Now we have a bonus point going here for a bonus mark by the
team who said this. There are so many who use you to
get publicity. That ugly bastard Roaring
McGraw, and you can print that because that's putting it
mildly. Every week he rips us to pieces.
I am serious about what I do. I can sing, I can write songs
and I work bloody hard at it. Whereas Rory McGraw is just a
prick. Rory, Rory, Barbara Cartland's
last words, They were poshpies. Poshpies.
You got a bonus point for that. Can I just say how upset I was
for that? In fact I've been so upset posh
since you said that, that I haven't been able to eat.
Oh you know I think she's. I think she's.
It's like when kids at playground, you know that and
you throw stones at the girl you like.
I think she. I think so.
Yeah. I definitely.
When someone calls you an ugly bastard in a prick, I think.
Hello. You like move over, David.
Hello and welcome to Goon Pod. Starting 2024 with a guest who
as you heard Victoria Beckham probably fancies so my guest.
And by the way that's the 1st and no doubt the last time that
Victoria Beckham will get mentioned on Goombod I really
handle. Sure Hilda Baker of course.
Rita Webb in jubitably but the Beckham?
Nah, as well said. My guest is Rory McGrath, and
Rory was an incredibly warm and entertaining chap to spend an
hour also nattering away too. He's a big fan of the goons, but
you know, we focused a lot on his career and some of those
he's worked with in a career spanning nearly 50 years.
One thing before we kick off Now this podcast doesn't tend to shy
away from robust language, but we don't necessarily make it a
feature. I suspect that there may be some
sections of the listenership who don't think that a lot of
swearing is big or clever. I may be wrong, I just.
I just wanted to point out that Rory enjoys the odd swear word
and peppering his chat with a little bit of Anglo-Saxon.
And the The only reason I bring it up is that he does at one
point talk about an encounter that he had with Frankie Howard,
which is pretty hair raising and possibly could offend a few
listeners. It's around the 47 minute mark.
I don't want to come across as that guy, but I felt I ought to
include this little caution right at the outset, just in
case people don't want to hear that sort of thing.
Anyway, here's Rory. Welcome to Goon Pod.
Rory, thank you. It's an honor.
The goons, I don't know if you know this, but the goons alone
were the were. The Goon Show was the program
that got me interested in comedy and writing comedy.
I mean, I hadn't it hadn't crossed my mind that I would do
that and I was at a school in Cornwall.
It's all very out of the way play.
So we're actually a town called Redruth, which is a really
amazing place to live in in the 1890s.
But unfortunately I was born in 1956, so and it things had moved
backwards I think since then. But anyway, I was friends with
this guy called Bob Pugh who's actually now called Bob
Sinfield. He changed his name and he's,
he's a presenter on the Jazz Presenter and he's an actor,
very funny bloke, first bloke I ever wrote a sketch with and he
bought this record that's a piece of vinyl.
You know what record is? You know, I know you're younger
than me, but I bet you know what a record is.
Oh, yes, you know. And it was called, it was 2 good
shows, One was called The China Story and one was called the
Mccreaky Rising of 54. Catfit or something, 7474.
Well done. You know, I listened to this
absolutely. And I've never heard anything
like this before. This was, it was chaos.
It was it. Not anarchy.
And then now listening back, it sounds tame and silly, but the
energy of it and the sort of violence of it and the verbal
trickery was, was was really, it sounded shocking.
I said God, even when I listen to it now, I think, my God, this
is unbroadcastable. It's so rude, but it actually
don't actually say anything rude.
It's all implications, but I remember, you know.
What? You know the Mccreaky Rising
episode. Did you did you notice anything
particularly unusual about that particular episode, The Mick
Rick? I can't remember if I did, no.
Because that, because I always think that was a ridiculous
episode to put on an LP because Spike wasn't there.
Peter was doing Spike's voices as well as.
I know he never knew. That's a great good knowledge,
Tyler. Good knowledge, man.
I will like that, not.
OK. But you yeah, obviously you
still you first heard them on an LP what that like you say that
just encourage you to pick up a problem.
They would. Then I knew that he said that
they were actually being replayed on radio.
So I listened to every average, you know, there was this has
been what when there's been 1960, how old would I have been
then Sort of about 666566. So they're going out being
repeated on Radio 4 or I don't think.
They think it was the home service.
I think it was Radio 4 by then. I listen to them all.
I really. I remember listening to them
because my parents didn't like me listening to it for some
reason. I used to listen to it on the
radio under my bedclothes, you know?
I mean, what innocence for innocent days when you know you
you listen to the radio under your bed clothes?
You're you're in good company because your your good friend
Peter Cook did exactly the same thing at Radley.
When under the bedclothes, he would listen to the Goon Show
and when it was being put up originally, you know, that
seemed. Kind of.
I'm touched by that because as you know, I didn't know Peter
really well and I think we ever discussed that.
That's The funny thing. But Peter Cook that he has the
same sort of had the same sort of energetic anarchy There's
something you know always slightly dangerous and what's he
going to say next you know what we and and when you listen to
what Derek and Clive was obviously deliberately crude but
even you know the you know his characters in in not only but
also very dangerous edgy sort of surreal sort of thing.
And I think the Goon Show, Peter Cook, that sort of Monty Python
when that came along was very much the was in the same ilk.
I think you're probably fed up with hearing this because
everyone must say this, but the same sort of chaotic anarchy and
sort of slight edginess, you know, of the of Monty Python
with exactly what the Goon Show was like.
So I actually started on the Goon Show and then the same
friend, Bob Sinfield, Bob Pugh, as he was said, well, if you
like this, you should listen a radio program called I'm sorry,
I read that again, which I hadn't heard of.
So I started listening to that and I thought, this is, this is
great because this is like a modern sort of sketchy version
of of the Goon Show. The Goon Show purported to have
a, you know, a weekly story as you know, as Rambling and Kartik
as it was. But this is radio sketch and I
thought, this is fantastic, this, this is great, you know.
And then then I found Round the Horn, which was also being
repeated because that that had been on earlier.
And so the Goon Show, I'm sorry that again.
And Round the Horn influenced me so much.
I mean, I did. I did love that.
There's something about the way I think, particularly Graham
Garden. I think he wrote a great garden.
Oddly, I think wrote most of them very similar verbal sort of
verbal trickery that Milligan was so good at.
I I think Graham Garden, I always say this on this podcast.
Whenever Graham Garden comes up, I always say he was the funniest
one of that group. Yeah, I think he's funnier than
Cleese, actually. You.
Know I think he's very good. And he was.
He did. I remember him doing a few.
He's still with us. Graham's.
And if they all I know who died. Timber Taylor died recently,
didn't he? And yes, and Graham Chapman who
was in who did a few. I'm sorry, didn't he?
I think. He did.
And you worked with. I'm gonna.
I was gonna talk about this later.
But you'd worked with Tim and Graham on Black.
Cinderella Two goes East. Predict the radio Bantamite it
was it was normally a an ex Footlights pantomime anyone
involved in Footlights which meant we had we had Peter Cook
and I think Rob Buckman I think we're playing the ugly sisters I
can't remember but we that was and Tim Brook I was no Tim Brook
was Tim Brook Taylor might be an ugly suit.
Well, I know that Bill Oddie didn't like it because we kept
referring to them as Timothea and Gardini.
I think the sisters were and and Billardi.
The characters called and Billardi and and he he got very
grumpy about that. Well, Tim, Tim used to do.
I would. I would imagine Tim wouldn't be
one of the ugly sisters because he always did that Lady
Constance voice. Didn't he?
He would, yes, that's right. He was.
That's. Just quickly just go back to
Peter Cook and we'll probably talk about him again later.
But just on the goons and and his relationship with the goons
you say you never discussed in your you know you can't remember
ever talking about the Goon I. Remember ever talking about
that? He when he was still at school
in the 50s, he sent a kind of a proto or a sort of a pseudo goon
show script into the BBC, OK, And it and somehow or other
landed on Spike Milligan's desk. And although I think he wrote a
polite letter, sort of politely declining it for for use, if you
know what I mean. He invited Peter for lunch and
it would have been 1957. So young Peter Cook went and had
lunch with Spike Milligan and wouldn't you have loved to have
been there? So can you have like, that's a
great story. Yeah, that's very I I work, I
was on AI, was on a show, a weird show that David Frost was
doing it. It was awful.
Can you believe that? I think it was going out
simultaneously live in Australia and Britain.
I can't remember what it was, what we were doing a sketch on
it and me, and I think it might have me and Jimmy Moore might
have been doing a sketch on it. And the spike, Milligan was on
it interesting and he was sort of, I was sort of walking up and
down the corridor outside the city trying to learn my lines
and Spike walked past. He said I thought this is
amazing and I could. I was going because I thought it
was great coming from him, you know, the famously neurotic
warrior. Yeah.
That was it was all like that was my entire, you know, you
know, afterwards I thought, well, I mustn't think I must
come and speak to Spike. But he disappeared after his
interview. And so by the time we done
asked, he had gone. But I you know, that's one of
those moments. I think damn, if only.
Yeah, it's interesting. I noticed you.
So you said the goons and you said I'm sorry, and you said
round the horn with big influences.
What about Hancock? Yeah I like Hancock.
I mean it's interesting Hancock. Hancock is was funny as the
radio show was great. I liked it and he was sort of a
distillation with that of of that sort of Englishman and that
in that in those days you know that sort of bluff a bit like
Mannering and he's sort of incompetent but pompous you know
and I love the writing that that was gotten Simpson wasn't I
present wrote that I presume and it was that was that was very
different it was an influence in in in I liked him.
I didn't say it's influenced me but that writing was you know
and you see it in Step 2 and son as well that sort of really it's
as real as it could be. You know very boring mundane
situations and we're with funny character with sort of engaging
or not laughable characters in. But it's fun.
I should say that because when I first got into the idea that I
wanted to write so you know I wrote the sketch for the school
Review and when, you know having absorbed all these influences
and I started watching television differently, I like
we'd watch. I start watching it and I want
the first credit I want to see was who wrote it.
You know as I said so it's Goldman Simpson or Wolf and
Chesney or Esmond and Larby or all those you know famous names
from that time you know and and that was what was obsessing
myself looked and you then you know Golden Simpson wrote that
and wrote that and Wolf and Chesney wrote that and that you
know and Esmond and Lavi wrote that and and you saw these names
you know coming up all the time and and I thought so actually I
assumed that you had to write in a partnership and I did most of
my sketch writing with with somebody else.
You know Jimmy Melville off no Clive Anderson.
Martin Bergman later and And the thing about going back to the
Bob Sinfield, and I'm sorry that again I said to Bob, I said,
look, who are these people? You know, I've never, you know,
they're not they're not sort of comedians like you'd see on, you
know. You know tell me a joke or the
comedians that stand. They're not they.
They're sort of the something quite, you know.
He said, oh, they're all graduates from Cambridge.
They're in the Footlights. And I said, you know, we're
living in Cornwall in the 1890s. I know the 1950s as I was.
You don't know how to work. What's Footlights?
Oh, it's Footlights. It's a it's a comedy club in
Cambridge and I thought wow that's interesting.
And and in my naivety well first I thought Cambridge must be in
London because when you live in Cornwall you think anything
beyond Plymouth is in London you know so that you know so I'm
looking on the map and thought God Cambridge is it's not it's
it's it's well it's well outside London.
You know it's amazing. But in my naivety I thought what
you needed to do to do that sort of work was to go to Cambridge
and join the Footlights. And so I just about scraped the
A levels needed went to Cambridge and I remember the the
the I don't know if you know they have a big fair for the
first years the freshers as they call when all the societies have
their stores as societies fair. And I went straight to the
Footlights and there was a man on the Footlights store wearing
a kilt a sort of thinning blonde bloke who turns out to be Clive
Anderson who was the then president.
And I said what do you want. And I said oh hello my name is
Roy McGrath and I'm from Emmanuel at college and I want
to be. He said what do you want to do.
He said I want to be a writer, Clive said.
I mean, just just the very job for you here.
He gave me a piece of paper and a pen.
Write your name and a college on that piece of paper and give it
to me and I'll throw it in the bin.
That's how it started, right. And I thought, oh, fuck him, you
know, and he's wearing a kilt, you know, he's obviously not
Scotsman. So I actually didn't.
I I went off Footlights and were in my college.
There was AI was speaking to some people and they said, oh,
I'm interested in. I went to the foot.
I didn't. I'm not really interested in
Footlights anymore because it's obviously run by twats, so.
Clive Anderson could have prevented you from getting into
comedy. Yeah, yeah, he regrets.
He knows the story well and he says I hear he regrets that he
wasn't harder on me. He apologizes to showbiz and I
was these people said to me in asking around college.
I said we've got somebody in college who's he's head of the
ADC that's the amateur dramatic club and he's been in Footlights
and he's in all the theaters societies.
And I said he's, he says he's a guy called Griff Reese Jones.
And I thought, oh I'll go and see him.
So I went round with a friend of mine went and after 4 halls
we're looking really like pillocks wearing our gowns and
shirt and tie and knocked on the Griff's door And this surprising
it was nothing like what I expected.
Huge sort of Donovan type long black hair and it was quite
short which surprised me and actually and said oh hello we're
here to talk about Footlights. You know what You know we came
in and sat down and I noticed there was an empty whiskey
bottle lying on the floor and that's a long time ago for Griff
and he said what the fuck do you want to join Footlights for
terrible. And I think in in that sort of
in sort of mid 70s, punk was taking off and there was an
energy in the youth which wasn't Cambridge blokes and striking
Blazers and boaters singing songs about, you know, how you
know how bad the Labour government is, you know, things
like that. And so Footlights actually,
sorry, I didn't mean to go on about Footlights so much, but it
seemed to sort of be in abeyance for a while.
It was kept on going by Chris Keakley who was a who was a
northern biochemist from Sydney Sussex College who just about
kept it going and he handed the presidency to Jimmy Melville who
was a I've got to know through a mutual friend in in in my
college very well. And Jimmy and I used to hang out
all the time and I I got on well with him because he was, he was
a sort of, you know, that the risk of being problematically
racist. He was a typical Scouser, you
know, very, very fast talk and you know, and what a joke, you
know, always, you know, quite aggressive and, you know, you
know, very frontal to people, very, you know, he didn't, you
know, very insulting and in a very amusing way.
And this, this, this tickled me greatly, you know, You stupid
bastard. You got me killed and wrote off
an 80 grand Porsche Carrera. Is it happening in slow motion,
like you're bloody driving? Hey, we got on very well.
So Footlights was held together by me and Jimmy and we managed
to do a review which was directed by Douglas Adams, of
all people. And that was called Kick in the
Stalls, I think, which I wrote for.
I wasn't in it, but I remember it's been talking about Douglas
a lot lately because he's just, there's been a book I don't even
heard of it called 42, which is a compilation of all his stuff.
And I remember that in the program note, I wrote the
program notes for people who was in it, you know, trying to be
funny and who'd written it. But Douglas said I wasn't
allowed to write my own program notes as one of the writers, so
he said he'd write it. And I remember he wrote with a
picture of me looking very hairy and beardy as I was in those
days. And Douglas wrote and on the
eighth day God said what the fuck And created Rory McGrath.
So which I which I know people it it's it.
I'm so. I mean Douglas went on to be
world famous, as you know and so I've.
I'm extremely flattered by that and I've still got the program
somewhere I think. Sorry my phone is still.
I'll put it on silently. That's all right.
I was, I was going to come to this later but you've mentioned
Jimmy Mulville now and I know that there was a time when you
the two of you were a bit distant, but I but you've come
come back together and in recent years ago we told.
Him. We'd come back together.
Well, we had a we had a falling out I think is the polite way of
putting it. And didn't speak for a long
time. And then we both turned 60 and
thought let's talk, talk again. And we're now, we're really good
friends now. I mean it was you know it's been
a joy and we got on exactly the same way.
Obviously our our lives has gone slightly different ways but you
know it's it's instantly when we decided to either we'd begin and
bury the hatchet and not in each other's heads.
It was it was it was great joy. It was just like it was like
rediscovering if you like Kimmy from For new again.
You know, it was just like the old times and instantly we were
taking the piss out of people and and really annoying people
and amusing each other at other people's expense in front of
them. And the the, the sort of the
foot, the impetus for it came on Jimmy's 60th birthday when he
got me Clive. Well, he wanted it to be me, Me,
Clive Griff. Peter Fincham, Yeah.
And I thought this would be awkward because it's basically
the first time I'd have spoken to Jimmy in about 20 years or
however many. I can't remember how many years
was 17 years. And so I said to him, I said,
Jim, I said, listen, we need to meet before the dinner because
it, you know, we can't have all those elephants in the room
wandering around at once. We're going to have to get rid
of one of them. So we met in a pub beforehand.
He wasn't drinking then. He hasn't drunk for a long time.
I was drinking, I have drunk for a long time and we we just said,
I said, you know, I'm sorry to do this, but I just didn't
think, given what's happened between us.
I can't. And we had a lovely chat.
Quite emotional. I think that's the word of the
day, isn't that emotional? We got emotional.
We was, well, emotional and we went to the to the back, to the
to the room, whether well we joined the others in the room.
We're having dinner and it was just hilarious.
It was, you know, in fact it was stopped at one point.
My Griff, it was the usual butt of our, our jokes.
He suddenly said. Fucking hell, I preferred it
when they weren't speaking to each other.
A very irritable man. Griffey's Jazz.
He does good irrit. Yeah.
Irritability he does. I first saw you again, back to
Jimmy. I probably think I would have
first seen you on Who Dares Wins.
Now I as you may have guessed from my accent, I wasn't born in
this country. I'm from New Zealand originally.
I thought you're from New Zealand and in fact I was going
to wait for a bit longer before I said oh you're from New
Zealand because I didn't want to do that thing of of saying, oh
he's he's definitely Australian or from New Zealand.
And I I think I can actually hear the difference.
And I thought, I, you know, it's New Zealand.
I yeah, I normally find that if you, if you go in New Zealand
first, that people are happier because if you're from New
Zealand, they like it. And if they're Australian, then
they sort of, well, that's not too bad, you know, it's, you
know, but if you do it the other way around, it's worse.
It's like calling Canadians Americans, you know, if you call
an American a Canadian, you know, if you call an American a
Canadian, they they love it. But it doesn't work the other
way around. I've had South African, I've had
all sorts over the years. You're not South African.
No. But who dares wins was was a
real. I mean, I would.
I was a teenager in the 80s, so in 80 when it's that 84, so 85,
yes, about. Then.
So I would have been, I would have been about 10/11/12, maybe
a bit older and and I absolutely loved it.
But I knew I couldn't. I couldn't watch it when my dad
was around, you know, because it was a bit, it was a bit naughty,
it was a bit crude, he said. Bonking a lot, I seem to.
Remember. Yeah, Bonking was the word at
the time. Yeah.
My memory is that there was a lot of opportunities for Tony
Robinson to strip naked. Well, the.
Best Tony he was. Well, we worked this sketch
which we, which I think we'd originally done on radio on a
radio series. It's called Injury Time for the
BBC, Which Jimmy is Me. Jimmy Who came and the girls.
It was me, Jimmy. Julia Hills probably yeah.
And Bob Bathurst and Martin Bergman I think.
God, I can't remember who did in juju.
But anyway we've written this sketch about two Taylors which
now would be would be considered anti-Semitic because it was me
and Jimmy playing these two. So East End Jewish dailers, you
know, and I don't think we could do it now.
And the idea was that they were the people who made the suit for
the emperor. And so we needed, you know.
And when we direct, it's easier on radio because you say, oh,
emperor, emperor, The suit is looking lovely.
It's looking lovely. Look at, oh, look at that.
And the emperor saying don't, it feels a bit light to me.
It's a material. You know, we thought I said to,
I said to when we're doing who does wins.
I said to Andy Hamilton, the producer.
I said we should do that sketch that we did on radio, that the
Emperor's New Clothes sketch, you know, the Sturgeon Brothers
And. And he said, well, we're going
to need someone excite all the clothes because we agreed it
would only work. There's no point in pretending
it only work if someone was happy.
And dear old Tony, Sir Tony as we now call him, he'd say I
didn't mind and they asked you, it's it's my, I'm an actor and
he was always reminding us he was an actor and we weren't and
you know, nakedness, it's just another costume.
He said it's just another costume.
I'm glad he did it superbly. He did just walk out stalkers in
the studio and of course the audience.
What the sketch always works after that Because you can't
really. You've got off to a very good
start, you know? It's a lovely color.
Beautiful color. Yeah, this is lovely.
But Pink's a bit summary, isn't it?
Well, that's the clever thing. You see in the winter.
It turns blue. But is it me?
It's definitely you With Hopkins, Yes.
I'm not sure my wife will like it.
And she's paying for it. It's it's a birthday suit.
Cash, cash, All Visa. Mr. Hopkins.
There's a hole in it. Look, that's a button.
We, we we do take checks as well.
It's got a bit of fluff in it. Isn't that always the way?
I bet it's blue. What's that?
That dangly thing down there? That piece of sartorial whimsy?
Exactly. I have something similar on one
of my suits and any smaller they look ridiculous.
I don't think I like it. I'm sorry.
I'll cut it off. I loved them.
I loved Who Deals with. I love the theme tune.
Best theme music ever. That's the old thing.
Yeah, I know Phil Pope wrote that and my who I've worked with
a lot musically, you know, it's great tune.
You know it was who dares wins the three.
It was going to be a song, but the instrumental sounded so
good. Yeah, Phil is too talented.
This is my thing about Phil. He's too talented to be
successful. I mean, he has had, you know,
quite, you know, considerable success.
But he's too good a musician. He's a brilliant pianist.
He's a brilliant singer. He's a brilliant composer.
He's a brilliant arranger. He's a fantastic impressionist.
He's a really good mimic and he's a great actor, you know,
he. But yeah, I think just one of
the I said, Phil, choose one of those things and you'll be world
famous. Yet, well, he's not not well
enough known. You know, the the public at
large think if they think of who dares wins or if they think of
even Chelmsford 123, they think of you and Jimmy.
They don't necessarily think of Phillip Pope.
Do you know what? When when I did, I did a musical
tour with Phil. We were just going out, just the
two of us, with our guitars, singing my obscene songs.
That what, what, what? People know him mostly as the
guy in Only Fools and Horses. Yes.
Yeah. Sing the the the Tony, Tony
Rome. What's he called?
Like Tony Romero or something, Something like that, yes.
And it it it can't promote his art, You know he.
He's also. He has to sing.
Rosemary is the song he has to sing, and he can't pronounce his
arse rose. Also know him from Blackadder's
Christmas. Yeah, he played.
Did he played Leonardo da Vinci or something?
Ah, well, actually he So he's in back at his Christmas Carol as
Lord Nelson. It's possible, yeah.
And he was also in Blackouted 2 as Leonardo Acropolis.
Yeah. Yes, I am a genius.
Well, the most famous portrait painter in England.
Mr. Leonardo Acropolis. Right.
Are you any good? No, I am a Jane Neo.
Well you better be or you're dead.
One of the funniest things I have the most crazy things I've
done. But this this is a this is a
lovely lovely event. I I was doing this radio show
about about languages, about minority languages because I you
know, I'm very interested in languages did languages at uni
etcetera and it was ostensibly about Cornish, which is a nearly
dead language. Well it is virtually dead.
It's in comatose language I think it is And this radio
producer wanted to do a program about minority languages.
So languages which are threatened or minority like
Britain in France and the Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Ease or
Frisian, all these will say me and all these sort of European
languages which are just clinging on.
And while I was doing this the producer had come across this
event called The Sun's Europe. I can't remember what Sun stands
for, but it's the Eurovision Song Contest for minority
languages And so he said, wouldn't it be great addition to
the program? It's only Half hour radio
documentary. If you write a song in Cornish
or you write a song kind of translated into Cornish and we
get you into this thing. And I I had an old song line,
quite a serious song quite a pretty tune apparently which I
had translated into Cornish by by someone this professor they
found in Cornwall. And I said to Phil, Phil, dear,
do you want to come to Udine for a long weekend?
It's North Italy, just north of Venice, where they speak
Friulian. It's their minority language,
which is not Italian, very similar, not Venetian, which is
also different from Italian, but not Friulian.
So. And it's a wire.
So we're taking part in the minority languages Eurovision
Song Contest and we're singing with a Cornish entry and so, So
Phil, my Phil and myself, Phil was playing keyboards and
recorder, not at the same time we had a girl who was production
assistant playing cello and me on the guitar and we sang this,
this song which came respectable about half.
I think we're about fifth out of 10 people, but it was a huge
audience about 4000 people in this huge concert hall in Udine.
It's the biggest, biggest crowd ever had.
They're coming on singing this, this this coolest song, you
know, it's the most surreal thing ever.
And and. Of course, no one would have
known who you and Phil were. I guess, don't you know, they
didn't have no clue. So, and it was peculiar.
So we were the Russian judge, bless her, gave us full mark.
She said, you know they marked you out of each one out of 10.
And the only 10 we got was from the Russian judge who said I
thought this song was very beautiful, but you know, it was
too short. We will need more, more music
from you. It's beautiful song but too
short. Otherwise you ought to win.
I'll take that to my great brilliant.
I've done lots of peculiar things, you know, which I've got
to do, you know, from being on I mainly for who does not who does
wins. Yes.
And they think it's all over. Which which was ludicrously
because it was the the first sports program which was taking
the piss out of sports programs. It was enormously, it took off
in a way that none of us predicted.
And it's been, you know, followed.
Can I? Yeah.
I'll be honest with you, I I I'm not a sporty person.
I'm from New Zealand, but I'm not interested in sport.
I don't even follow football or cricket or rugby or anything
like that. OK.
So I used to you know because in the 90s you you couldn't move
for comedy panel shows on TV, could you They were the ones
that there were loads that of nearly rands but there were the
there was a sort of the three or four that survived.
There was there was that they they think it's all over.
There was obviously I think the one that sparked off have I got
news for you Buzz Cocks. And.
But, but, but so I never really, because I'm really not into
sport. I never really watched.
They think it's all over. But yeah, I mean, you were huge.
I mean your profile was huge back then in.
Fact you know I I didn't take it very seriously that I mean it's
and I think that's I didn't really sort of you know and they
say you know if the door opens for you you know keep your foot
in it I was because I think I think the most famous I've felt
if that's if that's a true thing was when we toured who does wins
we did two UK tours with the stage show based on all the best
bits including Tony coming on stage naked and that was you
know I was talking to Julia Hills about it the other day and
she said it was like being rock stars because and then people
knew the everyone knew the sketches you know the panda
sketches and you know the emperor's new clothes they they
they almost they just couldn't wait to they're here now
everybody knew the words except for Tony Robinson of course you
can never remember any of them but yeah.
What they think, they think it's all over.
I seem to remember there was some kind.
Was there some mild controversy when Lee Hurst left?
Like, do you know what? I can't remember What?
I don't know why Lee left. I I think it was.
I think he got fed up with it. I don't.
I don't think he was he wasn't pushed as far as I can remember.
There may have been a quite hard to work with we got on very well
but and I, you know we were on the same side as it were but I
had production people say he's quite exact thing to work for.
He liked, he likes to do things his way, you know?
Do you still keep in contact? I haven't seen.
I saw him last year. It was earlier on this year we
did a celebrity pointless. Was it pointless?
Yeah yeah. Celebrity pointless.
Which we came second in you know anyway.
But no he's great. He's and I like he.
He is. He's a one off Lee.
I tell you what he's as a stand up he is he's he's so unlike any
other stand up you see nowadays. You know that because it's my
mind stand ups got very predictable and it's strangely
safe. You know, I'm not shocked by
anything stand up say, and I want to be shocked.
I want them to say something I hadn't thought of or something
that hasn't been said. But there seems to be a sort of,
I don't know how what you'd call it but there seems to be a risk
aversion with comedy nowadays that people are too frightened
and let apart from the usual quite safe targets.
You know, it seems to be yes. I think safe and I don't.
I don't think I always wanted to comedy to be offensive but now
giving offence is, you know, well should I say taking offence
is a sort of national pastime that it's very hard for for
comedians to you know, to say. Because some of the things we
did on Who dares wins or you know some of the things we said
on they think it's all over. It was, yeah, outrageous.
And you just couldn't, I'd like, you know, feel a sportsman and
it's, you know, a woman in the bikini and, you know, it's it's
just the idea of two men with blindfolds on, you know, trying
to guess the identity of, you know, a pom pom girl.
You know it. I don't think it.
I don't think it would. It would manage it nowadays, you
know, go back to the goons. That's what I when I heard the
Goon Show first, I thought I was hearing violence, obscenity,
chaos and you know and sort of sedition.
That's what it felt like. Even though if you examine the
individual words there was just something about it which is this
is crazy. You know this is dangerous and
but it's probably to our to our sort of modern era it's quite
twig in a way. There's a there's a there's a
tradition in writing for radio because they were, which has
gone right through to the present day because I'm still, I
still keep in touch with a lot of the writers who do.
I'm sorry I haven't a clue which is, you know, which is a sort of
that sort of it's a sort of national institution in the way.
I'm sorry, I'll read that again. Never was.
You know I said I'm sorry and people don't know really why
it's called. I'm sorry.
When it first took off when it was Humphrey Littleton and
they're allowed to talk about Samantha.
You know it was I mean it's highly how intensely scripted
show but but that doesn't come across because you know of the
guests but but Barry crying was all my heroes.
Barry Cryer, I think Barry Cryer is, he's one of those people
that we're talking about, Peter Cook and an anarchists in.
Barry Cryer, even though he, you know, he was a, you know, sort
of gag slave to every show. You know, if you needed a good
comic head on it, he got very crying because he knew every
joke in the world. But he was also very anarchic.
He just, he didn't know every joke in the world, Barry.
And he was, it's similar to Peter Cook.
He was loved by the young people, people coming into the
even though Barry Cry was an old man that he would, he actually,
he clicked with young people, as did Peter Cook all the time, you
know, because he is something a bit sort of timeless and ageless
and and still anarchic. About Barry Cryer, I remember,
you know, and I was, you know, in a pub with him once and said,
you know, Barry, you know when when I was a little boy looking
at comedy on television, I'd see your name or a script editor or
a script writer, You're on Joker's Wild, you know, telling
Gags. You know it's it's.
Smoking, Smoking in, yeah. That's right.
He did smoke. Yeah, he did a smoke all the
time. He said.
He said, oh, no, Rory, no, I'm not me.
No, actually, what you don't realize Rory is they put me on
any old show, you see, and I'm basically crap, you know, I'm
crap Mr. Crap. That's what I call this.
I'm Mr. Crap because I do any old crap, you know.
And I thought, well, that's, I think you're putting yourself
down there. And he'd just been about a year
later. I was he, he'd just been, he'd
been at some ceremony, the only one on the ward.
He might even got an AB or something.
I can't remember what it was. But he was coming back to the
offices where we worked and we were going to the pub and he, he
was, you know quite chuffed to have got this award, whatever it
was. And I, he came in the pub and I
said to him, Mr. Crap, what can I get you to drink?
And he said it's Lord crap to you was excellent.
Yeah. Putney Bridge.
Cleveland St. Harold and Wheelston, Angel.
Pimlico congestion. Yeah, yeah, Pimlico.
No, no, no, no. No.
No, no, no, no. It's only just outside, yes.
Yeah. But it was the new standard.
Living syndromes Forfeit. Forfeit.
Yes. Yeah.
Who said it anyway? Barry it.
Sounded very like Barry. Barry said it.
Yeah, Yeah. No, it wasn't Barry.
You in Kerry forfeit. It's like the Dreyfus case all
over again. This is terrible.
You in Kerry forfeit. Got off that time, didn't you?
You see that? You see.
You see that bottle of water in front of you?
Will you take a large swig out of it?
Oh, no. Oh.
Often wondered what it tasted like.
David Quantic described Barry Cryer as being he said he was
unique in that he wasn't frightened of the younger comics
like so many of his. Generation, maybe that's what it
is. Yeah.
He embraced that. You know, he likes seeing new
comics and they like singing. Yeah.
Now he's very, very funny. Did he ever tell you that story?
Barry cried. Did he ever tell you that story
about when he spoke to Marilyn Monroe?
It was in the 50s. It was when she was.
Was she in the UK filming The Prince and the Showgirl, I think
with Laurence Olivier and Barry had some job in A film
production office or something like that.
And he was manning the phones and she phoned up to speak to
somebody in the office and Barry took the call and the guy that
she wanted to speak to wasn't wasn't available immediately.
So Barry had to sort of do small talk with her for about 3
minutes on the phone and he he was dining out in that story up
to the day he died I think. I knew the 1st, I know he was.
He tells the story about the first time he worked and I think
it was probably Yorkshire television or something, because
he's from Leeds, isn't he? He was, he was filling in during
the recording breaks of a chat show and Noël Coward was the
guest and you know, he was always talking about that
meeting Noël Coward in his early days.
And Barry was great and full of anecdotes, of course.
When I was, when I first started working with Frankie Howard,
yeah, it's my first professional job at the university, actually,
I got a job at the BBC as a house writer, which meant you
had to write for any shows that were going.
And the first thing that was coming up, you know, was the
Franken variety show, which is a, you know, as it was a variety
of comedians, singers, bands, you know, and what links from
Franken monologue to kick it off and then links all the way
through and ending one along. And it was a baptism of fire in
many ways because he was quite a difficult man to work, very
suspicious of new people, you know, he.
But he hated Gotham. Simpson.
When he they used to write for him.
They said they still get nowhere.
And then when we joined me and Jimmy and Clive and Griff, he
was also when he got Simpson, you know, not these young
people. They're rubbish.
Did he chase you around his dressing room at all?
Yeah. And he, he did invite me.
I went to this story is in the public domain, so I don't think
he, he rang me up in the office and said I'm not happy about his
script. I said, what do you mean Frank,
The script, I'm not happy about it.
I need to speak to you about it. And I thought, this is odd
because we hadn't actually sent him the script for that week,
you know, And I said we haven't actually sent you the script yet
because we haven't finished it. And me and Jimmy are in the
office going. He said, no, no, no, no, no.
I don't mean that script. I mean, I want to talk to you
about the way the show is going. And I thought I said, well,
we're only in in Broadcasting House.
And he was in somewhere in Mayfair.
I said, well, come on. No, no, no, no, no, no, Jimmy.
Just you. And I thought, actually, I
didn't think, oh, fuck. What does this mean?
I thought, OK. And Jimmy was delighted.
So, yeah, great. You go.
You know. And then he locked me in this
room. He locked the office door in
Robert Stigwood's office. It was.
He worked for Robert Stigwood organization in the.
I don't have to throw Stigwood. He was big briefly, wasn't he
Was the biggest thing. It was.
Frank. He was in the Robert Stigwood
production or produced film. Sergeant Pepper.
Yeah, Sergeant Pepper's film. Yes, abysmal it was.
That gives outgoing, wasn't it? I mean, you took looking at one
of the biggest Beatles fans in the world and that was just
bafflingly bad, doesn't it? You think?
How could if they tried to make it bad, it wouldn't have been as
bad as that. Anyway, So Frankie, how I bet to
cut a Long story short, offered me a vodka and tonic.
You know, only it's about 2:00 in the afternoon.
I thought, this is good, you know, And the only bottle of
vodka. But a bottle of smirn of
unopened and a bottle of tonic is in the swept tonic water.
There you go. And I said, you said, what's
wrong, that you did some vodka and tonic.
I said yeah, yeah, I did. And that's a bottle of vodka and
that's atomic water. I simply got a glass or
everything as well. I don't mind opening it, you
know. But yeah, I need a bottle
opener, you know. So I poured myself this vodka, a
tiny bit of tonic in it, and I was drinking this singing very
this is great. And I was looking out onto
Bruton. I said Bruton Street or on the
streets some one of those flash places in in Mayfair.
And I'm thinking look, what can these people go past?
And here I am in Robert Stigma's office with a with a quintuple
and tonic and these people are just going about their lives.
And as I was looking at Frankie said, well you should be doing
this for me. And I turned around and he had
his Dick out and was playing with himself and I thought, no,
you're right, Frank, you carry on so now and I just didn't want
to do and I thought I think it was quite looking, but I think
it was quite frightened. Even though it's become such a
comic, you know, every time I tell us what it gets, it becomes
sort of comic. More like I tell it to my wife
who was in you know, who's in. It was in social work and and
child protection. You know this is this is
nowadays You know he'd be in jail and you would be in
counseling and you know he would you'd be given to see any about
that you know I thought he's just filthy old man and but I
remember looking out the window and said no Frank you carry on.
I'll let me know when you finish.
You said I'm gonna help me I'll be quicker and I thought oh the
people walking past and I'm thinking how do what mind do I
do now to get this and you're Frankie Howard household me up
Pompei and everything. He's having a wink behind me can
can. I don't know.
I can't. That is an unmindable.
Thing those. Those American Pows in Vietnam,
blinking out messages to the folks back home.
That, yeah, that's a great. Yeah.
I never thought about that. I don't think.
I think I would think. But the point about this story
is that I was, you know, and he's Frank.
He was, I'm sorry about. I don't know, I'm just being
very depressed lately, you know, I just couldn't wait to get out.
And I didn't want to tell him because I felt quite ashamed
being a good Catholic boy. I thought it was my fault and
I'd done something very bad, you know and I because it did cross
my mind. I smashed the bottle of vodka
over his head because but then you think the story comes out
you know national treasure Frankie Howard attacked by gay
drunken scriptwriter rent boy we had great.
I mean after that we had, I think, I hate to use the
expression the with that cleared the air, you know, because that
probably isn't the right expression.
But we got on very and we just took the piss out and you know,
I remember he took, he took me and Jimmy out to the restaurant
once after the show and it was the White Elephant Club.
It is a big club owned by Ray Allington of the Goon Show.
He was his club and Railington had his band, was the the house
band and met him and that was great for me because I thought
that's Israeling. They used to be this, you know,
really now racist jokes about me.
And I I was just by this, you know, and I thought, God, this
is great. But Frankie, Frankie called me
and Jimmy Pseudo Bohemians. He said, you're not.
You think you're bohemians, but you're not.
No, you're not top of bohemians. You're pseudo bohemians.
That's where you pretend you're bohemian, but you're not just
pseudo bohemians. And we thought that'd be if we
ever, if we ever made a rock band, we'd call ourselves a
pseudo bohemian. That's a great rock band.
You know, it's heavy metal, isn't it?
So And we said, well, didn't we have a clue what he's talking
about? But he said there's a bet for
you snog each other. And I said, what do you mean
snog each other on? You think you're so daring and
snob gone snog each other. And this is in the middle of a
very crowded restaurant. And I looked at Jiminy and I
could tell in Jimmy's eyes that, yeah, we're going to do this.
And Jimmy had this huge tonguey snog.
He was absolutely terrified. He's looking, I think I don't
want this to get out. But Jimmy, not one very.
I was disappointed, actually. Jimmy's kissing.
Did he get beard rash? It was.
I think Jimmy used to smoke cigars in those days, so you
know, she doesn't end anymore. But I think, yeah, no, sure.
Sorry. We seem to have gone off with
weird tensions. Yeah, well, right again with
Jimmy Chelmsford 123. Just want to mention that
because I went to live. I live with my uncle for a
couple of years in the early 90s and I don't think Chelmsford 123
made it as far as New Zealand. But when I came over to Belfast
with my uncle, he my uncle was, you know, he's quite old.
He was, you know, in his 60s or whatever, but then, but he had
this real love of what I would call comedy that you wouldn't
expect 60 something meant to enjoy.
He loved alternative comedy and he loved comedy like he loved, I
mean he loved Black Arrow, which is fine, you know, it's quite
mainstream, but still. But he had stuff recorded, all
sorts of stuff recorded that you wouldn't expect, you know.
And he, he had all of Chelmsford 123 and that's where I first saw
it and really enjoyed it. And I know that you because one
of my previous guests on this has been Barnaby Eaton Jones,
and I know he's been involved in bringing it back.
Oh dear. But yes, they seek him here.
They seek him there. Yeah, Barnaby's great.
He's been great. He's done a couple of podcasts
with us. Actually don't know what
happened to them, but I had to rewrite it for him.
He probably told you this that, you know, I he wanted to do it
as a podcast and I I've Kimmy said, oh, that's great.
Yeah, Rory can rewrite it, you know, for, for the for.
We can't call it radio because podcast as you know, not radio.
They're audio. So I thought and I thought,
yeah, I don't mind doing that I'd be good fun because you know
I had all the scripts and had all recordings, so but boy what
a difficult. I thought it was so visual.
It's like we deliberately gone as visual as we could and I'm
you know I'm my like going back to the influences of I'm sorry
in the Goon Show I suddenly was writing this radio show and
that's and I really enjoyed it. It was very hard work but I
think the result was very good and it but it it was nice to be
back you know writing verbal stuff you know little and
putting new gags in. It was really, and without Jimmy
there saying I don't do that, it was great.
Of course, I guess you would cause Howard Lou Lewis would
have died by then so. Sadly, yeah, we couldn't.
And his part was done by Barnaby and Jones, in fact.
Oh yeah, there we go. And he he also did Wolf Bane,
the Welsh Alchemist, which had been played by Jeffrey Mcgiven
brilliantly on telly. I thought he was very funny.
Was he? He did it well, just for some
reason. I don't know why Jeff did it
that way. He just turned up for the, you
know, for the read through and did it.
So I thought, like, that's all. Or this is the most deadly
portion. And they just say, yeah, leave
it like that, right, Wolf fame. This is what I want.
Whoa. Your best purple world and
plenty of it. I want to strike the fear of God
into these people. And I want the jawbone of a huge
wolf open with its Fang showing for me to wear around my neck as
I charge in a battle. Oh yeah, or a shield.
A big shield with a human skull nailed to it, still dripping
with blood. No honeysuckle bath oil.
Then honeysuckle bath oil soaks away those unwanted aches and
pains. I do not want any bath oil.
All right, Acorn flapjacks, What a nutty little snack.
Just give us what we asked for. You snot faced Silurian.
And who the hell do you think you are?
They call me Mungo the Forgetful.
Why is that? Why is what we met Neil Pearson,
who played Mungo? And somebody said, oh, there's
this new actor. He's very young, but he's, you
know, he's making a bit of a stir on the West or whatever he
was doing, called Neil, Neil Pearson.
And with only, you know, get him to read for Mungo.
And so we had all the Mungo scenes there, mainly with me bad
rock. And so we got Neil, he came in
and he looked, you know, it's very sort of not cocky but you
know self very polite, self assured.
And I said to him now Neil we can do, yeah, through all these
scenes, but we'll do a few, you know.
So I'm going to give you these and if you want to go away for
half an hour into the into the green room, whatever, go through
it, you know. And he said no, no, no, I don't
want to do that. And I said, oh right, do you
want to read through them first? He said no, no, no.
I said, well, you know, it's, it's, it's bit, it's the
character sort of this cheeky, smart ass chap.
Yeah, yeah, that'd be fine. And I thought, oh, and I thought
Jim and I looked at each other and think, oh fucking hell, you
know, who is? Who does this guy think he is?
And so we did every scene and he was just absolutely perfect.
It was like, and he had, it was unseen.
He hadn't already had no way he could have seen before.
And he the timing was brilliant. The accent was right, understood
me and, you know, played around a bit with the character and we
said if you want it, it's yours, mate.
And that was it. That's the shortest audition I
think I've ever been involved in.
And that was before Drop the dead donkey wasn't it for?
Him. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Because they're.
They're going, Yeah. Well, he's such a reliable
actor. Neil, a very interesting bloke
as well. He's a very amusing and very
learned bloke. He's into into rare books.
He's making his money out of now.
Oh. Yes, yeah, I've read that
somewhere. Michael Bolland, who's head of
channel comedy at Channel 4, he wanted us to come after who does
wins. He said he wants you to.
He wanted just as me and Jimmy to come up with a sitcom and we
had three ideas. I can't remember what the first
one was. That's what we like best.
I can't remember. The second one was that was the
one I like second best. And we also had half a page of
of notes about the Roman occupation in Britain, like a
sitcom Britain versus you know, which classic sort of, you know,
tough. Yeah, working class thing.
And we were going to have Griffin, Melanie, Mel playing
bad rock and Griff playing the Rome.
And that was written. It was written with those in
mind. So Jimmy's character, Alice
Paulinas would have been Griffin, mine would have been
Mel. That's why when I do Bedrock, I
was always try to do it like Mel Smith would have done it.
You know that's what we had there is that's that's why I
just that's why I decided to do it like that.
Yeah we took it to to Bolland and he hated the first idea.
I know that's terrible little like that I could see how it
could work. But you know I was Scottish by
doing just don't tell you that. In case you're watching
wondering why I was doing that accent.
It is not stuck very good. And the second one I think no I
don't like this one. What's the other one you've got
And we weren't going to show him this is how is this idea we've
got for Griffin. Mel, it's basically a sort of
traditional sitcom, but it's set in Roman Britain about the the
tensions between the occupying Romans and the and the and the
Britons. No, that's a great idea.
I love that. I said one thing I don't like
about it, though, I suppose that I don't want Griffin Mel in it.
I said why not say, oh, that's BBCI, don't I know you, You and
Jimmy, you do it. That was it.
Brilliant. So it doesn't happen like that
anymore. It's it's 10 years, isn't it?
Since Mel died. Really.
Yeah, and I love the last Smith and Jones.
And I know you wrote quite a bit.
Do you remember any particular sketches that you wrote?
Yeah, I we we we started writing the what we call the head to
heads me and Clive. You know, and Griff has been
telling this story. But when we were there was me
and Clive or me and Jimmy or combination.
You know, Griff had the idea that he wanted, you know, just
two thick people. You know, that basically it was
done on the weekending written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin.
They they had these two sort of cockney keys just making sort of
silly things about you know how bad the world was and all these
immigrants and you know it was just like 2 thick work has been
commenting on the days and you and Griff thought he'd sort of
adapt that to sort of to and he had the idea that it should be.
I mean Griff did have the idea it should be a locked off a
massively close up showing showing their you know their
handsomeness in all its glory. And so Jimmy and I started with
me maybe it's me and Clive I can't remember.
I think Jimmy came in later but we used to A says this.
B says that. A says that, you know, so it's
A, B, A/B, A/B all there. And when we came to sort of read
through Griff, who's saying who's being?
And we thought, well, you do a Griffs, you know, and it just
worked out that if Griff was always doing A, we'd write it in
A in a certain way, knowing it was him.
But originally it was just, he says that the other person says
this, you know, in the, oh, they could swap them around, it
doesn't matter. And then we started to say well
actually we might as well put G&M you know G for Griff, M for
you know does make any difference, but it will do that.
So this went on and then Griff said, sorry Roy, I can't, they
can't say this this line, it's just my character wouldn't say
it. It was the first time we thought
we'd heard they had characters, you know because to us it was
all you say A/B, A/B, MGMG. And so that that that made us
think that maybe there was more to this, you know, and we
actually then did sort of develop it and the characters
did become more rounded because originally it's just you know,
feed line, punchline, punchline, feed line, you know, Mal.
Mal was slightly more intelligent than than Griff in
those head to heads. It's like.
You think, don't you? That's what Griffith say.
That's that old thing, Taylor, that you put your finger on.
That's what people people think. He's the clever one.
But in a sort of, in a sort of sneaky, seditious way.
I am the clever one. Yeah.
Yeah, that's right. That's right.
You're right, mate. You're right.
They were compared. Those head to heads were
compared at the time to Pete and Doug Routine.
I mean, it's very similar. I mean those Pete and Doug pre,
you know, a bit big, Big before Derek and Clive enough.
Derek and Clive. Yeah, very similar.
I mean, and that's a lovely. I mean that it two people
talking to each other in a sort of surreal, stupid way.
Yeah. That's going to be Pete and Dad.
So I love the. I love the comparison.
I mean, I mean, I have worked very hard at my look.
Yeah. Because you think.
I think if you put enough effort into it, I think that what
happens is that is that your clothes say something about you.
Do you know what I mean? Like here comes a scruffy
bastard. In Three Men in a Boat,
obviously you were reunited with Griff.
It's first time we've worked together on the same side of the
camera. Oh, was that?
Yeah, and Griff was very I don't think he enjoyed it that much.
Not having me because he was so used to me, you know.
Well, he knows that you know me being being Clive, taking the
piss out of him because he didn't know whether he wanted
that on camera. But they they had this idea
where I was doing this thing called Grumpy Old Men with a
with a company called Liberty Bell and they had the idea they
do reenact the three men in the boat and Stewart Stewart his
neighbourhood. The producer said, we've got we
want to use this Irish comedian called Dara O'Brien in something
and we've thought wouldn't it be great to do three men in the
boat. And I said well yeah, but who's
who are the other two. And he said, well, I thought you
would be 1 Roy and then you and in Daraa and we'd get another
person. I said, well, I'd never heard
Daraa brain got to him very well, obviously.
And he said, and they said we did only want to know anything
about Butts. And I said, well, the obvious
person would be Griff, you know, he's a, he's he's into sailing,
he's into yacht racing. He's a qualified.
He's done whatever he needs to do to be a a mark, you know, a
whatever they call a ship, ship master or master mayor.
And one of those and they said, oh, do you think he'd do it?
And I I said I'll ring him up. And he said to me, Roy, do we,
do we want to be on screen together, you and me?
I don't think we do, do we, you know?
And I said, well you know, I don't tend not to turn down any
job offers and he's as I assumed you didn't want to do it.
And then, and I said, OK Griff, I'll ring up the producer and
say you're not keen. I didn't, I wasn't keen.
I just haven't decided yet. And so we did it.
And that was, I mean that that used the success of that was
baffling to us all because when we saw the first episode go out,
we went around to the producers, the director's house in in
Richmond, Nice little flat it was.
We'd started in Richmond and he lived there, so it seemed
opposite that we should go there.
And we watched the uncut, you know, a rough cut of the of the
program and with all the production team, there's me and
Dara and Griff sitting at the back of the room.
You know, two of us drinking, one of us not drinking and
people were giggling and laughing and anything.
And Griff, me and Dara sat there, Stony faced, you know,
about 5 minutes for the end. Griff turned to me and said,
this goes out, we're finished. And yet when it went out, it got
such a huge we were just, you know, Dara couldn't believe it
people. Dara's used to complain that you
know he done so much on telly, you know, and he's, you know,
subsequently he's still doing and people still come up to him
say you're the bloke off Freeman in the boat and he sort of, he
can't stand it. I I just wanted to, I wanted to
just finish off if you don't mind just quick question really
because we've we've we've skated around the goons and and we've
talked about Spike of course but I just I meant to ask you at the
beginning you know were you a fan of sellers as well.
It's for me this, I mean it's a good question.
The sellers of the Goon Show is a different is a different
animal almost. Does that make sense?
You know it's just in a I I can separate them and say, oh he's
not the real Peter Sellers though.
Having said that he was in a he was in a what's that film he was
in called Is it the wrong arm of the Lord two way stretch when he
plays, which he was excellent and he played well.
I can't remember what he plays this sort of spivey French.
Yeah that's right. Yeah.
He was you know stuff. Don't you tell you know stuff.
Yeah no it's good in that. But I just, I think, I think
it's probably Clueso, and that's a weird film he did about the
American President. I think it's the Being there
film I'm thinking of. Do you remember?
That, yes. Yeah.
Which I was.
It's a weird film. It didn't really work for me.
It didn't quite. It didn't quite like I couldn't
buy it at all big. Fan.
I'm not a big fan, but OK, well, listen, you've got guests.
I I better let you go. Rory, thank you so much.
I'm sorry, hope you don't think I'm rushing off because I've
really enjoyed talking to you and there's loads of stuff.
I mean, we could do this once a week and we will still not run
out of, you know. I'll take you up on that.
And I'd like to maybe speak to you again in the future, if
that's all right, sometime we could talk.
Yeah, now I've. I've got a big long list of
stuff to bring up, and I don't think we've done yeah, even 1/4
of it. Thanks again to Rory.
So that's it now folks, for month or two maybe, yeah, maybe
two months, something like that. I'm going to take a break as
I've been warning as I've been promising leading up to now.
So I'm looking at probably returning in the spring March
sometime with a new slew, a whole new slew of of episodes
and get back back on track, you know, talk about goon shows,
films, that sort of thing. But also I'm planning on having
some really, really special guests.
I mean, I've had some wonderful guests in the last well, since
Goon Pop began. But in the last year alone,
we've had some wonderful, wonderful guests.
And if any of you are listening, I just want to, you know, thank
you so much from the bottom of my heart.
I'm getting all sentimental now, but, you know, you know who you
are. I'll keep people posted on
movements via social media. And until then, I'd like to play
out this episode actually with earlier Rory was talking about
the song in Cornish that he and Phil Pope came up with and and
he sent me it. It's it's lovely.
Lovely haunting, lilting melody. I'm going to try and pronounce
it. Apologies to any native Cornish
speakers. I don't think there's many of
you out there. It is Canal to Vans and have in
Sitter. Anyway, here it is.
And till we meet again, Tara.