Half Hour Tales of Men's Shirts special episode with John Cleese 567 00:34:30,489 --> 00:34:32,250 standing in for Wallace Greenslode. 568 00:34:32,250 --> 00:34:35,050 Don't know if you remember that or I've seen clips of. 569 00:34:35,050 --> 00:34:39,449 That I've never heard of that. Yeah, they did. 570 00:34:39,730 --> 00:34:42,409 Harry Secombe, you know, Harry Secombe had his special shows, 571 00:34:42,409 --> 00:34:44,969 his variety shows in the 60s and 70s. 572 00:34:44,969 --> 00:34:49,070 There was a restaging of a goon show, the Whistlingspired Nigma, 573 00:34:49,310 --> 00:34:52,270 I think it's 66, something like that and Peter Sellers turned up 574 00:34:52,270 --> 00:34:54,150 for that. So and the last good show of all 575 00:34:54,150 --> 00:34:57,150 and they released some records in late 70s, so sellers never 576 00:34:57,150 --> 00:35:00,750 gave up on it, you know he was always quite happy to to come 577 00:35:00,750 --> 00:35:02,630 back. Oh, who knows? 578 00:35:02,630 --> 00:35:04,990 I mean, it must have had. Obviously it's quite easy to do 579 00:35:04,990 --> 00:35:08,550 comparatively, but sometimes people very much enjoy to say, 580 00:35:08,550 --> 00:35:14,750 look at me, I'm going back. I'm not proud, but I mean, he 581 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:19,200 probably did enjoy a great deal. You know, it was a great place 582 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,880 to practice stuff and to be wild, and I imagine after being 583 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,920 on film sets, probably an easier life. 584 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:32,280 There's a lot of opportunities for him in this episode to do. 585 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:38,280 Because apart from the usual 789 main characters that you get in 586 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,880 the Goon Show, there's a whole bunch of secondary sort of 587 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,680 fringe voices that you hear. You've got Sellers doing as 588 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,560 Australian voice that he would do around this time and you've 589 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,080 got that what they call the Sydney Mincing voice, which he 590 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:58,040 pinched off Kenneth Connor. There's a bit where they do sort 591 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,200 of like a vox, but Dick Henry type vox pop. 592 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:02,960 And here in London we interview passes by. 593 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,200 Excuse me, Sir, do you believe in a white Christmas? 594 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:17,540 Are you kidding? Yes, and then you met him. 595 00:36:19,020 --> 00:36:20,780 Do you believe in an old fashioned Christmas for the 596 00:36:20,780 --> 00:36:27,100 fire? It's a very kind of racially 597 00:36:27,100 --> 00:36:28,780 dubious gag with Ray Ellington, of course. 598 00:36:29,100 --> 00:36:31,500 Which you get those. Oh, yes, I remember that. 599 00:36:31,860 --> 00:36:33,300 Yeah. Yeah. 600 00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:36,580 What do you think of those? I mean, obviously, you know, 601 00:36:36,820 --> 00:36:39,720 they're not great, but. Well, they're sort of in that 602 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:45,000 weird hinterland of, I mean, with Milligan, it can go very 603 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,240 badly wrong. What I think in this case it's, 604 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,320 you know, it depends on context. It's a it's an innocuous joke. 605 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:54,920 It can work on lots of different ways. 606 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,400 You can tell by Secum's laughter afterwards. 607 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,800 He's sort of like a yes, well, that was a bit not sure if we 608 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:08,280 got away with that. It's just a naughty joke and. 609 00:37:09,620 --> 00:37:14,780 Yeah, it's a bit dodge, I think, but it must have been hell on 610 00:37:14,780 --> 00:37:19,060 that show in that respect. What for? 611 00:37:19,300 --> 00:37:21,300 For Ray Ellington, you mean? I think so. 612 00:37:21,300 --> 00:37:23,820 There was a lot. I mean, I'm sure it was the way 613 00:37:23,940 --> 00:37:26,060 it was, all that across light entertainment. 614 00:37:26,420 --> 00:37:29,340 But he got a lot of it. And it wasn't much about Max 615 00:37:29,340 --> 00:37:33,300 Geldrey, the Canadian. If indeed he was Canadian, he 616 00:37:33,340 --> 00:37:34,420 was. Dutch. 617 00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:36,380 Well, there you go. There are very few jokes about 618 00:37:37,180 --> 00:37:39,880 Holland. There were jokes. 619 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,520 There were jokes about his big nose and that's about it. 620 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:50,840 And his terrible acting, yeah. But yeah, that sort of thing was 621 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,280 then, and it certainly got worse with Spike later on. 622 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:57,840 But it always. Does go that way. 623 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:02,240 Have you ever seen the melting pot? 624 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:03,880 Now what's? Or any. 625 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:15,620 So it was a six part sitcom filmed in 197576 and it's Spike 626 00:38:15,780 --> 00:38:22,180 and John Byrd playing 2 Indian gentlemen who have who have who 627 00:38:22,180 --> 00:38:25,460 have moved to London to seek their fortune or something like 628 00:38:25,460 --> 00:38:27,540 that. And Spike's character, although 629 00:38:27,540 --> 00:38:29,980 he's Indian, he's called, I think he's called Mr. Rembrandt 630 00:38:30,020 --> 00:38:31,580 or Mr. Van Gogh, something like that. 631 00:38:31,580 --> 00:38:36,590 I'm not quite sure why, but it's it's him and John Byrd, and they 632 00:38:36,590 --> 00:38:40,910 rent rooms in this terrible, terribly dilapidated boarding 633 00:38:40,910 --> 00:38:45,950 house with, as you'd expect, a bosomy landlady. 634 00:38:46,270 --> 00:38:52,310 And and then they've got a representative sample of of as 635 00:38:52,310 --> 00:38:55,710 many racial stereotypes also staying in this boarding house. 636 00:38:56,150 --> 00:38:59,950 So you've got, you've got a black man, you've got an 637 00:38:59,950 --> 00:39:05,580 Irishman, you've got a Jew, John Bluthal, you've got playing, you 638 00:39:05,580 --> 00:39:08,020 know, playing these stereotypes up to the hilt. 639 00:39:08,020 --> 00:39:12,420 You know what I mean? Really sort of pushing it and 640 00:39:12,420 --> 00:39:14,060 there's even a goat running around. 641 00:39:15,820 --> 00:39:20,300 But they, they screened the pilots episode, I think on BBC2. 642 00:39:21,060 --> 00:39:25,980 And the the response was, you know, even in 1976, the outraged 643 00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:27,940 response meant that they just shelled. 644 00:39:27,940 --> 00:39:30,420 They never showed the remaining episodes. 645 00:39:30,540 --> 00:39:32,060 I've got them and I've watched them. 646 00:39:32,950 --> 00:39:35,950 Most of them. There's little bits of genius 647 00:39:35,950 --> 00:39:38,910 here and there. Little bits, if you dig, you can 648 00:39:39,230 --> 00:39:42,510 you can extract a little bit of beauty of from anything, I 649 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:45,390 suppose. But most of it was just racial 650 00:39:45,390 --> 00:39:50,630 gags and Boob gags. And I think that's a depressing 651 00:39:50,670 --> 00:39:53,110 thing. It's like, I don't know, it's 652 00:39:53,110 --> 00:39:54,910 like you get someone who's famous for making. 653 00:39:55,270 --> 00:40:01,630 It's like a Salvador Darling just drew naked women with large 654 00:40:01,630 --> 00:40:05,210 breasts. You know, Milligan's that 655 00:40:05,210 --> 00:40:09,130 talent, which I know was worn down over the years there. 656 00:40:09,130 --> 00:40:11,130 He was always being given the shows and he was always like, I 657 00:40:11,130 --> 00:40:15,330 know I will tackle racism in a horrifically racist way. 658 00:40:15,330 --> 00:40:17,410 It sort of became his go to thing. 659 00:40:19,010 --> 00:40:21,330 I don't know what that was all about, but it was just he kept 660 00:40:21,330 --> 00:40:23,410 going there. And as I may have said last 661 00:40:23,410 --> 00:40:27,290 time, the only time I was ever in the room was by Milligan was 662 00:40:27,290 --> 00:40:29,090 during the recording of the TV show. 663 00:40:29,570 --> 00:40:32,720 And on the monitor were two actors, One dress is a brown 664 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:34,480 rabbit and one dress is a white rabbit. 665 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:37,440 And Milliken said nobody had asked for his opinion. 666 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,800 He said, oh, I suppose they have to have a brown wand. 667 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:44,520 In the interests of balance. It was like, oh, but mate, it's 668 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:49,600 two rabbits, you know, not everything is about racial. 669 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:55,440 It was just, I don't know, he had a bee in his bonnet about 670 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,160 it. Clearly that never really ended 671 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:02,190 like a like a few people thought he was entitled to do those 672 00:41:02,190 --> 00:41:05,870 characters because he was born in India and knew the people. 673 00:41:06,670 --> 00:41:08,830 Although as I think was pointed out in the documentary, the 674 00:41:08,830 --> 00:41:12,350 people he knew were servants in his family house. 675 00:41:13,510 --> 00:41:17,190 But yeah. There's a there's a reference in 676 00:41:17,190 --> 00:41:20,030 this show getting back to Ned's Tom Mcduspin. 677 00:41:21,150 --> 00:41:24,310 Sellers were very often around this time that, well, even 678 00:41:24,790 --> 00:41:26,830 throughout the Goon Show they would be references to their 679 00:41:26,830 --> 00:41:32,210 real selves so. Seek refers to Peter Sellers, 680 00:41:32,490 --> 00:41:35,290 Playboy of old Finchley tube station and friend of West End 681 00:41:35,290 --> 00:41:39,730 Management's and that gets gets a really warm round of applause 682 00:41:41,850 --> 00:41:45,290 because at this time Sellers was was right at the fag end of his 683 00:41:46,170 --> 00:41:50,010 time treating the boards doing play brouhaha. 684 00:41:51,410 --> 00:41:55,210 It closed the following month and. 685 00:41:56,530 --> 00:41:58,490 Sellers had been all up for it in the beginning and then he 686 00:41:58,490 --> 00:42:00,530 just hated the repetitiveness of it because it's it's a play. 687 00:42:00,530 --> 00:42:02,770 You have to, you know, follow the script, do the same lines 688 00:42:02,770 --> 00:42:04,570 every night. And he hated that. 689 00:42:05,050 --> 00:42:08,090 So he would start to improvise, as Milligan would later do in 690 00:42:08,090 --> 00:42:12,490 the 60s with Son of Oblomov. But the problem was it was it 691 00:42:12,490 --> 00:42:14,890 was causing the rest of the cars no end of frustration. 692 00:42:14,890 --> 00:42:19,450 You had people like Lionel, let's say Lionel Blair, Lionel 693 00:42:19,650 --> 00:42:23,810 Jeffries and think Leo Mccune. You know who would consummate 694 00:42:23,810 --> 00:42:26,130 professionals and and sellers was every night. 695 00:42:26,570 --> 00:42:28,690 Throwing them because he wasn't following the script. 696 00:42:29,930 --> 00:42:32,810 He got pissed one one day and turned up. 697 00:42:32,930 --> 00:42:36,970 He'd been to Alec Guinness's knighthood party or something 698 00:42:37,090 --> 00:42:41,850 and turned up that evening to do the play drunk and fell off the 699 00:42:41,850 --> 00:42:48,130 stage into the and actually said to the audience when he sort of 700 00:42:48,130 --> 00:42:50,610 got back up on the stage, he said I'm, I think, he said. 701 00:42:50,610 --> 00:42:53,020 I'm drunk. Do you want me to carry on? 702 00:42:53,020 --> 00:42:55,780 And they all shouted yes, and he just just carried on in that 703 00:42:55,780 --> 00:43:00,460 state. Anyway, it closed and and soon 704 00:43:00,460 --> 00:43:04,260 after and he never, he was never on the stage again. 705 00:43:05,220 --> 00:43:08,300 It's always fascinated with Sellers that he did make that 706 00:43:08,300 --> 00:43:11,140 job from impersonating our air forces. 707 00:43:11,140 --> 00:43:14,340 There was doing funny voices on the radio, but there was 708 00:43:14,340 --> 00:43:17,940 something in him which made him a movie star, even though he 709 00:43:17,940 --> 00:43:20,180 would. I mean, do you know about Leslie 710 00:43:20,180 --> 00:43:23,900 Halliwell's The Film Guide guys? Deep hatred of Peter Sellers. 711 00:43:25,900 --> 00:43:28,380 I don't know the reasons for it, but Halliwell was like, you 712 00:43:28,380 --> 00:43:30,660 know, he had the Halliwells Movie Guide, which was really 713 00:43:30,660 --> 00:43:33,180 influential in the days before the Internet. 714 00:43:33,940 --> 00:43:35,460 And he was a very opinionated man. 715 00:43:35,460 --> 00:43:39,900 He didn't like much Madoff in 1950, but he had a thing about 716 00:43:39,900 --> 00:43:44,740 Sellers and he basically would be writing and all he would say 717 00:43:44,740 --> 00:43:46,580 is that, you know, all he does is loads of different funny 718 00:43:46,580 --> 00:43:50,360 voices. And while that's not quite fair, 719 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,680 it is bizarre that Santa's career as a massively famous 720 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:58,240 film star was basically doing funny boys playing two or three 721 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:01,360 roles in a movie, which was kind of stunt casting. 722 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,920 You'd often play different 3 characters in a movie, even in 723 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:08,400 Doctor Strange love, and it was fascinating for people to watch, 724 00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:10,760 but there was no point to it if we were honest. 725 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,120 So why not get three actors in? It would be less weird. 726 00:44:15,420 --> 00:44:17,260 It works brilliantly. And Dr. Strangelove, because 727 00:44:17,260 --> 00:44:18,980 it's so disconcerting, you keep going. 728 00:44:19,420 --> 00:44:21,340 They're all sellers. Yeah. 729 00:44:21,340 --> 00:44:26,500 His mother famously turned up to Pinewood and didn't recognize 730 00:44:26,500 --> 00:44:29,780 him when he was dressed as the president, I think. 731 00:44:29,860 --> 00:44:33,380 Well, the version that I read was that he wouldn't talk to her 732 00:44:33,740 --> 00:44:37,540 in his Peter Setters person. He had to talk to the president. 733 00:44:38,500 --> 00:44:40,620 That's it, actually. She just went home. 734 00:44:41,300 --> 00:44:44,300 Yeah, he was an impersonator rather than an actor. 735 00:44:45,220 --> 00:44:49,180 Even his being there, his greatest moment he's doing, Stan 736 00:44:49,180 --> 00:44:54,420 Laurel is fantastic. And yet a lot of his, the later 737 00:44:54,940 --> 00:44:57,020 Clouseau films, a lot of it was slapstick. 738 00:44:57,020 --> 00:45:00,380 A lot of it was pratful. Oh yeah, he was like that. 739 00:45:00,380 --> 00:45:03,300 He had the Charles to say my nose in the movie. 740 00:45:03,300 --> 00:45:05,140 I think that's probably his secret catch phrase. 741 00:45:05,140 --> 00:45:07,060 He says my nose in The Naked Truth. 742 00:45:07,780 --> 00:45:10,100 And he probably says it in a lot of clues as well. 743 00:45:10,700 --> 00:45:12,980 Well, the naked truth. I know you're very fond of that. 744 00:45:14,290 --> 00:45:16,530 Although he's playing one character, technically he's 745 00:45:16,530 --> 00:45:18,170 playing a lot of characters, isn't it? 746 00:45:18,170 --> 00:45:21,210 Cuz he's got that character playing characters. 747 00:45:21,570 --> 00:45:24,890 It's interesting. I wonder if it's the first multi 748 00:45:24,890 --> 00:45:28,250 sellers movie because they do it brilliantly, you know, the way 749 00:45:28,250 --> 00:45:32,130 they introduce him as a comedian, there was also 750 00:45:32,330 --> 00:45:35,210 completely phony. You know, he's this jolly 751 00:45:35,210 --> 00:45:38,210 Scotsman, but he's actually a vile human being. 752 00:45:39,010 --> 00:45:42,730 Don't fetch your nails. Shut up, Angel manners. 753 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,640 Well, you have got yourself into a proper pickle and you've been 754 00:45:47,640 --> 00:45:49,560 listening at the door again. Well, I'm really trying to be 755 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:51,240 helpful, you know? Go on, say it. 756 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:53,640 Say it. I'm tired again. 757 00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:56,880 Yes, strikes me you can best start looking for another 758 00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:59,000 appointment. It's the end of we selling 759 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,720 McGregor, you know. Don't bite your nails. 760 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,880 Did you listen because I sent you the the whole original 761 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:09,640 recording of Ned's Atomic Dustbin? 762 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,080 Did you listen right to the end, which has got like the BBC duty 763 00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:16,730 announcer, yes, the Goon Show? Which was recorded, was produced 764 00:46:16,730 --> 00:46:19,210 by John Brown. Harry Seacombe is now appearing 765 00:46:19,210 --> 00:46:22,410 in large as Life at the Opera House, Manchester and Peter 766 00:46:22,410 --> 00:46:25,530 Sellers in Brouhaha at the Oldwich Theatre, London. 767 00:46:25,610 --> 00:46:28,690 But Spike had written that for the duty announcer, and the duty 768 00:46:28,690 --> 00:46:31,570 announcer didn't bother reading the last bit that Spike had 769 00:46:31,570 --> 00:46:34,970 written, which was Spike. Milligan is appearing on The 770 00:46:34,970 --> 00:46:40,400 Goon Show. That's a classically mildly 771 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,160 bitter Spike Milligan moment there. 772 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:47,200 I think he always felt that everybody else did well after 773 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:51,400 The Goon Show apart from him also because he was the writer 774 00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,120 as well, doing everything with the goons. 775 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,320 It is that kind of, you know, everyone's off to have a party. 776 00:46:56,320 --> 00:46:59,000 I'm still set here working at 4:00 in the morning. 777 00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:03,760 But yes, to a certain extent it is easier to be an actor or a 778 00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:07,760 singer like Harry Secombe. But they work flipping hard as 779 00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:10,360 well. And he was not sure to work. 780 00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:15,040 You know, he did pretty well. There's a lot of comics who did 781 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:17,520 not work until their dotage, but Spike did. 782 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,280 Yeah, yeah. His last one of his last 783 00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:27,960 appearances on television was in a S Club 7TV special. 784 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:33,480 But it was It was shortly before he died and there was a there 785 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:37,750 was a year 2000 S Club 7. What was it? 786 00:47:37,750 --> 00:47:39,390 Steps. I always get those two mixed up 787 00:47:39,510 --> 00:47:43,630 steps or S Club 7A summer special TV show hour long 788 00:47:43,950 --> 00:47:48,510 extravaganza. And they had them, you know, 789 00:47:48,550 --> 00:47:51,670 performing songs and whatnot. And then they'd have these quite 790 00:47:51,670 --> 00:47:56,950 humorous sketches in between the songs and you know, the members 791 00:47:56,950 --> 00:48:02,710 of S Club 7 or Steps, you know, they weren't as good actors as 792 00:48:02,710 --> 00:48:05,350 what a screens, and let's put it that way, but they did these 793 00:48:05,590 --> 00:48:07,920 sketches. And one of them was set in a gym 794 00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:13,240 and you had for no reason at all, we had Spike, very elderly, 795 00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:18,600 very frail Spike, Milligan, and they called him Spine instead of 796 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:22,160 Spike. And then he sort of waved his 797 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:24,960 fist at them and said it's Spike, it's Spike, and then ran 798 00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,560 out the door. It was terrible. 799 00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:32,240 Let's track that down. Yeah, there's a. 800 00:48:33,210 --> 00:48:35,530 There's a bit, there's quite a bit in this where Sellers plays 801 00:48:35,530 --> 00:48:38,370 the Prime Minister in this in this episode, and it's 802 00:48:38,370 --> 00:48:42,130 obviously, I'm guessing it's meant to be McMillan, but it's 803 00:48:42,130 --> 00:48:43,170 not. It's not an impression of 804 00:48:43,170 --> 00:48:46,330 McMillan, but is it an impression of McMillan? 805 00:48:46,330 --> 00:48:48,370 I'm not sure. I think McMillan had quite a 806 00:48:48,370 --> 00:48:51,530 sort of patrician Well, we're a few years away from the 807 00:48:51,530 --> 00:48:55,210 establishment when don't forget, it was considered quite shocking 808 00:48:55,210 --> 00:48:59,010 for Peter Koch to do an impression of Harold Harold 809 00:48:59,010 --> 00:49:00,850 McMillan, although his impression was a bit more 810 00:49:00,850 --> 00:49:03,250 negative. So it's hard to say at this 811 00:49:03,250 --> 00:49:06,050 distance, but they did do Churchill sometimes. 812 00:49:06,050 --> 00:49:09,530 But yeah, but he got slapped over the wrist for doing 813 00:49:09,530 --> 00:49:13,130 Churchill. That's probably why they kind of 814 00:49:13,250 --> 00:49:16,850 elided it a bit with not quite McMillan voice. 815 00:49:16,850 --> 00:49:19,930 Yeah. Here's a CB on account now. 816 00:49:19,970 --> 00:49:25,210 Would you like to Would you like to try for the night? 817 00:49:25,210 --> 00:49:28,130 Star and Gata? It's OK with you, Sir. 818 00:49:28,490 --> 00:49:30,250 It's all right with me. Good. 819 00:49:30,370 --> 00:49:33,690 Welcome back tomorrow with Huey Green until the end of Sailors. 820 00:49:33,690 --> 00:49:39,090 Farewell. There's also a reference to Lord 821 00:49:39,090 --> 00:49:47,490 Hailsham, and I always contend that Lord Hailsham was a was a 822 00:49:47,490 --> 00:49:52,970 default or like a reliable comedy comedy name beloved of 823 00:49:52,970 --> 00:49:56,290 comedians in the 60s and 70s like The Two Ronnies and Python. 824 00:49:57,210 --> 00:49:59,970 Does that name, it was always, there was always references to 825 00:49:59,970 --> 00:50:05,690 Lord Hailsham in 60s and 70s comedy shows. 826 00:50:06,170 --> 00:50:09,850 Well, it was a good name, but let me just check something. 827 00:50:11,170 --> 00:50:14,050 Also Quintin Hogg. Well, he was Quintin Hogg. 828 00:50:15,450 --> 00:50:19,890 That was a fat man. So he was an easy cipher for 829 00:50:20,450 --> 00:50:23,770 he's as fat as Lord Hailsham or, you know. 830 00:50:23,770 --> 00:50:25,160 Right. Was that a tent? 831 00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:27,640 No, it's Lord Hailsham's new jacket, that sort of thing. 832 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:30,480 And I think he was a fairly colorful character. 833 00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:34,040 He may have been the man about whom somebody, a woman, said 834 00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:36,600 that making love to Lord Hailsham was like having. 835 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:39,640 I was Lord Goodman, having a wardrobe fall on you with the 836 00:50:39,640 --> 00:50:43,120 key still in the lock. No, that was Nicholas Soms, 837 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:44,360 wasn't it? That's next to the Soms. 838 00:50:44,520 --> 00:50:47,600 It may have been before that, but yeah, the Lord Hailsham was 839 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:50,960 a big bloke called Quintin Hall. That's all I can really know. 840 00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:56,020 But yeah, there were names in the goon shows that Lady Docker 841 00:50:56,180 --> 00:50:59,580 who I had to look up. Yeah, and she was basically a 842 00:50:59,580 --> 00:51:02,180 very extravagant woman who went through her husband, Lord 843 00:51:02,620 --> 00:51:06,260 Docker's fortunely, great speed. And she was the kind of person 844 00:51:06,260 --> 00:51:09,700 who had pink Rolls Royces and so forth, but Lord Hailsham 845 00:51:09,940 --> 00:51:11,540 literally a bit more conservative. 846 00:51:12,340 --> 00:51:15,740 Yeah, because there's there's a bit where the reasons Neddy's 847 00:51:15,740 --> 00:51:20,620 got a three feet of wooden leg stuck to his head with a hat on 848 00:51:20,620 --> 00:51:23,700 the top. And somebody, somebody says, oh, 849 00:51:23,700 --> 00:51:28,860 that's this Lord out you doesn't mean anything but either surreal 850 00:51:28,940 --> 00:51:31,620 in a proper way. So it's disappointing for me 851 00:51:31,620 --> 00:51:34,060 when I watch things that are meant to be surreal and 852 00:51:34,060 --> 00:51:36,580 discovered that the joke was in fact topical gag. 853 00:51:37,100 --> 00:51:40,500 Which no longer makes any sense. I prefer it when they're 854 00:51:41,020 --> 00:51:45,620 meaningless. Yeah, yeah, there's the 855 00:51:45,620 --> 00:51:48,100 introduction of Moriarty. I always enjoy Grit Pipe and 856 00:51:48,100 --> 00:51:50,460 Moriarty at this in this period of the Goon Show when they're 857 00:51:50,460 --> 00:51:53,890 really on their uppers. They're really sort of poverty 858 00:51:53,890 --> 00:51:58,770 stricken wretches. Moriarty's introduced as Count 859 00:51:58,770 --> 00:52:03,410 Jim Wakey Wakey Mariati, which I'm guessing is a reference to 860 00:52:03,410 --> 00:52:06,650 Billy Cotton. You're too young to remember 861 00:52:06,650 --> 00:52:09,250 Billy Cotton I presume? No, but I'm aware of the slogan. 862 00:52:09,890 --> 00:52:12,690 And grit pipes line, because they're they're all sharing 863 00:52:12,890 --> 00:52:15,010 Henry Crun's night shirt and grit pipes line. 864 00:52:15,010 --> 00:52:16,690 There's people in this night shirt trying to sleep. 865 00:52:17,290 --> 00:52:20,880 It's very similar to his line. From a couple of shows earlier 866 00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:23,080 where he says keep quiet. Do you want us both out of the 867 00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:28,160 suit? It's yeah, I mean they are the 868 00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:30,720 strangest couple. They're probably in a sexual 869 00:52:30,720 --> 00:52:33,360 relationship. But I love, I love the it's the 870 00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:36,840 classic thing about Sellers acting and Elegans that, you 871 00:52:36,840 --> 00:52:40,720 know, Sellers voice is a small Valentine dial style. 872 00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:46,240 Well, Daddy and grip and Moriarty is just a noise. 873 00:52:47,630 --> 00:52:49,630 He hardly ever says a coherent sentence. 874 00:52:50,150 --> 00:52:51,870 You talk about that. It's a complete Milligan 875 00:52:51,870 --> 00:52:54,950 nonsense voice, and it's just a great control. 876 00:52:55,030 --> 00:52:58,070 He's a scribble, you know, grit, pipe. 877 00:52:58,070 --> 00:53:01,230 Thin is a is a photograph, and Moriarty is a scribble. 878 00:53:08,750 --> 00:53:13,390 Stop that revolting scratching. If you go back to, yeah, five 879 00:53:13,390 --> 00:53:17,700 years before this. Moriarty was suave in his own 880 00:53:17,700 --> 00:53:19,140 way. It was a completely different 881 00:53:19,140 --> 00:53:21,940 voice. It was Milligan doing a rather 882 00:53:23,540 --> 00:53:26,300 sophisticated Continental type voice, if you like, for want of 883 00:53:26,300 --> 00:53:29,260 a better word. Exactly, Blur, you said he had 884 00:53:29,260 --> 00:53:31,940 money. Steady, Dear Moriarty, look what 885 00:53:31,940 --> 00:53:34,340 he's written. His IOU on Sir Pristi. 886 00:53:34,340 --> 00:53:36,340 Bombetto. A treasure map. 887 00:53:36,460 --> 00:53:40,100 Yes, this is the map of Andre Shellot's mine. 888 00:53:40,540 --> 00:53:49,050 So. Half for you, half for me. 889 00:53:49,930 --> 00:53:53,850 Now we can't twist each other a partner. 890 00:53:54,730 --> 00:53:57,290 But wait. As soon as we reach America, we 891 00:53:57,290 --> 00:53:59,210 must make for the lost gold mine. 892 00:53:59,650 --> 00:54:03,490 And then gold. Gold. 893 00:54:10,690 --> 00:54:13,690 And then gradually as the show went on, very gradually. 894 00:54:14,460 --> 00:54:19,020 He just kind of gave up, just started doing like you say this 895 00:54:19,300 --> 00:54:24,540 verbal, but everything. It's like everything in the Goon 896 00:54:24,540 --> 00:54:29,620 Show gradually would fall to bits or decay or become drab. 897 00:54:30,740 --> 00:54:33,340 You know, there's a lot of color, but there's no, there's 898 00:54:33,340 --> 00:54:34,940 not a lot of beauty in the Goon Show. 899 00:54:35,300 --> 00:54:38,740 I would say, well, awkward things come to an end. 900 00:54:39,020 --> 00:54:40,300 So so. Yeah. 901 00:54:41,210 --> 00:54:43,450 So is, is there anything else you wanted to say about this 902 00:54:43,450 --> 00:54:46,650 particular show or the goons in particular? 903 00:54:47,130 --> 00:54:51,890 I think I pretty much said it. I think the only thing I will 904 00:54:51,890 --> 00:54:56,050 say is the sort of elasticity of the Goons reputation that you 905 00:54:56,050 --> 00:54:58,890 hear them, you love them, you go through sort of embarrassing 906 00:54:58,890 --> 00:55:00,970 like I like the Goon show, it's this. 907 00:55:01,410 --> 00:55:03,690 And then you meet people go oh God, the goons course completely 908 00:55:03,690 --> 00:55:06,650 unlistable nowadays. And you think that's a bit true, 909 00:55:07,090 --> 00:55:09,690 but then you go back to an average show like Meds Atomic 910 00:55:09,690 --> 00:55:14,320 Dustbin and there's stuff in it that you just my God, nobody 911 00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:21,000 could do this, you know, there's always a diamond in the Merc and 912 00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:27,360 it's always worth persevering. There's always at least one 913 00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:31,400 great sequence, like in this one, the doggy. 914 00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:37,720 Like the doggy, which is the. Non talking doggy so. 915 00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:40,200 David, what are you working on at the moment? 916 00:55:40,640 --> 00:55:44,560 What's happening in the world? I've just been listening to 917 00:55:44,560 --> 00:55:47,960 edits of a radio series I wrote, or Whatever Happened to Baby 918 00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:52,280 Jane Austen with French and Saunders, which is on in 919 00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:53,640 December this year. Okay. 920 00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:56,920 And that is keeping me happy. Radio. 921 00:55:57,200 --> 00:56:01,680 I think when you were on last time, was that in sort of 922 00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:02,720 development? Maybe. 923 00:56:03,260 --> 00:56:06,700 Probably there was a long gap between the two series and a 924 00:56:06,700 --> 00:56:08,580 long gap before the first series went out. 925 00:56:08,620 --> 00:56:10,700 So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. 926 00:56:11,820 --> 00:56:14,420 And are you writing any more books? 927 00:56:14,420 --> 00:56:17,180 You had, Ricky Time. I was trying to write a novel at 928 00:56:17,180 --> 00:56:21,260 the moment, helping other people with their, excuse me, film 929 00:56:21,260 --> 00:56:23,620 scripts, just doing bits here and there. 930 00:56:25,220 --> 00:56:28,860 It's a quiet, yet busy time. All right, David, we'll listen. 931 00:56:28,860 --> 00:56:30,460 It's been brilliant. Thank you so much. 932 00:56:30,500 --> 00:56:32,060 And thank you, Tyler. It's been great. 933 00:56:32,580 --> 00:56:35,020 And all the best. We'll talk again. 934 00:56:35,540 --> 00:56:36,860 Looking forward to it. Cheers then. 935 00:56:36,940 --> 00:56:39,500 Have a good one. Thanks again to David. 936 00:56:40,500 --> 00:56:42,820 Next week, something different. See you then. 937 00:56:43,220 --> 00:57:01,030 Bye. I don't want me to think I'm so 938 00:57:01,190 --> 00:57:09,390 strong. Some are still keeping my not 939 00:57:09,390 --> 00:57:09,910 sleeping around.