Goon Pod

Broadcast on Channel 4 on 2nd December 1985, The Last Laugh Before TV-am was Spike Milligan’s attempt to bring his particular vein of humour to a new generation... although little about it suggested that Milligan had changed his approach since the early Q series. The show assembled a familiar Milligan blend of sketches, visual jokes, corpsing, unfinished ideas and rehearsed improvisation. The recently late Chris Langham, Emil Wolk and a young Mark Steel were among the supporting performers, while the alternative circus group Ra-Ra Zoo added an appropriately offbeat physical dimension to the show. There were also, because Spike, the Royal Corgis. Creaky old comedy sketch stand-by Mastermind saw Milligan as Magnusson, another routine had the Queen as a bit of cardboard and a third featured a banana down some underpants. A library skit featured some language which caused the entire edifice to sway as if ready to go down with all hands (Herbert Kretzmer, reviewing the show, considered this “pure, distilled Milligan”, arguing that the joke was driven by Spike's contempt for what he regarded as the absurdities of censorship. Hmmm.) Joining Tyler this week to chew over this oddity and discuss the wider television landscape at the time is podcaster, author and broadcaster Ben Baker.

Field Marshals are queuing up to draw their pensions – it’s the first time they ever really wanted to go to the front. But Gunner Ned Seagoon, former Ablutions Orderly at Alamein, has other ways of making a mint. He’s writing his memoirs and reckons they’ll earn him a fortune. For – shock horror – they reveal the truth about the hygiene of the General Staff and the secrets of the military laundry. Written by himself and Maurice Wiltshire, this was the last Goon Show script Larry Stephens ever worked on (he died the following month) and although it has its moments it rarely rises above the average. Tyler and returning guest Andy Bell talk about its highlights and lowlights, the career of Maurice Wiltshire and whether More Goon Show Scripts should be on the school curriculum.

An annual tradition dating back to the year the Titanic went down – a useful metaphor to describe some of the subsequent acts who sank without trace – the Royal Variety Performance brings together entertainers from around the world to perform in front of faintly bored members of the Royal Family for charity. Arguably the most memorable and significant show was in 1963, when a group from Liverpool took to the stage and belted out four numbers for the Queen Mum. This was the height of Beatlemania, yet John, Paul, George and Ringo were still sufficiently awed by the occasion that John’s well-rehearsed spontaneous quip about jewellery was delivered with a rather nervous, impish grin. Harry Secombe bookended the television coverage and also appeared on stage with the cast of Pickwick , wearing a bald wig so wrinkled and skew-whiff that it looked like a piece of ham on the turn with barbershop sweepings. He also closed the show with a joke about the Fab Four that nearly brought the house down. And speaking of ham, Pinky and Perky showed up too. The likes of Steptoe & Son (including Paul’s future grandfather), Marlene Dietrich and Eric Sykes are still remembered today, but whither Susan Maughan, Los Paraguayos and Buddy Greco in the public’s collective memory? Certainly, Goon Pod listeners will be familiar with the work of Flanders & Swann, Tommy Steele and even – gah! – Charlie Drake, but how many of them recall Dickie Henderson? Steven Cockcroft, erstwhile co-host of Nothing Is Real , describes the event as the ‘British Ed Sullivan Show’, introducing a much wider audience at home to the Beatles and giving them a rather sanitised look at what all the fuss was about. As one viewer wrote in a letter to The Daily Mail : “It was possible, for once, to hear as well as see the Beatles. What a pleasant change to be able to hear the celebrated Mersey Sound without the inevitable accompaniment of adolescent hysteria that passes weirdly these days.” Join Tyler and Steven as they navigate this bloated extravaganza of singers, funsters, jugglers and dancers. Fans of Elvis Costello may want to tune in too for some shameless name-dropping and his familial connection to the show.

The first half of the 1970s was not a particularly fruitful period for Peter Sellers, at least in terms of critical and commercial success. He made a slew of films which failed to take off or, in some cases, weren't even released. Some of his worst films date from this period, chiefly the execrable Where Does It Hurt? , which we previously covered on Goon Pod with Paul Litchfield and Jeremy Limb . Those two return this week to tackle Sellers' 1974 wartime 'comedy' Soft Beds, Hard Battles , in which he takes on six roles – an elderly French General, a gung-ho British Major, a sinister Gestapo officer, a Japanese Prince, the President of France and, er, Adolf Hitler. While not as bad as Where Does It Hurt? (few things are), SBHB is a bit of a slog, an attempt by the Boulting Brothers to cash in on the then-vogue for sex comedies without fully committing, while weighing the film down with ill-judged set-pieces such as a group of German officers farting, belching and dying. It was during the production that Sellers embarked upon a six-week romance with Liza Minnelli, which was front-page news and rather got in the way of filming. An unhappy affair all round, the Boultings ended up losing a lot of money, the film was generally panned and didn't do much business at the box office. Join Jeremy, Paul and Tyler as they try to make sense of it all!

This week, special guest Richard Moore joins Tyler for what we're going to call Sellers & Milligan Mixtape . Richard has pulled together a number of rarities and curios from the recording careers of the two ex-Goons and created a couple of fantasy compilations: Sellers From The Cellars and Miscellaneous Milligan . To try and describe some of these tracks would rather give the game away, so we'll restrict ourselves to saying that some will be familiar to diehard Goons enthusiasts, but we guarantee there'll be a fair few surprises, especially from Spike! There is at least one instance of "What was he THINKING??" , but also a number of toe-tappers and the odd sad song... plus some Muppets, a couple of trips to Wonderland and Milligan channelling Status Quo! Enjoy! (hopefully!)

The Silent Bugler is a good example of Spike Milligan revisiting earlier material, with the later Vintage Goons remake refining rather than reinventing the original. The original story from Series 4 opens with a Cold War setting and digs at Senator McCarthy, Winston Churchill and the world of secret agents before introducing Seagoon as MI5's Agent X2. The Vintage Goons remake necessarily tweaks some of the more topical material. Much of the enjoyment comes from the performances rather than the plot which is a bit confusing and follows X2's mission to thwart a Russian time machine, leading to an adventure involving spies, concerts, mistaken identities, explosions and improbable escapes in typical fashion. Peter Sellers' later portrayal of Willium the ticket inspector is noticeably richer and more developed, while the original Series 4 recording has Sellers corpsing repeatedly. The episode also contains the first use of Bluebottle's immortal line, "Pauses for audience applause... not a sausage" though early Bluebottle is less pleasing to the ear. As with most Goon Shows the storyline is largely incidental, serving as a framework for Spike's imagination and the interplay between the cast. While the Vintage Goons version benefits from more polished performances, some listeners may prefer the original Series 4 recording for its freshness and spontaneity and the fact it was a glimpse of the Goons reaching the peak of their powers in 1954. Tyler and guest Chas Early examine the two shows and look at what was happening in the Goons' world the week the original show aired, including a fascinating tale of Ray Ellington coming to the aid of one of JFK's closest friends.

The wan Don who thinks he’s Don Juan – a Welsh librarian gets the seven-year-itch. This week writer Paul Whitelaw makes his first faltering steps into Goon Pod territory to talk about a favourite film: Only Two Can Play , directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Peter Sellers, Virginia Maskell and Mai Zetterling. Released barely a year before Sellers breasted the tape of international stardom with The Pink Panther , it is a delightfully quirky, darkly amusing tale based on a Kingsley Amis novel. Amis himself got caught up in the filming and was regularly present during the production; he and Sellers became friendly and tried to outdo each other in who could spin the filthiest yarn. This is the film where Sellers was beastly to Virginia Maskell throughout, suggesting she ‘couldn’t act for toffee’ and trying to get her fired. One cannot fault Sellers for his sound judgement, as Maskell went on to win a Bafta for her performance as Jean Lewis, down-trodden wife of the film’s antihero, provincial Welsh librarian John Lewis (Sellers). Lewis has a roving eye and soon gets caught up in a sort-of-affair with an influential councillor’s wife who is amused by him but clearly sees him as a temporary dalliance until someone else comes along. X-rated upon release and addressing issues and themes considered racy for the time, the film was very successful despite Sellers’ insistence that it would be a disaster. The Daily Post wrote: “What will surely be one of the year’s funniest comedies keeps its hero moral by accident… Peter Sellers has provided another rich character study, reflecting not only the hero’s obvious attitudes but the interior life from which they arise. In short, there is reality here as well as wit.” We discuss the film’s origins, the cast (including Richard Attenborough and Kenneth Griffith) and our favourite lines and scenes. Also: Bryan Forbes’ softened screenplay; how Sellers got ‘the voice’; the big deal they made about it in Swansea; Mai Zetterling and MI5; dirty Graham Stark; and the ghastliness of stag wallpaper.

“Caw!” said the crow. “Balls!” said the Milligan. This week, we look at a book that Spike Milligan claimed took either five years - or ten years and fifteen secretaries - to write, and which “damn nearly drove me mad.” But just how much of Spike himself and his life bled into the narrative? And how did a marriage proposal expedite its completion? Puckoon was, for a long time, Spike’s only novel, and it proved both a commercial and critical success. Set in the fictional Irish village of Puckoon, a casually drawn border line places graves, a pub, and even church grounds in British territory. From this spring comic scenarios involving two ragged-arsed IRA men attempting to smuggle explosives past a Customs post in a coffin, the digging up of the late Dan Doonan, and an escaped panther on the prowl. And what of the cast of characters? We meet the hapless Dan Milligan and his “poorly written” legs; the financially desperate Father Rudden; Murphy with the unfeasibly hairy eyebrows; the regulars of The Holy Drinker pub; and the - slightly problematic - Constable Lee Ah Pong. We discuss Spike’s complex relationship with Ireland, despite having spent very little time there, and ask whether Puckoon is a satire on partition, bureaucracy, religion, marriage… or simply the human condition itself. There’s also a look at the novel’s darker undercurrents, including the heartbreaking story of Farmer O’Mara and sequences Spike later regretted destroying. It’s rather like The Goon Show in novel form, with hints of Joyce, Flann O’Brien, and even Hollywood screwball comedy. Join Tyler and voice actor/podcaster David Wills as they try to decide where Puckoon sits among the pantheon of great comic novels in English.

Following on from last week’s conversation with Samira Ahmed about A Hard Day’s Night we continue the Richard Lester theme with a look at his 1967 anti-war satire How I Won the War - a film often lazily regarded as a John Lennon vehicle, but in reality a far stranger, darker, and more ensemble-drivenpiece of cinema. The film stars Michael Crawford as Lieutenant Ernest Goodbody, a hapless officer leading a doomed platoon through a series of absurd and increasingly brutal Second World War missions. Although Lennon features prominently in the film’s marketing, his role as Musketeer Gripweed is supporting rather than central - albeit memorable. We look at why Lennon was used to sell the film, where he was personally and creatively at the time and how his detached, cynical performance fits the film’s tone. Told largely in flashback, the story follows Lieutenant Goodbody recounting his wartime experiences to a cultured German officer after his capture near the Rhine. Missions include the wholly pointless task of setting up a cricket pitch behind enemy lines in North Africa, followed by campaigns through Europe and the final crossing at the Rhine. The platoon is made up of a host of familiar faces, including Roy Kinnear, Ronald Lacey and Lee Montague, with Michael Hordern almost stealing the film as Colonel Grapple, still fighting World War One in his head. Novelist Adam Leslie joins Tyler to talk about HIWTW, discussing the film’s class commentary, British fascism and why the film was poorly received on release despite later reassessments. Adam is also the man behind both the Goon Pod feem choon and logo – cheers Adam! (This episode was originally published in January 2026 as part of Goon Pod Film Club, the Patreon subscription feed)

Writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed joins Tyler this week to talk about her new book on A Hard Day’s Night and its roots in the world of the Goons, from the Fred shows to The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film. Also: Richard Lester’s creative vision and Alun Owen’s pitch-perfect script Why Beatlemania was distinctly black and white and how the film mirrors this Wilfrid Brambell – and why the film wouldn't be the same without him. Ringo and David Janson Favourite scenes: from the ad agency to John & Millie Deleted scenes The women of A Hard Day's Night and why the film avoided stereotypes that would later creep into Help! Recasting ideas Ringo’s odd line delivery The disposable TV culture at the time Those intriguing unmade Beatles films And… was Paul Rodney Bewes to John’s Tom Courtenay? A celebration of a film that's every bit as fresh, funny and ground-breaking today as it was in 1964. Samira’s podcast Through the Square Window can be found HERE: https://squarewindow.co.uk/

Join us as we march off to war wearing squeaky socks and woolly underpants, before surrendering to the twisted logic of Spike Milligan (“better looking than Peter Sellers”). This show, one of the highlights of the Goon Show’s eighth series and released on BBC LP in 1981, has a plot of sorts: 1917 and England is at war, France is at war, while Eccles is at lunch. Grytpype and Moriarty sell German army shares to Neddie. They claim that the Germans are bound to win any war they enter. Seagoon discovers to his horror that the Germans are losing, but Major Bloodnok sells Seagoon 10,000 unused 1904 calendars. The plan is to drop the calendars on England by zeppelin, making the English think the war hasn’t even started, therefore giving the Germans an advantage. However, the British drop 1918 calendars on Berlin, and the Germans capitulate. There’s a lot more to it than that and joining Tyler to ‘rifle’through it is Graeme Lindsay-Foot, man of a thousand voices and motorcar enthusiast. That said, he can’t hold a torch to the late Peter Sellers, whose obsession with the horseless carriage they also examine this week, as well as singing the praises of the sound effects chaps, querying quite why Secombe got given six characters to voice and asking whether this could possibly be one of Spike’s greatest performances of his career.

"He's only got to lift his leg and he'll drown 50 kids!" This week: Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World , a 1973 British family comedy in which an Old English Sheepdog accidentally drinks an experimental growth formula and raises the woof! Leading the cast is Jim Dale as Jeff Eldon, an animal psychologist at a NATO research facility; when Spike Milligan (playing a shameless German stereotype) moves in next door he is all for having him impounded as he mistakenly believes Jeff thinks he is a dog. It's part Disney family adventure, part monster movie parody and utterly British. Did we forget to mention that other cast members include Angela Douglas, Norman Rossington, John Bluthal and Victor Spinetti? There’s also a cucumber the size of a bus, a mischievous chimp and a wonderful scene set in a roadside café. Plus we ask: did Dulux pay for the outrageous product-placement? Do the special effects hold up? And why wasn’t Jim Dale a bigger star in Britain? Joining Tyler is Graham Rinaldi, film writer and academic and huge Bowie fan, and please feel free to join in the Bowie drinking game as we discuss this fine film.

"Round the back for the old cherry brandy!" Recorded in New York on 6 August 1963, this satirical comedy album brought together Peter Sellers, Anthony Newley, Joan Collins, Leslie Bricusse, Daniel Massey and Michael Lipton at the height of the Profumo Affair. The midnight session accommodated Newley and Massey, whose Broadway shows had only just finished. The idea had been conceived less than two weeks earlier while Newley and Bricusse were holidaying in Montauk and they were keen to capitalise on Britain's appetite for political satire. The recording became a celebrity gathering, attracting around 100 guests including Vivien Leigh, Sammy Davis Jr., Roddy McDowall and Peter Lawford. By 2am, according to one witness, Sellers and Newley were sharing Scotch from a thermos while cigarette smoke filled the studio. The entire session was completed in just three hours. They rushed to release the album before public interest in the Profumo scandal faded but some record labels - notably Decca - were sniffy about its content, with mockery of the Royal Family a particular point of contention. Sellers responded: "Only a prude could possibly be offended by it." The BBC banned it from radio play, although excerpts had appeared on television. Contemporary reviews ranged from praise to outrage, reflecting the record's deliberately provocative humour. The album remains a fascinating snapshot of Britain's early-1960s satire boom, when comedians and performers increasingly challenged the deference traditionally shown to politicians, celebrities and public institutions. Joining Tyler to talk through the LP is Brett Tremble, who can be found on Bluesky @agnes-guano.bsky.social

This week we look at Invasion Quartet (1961), one of the most significant, if forgotten, films in Spike Milligan's career. Set in a military convalescent hospital on the English south coast during 1942, the story follows three disabled service officers and an ageing military veteran who decide to launch their own private invasion of occupied France to destroy a German super-gun known as "Big Hermann", whose shelling is disrupting both the war effort and their cricket matches. The result is a whimsical wartime adventure that one hack at the time described as "a skit on The Guns of Navarone ." The film was made shortly after Spike signed a contract with MGM's British subsidiary, soon after the Oscar nomination of The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film . Invasion Quartet was part of MGM British's first production slate under Lawrence P. Bachmann, alongside future hits such as Village of the Damned and Murder She Said . While those films became major successes and spawned sequels, Invasion Quartet was one of the few productions that failed to make much impact at the box office. The cast included Bill Travers, John Le Mesurier, Grégoire Aslan, Millicent Martin and Maurice Denham, with Eric Sykes appearing briefly as a German soldier. Spike himself later dismissed the picture as "desperately unfunny" and often lamented his lack of success in films. It did, however, result in at least one happy outcome for the Milligan family... Although Invasion Quartet quickly disappeared from view, it offers a fascinating glimpse of a period when British cinema attempted to turn Spike Milligan into a mainstream film star - and failed. Joining Tyler this week is John Hewer of Hambledon Productions, who are soon to hit the stage with a brand new production of The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town. John discusses this in the show and details can be found here: https://hambledonproductions.com/phantomraspberryblower/

“I don’t find myself funny… it came as a surprise to me that I didn’t really learn anything by watching myself.” In June 1969 BBC2 broadcast a documentary in which comedian and writer Marty Feldman tried to discover the essence of comedy by speaking with some of its leading lights such as Eric Morecambe, Dudley Moore, Denis Norden and... Peter Sellers. According to a critic on The Daily Mirror: “Given the low state of comedy on the box right now – well, there’s Father, Dear Father and The Gnomes of Dulwich to name triers; but no Till Death and no Steptoe – a high-flyer like Marty might have chosen to show us how it’s done. He could have played a few bad jokes off against his writing partner Mr Barry Took (who was present and correct), batted them about, and come up with an extemporary routine or two. But no. Marty was sold on contradiction.” Ignore that grump. The programme was a thoughtful, leisurely exercise in getting to the nub of of a very knotty topic where Marty philosophised and sometimes agonised while smoking a seemingly endless chain of cigarettes. From a bleak fairground in Margate via a kids' Punch & Judy show, a textile factory run by an ex-radio ventriloquist and a smoky jazz bar to a railway station in Henley where Peter Sellers was filming The Magic Christian, Marty never faltered in his pursuit of the truth: What is comedy? Joining Tyler to talk about the programme and in particular the very revealing bits with Sellers is returning guest and podcaster Jon Auty. They also look at the early career of Marty Feldman and a couple of Spike Milligan TV appearances. You can watch the programme on YT here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0it6iARj64&t=1907s Behind The Stunts: https://www.youtube.com/@behindthestunts

It's 75 years since the first Goon Show (billed as Crazy People) was broadcast and to mark the occasion Tyler welcomes listeners from all over the world - Ian Richards, Colleen Dawson, Martin Eggleston, Fred Velez, Colin Fee and Ted Webb - to share their Goon Show stories and memories in a special episode. Topics include where they first discovered the show, the importance of Harry Secombe, the show's legacy, favourite music in the show, how it has directly impacted on their lives, obscure references, favourite episodes, what 'lost' episode would they like to hear, best guests, Michael Bentine's role and so much more. It's a riotous 90 minutes of people trying to get a word in!

"Now, Neddie… what experience have you had in translating ancient scripts? " - "Three years with Ray’s A Laugh." What do the Piltdown Man, a calculating canine, Norwich Castle Museum and a one-eyed cat peeping in a sea food store all have to do with this week's show? Listen as we discuss The Missing Scroll from Series 5 and offer a fascinating and in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the making of a Goon Show from this period. Neddie Seagoon is recruited by antique dealer Grytpype-Thynne to help recover a lost Babylonian manuscript containing ancient music for which the BBC Home Service are offering a reward. Seagoon travels to Mesopotamia, where he is abandoned in the desert by Willium but rescued by Eccles who accompanies him on his quest. Their search takes them to an antique shop run by Minnie and Henry, where confusion reigns and Seagoon learns the manuscript was discarded on a dust-heap at Sidi Rosaic. Can he recover the scroll in time? We also eavesdrop on a conversation taking place on a bus from Oldham and hear live from a revolutionary new type of prison. Joining Tyler from the USA is performer and Goon enthusiast Brian Phillips.

It’s 1972 and Dick Emery - once described as "a fugitive from The Goon Show" - is one of the most popular comedians on television. His show is a regular ratings-topper, featuring a cast of comic grotesques – toothy vicars, leering jezebels, cats-bum-mouthed frumps and camp as Christmas extroverts. With the success in the early seventies of the On The Buses films and other sitcom-to-big-screen transitions it was perhaps inevitable that Dick would make a movie, one that would showcase many of his best-loved characters, plus introduce one or two new ones. “Ooh… You Are Awful” (named after the ubiquitous catchphrase of his easily-confused slattern Mandy) concerns conmen Charlie Tully and Reggie Peek, who fleece a couple of Italian worthies for £500,000 and are about to hop on a plane to Switzerland until Charlie is arrested for trying to pull a stupid con on a pair of witless Americans in the airport lounge. Banged up for six months, Charlie finally emerges from prison and is about to be told by Reggie the bank account details when the latter is murdered by local villain Sid Sabbath for having it away with his sister. There follows a farcical sequence of events involving the Mafia, several Emery disguises, an exploding milk bottle and a lot of women’s bums. Yes, seriously. Joining Tyler are two-thirds of The Trap – Jeremy Limb & Paul Litchfield – for a loud, rambunctious journey through a film which the two have previously covered for one of their Film Commentaries - https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTrapComedy/posts Warning: contains language that would make Hetty swoon!

This week we're discussing Peter Sellers' only directorial feature, Mr Topaze from 1961. Sellers plays Albert Topaze, an earnest, impoverished schoolteacher in provincial France whose rigid honesty ultimately proves his undoing. He teaches under the status-obsessed headmaster Muche (Leo McKern) and is in love with Muche’s daughter Ernestine (Billie Whitelaw). Living modestly with his colleague and friend Tamise (Michael Gough), Topaze supplements his income through private tutoring. His integrity leads to his dismissal when he refuses to falsify a report, leaving him vulnerable to manipulation. He is soon drawn into the orbit of the glamorous Suzy Courtois (Nadia Gray) and her corrupt associate Castel Benac (Herbert Lom), who install him as the front for their fraudulent business dealings. Initially oblivious, Topaze is horrified when he learns the truth, but agrees to continue in order to protect Suzy. Joining Tyler this week to chat about the film's background, themes and ultimate re-evaluation after decades languishing in obscurity is Vic Pratt of the BFI https://www.bfi.org.uk/profile/vic-pratt

“Their gags are paralysing. Sometimes the director has to let everybody have five minutes’ rest, so that we can laugh the laughs out.” (Pamela Thomas, supporting cast) In 1956 a short film was released which with hindsight was probably the most successful Goon Show celluloid transfer, despite only featuring two-thirds of the team. Ironically, it wasn't even intended for theatre release but a lack of interest by US television networks nixed any further forays so it ended up as a cinematic supporting feature. The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn (an early working title was The Yard Has Three Feet) starred Peter Sellers as Superintendent Quilt and Spike Milligan as Sgt Brown plus honorary Goon Dick Emery as Nodule, a museum curator. All three appear in multiple guises, including Sellers as Henry Crun, Milligan as Eccles and Emery as Maurice Ponque. Joining Tyler this week to talk about the background to the film, including the revelation that it sprang from The Adventures of Robin Hood on television and that Harry Secombe's absence could at least be partly laid at the door of Jimmy Grafton, is returning guest Chris Diamond.