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Meanwhile by Dustbin in Green 
Hill Street. 

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Moriarty this life of luxury we 
have never had it so good. 

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Another little fish there. 
My dear can just wait until the 

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Goon show opens of the bear. 
Put theater all those half-eaten

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bags of sweets. 
Hello and welcome to goon pod. 

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The podcast which has been 
campaigning tirelessly to the 

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Panorama. 
Theme tune to be replaced with. 

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You got to go. 
I'll now wouldn't that be 

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pleasing? 
My guest today is an actor who 

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has appeared in front of 
audiences breathing new life 

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into the Goon show recreating 
some classic episodes. 

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As part of the Fred theater 
company and Birmingham, Comedy 

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Festival. 
He's also been involved in the 

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re-creation of among other 
things, an early Larry Stevens. 

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You sit comfortably Hancock. 
It's Richard. 

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Uh, sure, hello. 
Thank you for coming on, so it's

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absolute pleasure. 
It's a real joy to talk about 

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anything to do with the goons 
and comedy in general naturally.

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Some of the listeners would have
heard your name and thought, 

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okay, Richard Usher actor, given
to Comic performances on the 

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stage, must be the Richard 
Usher, who became famous for his

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appearances at Ashley's 
Amphitheatre and they'll also be

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thinking For a man. 
Born in 1785. 

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He sounds incredibly chipper but
it take it. 

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I take it. 
You're not that Richard. 

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As, you know, if you mean the 
the classic British clown? 

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Well, I think one point sailed a
bathtub down the Thames. 

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Yeah. 
Paul Feist, some swans or geese 

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or something, which is 
incredibly Goonies when you 

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think about it, okay? 
So just to kick off, tell me a 

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little bit about yourself, 
Richard. 

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Well, you've certainly Build me 
as an actor, I kind of Bill 

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myself under a balloon heading 
of media creative because I wear

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so many different hats generally
in the as a freelancer, but 

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professionally, I spent the best
part of 20 years with, with the 

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BBC, working in radio, and then 
they paid me to leave in 2012. 

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So, I thought I'd be foolish to 
pass up this opportunity, so I 

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left and then I became a 
freelance A voice-over artist. 

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And that's opened up a whole 
world of opportunities and 

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different Avenues to headband 
and yeah, and eventually the 

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acting part of it, I guess 
started with the performance of 

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audiobooks, which I've always 
done anyway for most of my life,

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but the the professional sort of
paid work as an audio audiobook.

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Narrator is kind of the first 
steps into interacting and then 

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I got the opportunity to Mission
for the very first, first 

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British theatrical tour of the 
the Goon show and that sort of 

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kicked it all off. 
Ready. 

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So I have a lot to thank the gun
show for. 

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So how did that come about one 
morning? 

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I was looking through Facebook 
and also having look at the the 

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Arts Council sort of jobs, 
boards and things. 

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I backseat as a freelancer you 
search for any opportunities 

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that might be out there and I 
just you know, and somebody else

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brought it to my attention as 
well with his kind of at the 

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same. 
Same time, worlds, collided and 

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I spotted this advert for 
wanted. 

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Actors for gun show performance.
I've just did a double-take. 

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Could hardly believe what I was 
reading and right, I'm going to 

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audition. 
So went went for it and I was 

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very lucky to to land an 
audition. 

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So I'm guessing you must have. 
Before this point, you must have

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known the goons been into the 
goons practice doing the voices.

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I think like everyone that ever 
listens to a given show. 

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There's a point at which he 
Doing messing around doing the 

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voices and things, but my first 
sort of encounter with the Goon 

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show, would probably go back to 
the early 80s. 

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I, my friend with my friend, 
Paul and I used to mess around 

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with an old tape Deck with 
double tape recording things on 

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it. 
So, we used to make up our own 

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little comedy, dramas, and our 
own little comedy sketches and 

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things like that. 
And that then, Progress because 

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I was a bit of a doctor who fan.
So I was making kind of mini fan

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Doctor Who episodes for tapes 
and things and eventually all of

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this sort of coalesced and 
became a little comedy sketch 

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show that I started piecing 
together and then I met another 

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dear friend. 
Mark who's Mark, A or B? 

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Who is in the latter? 
Boon show performances with me 

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on stage and he and I kind of 
got to know each other at 

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school. 
It senior, And we would probably

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about 13 and we just realized we
both had the same mad sense of 

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humor. 
So, we started getting together 

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and doing the little comedy 
sketch, things together. 

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And I created something, I 
called the larynx show, because 

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in my biology lessons, I've been
learning about the larynx. 

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I thought that's the voice. 
That's, that's good. 

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We do silly voices, brilliant. 
So we just made all these mad 

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things, and then I think, at one
point, my my dad took me to the 

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local. 
Cool town library and we got out

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some sound effects, LPS. 
And I basically started to sort 

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of be more creative with the way
I was putting these made 

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sketches together and I had 
things like a race between. 

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One of my teachers at school was
I think was a, he drove a Fiat. 

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And so I had this mad idea of 
having a Fiat Panda and the 

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Train on like pool Tower having 
a race Don't know where that 

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came from but we just sort of 
made these weird things up. 

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We did a little interview 
sketches, we had just spoofs of 

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programs and stuff like that up.
To this point, had you been 

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influenced by any particular 
comedies to have come up with 

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this, kind of these kind of 
ideas are not lot. 

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Especially I mean, I think 
probably if my, my strongest 

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memory would probably be of 
Michael benteen's potty time, 

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that was probably the first It's
of something funny that that did

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mad things. 
I really don't recall any 

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listening to any radio comedy 
until really it was my dad, that

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said, that this stuff I was 
editing in my bedroom. 

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He said, that sounds like a show
I used to listen to and I was 

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your age. 
So what was that? 

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And he said, the Goon show, 
right? 

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So he took me to the light back 
to the library and he said, this

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is this is the moon Shone got 
the lp out and it was the very 

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best of the goons, which I think
when we Had a little 

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communication that coming onto 
this podcast. 

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You said, electronically 
processed for stereo effect. 

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Who is that? 
What a clever police station. 

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You'll get a bunch of withhold. 
Your two octave, conch punch. 

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Well, I unfolded Taylor was 
sentenced on him. 

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Down Jim, don't do that, you'll 
catch cold and it spoils it 

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slightly, but it was my first 
ever experience of of the gun 

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show and that was it. 
I was I was utterly hooked and 

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then my unbeknownst to me. 
My friend. 

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Mark was also a fan of the Goon 
show in a big way and he had I 

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think he had some off off-air 
recordings of the string 

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robberies, the curse of 
Frankenstein and Ill met by. 

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Moonlight. 
And he also had a copy of a book

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called No More curried eggs for 
me. 

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Oh yeah. 
Yes. 

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Which is a was just a brilliant 
little collection of comedy 

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sketches from different areas of
British comedy. 

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I guess it's interesting that 
those three shows that you 

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mentioned the string robberies 
ill met By Moonlight and cursor 

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Frankenstein. 
It's interesting that those are 

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some of the lesser-known gun 
shows. 

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Yeah. 
Because very often and also, The

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lp that you first heard had two 
shows that aren't that. 

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Well known but but very often 
People's First exposure to the 

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Goon show is via, you know, the 
BBC really. 

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Yes. 
And so will be the dreaded 

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batter. 
Putting her lover or will be 

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many never was the very 
well-known goon shows that today

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people hold up as being the 
best. 

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It's interesting that you were 
exposed to some lesser-known 

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doing shows which is still good 
in their own in their own way. 

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Yeah, Mark and I think, I'm just
trying to member which episode 

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it was It's in no more carrying 
some a I think it might be 

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Dishonored again, if I memory 
serves me correctly and I think 

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we started messing around 
performing in school and we're 

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supposed to be doing math 
lessons were like what was that 

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they're doing silly voices and 
going through these sketches? 

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Yeah and then I think my friend 
another friend of our mutual 

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friend Andy who was into the not
the nine o'clock news, the young

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ones and I'm sorry I read that 
again. 

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He was a big fan of that for 
some reason and again there that

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was Something I've never really 
heard before on that kind of 

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branched off into stuff. 
I think most months I was going 

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to the library and getting out 
at least one goon show LP, maybe

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a Hancock maybe and I'm sorry, 
I'll read that again or some 

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whatever was available and 
trying to immerse myself in this

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amazing genre of Comedy, you 
know. 

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Okay, so you saw this this 
advert for people who wanted to 

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perform the Goon show. 
Yes. 

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So it was email. 
Old Fred theater diet for guy, 

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called Robert F ball who sadly 
passed away last year, but he 

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was the director and creative 
director of Fred Theater, which 

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he'd helped to set up and was 
very much his baby. 

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And we communicated and he said,
could you come for an audition? 

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So I spent a few days looking at
options because they wanted you 

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to take an audition Piece that 
allowed them to see. 

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What you could do in terms of 
like changing your character 

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voices, and things like that. 
So, it was very much a sit-down 

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and scratch their head moment. 
Do you go for a goon show, which

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would be the obvious choice, but
I thought that might be a little

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bit too much. 
Or do you go for Monty, Python, 

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say, or something from? 
I'm sorry, I read the getting. 

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Did that? 
The choices you have a massive 

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so you can pick and choose but 
it had To be something that 

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would show an ability to change 
character voices rapidly as 

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possible on onstage. 
I didn't really go into it with 

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any preconceived notions of 
wanting to have a particular 

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role. 
Obviously sellers was the one 

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that I really desperately wanted
to go to use and use a huge hero

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anyway but that would have been 
probably undone bubbling away 

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there. 
But I would have been more than 

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happy to be involved in any in 
any capacity. 

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So I came down to Using the 
comedy piece and I went for a 

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Michael Benton sketch because of
great love. 

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I have the Michael benteen's 
writing and I chose the most 

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haunted house in Britain, which 
is an amazing piece of writing 

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and it's a great sketch and it's
from his book best of been team.

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So I thought well, that's the 
one and yeah, I kind of arrived 

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there was introduced to they 
freak the producer and then Man 

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behind the Birmingham Comedy 
Festival and Robert and the guy 

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who was running the old joint 
stock Theater which was where 

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will do to perform and I kind of
got up on this little makeshift 

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stage and, and just went for it 
with this this sketch. 

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And I think I fluffed a couple 
of lines here and there. 

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But, yeah, I managed to get 
through it and I was looking at 

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their faces, try to judge 
whether I'd done any good or 

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not. 
And I went downstairs afterwards

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and I had met a pal for a drink 
and he said, how did it go? 

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And I said, who, I'm not sure. 
I'm off the lines a little bit 

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here and there and and I just 
thought, you know, I was really 

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kind of panicking in my brain 
and then a few days later, I got

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a call from Robert Robert F ball
to say that they wanted to offer

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me the Peter Sellers role. 
Yeah, what strikes me is really 

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interesting is that they didn't 
ask you to actually perform any 

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Gun show characters as part of 
the audition. 

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No. 
Now, I and, and, and strangely, 

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we had, I mean of all the people
that were were auditioning that 

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day. 
Dave did tell me that the quite 

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00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,400
a few people had rocked up with,
you know, things on tablets and 

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00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:58,000
even stuff on their phones. 
And I don't know whether anyone 

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else did goon shows there and 
audition Piece but I think Is 

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00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,200
that what the guy who played 
Milligan in our first? 

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It first all rock a letter, he 
was very much a python fan and 

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00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,600
fan of Comedy one that I think 
is the youngest of our team but 

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he was he'd never really heard 
the gun show but he was so mad 

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Keen to do it because of the 
pythian connection and just 

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00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:27,800
generally their impact on 
British comedy. 

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00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,800
So he was the one that knew the 
new that a sty, I think giving 

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them an opportunity to hear what
you can do with material, other 

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than the gun shows quite a good 
way of judging whether you, then

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they might be able to take on 
these roles. 

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But yeah, it is a bit of an 
oddity that you you're not 

224
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:52,700
displaying necessarily how good 
you would be at doing Echols or 

225
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,700
how good you would be as 
greenslade or what have you. 

226
00:14:55,700 --> 00:14:58,600
Yeah. 
So the benteen sketch that you 

227
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,200
performed. 
Yes. 

228
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,700
You'd read that schedule. 
You'd listen to it as well. 

229
00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:05,100
You'd read it. 
Listen to the because it wasn't 

230
00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:08,000
really the patient was part of 
his radio to Sketcher. 

231
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,300
Yes, it was. 
Yeah, part of his, the best of 

232
00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:13,100
the best attempt team. 
Yeah. 

233
00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:20,000
And it was in, in the best of 
benteen book, which he is one of

234
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,000
my most treasured possessions 
because it has his signature in 

235
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,800
there from, from when I met him 
and it just felt right. 

236
00:15:27,900 --> 00:15:31,700
There's the colonel character. 
There's obviously the sort of 

237
00:15:31,900 --> 00:15:35,800
General To roll, Michael 
benteen, interviewing Colonel, 

238
00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,600
ha plasm, and and dr. 
Luke. 

239
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,600
Warm so they just lots of 
fantastic stuff in there. 

240
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,100
So you've got already got a 
couple of good characters, but 

241
00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:47,000
it about, I mean the sketch, 
it's quite a long sketch. 

242
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:52,100
Pen team was quite Adept at 
writing for a slow burn sketches

243
00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:54,100
that allow characters to sort of
breathe a bit. 

244
00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,000
So there's plenty of really good
dialogue in there. 

245
00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,700
So you can almost sort of, you 
know, I went for a kind of 

246
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,500
Britain is Miss throughout the 
world, fits Legends and myths. 

247
00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:09,100
Many of them based on historical
fact and then you get onto 

248
00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:13,300
introducing the characters and 
you said acknowledged experts on

249
00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:17,100
the Supernatural and this 
Colonel character which is 

250
00:16:17,300 --> 00:16:20,200
Joshua of almost go for a blood 
knock sort of sounded. 

251
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,300
Yeah. 
Their paranormal and I beg, your

252
00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:29,500
pardon Colonel their paranormal 
as in Parachute, not supernormal

253
00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:33,100
as in them they're super color. 
Prejudice against reality. 

254
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,500
There's just that sort of like 
ideas they kind of it just shows

255
00:16:37,500 --> 00:16:40,100
even switch, don't evoke on 
dexterity. 

256
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,000
Yes, that's exactly the phrase. 
Yes, funny enough. 

257
00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:46,600
I was watching as part of 
research, I've been watching 

258
00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:52,400
some potty times, I'm not 
convinced I never saw them as a 

259
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,700
child. 
Does that make sense? 

260
00:16:54,700 --> 00:16:57,200
I'm not convinced that next. 
I don't recall seeing them as a 

261
00:16:57,208 --> 00:17:01,300
child but there's something 
Something when I'm watching 

262
00:17:01,300 --> 00:17:04,599
them, that keep making me think.
I may have seen them when I was 

263
00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:06,300
very little. 
Yes. 

264
00:17:06,300 --> 00:17:09,000
And of its kind of squirreled 
away in the back of my mind 

265
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,900
somewhere, but they're very 
Charming. 

266
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,400
Yes, and very well put together 
and the voices, because Ben 

267
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,099
Tate. 
And by the way, I love is ready 

268
00:17:18,099 --> 00:17:19,800
to show those to benteen. 
Yes, I think. 

269
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,800
Yeah, it's a great. 
But his voice. 

270
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,099
He's got a very distinctive. 
He's got a. 

271
00:17:24,500 --> 00:17:27,900
What you described is it always 
like a scratchy Voice or a 

272
00:17:28,099 --> 00:17:29,700
Wheezy voice 20? 
Yes. 

273
00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:33,200
Yeah, we see would be very good 
description for it. 

274
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,000
Yeah, yeah. 
So each of us characters, 

275
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,200
they've all got, they'll all 
have different voices but 

276
00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,800
they're all, they'll all have 
that common sort of slightly 

277
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,200
Wheezy sound to them. 
And yes, and I was thinking 

278
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,800
because obviously we only have 
very, very scant evidence of his

279
00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:52,200
time in the Goon show in terms 
of recordings, but it makes 

280
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,200
makes you think if he'd stayed 
the course? 

281
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,200
If he, if he carried on with 
them makes you wonder how, you 

282
00:17:57,208 --> 00:17:59,700
know, what characters he might 
have bought in. 

283
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,800
You know, into the show into 
Series 5 6 7 8 9 and how they 

284
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,500
would have engaged with the 
other characters and because he 

285
00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:10,500
does, he often does a found the 
potty time, he does a character.

286
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:13,800
Which sounds suspiciously like 
equals. 

287
00:18:13,900 --> 00:18:15,900
Yes. 
Same in bumble bumble he's which

288
00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:18,500
was his first. 
It was program the 50s that 

289
00:18:18,500 --> 00:18:22,100
because I think I'm probably one
of only two is kind of a halt. 

290
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:23,300
Yeah. 
Right. 

291
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,100
Yeah, I think that's a fairly 
it. 

292
00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:29,800
I think they all will have done 
it at some point. 

293
00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:33,000
Point on the show's. 
I think they all played equals 

294
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,700
to A let greater or lesser 
degree and sellers certainly. 

295
00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,400
Yeah. 
And seek him, though he did 

296
00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,100
quite a few stabs in some of 
their calls voices. 

297
00:18:44,100 --> 00:18:49,200
He did a very, very good Echols.
The, the very first concert live

298
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,100
concert. 
I ever went to and I got ribbed 

299
00:18:51,100 --> 00:18:54,600
mercilessly for this. 
Most was most people would 

300
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,600
probably go to a pop concert or 
something that I went to see 

301
00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:02,300
Harry seeking such as My goon 
Mania at the time but he did. 

302
00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:05,800
This whole routine is something.
He says this to me about. 

303
00:19:06,100 --> 00:19:09,500
Yes, I met this chat and he was 
wearing a Cambridge tie. 

304
00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,200
I said, you're wearing a 
Cambridge tiniest. 

305
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,700
Yo, all I'm worrying, I clean 
Bridge Dolly. 

306
00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:20,300
Where do you get it? 
I went to Cambridge. 

307
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,900
What did you do at Cambridge? 
I bought a tie that's lifted 

308
00:19:23,900 --> 00:19:25,600
straight from the greenslade 
story. 

309
00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:30,000
Yes, but it got a huge as you'd 
expect huge laugh but he was It 

310
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,200
was a really, really good Eccles
and there's a an interview. 

311
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,900
Michael benteen did on a 
religious program called, when I

312
00:19:37,900 --> 00:19:40,700
get to heaven. 
And they're talking about the 

313
00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:43,400
goons of the birth of the goons.
He's saying about the, the 

314
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,900
Echols voice was Rose, Ralph 
rights voice from goofy, that's 

315
00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:50,900
what they all based it on. 
And then he does a all harder 

316
00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:55,700
bowl with a all power rings and 
he does the sort of called 

317
00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:58,600
version of Echols. 
And it's, it's pretty pretty 

318
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,900
perfect, you know? 
So then I think the must have 

319
00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:04,700
all had a had a stab at that one
or how would I bill there in 

320
00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:09,600
Deal all towering? 
Milligan often said that equals 

321
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:13,300
was based on goofy, then that 
there's, there's a recording of 

322
00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:17,300
him talking about at one point 
saying that it was based on a 

323
00:20:17,308 --> 00:20:21,600
character from, I'm guessing 
some American radio show called 

324
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:27,400
Duffy's Tavern, right? 
Wow, with regards to benteen, 

325
00:20:27,500 --> 00:20:30,100
funny enough you and I started 
communicating with each other 

326
00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:32,800
via Twitter. 
You very kindly sent me a 

327
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,200
message, saying, nice things 
about the first couple of 

328
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,900
podcasts. 
That which I greatly added. 

329
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,800
And, but one thing that you 
pulled me up on it and quite 

330
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,500
rightly, quite remember how you 
phrased it, but you basically 

331
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:49,400
pulled me up in my auntie 
benteen sentiments I did kind of

332
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,600
dismiss him based on the own as 
I said before, the only evidence

333
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,100
we have of him on the Goon show 
is really a couple of very, very

334
00:20:56,100 --> 00:20:59,300
poor audio. 
Recordings of yes, series two 

335
00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:04,800
shows and also obviously his 
role in down among the sediment.

336
00:21:05,100 --> 00:21:07,100
Mmm. 
Yeah, she's a witch again, it's 

337
00:21:07,100 --> 00:21:11,900
not It's not a great film. 
I yeah, I'm always a little bit 

338
00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:16,400
disappointed with Dan among 
zemin other than it's a 

339
00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:21,100
microcosm of moments of sort of 
variety history. 

340
00:21:21,100 --> 00:21:24,400
So you've got the, the 
opportunity to see sellers doing

341
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,100
what, what might have been one 
of his stage acts, you've got 

342
00:21:27,100 --> 00:21:30,600
the opportunity to see benteen 
doing the chair back routine, 

343
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,900
which is, you know, legendary in
the world of Comedy. 

344
00:21:33,900 --> 00:21:37,200
But yeah, as a film, it doesn't 
really hold. 

345
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,300
Together that well, I mean, I 
love benteen's. 

346
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,700
Some venting is lines in that 
that I think he gets some of the

347
00:21:42,700 --> 00:21:45,600
best lines. 
He's definitely the most 

348
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:49,500
confident of of all of the 
actors in Dan Brown's Edmund. 

349
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:53,300
I think, I think he's 
performance is quite polished. 

350
00:21:54,700 --> 00:22:00,400
He's got a genuine character. 
I mean, Harry C comes almost 

351
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,900
there, but it's not Neddy segan 
it but it's it's a character 

352
00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:07,200
he's playing. 
But I think for just pure 

353
00:22:07,300 --> 00:22:10,400
Character creation, I think he's
been teens. 

354
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,800
Professor Pure Heart Is, is bang
on the money and kind of ready 

355
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,000
to go. 
Where's the rest of them? 

356
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,500
All seem a little bit prototype?
That makes sense. 

357
00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:24,900
Yeah, so you know, I said, I 
said some things I didn't say 

358
00:22:24,900 --> 00:22:27,000
anything horrible. 
What I think but I'm just a 

359
00:22:27,008 --> 00:22:30,600
little little bit dismissive 
about benteen and you're right, 

360
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,800
because with only that to go on,
I hold that up, as mitigation 

361
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,300
loved us really 02 sketch show. 
Yes, I've seen episodes of its 

362
00:22:40,300 --> 00:22:42,700
Square World. 
Obviously, be watching potty 

363
00:22:42,700 --> 00:22:45,300
time. 
So really interesting guy. 

364
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,300
It's policing poorly served by 
what's, what's left of his? 

365
00:22:49,300 --> 00:22:53,500
His goon show history. 
So getting back to the thread 

366
00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:56,500
theater company. 
So you've, yeah, you've received

367
00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:59,200
this great news, that you've 
been given the part of sellers, 

368
00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:02,200
mmm. 
So I guess your first job then 

369
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,700
is to is to do the voices 
practice, the voices, get get 

370
00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:09,200
the voices honed. 
Well, I mean I mean it was kind 

371
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,500
of the job. 
I've been practicing for all my 

372
00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:14,000
life more or less, you know, 
ever since I got to know about 

373
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,400
the Goon show that was that was 
kind of it. 

374
00:23:17,100 --> 00:23:20,700
I was always messing around 
doing the voices all called 

375
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:25,400
versions of them. 
So it didn't seem too fanciful, 

376
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,200
but it was a nice opportunity to
go back to the to gun shows that

377
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,300
we would chosen to do, which was
the Phantom head shaver of 

378
00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:40,600
Brighton and the canal and to 
Again to those and realized that

379
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,900
there were certain characters 
that sellers was performing 

380
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:47,000
which I had never come into my 
repertoire before. 

381
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,600
So I had a good listen to those 
and try to get as close as 

382
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,000
possible to mimicking them as 
best I could. 

383
00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:58,100
So from The Phantom head shaver 
he'd have had guessing mrs. 

384
00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:10,300
Prunella, dirt That's right from
the canal. 

385
00:24:10,300 --> 00:24:12,400
Flowered, you. 
I'm Daisy. 

386
00:24:13,700 --> 00:24:17,800
Fathers a plum. 
That's why we stand him. 

387
00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:19,600
Yes, yes. 
Flowered you, that was a really 

388
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:25,000
difficult one pitch wise, boom 
manage the, I think the judge 

389
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:30,200
judge nor as well in yes and fan
to the Head shaver now they know

390
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,600
Nugent dirt. 
That We have three Jasmine and 

391
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:39,200
29, criminals find you guilty of
hiding your bald not from your 

392
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,500
wife until after you'd marry 
that. 

393
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:43,700
It's a long island. 
Thank you. 

394
00:24:44,300 --> 00:24:47,400
Oh my life. 
It's those sort of and then I 

395
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,800
think he pops up again in 
briefly in the canal. 

396
00:24:50,900 --> 00:24:56,400
I think he's also very prominent
in the case of the missing CD 

397
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:57,800
plates. 
Yeah. 

398
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,300
Year or so later, we started out
so that the original And that 

399
00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:07,200
was myself, Rob Coletta, take on
spikes, roll track called 

400
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:13,400
Barnaby, eaten Jones who was 
cast as cecum and Phil hemming 

401
00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:16,600
who was greenslade and Valentine
dial. 

402
00:25:16,700 --> 00:25:20,600
And also I think he, he kept for
mate as well to get just proved 

403
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,900
too difficult to switch from me 
to the cat. 

404
00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:27,200
In the way the characters are 
running too confusing. 

405
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,600
I think the people in the 
audience. 

406
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,000
So Phil had to go mate, which he
did. 

407
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:37,800
Then sadly Barnaby had to pull 
out of the production, so we had

408
00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:43,100
Jim Rennie join us. 
Whose version of cecum is, it's 

409
00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:48,100
really, really good and it felt 
so, you know, it just felt 

410
00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:50,500
right, really? 
It's and when you start doing 

411
00:25:50,500 --> 00:25:54,900
those voices on certain in 
rehearsal, and on stage, it just

412
00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:59,300
starts to coalesce and make 
sense, you know, you start with 

413
00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:02,700
you Henry crumbs. 
And yeah, he had me Minion. 

414
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,700
And it's you know, and even mrs.
Piniella dirt. 

415
00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:12,400
I mean we had we had to be very 
careful with with Ellington. 

416
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:19,100
That was that was a tricky 
tricky proposition because it's 

417
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,800
we didn't have the musical 
breaks in first. 

418
00:26:22,500 --> 00:26:25,700
The first iteration we had a 
jazz band but they weren't you 

419
00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:28,800
know there was informing show 
music. 

420
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,200
In fact, our first review was of
Jazz band rather than the show. 

421
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,400
Particularly its they wherever 
they said, didn't know what the 

422
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,100
Goon show was, and but they, 
they sort of gave great 

423
00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:45,900
positive, you know, review of 
this, the chat ban that was with

424
00:26:45,900 --> 00:26:49,500
us who were very good. 
I guess playing the sellers 

425
00:26:49,500 --> 00:26:53,300
part, you would have quite a lot
of the heavy lifting goes 

426
00:26:53,300 --> 00:26:55,700
without saying, but what imagine
doing? 

427
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:59,300
See, Kim's voice? 
Yes, be quite an undertaking for

428
00:26:59,300 --> 00:27:02,000
anybody. 
Yes, to get that pitch, right? 

429
00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:03,900
Right? 
And two because this is such a 

430
00:27:03,908 --> 00:27:05,700
distinctive voice. 
Yes. 

431
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:11,300
I mean, Jim Rani is pretty an 
actor that he's reached for that

432
00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:13,200
voice. 
He gets it. 

433
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,900
It's, it's not quite the bel 
canto tender that the Seeker 

434
00:27:17,900 --> 00:27:20,700
was. 
It's, you know, it's one of 

435
00:27:20,708 --> 00:27:25,300
those voices that just has such 
musicality about it to start 

436
00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:26,200
with. 
Yeah. 

437
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:31,100
And I'm Jim manages to grab 
that, that musicality and grab 

438
00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:37,200
that sort of Of the voice and go
with it and he's he was 

439
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,400
brilliant from the outset and it
just made it. 

440
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,700
So when he you know, when he 
cries when he heals bluebottle 

441
00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:48,600
in this sort of very seek him 
sort of way, you know, even 

442
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,200
though I imagine the positioning
when I saw it on stage doing it,

443
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,500
you know, he's kind of taking a 
slight step back and looking off

444
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:59,100
as he says, every the line in 
your head, you come, he make it 

445
00:27:59,100 --> 00:28:04,700
in and make it didn't come easy.
And it's much easier to respond 

446
00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:10,100
because to in my head it sounded
like we were doing the show. 

447
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,700
Yeah weird it was really strange
is like a Time stand still 

448
00:28:13,700 --> 00:28:16,500
moment and you're there did it 
give you a desert? 

449
00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:20,200
Give you a real sort of chill. 
Oh yeah yeah. 

450
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,600
Certainly the first first show 
weird thing was we had to wait 

451
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,700
until the audience at all gone 
in taking their seats and we had

452
00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:31,500
the Jazz Band going up and we're
standing in the corridor. 

453
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,700
At the door, waiting to go in 
and and and Phil standing there,

454
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:40,500
a slight Tremor in his hand with
the script and he's kind of 

455
00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:44,700
composing himself these, you 
know, actors nerves I guess, Rob

456
00:28:44,700 --> 00:28:49,600
was kind of doing some exercises
and warming up, and Jim was kind

457
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,400
of using. 
So I'm going to use the nervous 

458
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:52,700
energy and really using their 
percentage. 

459
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,700
I'm standing there thinking I'm 
not feeling this, what's wrong? 

460
00:28:56,700 --> 00:29:01,400
And it started to panic. 
This lady that I wasn't feeling.

461
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,300
What what? 
These professionally trained 

462
00:29:03,300 --> 00:29:07,200
actors were feeling and I was 
thinking that my gonna blow 

463
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:11,700
this, and I need, but it didn't 
set my nerves going. 

464
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,800
It just, you know, and then we 
had a quite, again, quite a 

465
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,700
greenish moment where one of the
ushers came down the corridor. 

466
00:29:17,700 --> 00:29:19,300
So, could you, could you go in 
and take your seats? 

467
00:29:19,300 --> 00:29:22,400
Please? 
And we said sorry, and she said,

468
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,200
we could you go and take your 
seats with. 

469
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,800
Wait, we need to get the casting
and we just heard Sarah, we are 

470
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,900
the cast and she sort of. 
Oh, but it. 

471
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,000
I was laughing, we went straight
on and you know soon as we heard

472
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,600
that then this is the BBC from 
from Phil. 

473
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,900
It was we're off and running and
and then C comes, you know, sort

474
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:43,300
of first lines and things like 
that. 

475
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:47,500
They're just great. 
And we I mean there was a 

476
00:29:48,100 --> 00:29:51,900
discussion through soils as to 
whether we would be doing the 

477
00:29:51,900 --> 00:29:55,700
sound effects, as you know, spot
FX like they used to do with the

478
00:29:55,700 --> 00:29:58,500
sound stage and things like that
or whether we would be using 

479
00:29:59,700 --> 00:30:03,600
sound effects played in. 
I think from a conversation I've

480
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:05,800
had with with Robert, the 
director, he'd said something 

481
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,200
about, oh well, we'll find these
sound effects from various discs

482
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:13,000
and we'll play them in and I 
thought to myself, that's that's

483
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,000
not going to work that doing 
shows sound effects and not the 

484
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,600
kind of thing. 
You can just get off the peg. 

485
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,400
There are very specific. 
Yeah, so, I was probably a 

486
00:30:22,408 --> 00:30:26,800
little bit naughty, but I went 
home that weekend and basically 

487
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,100
set around. 
So sat down and sound designed 

488
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,700
all of the effects. 
Um, I just went in rather 

489
00:30:33,700 --> 00:30:36,300
timidly on the Monday of the 
rails. 

490
00:30:36,300 --> 00:30:40,700
And said, Robert, you may not 
want to use these, but I thought

491
00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:43,600
I'd give this a go because it 
would save you a bit of time and

492
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:45,500
effort. 
Yeah. 

493
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,700
And that's kind of how it fell 
out. 

494
00:30:47,700 --> 00:30:51,400
So we were using some nice 
nicely sound design sound 

495
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,100
effects which just sounded. 
I hope 30 authentic. 

496
00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:59,700
So that whole opening sequence 
with the with sort of mad 

497
00:31:00,100 --> 00:31:03,000
midnight, crescendos, the, the 
editor, And bell sound effects, 

498
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:24,100
the bagpipes and all that. 
That create that with from sound

499
00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:25,500
effects to these next 
impossible. 

500
00:31:25,500 --> 00:31:30,000
So yeah, recreating it. 
So again that felt kind of write

501
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,600
as well because you have, you 
know, you're there and they 

502
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,200
audience were just yeah. 
Audience were with us all the 

503
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,300
way as see, cancer manage this 
and used to throw them off at 

504
00:31:39,300 --> 00:31:43,300
the station. 
Well, yeah, what was the 

505
00:31:43,300 --> 00:31:45,400
audience? 
What was the sort of the age 

506
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,300
range of the audience? 
What I'm guessing it was 

507
00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:48,400
slightly. 
Older. 

508
00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:50,400
It was, it was actually quite 
mixed. 

509
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,500
I was surprised. 
They were quite a quite a few 

510
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:55,100
young people in there. 
Yeah. 

511
00:31:55,100 --> 00:31:58,600
I think it was a general mix. 
I think even for the second 

512
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,900
iteration of the show that the 
next to that we toured with the 

513
00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:06,500
audiences were of a mixed age 
range. 

514
00:32:06,500 --> 00:32:09,400
I mean people like my mum came 
to see the show because 

515
00:32:09,700 --> 00:32:12,400
obviously, because parents do 
that sort of thing. 

516
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:18,500
Became sit with one of my first 
performances and she She didn't 

517
00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:22,100
really get the gun show me. 
See my, my dad and I used to sit

518
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:24,600
around laughing our heads off as
Tommy Cooper soon as Tommy. 

519
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,300
Cooper walked on screen. 
Yes those are your immediately. 

520
00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:29,200
That's it. 
You're laughing. 

521
00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:34,300
She couldn't ever see what what 
the funny side of that was like 

522
00:32:34,300 --> 00:32:38,600
why she did get the Goon show 
until she saw Stage production 

523
00:32:38,700 --> 00:32:41,600
then she got it. 
She said she realized it was 

524
00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:46,600
something that she it just 
clicked and she realized what it

525
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:50,700
what it was. 
About it that Drew people to it.

526
00:32:50,900 --> 00:32:53,800
Maybe she needed the visuals. 
Yes. 

527
00:32:53,900 --> 00:32:56,200
Yeah, one of the nicest 
compliments. 

528
00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:00,600
We were, we were paid throughout
the whole run and it was Dave, 

529
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,400
the producer who was up in the 
sort of gallery, Manning Manning

530
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,600
the lights and the playing in 
the sound effects. 

531
00:33:07,900 --> 00:33:11,300
This is on a second tour and 
we're at The Bear Pit theater in

532
00:33:11,300 --> 00:33:17,300
Stratford and this elderly 
gentleman who was basically 

533
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,500
telling Anyone that would listen
that it wouldn't be as anywhere 

534
00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:24,100
near as good as the originals 
that it would pale by comparison

535
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,600
and that he'd been to the 
original recordings and he'd 

536
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,000
seen it all. 
And they know. 

537
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,500
And he was just basically, you 
know, sat there with his arms 

538
00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:35,800
folded waiting and then they've 
said, by the end of the first 

539
00:33:36,100 --> 00:33:40,000
show that we'd done that. 
He was, he was up with the rest 

540
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,200
of them laughing and cheering 
and saying yet they've got it, 

541
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,200
they got the energy, they've got
everything that that the 

542
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,600
original shows had no thought. 
Wow. 

543
00:33:48,700 --> 00:33:51,500
That's right. 
Yeah that's quite some feedback.

544
00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:55,700
So yeah, this guide come in 
ready to be a naysayer and went 

545
00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:59,700
away completely satisfied. 
I hope satisfy customer and 

546
00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:02,200
nicely-nicely came along with an
open mind. 

547
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:04,000
Yes. 
Yes. 

548
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:09,000
There is that I think I think 
with the gun show you there is 

549
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,699
a, I think there's a certain 
element that. 

550
00:34:10,699 --> 00:34:12,600
No, it shouldn't. 
It shouldn't be touched it. 

551
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,500
Shouldn't it should be left left
alone but it's worked so well. 

552
00:34:16,500 --> 00:34:21,600
In Australia mean Brian Cuts as 
done wonders, with the guys up 

553
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,600
in the Blue Mountains, who do 
the live goon show. 

554
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:26,199
I'm not sure if they're still 
doing it. 

555
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:29,500
But they were doing it as a sort
of Cabaret evening performances.

556
00:34:29,500 --> 00:34:32,500
And they were getting rave 
reviews for their their shows 

557
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,500
and I think you have people who 
had seen the originals in the 

558
00:34:36,500 --> 00:34:40,600
UK, I think we had at least two 
people that came along and saw 

559
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,800
the show's who said yet. 
It's it's got what what the 

560
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,400
original had in terms of the 
energy of that. 

561
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,699
Is generated inside the theater 
in, which is again, it's all you

562
00:34:51,699 --> 00:34:53,800
can hope for isn't it? 
Yes. 

563
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,800
Did any members of the families 
attend like Milligan? 

564
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:04,600
Family seeking family? 
No, nobody, no, not even. 

565
00:35:05,100 --> 00:35:08,600
I mean, the, the shows were 
given the green light by Norma 

566
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:14,100
and all the fans and even she 
didn't come to see the shows at 

567
00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:16,800
all. 
So we know we did, we didn't 

568
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,500
have any one, we had. 
John John reps from the Goon 

569
00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:22,500
show preservation. 
Society the chairman John, he 

570
00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:26,500
invaded our Green Room, our 
dressing room at the interval 

571
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,600
might shows and he just appeared
at least through the door and 

572
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:36,500
just he was its chairman John 
and this sort of time went up 

573
00:35:37,100 --> 00:35:38,700
for him. 
But he was saying how much he 

574
00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:43,300
didn't enjoyed it and and how 
good it was that it was 

575
00:35:43,300 --> 00:35:47,200
breathing life back into into 
the show and lots of people that

576
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:51,800
came to see the Show had never 
seen sorry, never heard the gun 

577
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:56,300
show really before, and we're 
intrigued to see what a live 

578
00:35:56,300 --> 00:35:59,700
performance would have been. 
Like, and it, you know, a few 

579
00:35:59,700 --> 00:36:03,800
people came in completely new to
it and went away completely 

580
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,600
converted. 
We had some nice comments in the

581
00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:08,400
visitors books and things like 
that. 

582
00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:13,200
Some nice reviews along the way.
So it was, yeah, I think it 

583
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:17,600
would have been really, really 
heartwarming to a seen somebody 

584
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:21,600
from Come from the family or 
somebody from one of the 

585
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,500
somebody connected to one of the
show's original wood would have 

586
00:36:24,500 --> 00:36:28,300
been nice to see now. 
And I think it would have been a

587
00:36:28,308 --> 00:36:30,800
danger, we would have 
monopolized them for the entire 

588
00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:34,600
evening afterwards, trying to 
dig for information, or what was

589
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,100
it, like, what was it? 
Like, you know, because we're 

590
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:41,300
all fan, so many kind of thing. 
So obviously you say about some 

591
00:36:41,300 --> 00:36:43,500
people, hadn't hadn't, even 
really heard the gun show, that 

592
00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:46,500
came to see you. 
What did you do with the 

593
00:36:46,500 --> 00:36:48,100
scripts? 
In terms of was there any Seeing

594
00:36:48,100 --> 00:36:52,000
any significant updating of the 
scripts to maybe get rid of some

595
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,800
more, topical references, or did
you with a preserved in Amber 

596
00:36:57,100 --> 00:36:59,100
pretty much? 
I think from from what I 

597
00:36:59,100 --> 00:37:03,000
remember Norma had dictated that
that not a word could be 

598
00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:07,000
changed, you know, you had to 
stick rigidly to the what was 

599
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,700
written on the script, which is 
fair enough. 

600
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:15,300
And so there's a mix in the 
scripts of what was written and 

601
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:17,700
some elements of what went out 
on. 

602
00:37:17,900 --> 00:37:20,800
On the broadcast version. 
So I think they've tweaked the 

603
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,600
scripts ever. 
Ever very suspicious slightly, 

604
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,200
the only time we ever deviated 
from the script and I'm sure 

605
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,600
that nobody will mind is saying 
this was one particular night. 

606
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,400
Somebody had come to see the 
show who's a friend of mine 

607
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,600
photographer called raimondo, he
entered. 

608
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,600
He arrived late and just brush 
past all of the theater staff 

609
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,900
barged in through the curtain. 
Right? 

610
00:37:43,900 --> 00:37:47,900
Literally behind us on the 
stage, just walked in. 

611
00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:51,400
Everyone's looking at him and he
looked to the right way. 

612
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:56,100
We're all performing. 
We just paused made action and 

613
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:57,500
he said, oh, I'm terribly, 
sorry. 

614
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,600
And he went and sat down and 
with, without missing a beat 

615
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,200
Phil as our announcer, just 
turned around and said, it's 

616
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:05,800
just a stage. 
He's going through ladies and 

617
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,700
gentlemen, is just again, that's
a perfect line. 

618
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,800
Yes. 
And I think Milligan would have 

619
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,000
been happy with that. 
So, yeah, it was, it was 

620
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,700
tremendous, tremendous fund the,
the scripts. 

621
00:38:17,900 --> 00:38:20,800
Yeah, we're pretty much 
sacrosanct, and we stuck to the 

622
00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:22,600
stuck to the letter of the law 
on that, really? 

623
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:26,300
It's, and then later, your 
friend, Mark got involved. 

624
00:38:26,700 --> 00:38:28,800
Yes. 
Well, we'd done the first run. 

625
00:38:29,300 --> 00:38:31,900
So we had Birmingham the, the 
old John stock. 

626
00:38:31,900 --> 00:38:35,700
And then we moved over to 
Croydon, then it was a sort of a

627
00:38:35,707 --> 00:38:38,500
gap of a couple of years. 
And then Dave got the green 

628
00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:42,400
light to do based, I think, 
based on the feedback we'd had 

629
00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:45,800
they realized or normal realize 
that, you know, it actually was 

630
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:50,200
worth pursuing. 
So, We got permission to do a 

631
00:38:50,207 --> 00:38:55,200
second run and so we did the 
jet-propelled guided neffe, 

632
00:38:55,300 --> 00:38:59,300
which I was very happy with Joe.
I love that love pink one and 

633
00:38:59,300 --> 00:39:01,800
the house of teeth. 
I think it was largely because 

634
00:39:01,900 --> 00:39:05,000
it gave fill a chance to do 
something. 

635
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,000
Other than be, the announcer 
would be Wallace. 

636
00:39:08,500 --> 00:39:11,200
He could break out and be 
Valentine dials. 

637
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,500
He's brought brought a big 
Fedora with him so they just 

638
00:39:14,500 --> 00:39:18,300
that was his his sort of 
dressing of the Set of you like 

639
00:39:18,300 --> 00:39:21,500
just put the foot or on became 
Valentine, Valentine dollars is 

640
00:39:21,500 --> 00:39:24,500
great. 
We then had a change of 

641
00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:29,600
personnel, so Rob wasn't 
available, Rob Coletta, so and 

642
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:31,900
neither was Jim. 
So we had to find a new Seeker, 

643
00:39:31,900 --> 00:39:34,800
Manu, Milligan, and my friend 
Mark. 

644
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:39,300
He did audition and got the 
part, which was brilliant and 

645
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:41,800
the one who went after which is 
Milligan, would have been 

646
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,200
ironic. 
If third booted me out and give 

647
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:47,700
me give me Wallace and switch 
Market. 

648
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:50,400
Sellers and filling familiar 
University. 

649
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,500
It would, you know, Benny with 
it? 

650
00:39:53,100 --> 00:39:56,900
I was very happy that they're 
kept me on a Sellers and brought

651
00:39:56,900 --> 00:39:59,000
in Stephen. 
Besant. 

652
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,000
Another really good actor who 
significantly taller than the 

653
00:40:03,008 --> 00:40:10,800
cecum and lighter voice. 
And although he didn't match 

654
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:20,200
seacams, tones his energy, And 
the way he performed the role 

655
00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:25,100
just worked, I can't explain it.
It's some weird kind of alchemy,

656
00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:29,100
but it worked and he was he had 
all of that kind of pent-up 

657
00:40:29,100 --> 00:40:31,500
energy that seek him. 
Had it worked. 

658
00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:34,200
Again we all had a really good 
chemistry when we when we met 

659
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,400
got rehearsing. 
So the second tour we had we 

660
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:42,600
sold out a few times at the Mac 
in Birmingham and the Bear Pit 

661
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:46,700
theater in Stratford sonar SC 
stage. 

662
00:40:46,700 --> 00:40:50,400
Which is Any actor is quite a 
good good gig to see if played a

663
00:40:50,408 --> 00:40:53,900
role Shakespeare company's stage
meantime over at The Bear Pit 

664
00:40:53,900 --> 00:41:29,200
theater. 
The end, the very first run we 

665
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,100
did in. 
We're in Croydon and somebody 

666
00:41:32,700 --> 00:41:37,100
somebody was out in the beer 
garden with with Rob and was 

667
00:41:37,100 --> 00:41:40,700
clearly, very drunk, but he had 
been, he had been in to see the 

668
00:41:40,700 --> 00:41:42,900
show now whether it was drunk 
because he'd seen the show or 

669
00:41:44,500 --> 00:41:49,000
from before he gone in, I don't 
know, but he, he was those kind 

670
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,800
of those, this obvious kind of 
conversation going on. 

671
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:54,900
And the body language is 
unmistakable that Rob was 

672
00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:57,500
desperately trying to get away. 
But this guy wouldn't let him 

673
00:41:57,900 --> 00:42:02,100
and, and Phil said, oh god, oh 
no, he's he's bring him in, he's

674
00:42:02,100 --> 00:42:06,000
bringing him into the pub. 
And this guy came over and was 

675
00:42:06,500 --> 00:42:09,900
absolutely, you know, he was 
Starstruck by the four of us for

676
00:42:09,900 --> 00:42:14,200
some odd reason. 
So, but rather than kind of try 

677
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:18,200
and get rid of him, I engaged in
conversation, which I think they

678
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:19,500
were all a little bit alarmed at
most. 

679
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,400
Did you enjoy the show then? 
And he said, design Choice. 

680
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,600
I'll show you how much I enjoyed
the show and he I have this 

681
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:33,600
shirt and ripped it open, right?
And we all went okay and he just

682
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:35,800
calmly kind of went about his 
business went. 

683
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,700
No I got no time and I was 
imagining some Alan Partridge. 

684
00:42:39,700 --> 00:42:41,100
Deranged fan. 
Yeah. 

685
00:42:41,100 --> 00:42:45,000
That with a full face tattoo of 
the goons on his chest. 

686
00:42:45,100 --> 00:42:47,900
Yeah, it was we were wondering 
whether that was what was about 

687
00:42:47,900 --> 00:42:53,900
to happen, but no, there was 
nobody really knows. 

688
00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:57,300
Everybody came sort of Backstage
or Nothing like apart from apart

689
00:42:57,300 --> 00:43:00,300
from John Rich, the chairman of 
the society, which is, you know,

690
00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:05,000
I think he, he did a little 
speech to boost try and Brewster

691
00:43:05,900 --> 00:43:08,500
membership for the Goon show 
preservation society, which if 

692
00:43:08,500 --> 00:43:11,200
you are listening and you are 
even remotely interested in the 

693
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,200
Goon show, definitely worth 
joining. 

694
00:43:14,100 --> 00:43:17,600
I've been a member since 1988, I
think and I've never looked 

695
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,200
back. 
I'm very much poorer for it. 

696
00:43:20,900 --> 00:43:22,900
Okay? 
My Subs every year, but now it's

697
00:43:22,900 --> 00:43:27,700
great and wealth of material you
can The newsletters and stuff 

698
00:43:27,700 --> 00:43:31,000
safe way. 
It was well supported and we did

699
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:36,500
get some some nice reviews that 
we the first matinee performance

700
00:43:36,500 --> 00:43:40,600
of the Mac in Birmingham. 
Phil went down as the announcer 

701
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,000
green savings and saying these 
and gentlemen. 

702
00:43:43,300 --> 00:43:46,000
Welcome the goons and introduced
us all one by one. 

703
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:50,100
We were up at the top making our
entrance kind of like they used 

704
00:43:50,100 --> 00:43:51,300
to do on game for a laugh at 
you. 

705
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,100
Don't you remember getting to? 
Yes. 

706
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:56,800
Yeah, jump down. 
Staircase. 

707
00:43:57,500 --> 00:43:59,500
The very, very good, Milligan 
sketch. 

708
00:43:59,500 --> 00:44:03,400
I think the spoofing that in, 
there's a lot of it about, and 

709
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:08,000
he's, and there's Peter Sellers 
and then this guy got up from 

710
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,400
the audience. 
Who'd realized he was in the 

711
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:13,400
wrong show, he'd gone to see 
Tosca, which is on another, 

712
00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:16,100
another part of the, of the same
venue. 

713
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:21,600
But but he startling resemblance
to sellers all during classes 

714
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:23,500
and everything with 
extraordinary. 

715
00:44:23,500 --> 00:44:26,100
So everyone was looking rather 
confusing cloudy me. 

716
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,200
This guy got up and stood up 
walked out shaking his head. 

717
00:44:29,300 --> 00:44:35,300
No proper proper mad, mad 
moments, you know, did you get? 

718
00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:39,000
Did you go really mess up? 
By the way, did you do eat a lot

719
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:41,900
of cream? 
Cakes and bulk up to play that a

720
00:44:41,900 --> 00:44:46,700
no 1955 error sellers? 
Well, sort of. 

721
00:44:46,700 --> 00:44:53,300
Yeah, I did, I had a sort of had
a kind of 1950s or outfit, I put

722
00:44:53,300 --> 00:44:58,200
together and, and the second run
I got really ill and the first 

723
00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:02,400
week, just it just after 
rehearsals, I was really poorly 

724
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:07,400
with really bad cold. 
So I was taking night nurse by 

725
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:13,200
the bucketful to try and just be
on the ball, but that was 

726
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:15,600
something sellers did in the 
70s. 

727
00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:18,100
He got, he became addicted. 
I think from one of his 

728
00:45:18,100 --> 00:45:20,600
biographers, I remember reading.
He got addicted to Night Nurse 

729
00:45:21,300 --> 00:45:24,200
and I told this related this 
total to Robert musil, whole 

730
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:25,800
God, you're not growing method 
on his own. 

731
00:45:28,100 --> 00:45:32,200
So yes, I think so. 
But what's up necessarily? 

732
00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:37,700
But I bought some home rims 
sellers style glasses and you 

733
00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:42,200
know kind of tried to the weird 
thing about the doing the stage 

734
00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:48,100
version of the Goon show is that
you do have a because gun show 

735
00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:51,100
works on three levels. 
Anyway, already seen our sort of

736
00:45:51,100 --> 00:45:53,600
on four levels because you have 
a group of actors playing a 

737
00:45:53,607 --> 00:45:56,100
group of actors, playing a group
of characters who in themselves.

738
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:59,000
Are playing characters. 
Yes, it kind of rolls on like 

739
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:02,100
that. 
I think around the time of the 

740
00:46:02,100 --> 00:46:05,100
mentioned somebody that the 
nearest modern equivalent, I can

741
00:46:05,100 --> 00:46:09,700
think of is probably the 
Simpsons in the sense that that 

742
00:46:09,700 --> 00:46:12,400
a lot of their historical 
episodes. 

743
00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:14,700
Well, won't they go off in these
weird fantasy lands? 

744
00:46:14,700 --> 00:46:17,900
It's again, same principle. 
It's a group of actors playing a

745
00:46:17,900 --> 00:46:22,000
group of characters who then 
take on other other character 

746
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:25,700
roles within the are like 
Simpsons, Bible stories and 

747
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:27,300
things like that. 
Yes, yes. 

748
00:46:27,300 --> 00:46:30,900
I see what you mean. 
I understand as well that it may

749
00:46:30,900 --> 00:46:35,300
be a couple of years later. 
You actually you appeared with 

750
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,500
televisions like Dixon as 
Milligan as Milligan to his. 

751
00:46:40,500 --> 00:46:42,200
So Jeffrey Holland. 
Sorry yes. 

752
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,200
I think that's gonna look into 
his sellers. 

753
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:45,100
That's right. 
Yeah. 

754
00:46:45,100 --> 00:46:51,700
Well it was the during our first
run, the Goon show preservation 

755
00:46:51,700 --> 00:46:55,900
Society put on a an event at 
theis Hearst at the the bell in 

756
00:46:56,200 --> 00:47:00,400
Spike used to be a regular for a
while when he lived in entice 

757
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,400
Hurst. 
And so they had this sort of 

758
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,900
Spike connection. 
So they did this Spike vest and 

759
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,800
had kids wandering around 
reading poetry 5 million poetry.

760
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:15,000
And following a sort of Spike 
Trail around the village and we 

761
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:21,400
use of mounted this production 
of the rent collectors stroke 

762
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:24,900
Queen Anne's Reign. 
So, but because I wanted to 

763
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,600
play, you know, Toe toe the line
slightly because of contractual 

764
00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:30,600
reasons. 
I said, I didn't really want to 

765
00:47:30,607 --> 00:47:34,900
be involved as a performer in 
the first one we did because it 

766
00:47:34,900 --> 00:47:38,700
would if word got back and I was
doing the, you know, you just 

767
00:47:39,100 --> 00:47:42,900
muddies the waters slightly. 
So I thought I'll create some 

768
00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:46,500
sound effects and I'll go along 
and I'll help out and do it some

769
00:47:46,500 --> 00:47:48,100
pieces. 
So that was my first 

770
00:47:48,100 --> 00:47:51,000
involvement. 
And then in 2018, they decided 

771
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:57,800
to do a Centenary for Spike. 
In tat Tai, certainly had his 

772
00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:03,100
car, the mini family. 
Yeah, appeared outside the pub, 

773
00:48:03,100 --> 00:48:06,700
which drew a good crowd. 
So, similar sort of idea, but 

774
00:48:06,700 --> 00:48:11,100
this time we were in the big 
theater room above the pub and 

775
00:48:11,100 --> 00:48:14,400
we were doing this, this version
of the Goon show. 

776
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,900
So it was Jeffrey Holland. 
Hide a Sellers, and I was 

777
00:48:18,900 --> 00:48:25,400
brought in as Milligan and and 
also Bernhard. 

778
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,200
But Mi Ada Mi Lowell Mi 
venomous. 

779
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:35,000
So then they basically divvied 
up the Milligan. 

780
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,700
The majority of Milligan roles 
would sort of divvied up amongst

781
00:48:37,700 --> 00:48:40,100
the rest of the gusher 
preservation Society members 

782
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:44,400
because it would have been 
unfair really for them not to 

783
00:48:44,408 --> 00:48:46,400
have been a part of something 
special like that. 

784
00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:49,700
So it was really nice to have 
this at l'ensemble things. 

785
00:48:49,700 --> 00:48:54,600
I was, you know, Echols and 
Minnie and just it just little 

786
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:57,200
bits of Milligan. 
And then and then burned of 

787
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:01,400
Miles, spend a bit of time 
listening back and forth to the 

788
00:49:01,408 --> 00:49:05,400
rent collectors and trying to 
get that burden miles sound to 

789
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:08,700
be landed with those kind of 
opportunities, is always, is 

790
00:49:08,700 --> 00:49:12,300
such a very blessed to have been
part of stuff like that. 

791
00:49:12,300 --> 00:49:17,100
And I saw Jeffrey Holland and 
the rest of the guys doing good.

792
00:49:17,100 --> 00:49:22,300
And again, in 2001, I was a 
recording of that sort of 

793
00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:25,100
crowning glory to my, my goon 
Mania at the time because I was 

794
00:49:25,700 --> 00:49:27,900
busy. 
Came down, anyone associated 

795
00:49:27,900 --> 00:49:31,100
with, with the gun show. 
So I managed to meet, you know, 

796
00:49:31,100 --> 00:49:35,300
the 33 of the principals and 
other members of the cast along 

797
00:49:35,300 --> 00:49:38,500
the way. 
So it was so well, hang on. 

798
00:49:38,900 --> 00:49:43,600
See you met you met Milligan, 
you met seek and you're not 

799
00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:45,100
going to tell me you met 
sellers, I guess. 

800
00:49:45,100 --> 00:49:47,900
But you met bad teen. 
No, the closest I came to 

801
00:49:47,900 --> 00:49:53,200
sellers, was I chatted on the 
telephone, to Michael Sellers on

802
00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:55,000
the day. 
Sadly that Spike passed away. 

803
00:49:56,100 --> 00:50:00,800
And he told me I was basically 
Spike had passed away that 

804
00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:03,800
morning, the breakfast program 
of the radio station. 

805
00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:07,300
I worked at had got Tom O'Connor
on to talk about Spike because 

806
00:50:07,300 --> 00:50:08,900
he was a local. 
Hmm. 

807
00:50:09,500 --> 00:50:12,200
This isn't Berkshire and he was 
at his local departure and and 

808
00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:14,500
because he was a comedian, I can
only write. 

809
00:50:14,500 --> 00:50:18,600
I said to the presenter, I 
worked with us, I think we can 

810
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:23,000
do better than that. 
So, I tracked down Michael's, 

811
00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:28,100
Michael Sellers publisher. 
And asked if she still had 

812
00:50:28,100 --> 00:50:30,900
contact with him and she said, I
think he's working as a 

813
00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:35,000
carpenter in in Oxford or doing 
something with Furniture. 

814
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,900
I'll if his number still 
working, I'll give him a call 

815
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,600
and then he rang me in and we 
had a really long, really lovely

816
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:47,400
chat and he he said to me that 
he'd spoken to think, Sean that 

817
00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:52,100
morning, Sean Milligan and and 
that his father's last words 

818
00:50:52,100 --> 00:50:55,900
were going going goon. 
Which shocked me beyond belief. 

819
00:50:56,100 --> 00:51:00,000
Because if that was, if that's 
actually true, I've no reason to

820
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:03,600
doubt the word of Michael 
Sellers, but if that was true, I

821
00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:08,700
mean, it goes against every 
thing Spike ever sort of, you 

822
00:51:08,700 --> 00:51:09,900
know, this love-hate 
relationship. 

823
00:51:09,900 --> 00:51:13,400
He seemed to have with them with
their the Ethereal the show. 

824
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:17,100
I kind of expected something 
more along the lines of Oscar, 

825
00:51:17,100 --> 00:51:20,600
Wilde's Last Words either that 
wallpaper goes or I do ya, 

826
00:51:20,700 --> 00:51:22,900
expect something like that. 
You don't expect something. 

827
00:51:23,700 --> 00:51:25,300
Can we go and goon? 
Okay. 

828
00:51:25,300 --> 00:51:28,600
Yeah. 
It's I mean, it's very strange, 

829
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:31,200
but that was the, that was a 
conversation I had with, with 

830
00:51:31,200 --> 00:51:35,700
Michael Sellers on that Sunday. 
So, yeah, that's the closest and

831
00:51:35,700 --> 00:51:38,700
then I think I met Sarah 
sellers, a few years later after

832
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:41,100
showing of The optimists of nine
elms.young. 

833
00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:42,600
Afar. 
I am grateful. 

834
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:44,900
Hmm. 
Which is one of my all-time 

835
00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:47,000
favorite sellers movie while 
it's on one of my all-time 

836
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,600
favorite films. 
Yeah managed to especially be 

837
00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:52,500
called stalking with the the way
I track. 

838
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:57,700
All of these various members of 
the Moon shows that the first 

839
00:51:57,700 --> 00:52:02,200
one was been team and that's in 
1988. 

840
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,700
So the start of my my goon show 
Journey, he was doing his 

841
00:52:08,700 --> 00:52:12,100
one-man show in scunthorpe. 
My dad drove me over to see it 

842
00:52:13,100 --> 00:52:17,600
and then my dad was kind of 
hanging around and benteen did 

843
00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:21,400
like to add two hours or so. 
Then we did like a Q&A for half 

844
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:23,300
an hour and then he was out 
signing his books. 

845
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:25,500
In the foyer. 
I mean he worked my credibly 

846
00:52:25,500 --> 00:52:29,900
hard and he sat there and he's 
sort of safari suit jacket and 

847
00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:33,900
signing things and because I was
in, I still am but I was an 

848
00:52:33,900 --> 00:52:36,800
incredibly shy person which is 
one of the things that Drew me 

849
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:38,800
to bend teams. 
He had that book the shy 

850
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:41,700
Person's Guide to Life, which 
radically changed changed my 

851
00:52:41,700 --> 00:52:45,200
life. 
So, you know, I'd always been 

852
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:49,200
incredibly grateful to him for 
that, but I was hanging back 

853
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:51,100
because I didn't want to push 
forward. 

854
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,600
In this throng of people trying 
to get Signed things that I had 

855
00:52:54,600 --> 00:52:58,200
a bag full of things to get 
signed, and one of them was the 

856
00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:02,500
copy of the best event team book
and the lp to go with it. 

857
00:53:02,500 --> 00:53:06,500
And he looked at it and he said,
ah, they finally released it, 

858
00:53:06,500 --> 00:53:10,800
the eye and he said the 
Ayatollah and I thought, what? 

859
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:15,600
And I just didn't get the gag 
and I think it was reference to 

860
00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:17,700
the, to the bird on the front 
that he's holding in the 

861
00:53:17,700 --> 00:53:18,900
puppies. 
Yes. 

862
00:53:18,900 --> 00:53:21,200
That vulture looking creature. 
Yes. 

863
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:23,400
Yeah. 
So I've no idea. 

864
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:26,600
No idea where that reference 
comes from, but there we go. 

865
00:53:27,500 --> 00:53:33,000
But he then took my book of best
have been team and opened it and

866
00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:37,200
smiled at me and he wrote 
something in on the Flyleaf and 

867
00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:40,400
then very carefully closed. 
It very deliberately closed it. 

868
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:44,400
And handed it back to me with 
this sort of expression of don't

869
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,500
read this yet. 
So I thought it was very 

870
00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:51,300
strange, though. 
I went then had to go and my dad

871
00:53:51,300 --> 00:53:55,200
drove his off back home and on 
the journey, I just had to have 

872
00:53:55,200 --> 00:53:58,800
a look and I opened the book and
he'd written to Richard. 

873
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,600
Thank you. 
Best wishes, Michael benteen. 

874
00:54:02,500 --> 00:54:06,700
And that's something to the fact
that you know he thanked me for 

875
00:54:07,100 --> 00:54:12,300
ya. 
I was very taken with that 93. 

876
00:54:12,400 --> 00:54:17,600
There was a goon gathering at 
the The Hive dimchurch steam 

877
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:22,000
Railway down in Sussex and it 
was seeking Milligan and benteen

878
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:25,700
and the Goon show preservation 
Society had organized it and I 

879
00:54:25,700 --> 00:54:28,200
was desperate to get along there
and I lived up in the hull. 

880
00:54:28,300 --> 00:54:31,800
Those I thought it was going to 
be impossible but then sort of 

881
00:54:31,800 --> 00:54:35,800
last minute I managed to get a 
ticket sorted, the lovely, Tina 

882
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:39,900
Hammond that dsps. 
Ya got me groom sorted. 

883
00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:44,000
So I was staying at the same 
hotel as Tina and Mike Cove knee

884
00:54:44,100 --> 00:54:48,700
and Who had kind of jsps 
stalwarts. 

885
00:54:48,700 --> 00:54:52,600
And I was having my breakfast 
next morning and trying to 

886
00:54:52,600 --> 00:54:55,000
figure out how that, how I was 
going to get from a hotel in, 

887
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:57,400
right, uni Romney, without 
driving. 

888
00:54:57,400 --> 00:54:59,700
I couldn't, I was trying to work
it all out. 

889
00:54:59,700 --> 00:55:04,200
She came over to me and said, 
oh, Harry's not, well, he's got 

890
00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:06,900
the flu, so he won't be coming. 
I do. 

891
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,100
Oh, and benteen's, not very well
either, so he might not be 

892
00:55:10,100 --> 00:55:14,100
coming another. 
Oh, so we're going to get Spike 

893
00:55:14,500 --> 00:55:16,000
and there's room in the car if 
you'd like to. 

894
00:55:16,200 --> 00:55:19,700
With us. 
Wow, I said, will you forgive 

895
00:55:19,700 --> 00:55:21,300
you? 
Just please sobbing shot back to

896
00:55:21,300 --> 00:55:26,000
my hotel room grabbed all my my 
bag of Milligan memorabilia 

897
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:30,300
which I desperately wanted him 
to sign and we got to his house 

898
00:55:31,300 --> 00:55:35,100
as a twin Chelsea. 
And there he was with sort of 

899
00:55:35,100 --> 00:55:40,300
like a big stain down his jumper
and an Overcoat on and he's 

900
00:55:40,300 --> 00:55:44,000
still wearing his slippers. 
Can't, I might have been see. 

901
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:46,000
Leo. 
Laura was out and said oh, 

902
00:55:46,500 --> 00:55:48,300
Daddy, got to put a coat, I've 
got my coat. 

903
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:50,800
Are you going to put some shoes 
on the outside? 

904
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:54,300
I'll put some shoes on and there
was this kind of very domestic 

905
00:55:54,300 --> 00:55:56,000
normality. 
Hmm, going on. 

906
00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:59,200
And then Spike, you know, this 
this sort of got comedy. 

907
00:55:59,200 --> 00:56:04,500
God got in the car and I was sat
behind him and I was looking 

908
00:56:04,500 --> 00:56:06,100
through all my things to get all
great. 

909
00:56:06,100 --> 00:56:09,300
I'm gonna get this side that he 
said, well, would what have 

910
00:56:09,300 --> 00:56:12,900
there's not gonna be people at 
this station asking for My 

911
00:56:12,900 --> 00:56:14,700
Autograph? 
Why don't why do people want my 

912
00:56:15,100 --> 00:56:16,700
autograph on these the fat? 
It's a paper. 

913
00:56:16,700 --> 00:56:18,300
Why do they always ask for these
things? 

914
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:20,800
Yeah, I've often not be able to 
ask for autographs or sometimes 

915
00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:22,200
just want them because you're 
there. 

916
00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:26,700
And this checking and gave me a 
bit of crappy paper as a girl, 

917
00:56:26,700 --> 00:56:28,800
you ought to get such a. 
All right. 

918
00:56:28,800 --> 00:56:32,000
I said what I said? 
What what what are you going to 

919
00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:34,700
do with this bit of Tatu Baby? 
So I'll keep it or not. 

920
00:56:35,300 --> 00:56:37,400
That's an eye on to. 
Oh yes, I will, I'll treasure 

921
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:40,100
this. 
So, I took his address. 

922
00:56:41,100 --> 00:56:45,200
His name is Livingston and he 
lived at number four, lethal 

923
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:49,200
Road, Deptford. 
And two years later I was going 

924
00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:57,000
by 1:00 in the morning. 
I knocked on the door, he came 

925
00:56:57,000 --> 00:57:00,000
down as you say hello. 
Look, I said don't mind that. 

926
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:01,600
Never mind. 
I said, where is it? 

927
00:57:06,900 --> 00:57:11,300
If he had got it. 
Well, that's that then. 

928
00:57:11,300 --> 00:57:14,500
So I kind of put these things 
away discreetly and then he 

929
00:57:14,500 --> 00:57:16,500
threw them out, threw them out 
the window down the motorway. 

930
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,000
Yeah, just kind of like Bill may
not in the gaffer, go throwing 

931
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:23,200
things behind me. 
And then then he says, and I At 

932
00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:24,500
least I got my camera and get 
it. 

933
00:57:24,900 --> 00:57:27,600
When why, why do people always 
stop Minister by photographing? 

934
00:57:27,900 --> 00:57:29,700
The always asking for my 
photograph didn't really annoys 

935
00:57:29,700 --> 00:57:32,700
me is why didn't they just write
to the BBC and as for Photograph

936
00:57:32,700 --> 00:57:36,100
and make do with that and I 
thought oh well that's that's 

937
00:57:36,100 --> 00:57:41,500
that and then we got two new 
Romney station had been teen was

938
00:57:41,500 --> 00:57:44,200
already there with his wife 
Clementine and they were he was 

939
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:48,700
holding court and had all the 
Goon fans around him and he was 

940
00:57:48,700 --> 00:57:54,200
showing them this newspaper 
cutting from I think 1948 49 

941
00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:57,600
where he'd given, basically, 
he'd given all the publicity he 

942
00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:02,300
had from a show was doing at the
Palladium over to the goons. 

943
00:58:02,300 --> 00:58:06,100
So, it was a picture goer thing.
I think about what is a goon and

944
00:58:06,100 --> 00:58:10,100
it was eyeball Alfred marks, and
sellers and Milligan people like

945
00:58:10,100 --> 00:58:12,000
that in the, in the article. 
Yeah. 

946
00:58:12,500 --> 00:58:15,800
And he was showing them and say 
he's kind of, you know, 

947
00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:20,000
displaying this and telling the 
story of how he was, really the 

948
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,500
man that pushed the goom 
envelope. 

949
00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:26,400
Forwards because he gave this 
publicity that I could have used

950
00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:29,700
to himself. 
Yeah, for everyone but Milligan 

951
00:58:29,700 --> 00:58:34,800
just went and sat on a bench and
he just sat there sort of slumps

952
00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:39,800
down looking very depressed and 
everyone has a say was gathered 

953
00:58:39,800 --> 00:58:43,100
kind of round venting. 
So I went tentatively over and 

954
00:58:43,100 --> 00:58:47,100
sat next to spike and started 
chatting and that was kind of 

955
00:58:47,100 --> 00:58:48,000
it. 
It was weird. 

956
00:58:48,000 --> 00:58:52,500
We just got chatting and then we
got into the carriage of one of 

957
00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:57,800
Little Narrow Gauge railway 
trains and inadvertently, I 

958
00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:02,200
discovered only recently, I 
bought a book called life on the

959
00:59:02,200 --> 00:59:04,900
streets, which is a Michael 
benteen book about a journalist.

960
00:59:05,200 --> 00:59:09,500
Yeah, I inadvertently told a 
joke that Mike Benton it written

961
00:59:09,500 --> 00:59:14,800
in that book in the mid 60s or 
something along those lines. 

962
00:59:14,800 --> 00:59:18,700
So I try to tell spike a joke 
which is because it had gone 

963
00:59:18,700 --> 00:59:21,500
quiet in the carriage. 
And my nerves got the better of 

964
00:59:21,500 --> 00:59:23,100
me. 
And I just said to him, It's 

965
00:59:23,100 --> 00:59:27,600
very sad about the Titanic. 
He said what I said, it's very 

966
00:59:27,600 --> 00:59:30,300
sad about the Titanic. 
All that, all those people that 

967
00:59:30,300 --> 00:59:34,000
lost their lives, what? 
And you can look at me this, 

968
00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:37,100
this curious expression. 
I said, well, you know, it's 

969
00:59:37,100 --> 00:59:39,800
very sad but everyone goes on 
about it but but what about the 

970
00:59:39,800 --> 00:59:44,400
iceberg, he said what I said, 
what about the iceberg? 

971
00:59:44,400 --> 00:59:46,500
What happened to the iceberg? 
Did it, did it end up in 

972
00:59:46,500 --> 00:59:48,200
somebody's drink, in a bar in 
Chicago? 

973
00:59:48,200 --> 00:59:51,800
What became of the iceberg and 
he just sort of shook his head 

974
00:59:51,800 --> 00:59:54,200
and I could kind of Saw this 
Riker incoming groceries and he 

975
00:59:54,200 --> 00:59:59,300
said, you were worried about the
iceberg and I said, yes, and he 

976
00:59:59,300 --> 01:00:03,200
shouted across the karajan 
Michael and Ben T said yes and 

977
01:00:03,200 --> 01:00:06,900
he said this young man was 
worried about the iceberg and 

978
01:00:06,900 --> 01:00:11,300
then team shouted back his, the 
train going too fast for you and

979
01:00:11,300 --> 01:00:14,700
he was just this mad gunray 
party that was suddenly going 

980
01:00:14,700 --> 01:00:17,200
on. 
If I'd been in your position 

981
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:20,800
where Spike didn't want to sign 
any, anything I need to get the 

982
01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:23,300
photograph taken. 
I'm just trying to think what I 

983
01:00:23,308 --> 01:00:25,300
would have said to kind of break
the ice. 

984
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:28,300
Nope. 
Yeah, it's probably ask him for 

985
01:00:28,300 --> 01:00:30,200
his inside leg measurement or 
something. 

986
01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:36,800
I wish I had to do that so but 
Harry so Harry was Ill. 

987
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:39,600
So Harry wasn't there? 
Yeah that was just it was just 

988
01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:43,100
Milligan and and then T and then
it was a sort of everyone kind 

989
01:00:43,100 --> 01:00:45,000
of left. 
So it's just Tina. 

990
01:00:45,000 --> 01:00:49,300
Mike and Spike me. 
We drove him back to his house 

991
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,900
and he got out of the car and he
turned Around at the back door. 

992
01:00:54,300 --> 01:00:56,700
I said, I suppose you want to 
come in for a cup of tea then 

993
01:00:58,300 --> 01:01:02,300
and and I sort of looked and 
Tina's or nodded tell him. 

994
01:01:02,300 --> 01:01:05,900
Yes, I said well yes, please and
he went old, and I won't use the

995
01:01:05,908 --> 01:01:11,600
expletive, but he is the f word,
and, and, and then just slam the

996
01:01:11,600 --> 01:01:13,200
door disappeared inside the 
house. 

997
01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:15,900
And Tina said, that's an 
invitation. 

998
01:01:16,100 --> 01:01:23,000
So we went in and, and he 
basically, we As I recall on 

999
01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,900
the, what is called, the Goon 
blanquette, which is in the 

1000
01:01:25,900 --> 01:01:31,000
museum of comedy in London and 
it was one of the fittings from 

1001
01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:34,400
the Grafton arms when they were 
sort of refitting It And Spike 

1002
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:38,000
bought, some of the bits and 
pieces and had it installed in 

1003
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:40,500
his house. 
So we sat there and then we're 

1004
01:01:40,500 --> 01:01:44,000
talking about talk about a South
African wine. 

1005
01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:46,400
Think he had quite an extensive 
collection of, yes, South 

1006
01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:50,200
African wine. 
I then offered to go and help 

1007
01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:52,400
make couple of teeny so I can 
make a couple Of T. 

1008
01:01:52,400 --> 01:01:53,800
What do you, where do I need 
help? 

1009
01:01:53,800 --> 01:01:57,500
And then I think I excused 
myself, news the downstairs loo 

1010
01:01:57,500 --> 01:02:01,700
which was a weird experience 
because it's it was stacked high

1011
01:02:01,700 --> 01:02:04,900
with copies of private eye 
magazine and on the wall next to

1012
01:02:04,908 --> 01:02:07,400
the toilet was a one of those 
frame. 

1013
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:10,700
Big thick frames that these two 
have with a cigarette inside 

1014
01:02:10,700 --> 01:02:13,200
that he's saved. 
In case of emergency break glass

1015
01:02:14,100 --> 01:02:17,700
and inside one of the, this 
Frame was a letter from Lynn 

1016
01:02:17,700 --> 01:02:24,400
Frederick saying that she'd He'd
written to her asking about some

1017
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:27,700
films, he made with sellers over
the years. 

1018
01:02:27,800 --> 01:02:31,400
And she said, in this letter, 
I'm sorry, but just before he 

1019
01:02:31,400 --> 01:02:34,800
died, he Peter destroyed 
everything to do with you spike,

1020
01:02:35,100 --> 01:02:37,800
and that was the letter and then
he written underneath. 

1021
01:02:37,800 --> 01:02:39,700
There's this sort of caption 
said, this was the heartfelt 

1022
01:02:39,700 --> 01:02:44,600
response from Lynn Lynn 
Frederick was it Nee Nee Frost 

1023
01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:47,400
Nisa and he listed although 
yeah, well that's more people. 

1024
01:02:47,400 --> 01:02:51,700
She's been sort of married to 
and it said in case of diarrhea 

1025
01:02:51,700 --> 01:02:54,800
break, Glass. 
I'll never forget that as very 

1026
01:02:54,800 --> 01:02:56,400
funny. 
Yeah. 

1027
01:02:56,400 --> 01:03:00,500
And then I remember seeing 
spikes house on an episode of, 

1028
01:03:01,700 --> 01:03:05,100
in fact, getting back to frost. 
Remember Through the Keyhole. 

1029
01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:09,700
Yes, yes I do. 
And that was spiked spikes 

1030
01:03:09,700 --> 01:03:12,700
house, was featured in that and 
I remember he had a quite a 

1031
01:03:12,707 --> 01:03:16,900
sizeable wine cellar, mrs. 
Thatcher doing. 

1032
01:03:16,900 --> 01:03:20,000
In The Wine Cellar. 
Getting pissed off. 

1033
01:03:32,200 --> 01:03:34,600
And it big house. 
Oh, it's huge in the big 

1034
01:03:35,300 --> 01:03:38,500
swimming pool outside. 
Which I think used to have the 

1035
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:40,600
smoke coming from in the 
morning. 

1036
01:03:40,600 --> 01:03:43,600
That's steam rising and people 
would rip roaring Fires at 

1037
01:03:43,600 --> 01:03:47,800
spikes house, but it was just 
him in his heated pool, but he's

1038
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:49,100
was weird. 
Strange. 

1039
01:03:49,100 --> 01:03:51,900
Strange thing being in his in 
his Lounge. 

1040
01:03:52,200 --> 01:03:55,700
Drinking tea him telling his 
about the Antiques. 

1041
01:03:55,700 --> 01:03:58,800
He had led the gramophone 
records, the gramophone player 

1042
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:02,600
that he still had and the piano 
and turning about the history of

1043
01:04:02,600 --> 01:04:05,000
the, the marsh, the way it was 
drained by the Romans and 

1044
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:07,900
pointing out, you could see 
France from certain angles and 

1045
01:04:08,500 --> 01:04:10,600
many Phineas have, right? 
I've got letters to write bugger

1046
01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:15,400
off. 
I met him years later again, he 

1047
01:04:15,400 --> 01:04:18,500
wouldn't have remembered me at 
all, because he had think he'd 

1048
01:04:18,500 --> 01:04:22,400
had his bypass surgery by then, 
and wasn't quite the Same 

1049
01:04:22,400 --> 01:04:26,000
energetic Spike, he'd always 
been that, but he was and I 

1050
01:04:26,008 --> 01:04:28,700
think medication was, was sort 
of leveling, a mouth of a bit. 

1051
01:04:28,700 --> 01:04:31,400
And he was at a book signing for
think, watering Heights, 

1052
01:04:32,300 --> 01:04:37,500
according to spike Milligan and 
I went there and I took a fake 

1053
01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:42,000
arm, which had got from 
Halloween shop or something, and

1054
01:04:42,400 --> 01:04:46,000
I want him to sign it and Norma 
was absolutely horrified. 

1055
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:47,500
So, no, no, no, we can't have 
that. 

1056
01:04:47,500 --> 01:04:49,800
No, no, no, no. 
So, that went back in the bag, I

1057
01:04:49,808 --> 01:04:54,100
got the book sign, but he was so
Kind of on edge. 

1058
01:04:55,000 --> 01:04:58,400
And those the slightest noise, 
he seemed to be flinching and 

1059
01:04:58,400 --> 01:05:02,000
then this lady was pushing a 
pram through the shop Waterstone

1060
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:06,000
to think it wasn't in Leeds and 
the baby started crying. 

1061
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:10,100
And it got louder and louder and
louder than Spike, kind of just 

1062
01:05:10,200 --> 01:05:13,200
it had enough clearly. 
And he just stood up at the desk

1063
01:05:13,200 --> 01:05:15,600
shouted. 
Kill that child. 

1064
01:05:18,200 --> 01:05:22,300
And he only got a laugh but, you
know, I, so how did you beat 

1065
01:05:22,300 --> 01:05:24,900
seeking? 
Well, again, it goes back to 

1066
01:05:24,900 --> 01:05:30,200
the, the first concert I ever 
went to is, was the, the Harry 

1067
01:05:30,200 --> 01:05:34,600
cecum live at some George's Hall
in Bradford, booked a ticket to 

1068
01:05:34,607 --> 01:05:38,400
go and went off to see this 
concert and it was him singing 

1069
01:05:38,600 --> 01:05:43,100
telling a few anecdotes, there 
are some things a marching band 

1070
01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:46,800
roll, Marines, band, playing 
somebody playing a postman's 

1071
01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:50,800
horn, It was, it was very, it 
was, it was an interesting sort 

1072
01:05:50,800 --> 01:05:53,100
of Music serious music, variety 
thing. 

1073
01:05:53,100 --> 01:05:56,500
And I suppose one sad thing 
actually this year, because it's

1074
01:05:56,500 --> 01:05:59,900
Harry's Centenary. 
Yeah, isn't in September and 

1075
01:06:00,600 --> 01:06:04,200
it's a sad thing is that. 
Nobody seems to be taking his 

1076
01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:06,200
serious stuff. 
Seriously, if you see what I 

1077
01:06:06,200 --> 01:06:07,800
mean, I've not really heard much
about. 

1078
01:06:08,200 --> 01:06:10,700
You know, there's not be like 
ass interior, he's repressing of

1079
01:06:10,700 --> 01:06:12,500
some of his best albums or 
anything like that. 

1080
01:06:12,600 --> 01:06:14,300
I think he was the first to 
record. 

1081
01:06:14,600 --> 01:06:17,700
Nessun Dorma professionally. 
I believe he was the first ever.

1082
01:06:18,000 --> 01:06:21,200
Dozens record a crime that that 
particular to be long before 

1083
01:06:21,200 --> 01:06:25,300
Pavarotti. 
So there's none of that sort of 

1084
01:06:25,300 --> 01:06:28,400
thing. 
But so to seen Harry Seeker at 

1085
01:06:28,400 --> 01:06:31,400
his best doing that and I think 
few years later, I saw him in 

1086
01:06:31,400 --> 01:06:36,900
Pickwick as well, but he was 
doing just doing some really 

1087
01:06:36,900 --> 01:06:41,100
nice little bits of comedy and 
just being Harry and it's great 

1088
01:06:41,100 --> 01:06:42,700
fun. 
And after the show, I went 

1089
01:06:42,700 --> 01:06:47,400
backstage hoping to get in and 
discovered to my horror that my 

1090
01:06:47,400 --> 01:06:50,000
dad and Stirred already beat me 
to it though. 

1091
01:06:50,000 --> 01:06:54,000
They were there with Harry 
chattering away and then eat 

1092
01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:59,600
then, I walked in and he was out
on my own findings and I had a 

1093
01:06:59,607 --> 01:07:05,700
copy of his his script for last 
gunshot halt, which I can't 

1094
01:07:05,700 --> 01:07:07,900
remember how I got it. 
Probably threw the gun show 

1095
01:07:07,900 --> 01:07:11,700
preservation Society in, it was 
just a photostat copy, but he 

1096
01:07:11,700 --> 01:07:13,700
signed it. 
So, I've got got a copy of that 

1097
01:07:13,700 --> 01:07:17,600
and sign my my VHS cover of the 
Lagoon Cheval. 

1098
01:07:17,900 --> 01:07:21,600
And and had a brief chat really,
they didn't really have time to 

1099
01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:27,800
ask him about anything. 
Ghoulish, looks at its we could 

1100
01:07:27,800 --> 01:07:32,600
we could go on talking for hours
but just for we sort of wrap up.

1101
01:07:32,800 --> 01:07:34,400
Do you have a particular 
favorite? 

1102
01:07:34,400 --> 01:07:37,000
You mentioned the optimists is 
pretty much your favorite 

1103
01:07:37,000 --> 01:07:38,200
sellers film. 
Do you have a particular 

1104
01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:40,500
favorite goon show? 
Yes. 

1105
01:07:40,500 --> 01:07:44,200
I, I would have to say, Lucky 
Strikes, Britain. 

1106
01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:49,400
I mean to pick one, you know, 
but that that once To Echo more 

1107
01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:52,200
and more because it was one of 
the first I tried to put put 

1108
01:07:52,200 --> 01:07:55,800
together as a college production
at one point. 

1109
01:07:55,800 --> 01:07:58,100
Never it never happened. 
Never came to buy a copy of the 

1110
01:07:58,100 --> 01:08:01,500
script so it's it's it's one. 
I've listened to an awful lot 

1111
01:08:01,500 --> 01:08:02,900
night. 
I do love that one. 

1112
01:08:03,800 --> 01:08:05,700
Quite topical as well as in it 
at the moment. 

1113
01:08:05,700 --> 01:08:07,800
Yes. 
Anyway so yeah. 

1114
01:08:08,600 --> 01:08:10,400
Great. 
So so and what are your plans 

1115
01:08:10,400 --> 01:08:13,300
for the next few months in terms
of 2022? 

1116
01:08:13,600 --> 01:08:16,200
What have you got planned in a 
couple of weeks? 

1117
01:08:16,200 --> 01:08:21,000
If all is well, Working to plan.
I fly up to Tokyo for the to 

1118
01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:24,399
work with a friend on the 
Paralympics is the first thing. 

1119
01:08:24,399 --> 01:08:30,000
But when I get back, so in 
September, we hopefully start 

1120
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:36,700
rehearsals for the resource 
restart of our tour of the the 

1121
01:08:36,700 --> 01:08:40,000
Navy lock, which is another 
classic BBC Radio comedy. 

1122
01:08:40,500 --> 01:08:44,100
In fact, the longest running BBC
Radio, comedy ran for 18 years 

1123
01:08:44,200 --> 01:08:55,200
and that kind of we Started with
that in 2020, 19 and stalled in 

1124
01:08:55,200 --> 01:08:58,300
2020. 
In fact, we came offstage in the

1125
01:08:58,300 --> 01:09:00,700
interval of our final show in 
Liverpool to find that. 

1126
01:09:01,100 --> 01:09:03,500
The be heard the news that all 
the theaters have been closed in

1127
01:09:03,500 --> 01:09:05,700
the West End. 
So it was a bit, right? 

1128
01:09:05,700 --> 01:09:08,000
It's inserting to go back on and
do that. 

1129
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:10,000
But we had a great, great fun 
doing that. 

1130
01:09:10,000 --> 01:09:14,300
So we're returning to the tour 
of the Navy lock and I'm playing

1131
01:09:14,300 --> 01:09:17,700
Dennis Price in this particular 
one. 

1132
01:09:17,899 --> 01:09:19,500
So, wonderful. 
Dennis Price? 

1133
01:09:19,700 --> 01:09:21,899
Yeah, fantastic actor. 
One of my favorite actors, 

1134
01:09:21,899 --> 01:09:24,200
British actors here. 
Thank you so much for inviting 

1135
01:09:24,200 --> 01:09:25,300
me. 
It's been, it's been nice to 

1136
01:09:25,300 --> 01:09:28,899
reminisce about meeting the, the
various members of the Green 

1137
01:09:28,899 --> 01:09:32,500
Team and, and Performing those 
amazing shows, you know, live on

1138
01:09:32,500 --> 01:09:35,600
stage. 
Thanks again to Richard and 

1139
01:09:35,600 --> 01:09:37,899
thank you for listening. 
I hope you enjoyed it today. 

1140
01:09:38,200 --> 01:09:41,899
Please rate and review on 
iTunes, give us lots of nice, 

1141
01:09:41,899 --> 01:09:45,100
five star ratings, and all that 
sort of stuff, because it does, 

1142
01:09:45,100 --> 01:09:47,800
as I keep banging on about, it 
does really help. 

1143
01:09:47,899 --> 01:09:50,100
Help in terms of promoting the 
podcast. 

1144
01:09:50,200 --> 01:09:52,300
Also, just to Echo what Richard 
said earlier. 

1145
01:09:52,300 --> 01:09:56,000
About the game, show 
preservation Society, absolutely

1146
01:09:56,000 --> 01:10:00,000
be a please do follow them on 
Twitter there at the jsps. 

1147
01:10:00,300 --> 01:10:05,700
They also have a Facebook group 
so please check them out. 

1148
01:10:05,900 --> 01:10:10,400
I'll be back next time with a 
Peter Sellers focused episode. 

1149
01:10:10,600 --> 01:10:12,500
Thanks for listening and by
