GOON SHOW: TLO 87493
6TH SERIES: No 3
BROADCAST: 4 Oct 1955 [1]
Script by Spike Milligan
GREENSLADE: This is the BBC
Light Programme. Please accept our apologies.
ECCLES: Good, good. Fine, fine,
fine.
GREENSLADE: Ahem. We present the extraordinary,
talking type wireless Goon show.
GRAMS: Old fashioned gramophone record.
SECOMBE: What a divine melody. Greenslade, take up the story lad.
GREENSLADE: Certainement. The story
so far: an old fashioned gramophone record was played, after which a short fat
man remarked, “What a divine melody.” Now, read on.
SECOMBE: Thank you Mister
Greenslade. Go and rehearse the
MILLIGAN:[2] Ho ho ho
lads – ho ho ho! Listen while we tell you a tale. Music lads! Ho ho ho! (Sings) “See them march by ...” [3]
ORCHESTRA: Dramatic oriental introduction. Link to subdued scene setting music
with harp, flute and gong.
GENGHIS KHAN: (Ancient oriental)
When I die, take all the treasures of my kingdom, place them at my feet, then
bury me in some high forgotten mountain. [4]
FX: Gong.
SECOMBE: Those words were spoken by
the Tartar Emperor Genghis Khan as he lay on his death-bed.
ECCLES: Fine, fine, fine.
SELLERS: Yes. (
FX: Gong.
ORCHESTRA: Oriental link – segues into dodgy
eastern style jazz. (Xylophone and saxophone with nanny-goat vibrato.)
GREENSLADE: It was nineteen
twenty-seven, which lasted exactly one year. Late one night within the oriental
exhibits room, young Neddie Seagoon… (double-take)
Young? (sniggers) Heh heh heh heh! (Pardon
me listeners.)
SEAGOON: I'll see you in the yard at
playtime Wal. I'll clout that big fat nut of yours.
ECCLES: Fine, fine, fine.
GREENSLADE: (Clears throat) Ahem… Neddie Seagoon, a young archaeologist, was at
work inside the
SEAGOON: (singing to himself.) Da-da de dee, da yum da-da dee… (Suddenly normal) Yes, I always work
late at the Victoria and Albert. You see for years I'd been searching for the
lost tomb of Genghis Khan. I was unwrapping some ancient Mongolian inscribed
tablets, that I had reason to believe would give me the exact location of the
tomb of Genghis Khan, when… suddenly… at about midnight ...
FX: Door knocker. Two knocks
SEAGOON: Who's there?
FX: Door knocker. Two knocks.
SEAGOON: Anybody else?
FX: Door knocker. Four knocks
SEAGOON: How do you spell it?
FX: Sixteen rapid knocks.
SEAGOON: I've never heard of either
of you.
FX: Door opens.
GRYTPYPE: (Approaching) Good evening.
MORIARTY: Bonsoir.
SEAGOON: Make up your minds.
GRYTPYPE: Pardon the intrusion
little nit. Ahm – I'm afraid we got lost in the fog.[5]
MORIARTY: Yes, is this place St
Leonards?
SEAGOON: No, it belonged to the L.C.C.
GRYTPYPE: What is this place?
SEAGOON: Victoria and Albert.
GRYTPYPE: Oh really, and which one
are you?
SEAGOON: I'm neither.
GRYTPYPE: I'm pleased to meet you.
This is my partner Count Fred Moriarty – the worlds louse ladder champion of nineteen
twenty-seven.[6]
SEAGOON: What do you both want at
this time of night?
MORIARTY: Shut your big pudding
muncher! Silence – this pistol is almost ready to explode.
SEAGOON: You crazy continental louse
ladder champion of nineteen twenty-seven, what do you want?
GRYTPYPE: Draw the curtain Moriarty.
FX: Hurried rustling of
fabric.
GRYTPYPE: (In a low voice) Now then – is there
anyone else in the building apart from you?
SEAGOON: Yes, two others.
GRYTPYPE: What are they doing?
SEAGOON: Holding me up with a
pistol.
MORIARTY: A likely story. Silence!
SEAGOON: What do you want?
GRYTPYPE: Neddie, we want to examine
a parcel of rare Mongolian clay tablets that arrived by air today. [7]
SEAGOON: You're wasting your time. I
won't tell you where that parcel is.
MORIARTY: Oh-ho-ho? I'll give you
something to make you talk. Take THAT!
SEAGOON: A pound note! I'm English –
money won't make me talk. I'll just point. There.
MORIARTY: Mersi. Right, turn round.
SEAGOON: I'm not strong enough.
MORIARTY: Very well, we'll walk
around you.
SEAGOON: Dear listener, even though
I had my back turned to them, I could still see them in a sixteen foot mirror
which I rushed out and bought. I observed them open the rare parcel, take out
the clay tablet, then placing it in separate pockets make to leave.[8]
GRYTPYPE: (Distant) Close your eyes Neddie.
SEAGOON: Right.
FX: Blackjack on punching-bag.
SEAGOON: (Gradually going off mic) Ohoooowwwwooooohh! Awwwwooooohh!
MORIARTY: Dear listeners – the thud
you heard was me striking Seagoon on the head with the heavy side of a
mummified Egyptian piano.
SEAGOON: Oooowwwwooooohh! Struck down.
Oooowwwwooooohh! Struck down in my prime. Oooowwwwooooohh! Oooowwwwooowwoohh! Ow
– struck down… (Going off mic) Oooowwwwooooohh!
GRYTPYPE: Dear listeners – the
groans you hear are those of Ned Seagoon falling unconscious to the ground, (and
hamming it for all he's worth I might say.)
SEAGOON: (Approaching) Lies, lies, lies – all lies dear listener. I'm not
hamming – it's just that I like to give Seagoon fans good value for money. Hahaha!
(Going off mic again) Ohoooowwwwooooohh!
(Close) Apart from that it's good publicity.
(Going off mic again) Ohoooowwwwooooohh!
FX: Door slams.
SEAGOON: They've gone. I must phone
the police.
FX: Dials as he spells.
SEAGOON: P. O. L. I. S… (Ohh! Oh my
head.)
ECCLES: (on phone) Hello?
SEAGOON: Hello – police? I want to
report a lump.
ECCLES: (on phone) Fine, fine, fine.
SEAGOON: What do you mean ‘fine,
fine, fine?’ Constubule, there's been a robbery.
ECCLES: (on phone) A robbery? Anything stolen?
SEAGOON: You see that parcel on the
table?
FX: Door knob rattles. Door opens.
ECCLES: (normal, panting) Yeah, I see it.
SEAGOON: Well, they rifled that.
ECCLES: (on phone) We're on our way round.
GRAMS: Two quick whooshes.
BLOODNOK: (Approaching) Aho! I'm sorry we're late, but I was asleep in
Bedfordshire. I always sleep in beds. Ahhoiho! I'm in condition tonight. Sergeant
Eccles, sharpen your note book. Now sir, tell me all.[9]
SEAGOON: Two men committed a
robbery.
BLOODNOK: Two men, eh. Male or
female?
SEAGOON: I don't know – they were
dressed.
BLOODNOK: What a cunning disguise.
Continue.
SEAGOON: I shall.
BLOODNOK: Thank you. Any money
stolen?
SEAGOON: Yes – a pound note.
BLOODNOK: Why did you steal it?
SEAGOON: I didn't, they took it off
me.
BLOODNOK: Orrgch! This pound note… (Er,
just a moment – may I lay on the couch?) [10] Thank
you. Now, describe that pound note.
SEAGOON: Well, it was valued at a
pound.
BLOODNOK: Tell me more – wonderful
money! Tell me more. This pound note – what colour was it?
SEAGOON: Green.
BLOODNOK: IT’S MINE! Mine was green.
SEAGOON: Inspector. It's not the
pound that was important.
BLOODNOK: Nonsense, any American
will give you six shillings for one. In fact the Bank of England will give you
seven.
SEAGOON: I am concerned with the
very rare, missing Mongolian tablet. You see, that's what they stole.
BLOODNOK: Describe these felons.
SEAGOON: You'll easily find them.
They're carrying a Mongolian clay tablet in their pockets.
BLOODNOK: Splendid! With that description
they won't get far.
ECCLES: Neither will we.
BLOODNOK: Shut up Eccles!
ECCLES: Shut up Eccles!
BLOODNOK: Don't you worry Seagoon –
we shall get them. Remember, we police are always on our toes, (and everyone
else's for that matter). But wait! Who is this approaching in a five piece
cardboard bikini and wearing male falsies? Yes – it's Max English gentleman Gildrung.
MAX GELDRAY – “The Peanut Vendor.” [11]
ORCHESTRA: Oriental theme.
GREENSLADE: The Tomb of Genghis Khan
part two, in which Neddie Seagoon awaits news of an arrest.
SEAGOON: Yes – five days passed,
six, seven, eight, nine, a week, but no news. By now the criminals had almost
given up hope of being caught. Then one night, unable to sleep, I walked
through the fog bound streets of
WILLIUM: (Surprised) Ohhh!
SEAGOON: Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see
you standing in that tree.[12]
WILLIUM: 'Ere, you’re looking for them
two crooks, ain't you mate?
SEAGOON: Yes. Why mate?
WILLIUM: Ooo, I know where they is
mate. Needle nardle noo! They're in
SEAGOON: How do you know mate?
WILLIUM: They left their address for
me to send on this parcel of laundry to 'em mate.
SEAGOON: Ahh. I have an idea mate. (going off) Come with me. I think...
GREENSLADE: While Seagoon is
executing his idea-mates, we go over to Mister Grytpype and Count Moriarty in
GRAMS: Loud bagpipes.
GRYTPYPE: Shut that window mate.
FX: Window being shut.
GRAMS: Bagpipes
stop.
MORIARTY: There, mate.
GRYTPYPE: Thank you. As I was saying
Moriarty, this clay tablet gives the exact location of the Emperors tomb, but as
a precaution I have had the entire inscription tattooed on the back of my false
teeth, just in case the tablet gets lost. By the way, the man who did the
tattooing was Doctor Fred Fu Manchu, Chinese tattooing artist.[13]
MORIARTY: Thank you for telling the
listeners the entire plot. Talking of Doctor Fred Manchu the oriental
tattooist, reminds me – as I was coming through the theatre tonight this parcel
of the laundry just arrived from
GRYTPYPE: Splendid Moriarty. Well,
I'm going to take a bath.
MORIARTY: You English – you're so
brave!
GRYTPYPE: Yes. Now take this gun…
MORIARTY: Yes?
GRYTPYPE: … and if the phone rings
...
MORIARTY: Yes?
GRYTPYPE: … don't hesitate to answer
it.
MORIARTY: Sapristi brains! You think
of everything.
GRYTPYPE: Not everything. Sometimes
I don't think of Aardvarks.
MORIARTY: You mustn't be so
careless. After all Aardvarks never killed anybody.
GRYTPYPE: I don't wish to know that.
(pause) Neither do the audience.[14] Now, open
that parcel.
FX: Unwrapping paper. Continue under.
MORIARTY: Certainement, or if you're
French – certainement.
GRYTPYPE: Merci.
MORIARTY: (Sings) “April in
we found a charlie…”[15]
GRYTPYPE: (Off) Save the brown paper for dinner.
MORIARTY: Certainement. Sapristi! What's
this inside?
SEAGOON: (Approaching) Hands up Count Moriarty, world’s louse ladder champion
nineteen twenty-seven!
MORIARTY: Sapristi, yukka kakka koo!
SEAGOON: Count, this is my friend
Eccles.
ECCLES: Hallo.
SEAGOON: Eccles, this is Count
Moriarty.
MORIARTY: Your humble servant.
SEAGOON: Right! Now hands up again.
Where's that rare tablet?
GRYTPYPE: Neddie, lower that finger!
SEAGOON: (Narrates) In the forty foot mirror I rushed out and bought, I
could see behind me Grytpype-Thynne standing up in the bath. Don't move
Grytpype! Drop that towel.
GRYTPYPE: Right – there!
ECCLES: (Agog) Ooooohh.
GREENSLADE: Ladies and gentlemen,
now you know why this show can never go on television. We will continue with
this delicate scene, if the ladies in the studio audience will kindly put their
hands over their ears. Thank you. [16]
SEAGOON: Right Eccles, keep these
two covered with this flint pistol. I'm going to look for that tablet.
ECCLES: Fine, fine, fine.
SEAGOON: I shan't be long.
FX: Door opening then closing.
(Pause)
ECCLES: (Singing nonchalantly) De daim...
de dum
bie boi...
ya
da doo...
ya
da doo.
Da
dum doo…
GRYTPYPE: So you're the
famous Eccles?
ECCLES: (On guard) Don't move, or I'll blow my brains out!
GRYTPYPE: I'm sorry.
(Pause)
ECCLES: (Sings as before) Da dum…
doi-a
ladadum…
ma
ha dhoei… &c
GRYTPYPE: My, my, my. What a
lovely voice you have.
ECCLES: (Sings) Doi… (Double take)
Eh?
GRYTPYPE: I say – what a lovely
voice you have.
ECCLES: You think so?
GRYTPYPE: Yes I do. Quite beautiful.
ECCLES: Oh. (Clears throat) (Sings full voiced) Lie die...
die
dumma la da die,
oh
ayia-lao-ao-ao-aow…
a
crowded room,
and
somehow you know…[17]
GRYTPYPE: Do you know any
more like that?
ECCLES: Yeah, here's one.
(Sings) Oyi… ooooarrrrum...
a
crowded room...
GRYTPYPE: Eccles, ah – not
quite right. You see, to get the right feeling you must close your eyes.
ECCLES: (Giggling) Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I'm no fool. If I close my eyes, I
won't be able to see you.
GRYTPYPE: (Suddenly very close) Will you miss me?
ECCLES: (Alarmed) Oh here, here, here, here, here, here! Well, listen – if
I close my eyes, I won't be able to see to point the gun at you. Ah, but wait –
you're keeping your eyes open.
GRYTPYPE: Of course.
ECCLES: Ooh, that's easy then. Then
you take the gun, but mind you keep it pointed at you.
GRYTPYPE: Scouts honour.
ECCLES: Now then… (clears throat) Listen to me sing with
my eyes closed. I'll close 'em. There. Hey – it's dark in here.
(sings) “I'm singing in the dark...
Melodies
of love for my old dad...
Play
that crazy saxophone…
Get
that crazy rhythm.
Lover,
come back to me.” [18]
FX: Blackjack on punching-bag.
ECCLES: Ohooowoowoow!
FX: Door opens.
SEAGOON: Eccles, look! I found the
clay tablet and....
FX: Blackjack.
SEAGOON: Owahoowoow!
MORIARTY: Well done Grytpype, you've
got both of them!
GRYTPYPE: Yes, well a bird in the
MORIARTY: Right. But the Mongolian
clay tablet…?!
GRYTPYPE: Leave it behind, then they'll
think we've forgotten it.
MORIARTY: But if we leave it behind,
we will have forgotten it.
GRYTPYPE: Gad, Moriarty – you think
of everything. [20]
MORIARTY: Not everything. Sometimes
I don't think of Aardvarks.
GRYTPYPE: You mustn't be so
careless.
MORIARTY: You're right – Aardvarks
never killed anybody.
GRYTPYPE: It's going to kill us if
we use it anymore.
SEAGOON: Oh my head! Ooowahoowoowoow!
What happened to me?
MORIARTY: This…
FX: Blackjack.
SEAGOON: Oowoow! Thank you for
telling me. Oowahwoo…
GRYTPYPE: Let's go.
FX: Door opening and closing.
ORCHESTRA: Dramatic Oriental link.
SEAGOON: I knew that in order to
reach the tomb they'd make for the Singapore-China frontier.[21] To bar
the way I placed Eccles and comrade on guard.
BLUEBOTTLE: Eccles – how do you like
being on guard?
ECCLES: Fine, fine.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yes it is fine. I feel
fine on guard.
ECCLES: Yeah, so do I. I feel fine
on guard.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yes. It is nice to feel
fine, isn't it Eccles?
ECCLES: Yeah.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yeah. Yes, it is fine.
ECCLES: Yeah.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yeah. Encles?
ECCLES: Ahahahum?
BLUEBOTTLE: How do you feel now?
ECCLES: Fine. I feel... fine.
BLUEBOTTLE: I feel fine too.
ECCLES: Fine, fine.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yes. It is good that we
both what is us feeling fine, isn't it?
ECCLES: Yeah. We both feel fine.
BLUEBOTTLE: Yes. We are both…
BLUEBOTTLE & ECCLES: … feeling fine.
BLUEBOTTLE: (Panicking) 'Ere…!
ECCLES: What?!
BLUEBOTTLE: I feel sick! But never
mind, all is well. Here comes my Capitan on his horse, Silver. Hi-ho Silver! [22]
GRAMS: Old motor taxi approaching.
Back-firing, spluttering pistons etc. Stops.
SEAGOON: (Approaching) Whoa silver! Whoa there! Whoa-a, Whoa! How much will
that be Gladys?
GLADYS: Needle nardle noo.
FX: Clink of coins.
SEAGOON: Keep the change. Away you
go!
GRAMS: Steam train leaving
station. Speed up faster and faster and fade out.
GREENSLADE: Astute listeners will no
doubt be puzzled at a horse sounding like a taxi and a train. The truth is the
animal was also a brilliant impressionist. And here now is his impression of
Ray Ellington.
RAY ELLINGTON – “Lover Come Back to Me.” [23]
GRAMS: Whistling wind. Boots on gravel.
GRYTPYPE: (Exhausted) You hear that sound dear listeners? It's the eternal
wind that howls over the lichen backed mountains of
MORIARTY: Ahh oh ho! Sapristi
monkeys, it's so cold. Look – even the ice is frozen!
GRYTPYPE: You should have bought
some warm clothes.
MORIARTY: I did, but they got cold
up here.
GRYTPYPE: I understand well. Where's
that Mongolian porter?
SEAGOON: (Chinese accent) Here I am mlaster, willing to slerve. (Aside - normal) Little does he know
that I am really Neddie Seagoon, heavily disguised as a man who is heavily
disguised.
FX: Blackjack on punching-bag.
SEAGOON: (Injured) Arroowoow.
GRYTPYPE: Little does he know that
that was a heavily disguised clout.
SEAGOON: Little do they know that I
am only feigning unconsciousness. I daren't attack now, there are too many. I'll
wait till they've both gone and then I'll spring.
FX: Multiple belts on punching-bag with
blackjack.
SEAGOON: (Grunts and groans as if in a fist-fight.)
ORCHESTRA: Dramatic
fight-scene music. (Spriggs over.) End on dramatic descending phrase. Large
bass-drum note at the end.
SEAGOON: (Out of breath) Right you swines – had enough?
MORIARTY: Yes.
SEAGOON: Then untie me.
GRYTPYPE: Come along now Neddie –
why are you following us?
SEAGOON: You're so attractive.
GRYTPYPE: Oh!
MORIARTY: Silence nyuckoles. Now then,
what's your little game?
SEAGOON:
MORIARTY: Please Neddie, no
ad-libbing.
SEAGOON: Needle nardle noo. You
won't get away with this. The treasure in that tomb is mine, mine, mine, mine! [25] If only
I could get my hands free I could use the phone. (Straining) Ahh! I'll dial with my feet.
FX: Telephone dialling.
SEAGOON: Get my toe in the
di.. Ooh! Ooh!... I've got a long nail… (Further
straining)
FLOWERDEW: (on phone) Hello. You want me?
SEAGOON: Who are you?
FLOWERDEW: (on phone) I'm a chiropodist.
FX: Phone down.
SEAGOON: Heavens! I had the corn
exchange.
MORIARTY: So Neddie – caught you
using the telephone. Come on, out with it!
SEAGOON: What?
MORIARTY: Threepence.
FX: Cash register. Coin in tray.
MORIARTY: Thank you. Now start
walking in front with your hands and feet raised above your head.
SEAGOON: So we trudged the barren
landscape. It was a long day – it lasted thirty-six hours. We camped at night
fall. Next morning the blow struck.
GRYTPYPE: (toothless) Neddie. Neddie – bad news lad.
SEAGOON: What's up?
GRYTPYPE: (toothless) While I was asleep the world’s Louse Ladder Champion of
nineteen twenty-seven stole my false teeth – (aside) which, dear listeners you will remember had been inscribed
on the back with the map of the tomb by Doctor Fred Fu Manchu, oriental tattooist.
SEAGOON: Then Moriarty is the only
one who knows the way to the tomb.
FX: Knocking on door.
SEAGOON: Come in.
FX: Door knob rattles. Door opens.
ECCLES: Hello. Here, here – I followed
Moriarty in the tomb. (Going off)
I'll show you where it is. Come on now.
GREENSLADE: Listeners will no doubt
think it ludicrous that Eccles should suddenly come through a door a thousand
miles from the nearest building. The truth is, several doors have been placed
at intervals in the Mongolian mountains so as to obtain the sound of a door
opening, thus making it more interesting for listeners – especially those
without doors of their own.
ORCHESTRA: Corny chord in C. Cymbal snap.
GREENSLADE: Thank you. Meantime,
Neddie has arrived at the mouth of the tomb.
ECCLES: Here, here – you see this
big rock blocking the cave? Well the tomb’s behind there.
SEAGOON: How the devil could Moriarty
have moved that by himself?
ECCLES: He didn't, he said he would
need four men to open it.
MORIARTY: [26] (Approaching) Yes gentlemen – four men.
GRYTPYPE: Yes Neddie, four men.
Hands up!
SEAGOON: Argh, you two swines! So
that's why you got Eccles and me here – to help open the tomb door.
GRYTPYPE: Come lads, start working.
ECCLES: Hey, who're you pushing?
GRYTPYPE: You.
ECCLES: So that's why I'm moving.
GRYTPYPE: All together, heave...
GRAMS: Continuous
sound of falling pebbles, lumps of rock and various odds and ends. Hold under.
CAST: (straining noises – continue under.)
SEAGOON: Watch out for the old tenors friend. (Straining) Urrghhh…
GRYTPYPE: (Straining) Aardvarks never killed anybody.
MORIARTY: (Out of breath) There – it's open. Sapristi nuckoles! The tombs
empty! It's been ransacked. Who could have taken the treasures? Who could have
known about this place?
GRYTPYPE: (toothless) What's this card on the floor? Doctor Fred Fu Manchu,
oriental tattooist.
MORIARTY: Huh huh huh huohoa! FOILED
BY FRED! [27]
SEAGOON: Anybody for tennis?
GRYTPYPE: Too much like hard work!
SEAGOON: Aardvarks never killed
anybody!
GRYTPYPE: Darling, together again! Shall
we dance?
SEAGOON: Love to!
ORCHESTRA: End theme.
GREENSLADE: That was the Goon Show,
a BBC recorded program featuring Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike
Milligan with the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray. The orchestra was
conducted by Wally Stott, script by Spike Milligan, announcer Wallace
Greenslade – the program produced by Peter Eton.
ORCHESTRA: Playout.
YTI
[1] Milligan regularly sent his casts to
In 1954,
British newspapers reported that the Government of the People’s Republic of
The
interesting thing about this episode is the tone it takes – a slightly
mystical, otherworldly style, based on the mysterious, ancient words of the
venerable figure, lost in the mists of time and fable of central
[2] Milligan uses a voice similarly pitched to Sellers in ‘The Secret Escritoire’ (the previous show) when announcing the evening’s drama. It is slightly arch, highly pitched and fancifully otherworldly.
[3] My research suggests that this is a line from an Irish Marching song. Why Milligan is singing it here is somewhat of a puzzle.
[4] Which is actually what happened to the great Khan. Efforts have
been made in the late 20th century to locate the tomb, the
description of which is clear in Chinese records. Although Khentii Aimag, in
eastern
This was normal procedure. Only by
accident was the tomb of one of the earliest emperors, Qin Shi Huang
(BCE259-BCE210) discovered near
Throughout this episode all cast members, including Greenslade, pronounce the name Genghis as Jenghis – apparently on purpose. The actual pronunciation is approximately Chinggis Kaan.
[5]
[6] According to a dictionary published in 1811, a ‘louse ladder’ was a stitch fallen in a stocking. In the twentieth century the saying contracted to merely having ‘a ladder’ in ones stocking.
[7] Mongolian clay tablets are a Milliganesque fantasy. He may have
arrived at the idea via a recent newspaper article (Manchester Guardian, July 6, 1955) describing excavations in Sultan
Tepe,
“Perhaps clay tablets are particularly
unsuited for transmitting laughter,”
a challenge for Milligan, who habitually filed tit-bits like this for future use in the Goon Show.
[8] An odd sentence. Surely the clay tablet was the rare object – parcels are hardly rare objects. It could have been a reading error on behalf of Secombe.
[9] One of the few times that Bloodnok takes a job other than being a retired Indian Army Major.
[10] This is another unrecognised one of Milligan’s imaginative phobias. He loved depicting detectives doing their questioning of victims from a reclining position on a couch with a box of sweeties in their laps. In ‘The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn’ (Joseph Sterling – 1956), Assistant Commissioner Sir Gervase Fruit reclines on a couch eating chocolates while questioning Superintendent Quilt over the telephone. It also seems to occur in ‘The Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill on Sea’ (3/5th) when Grytpype Thynne (Special Investigations, Scotland Yard), calls Inspector Seagoon to question him regarding a Miss Bannister. His languid questioning is carried on while loudly munching. Why? Perhaps Spike considered Senior Detectives as upper class lay-abouts, with curlicued hair and living on dainties - (and what’s more, closet homosexuals).
[11] One of the most culturally important songs to emerge from
[12] Willium is not the only Goon character found up a tree. Grytpype
and Moriarty are found in an arboreal position in ‘The Moon Show’ (18/7th) and in ‘The Great British Revolution.’ (12/8th) Sellers himself
climbs a tree in ‘Tiddleywinks’ 24/8th
but that is due to the psychological malady, ‘cars, cameras and a touch of the old tape-recorders.’
[13] Another reference to the character Doctor Fred Fu-Manchu. The Sax
Rohmer character was a famous identity well before Milligan made use of him,
appearing in cinema, books, radio and comic strips ever since 1913. He appears
only in the fifth and sixth series of the Goon Shows, and is variously
described as a fiend (‘The Secret
Escritoire’ – 2/6th), a sinister oriental saxophonist (‘
[14] Indeed. No doubt the bewildered laugh was a disappointment to Milligan, but he did not give up on the idea of introducing absurd varieties of wild animals into the scripts. In the following series (#7) he introduced penguins with rather more success and tigers in series #8.
[15] One of Count Moriarty’s favourite melodies, the tune “April in Paris” originated from the 1932 Broadway musical ‘Walk a Little Faster’, written by Duke and Harburg. One of the best loved renditions of the number was recorded by Count Basie in 1955, only months before the sixth series of the Goon Shows went to air.
[16] Milligan increasingly found it funny to confuse the attributes of
TV and radio. Not only did it amuse him to confuse the mediums but it tickled
his fancy to confuse the listening/viewing habits of the audience – particularly
the prudish, maiden-auntish attitudes that assailed the burgeoning television
industry at that time, demanding that TV conform to rigid standards of decency,
just as the BBC in recent years had been forced to follow stringent rules such
as the ‘toddler’s truce time,’ and the rule requiring the BBC to wait 14 days
before reporting Parliamentary debates. He tries another version of this gag in
‘The
[17] Without doubt this is one of Milligan’s funniest moments playing
Eccles. Without the bitterness of the later episodes or the self destructive
violence of which he was often capable, it is the sweet, innocent singing of an
idiot. It is also one of the only times
he has an entire scene alone with Grytpype. The final lines are from the song “Some Enchanted Evening”, one of the hit
numbers of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical ‘South Pacific.’ The
[18] These are actual songs. Line by line they are; “Singing in the Rain” (Freed & Nacio Herb Brown – 1929); “Melody of Love” (Engelmann & Glazer – 1954); “Doin’ the New Low-Down” (Fields & McHugh – 1928) ; “Crazy Rhythm” (Kahn/Meyer/Caesar – 1928); “Lover, Come Back to Me” (Hammerstein & Romberg – 1928.)
[19] Shepherd’s Bush was to be the site of the BBC Television Centre, still in the planning stages. It was the world’s first building purpose built for television.
[20] Grytpype stumbles over the pronunciation of his accomplices name. It was the beginning of a habit for Grytpype – Moriarty would eventually be pronounced as Mor’arty.
[21] The cast were well known for using compasses from cheap Christmas
crackers. This is a case in point.
[22] A direct reference to the ‘Lone Ranger’ series. Existing in book form, comic-book form, a long running radio series, a television series, and a film serial, the story followed the exploits of a masked cowboy and his offsider Tonto, as they righted wrongs in the Wild West. The Lone Ranger’s horse Silver was traditionally spurred onwards by the cry “Hi-ho Silver. Away!” The radio series of the story, commencing in 1933 and later broadcast on NBC, amounted to 2,956 episodes; 18 novels of his exploits were published; and the famous television series (starring Clayton Moore) ran from 1947 to 1957.
[23] Quoted by Eccles earlier in the show, ‘Love Come Back to Me’ is one of the great standards of the jazz era, although its source was not the jazz dives of any of the US capitals but rather the genteel surroundings of the 1928 Broadway show ‘New Moon’ by Hammerstein and Romberg. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy gave the song a new lease of life in their 1940 film version of the same show, while Tony Martin and Joan Weldon reprised it in the 1954 bio-pic ‘Deep In My Heart.’
[24] It is not unlikely that Milligan is alluding to the decree by
Chairman Mao Zedong that Table Tennis would henceforth be the ‘Sport of the
People.’
[25] In a major interruption Eccles (off mic) imitates Seagoon’s word saying ‘Fine, fine fine!’ Secombe corpses slightly before continuing.
[26] Effortlessly, Spike changes voices from Eccles to Moriarty. Additionally, he takes a single step backwards so as to give the allusion of Moriarty’s sudden approach. As much fun as the shows seemed to be, there was actually a very high level of recording discipline present in the performances.
[27] It is likely that this line ‘FOILED BY FRED’ either inspired or was the kernel to the idea which became ‘Foiled By President Fred’ (7/6th) four episodes later. From the knowing way Spike says the line, I rather think he already knew about it, and was hinting at using it in the coming episode. This catchcry ‘FRED’ appears the following year in ‘The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn’ (Joseph Sterling – 1956) when inexplicably the three musketeers arrive in a the middle of a pub melee and cry out ‘Long live FRED!’