This week, for Christmas, a heart-warming festive treat full of joy, goodwill and Peter Sellers at his cuddliest. ONLY JOKING.Actually, it’s Carol for Another Christmas, Rod Serling’s bleak, angry, Cold War reworking of A Christmas Carol . Conceived as the opening salvo in a run of UN-friendly TV specials, the film is a full-throated warning against isolationism, nuclear brinkmanship and the idea that minding your own business ever ends well. Xerox paid for it, ABC aired it ad-free on 28 December 1964, viewers and critics were divided about it, and it then disappeared for nearly 50 years.Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Cleopatra) in his only television outing, the film stars Sterling Hayden as Daniel Grudge, a wealthy American industrialist who hates foreign aid, diplomacy and the United Nations in equal measure. On Christmas Eve he clashes with his liberal nephew Fred (Ben Gazzara) and is hauled through a series of visions featuring war dead, nuclear devastation and, most memorably, Peter Sellers as “Imperial Me” – a cowboy-Santa demagogue preaching radical individualism. It was Sellers’ first screen appearance after his near-fatal heart attack earlier that year.Also featuring Eva Marie Saint, Robert Shaw, Steve Lawrence, Pat Hingle, Britt Ekland and music by Henry Mancini, the film is verbose, didactic and relentlessly grim – and all the more fascinating for it.Joining Tyler is Tilt Araiza (The Sitcom Club / Jaffa Cakes for Proust), drawing parallels with Planet of the Apes, The Prisoner and unpacking Serling and the social and political climate just one year after after the assassination of JFK... looking at how things came together to produce this Christmas curio.
“You call this a life?”This week we dip into the big red book and examine Spike Milligan’s two famously chaotic appearances on This Is Your Life — first in 1973 at an army reunion in Bexhill and again in 1995 in the wake of Spike’s infamous crack at Prince Charles at the British Comedy Awards. From bungled surveillance operations and surprise reunions to war memories, old squeezes, secret sons and unresolved tensions, these programmes offer an occasionally revealing — and sometimes unsettling — portrait of Spike at two very different points in his life.Joining Tyler this week is co-host of World Of Telly John Williams and the pair try to navigate the uneasy compression of a vast, contradictory life into television-friendly fare.Along the way we encounter Peter Sellers in Nazi garb, Robert Graves refusing retakes because “the milkman is part of life”, Harry Secombe on VT, Eric Sykes restoring some semblance of order to proceedings, Michael Bentine getting a warm reception, Roger McGough falling a bit flat and a surprise appearance from a reclusive billionaire. We also examine the differing styles of Eamonn Andrews and Michael Aspel – the former being all awkward and lacking spontaneity; the latter oozing affable charm and keeping the show on the rails. These two programmes, separated by 22 years, chart not just Spike Milligan’s public career but his private fractures — family divisions, emotional debts, and the limits of nostalgia. They also expose the clumsy mechanics of This Is Your Life itself: a format built for uplift struggling to contain a life defined by contradiction, pain, brilliance and refusal to behave.
Tyler welcomes comedy writer David Quantick to celebrate the 1965 film One Way Pendulum starring Goon Show alumnus Eric Sykes. Adapted by NF Simpson from his own 1959 Royal Court play and directed by Peter Yates (fresh off Summer Holiday, soon to make Bullitt), Eric plays suburban dad Arthur Groomkirby, who is quietly building a full-scale Old Bailey in his living room while his son Kirby (Jonathan Miller) teaches speak-your-weight machines to sing the Hallelujah Chorus in the attic. Meanwhile, daughter Sylvia (Julia Foster) obsesses over her arms and Aunt Mildred (Mona Washbourne) witters endlessly about transport. Rounding out the madness are Peggy Mount as the food-dispatching charlady and George Cole, Graham Crowden & Douglas Wilmer in a superb hallucinatory courtroom sequence.The comparisons to the Goon Show are obvious. David – who met Simpson – explains how his very British absurdism (Lewis Carroll meets Kafka with actual laughs) cloaks the bizarre inside the banal which none of his characters question. The humour is in the mismatch between the bland domestic surroundings and the offbeat conversations therein.
"It's all in the mind." How do you categorise Yellow Submarine? Animated psychedelic musical fantasy comedy? That barely scratches the surface. In this technicolour fantasia, the cartoon Beatles tackle the Blue Meanies, who’ve turned joyful Pepperland into a static, monochrome dystopia where music has been silenced. To restore harmony, John, Paul, George and Ringo - alongside Jeremy Hilary Boob PhD and the ever-anxious Old Fred - must travel from Liverpool to Pepperland in the titular underwater vessel, drifting through strange realms like the Sea of Science and the Foothills of the Headlands.Packed with terrific songs (well, duh), a splendid voice cast (including the great Dick Emery), and a script sharpened - largely uncredited - by Roger McGough, Yellow Submarine may have begun as a contractual compromise but blossomed into something far better than most people expected. Even the real Beatles were impressed enough to pop up for a brief live-action cameo at the end, sealing the film with a smile and a song.Joining Tyler to celebrate this singular sixties cinematic exclamation-mark is comedy writer and podcaster Joel Morris, bringing his trademark insight, deep pop-cultural savvy and boundless enthusiasm to the conversation. As for why Goon Pod is covering this particular gem… well, all will be revealed in the episode!
Harry Secombe could have had reasonable grounds for claiming to be the hardest working man in showbusiness in January 1958: panto (Puss In Boots), TV (Sunday Night At The London Palladium), the Goons, a movie (Davy) and goodness knows what else. Likewise, his colleague Peter Sellers was feeling the pressure of work and his doctor advised a rest on what would have been a scheduled Goon Show recording day. As a result – and much to the chagrin of Spike Milligan – on Sunday 19th January two Goon Shows were recorded, including the one we’re discussing this week, freeing up the following Sunday for Sellers to spend some time with his cameras. The Curse of Frankenstein, as the title suggests, concerns a dying Laird intending to leave his entire fortune to the first Scotsman to play the bagpipes at the South Pole. Joining Tyler this week is returning guest Chas Early and as well as breaking down the episode they chat Morecambe & Wise, Aussie politicians, a waxwork Welshman, the Quarrymen and Spike the balladeer!
Introduced as ‘The Lost Colony’, this is another episode of The Goon Show which sees Neddie Seagoon being duped by Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty. In this case, they convince him that he is a Native American who rightfully owns New York – his ancestors having sold the land to Dutch settlers in the 1620s for a piece of brown string, eleven pence in notes, a Mickey Mouse watch, remains of a small boiled chicken and a life-sized statue of Sabrina. Seagoon paddles to America in a zinc bath tub and through a dubious transaction secures a Native American birth certificate. He tries to sue the US government, claiming New York belongs to him, but ends up in jail. Once free and bent on revenge he attempts to blow the city sky-high – but at what cost? Joining Tyler this week is writer & producer Tom Salinsky, whose new podcast – All British Comedy Explained – is an exercise in introducing British comedy to his American friend, comedian Abigoliah Schamaun. Abigoliah has lived in the UK for many years but her knowledge of British comedy history is limited so Tom is trying to put that right. At the time of recording they have covered Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Young Ones and Not Only But Also – all three of them game-changers – and coming up they will be examining The Goon Show, so Tyler figured it was a neat idea to get Tom onto discuss an episode which rarely gets talked about. The Sale Of Manhattan was broadcast almost exactly seventy years ago and while it contains some questionable stereotypes there is plenty to enjoy and it was a great opportunity to gain Tom’s perspective on the series. All British Comedy Explained can be found HERE: https://shows.acast.com/all-british-comedy-explained
From 1995 to 2002 Heroes Of Comedy on Channel 4 showcased and celebrated some of the finest comic talents Britain has ever produced and this week, with returning guest Chris Diamond, we're taking a look at the series with particular emphasis on three editions: The Goons, Terry-Thomas & Tommy Cooper. It's a sprawling and highly entertaining chat which covers lot of ground including:Max Wall - Spike in Peter Sellers' car boot - Denis Healey as Bloodnok - kicking Bob Todd up the arse - Tommy Cooper's death on stage - Vault of Horror - Dick Lester - The Obituary Show - WHY Nigel Havers? - The Mouse That Roared TV pilot - Tarby's TT theft - Harry's hoary stories - airing dead comics' dirty laundry in public - Richard Briers - Jack Benny - Fierce Creatures - Frank Muir's TV Heaven - the decline of Terry-Thomas - Julia Breck - Victor Lewis-Smith - Liberace with TT & Richard Wattis - Danny Baker & Tommy Cooper - Clive James - Telly Addicts - Ruxton Hayward - Max Miller's creepy animatronic doll - Hannibal Lecter does Terry Cooper - Michael Bentine: clever or funny? - Spike hates the BBC - YouTube has spoiled us - Fantabulosa! - producer John Fisher - Jonathan Miller - bored with The Last Goon Show of All - Terry Pratchett - Pat Dixon - The Naked Truth - "Hard Cheese!"
"It is seldom enough that I can recommend any record - let alone an LP - without strict reservations of one kind or another. But here, for once, go in and buy the thing - with my blessing. If you have any feeling for the past, the present or the future, you won't regret it."- Pete Murray, 19th May 1962. This week we’re exploring one of George Martin’s most inventive pre-Beatles productions — Michael Bentine’s 1962 LP It’s A Square World. The record was an aural distillation of Bentine’s award-winning BBC television show of the same name, which was by this point into its third series. Across twelve sketches we’re exposed to dozens of characters (all performed by Bentine), surreal sound effects and the kind of sonic experimentation that would later define Martin’s production style. Even the silences between sketches are filled with mock commercials and absurd announcements – nothing is wasted, everything is packed, dense with invention… even if not all of it comes off! Joining Tyler is host of Producing The Beatles, Jason Kruppa, who talks about where Martin was in his career at the point of the LP’s release – ‘Time Beat’ had come out the month before and he was a month off meeting the Beatles - plus how he augmented Bentine’s ideas in the studio, ably assisted by engineer Stuart Eltham. There is plenty to like about It’s A Square World, such as ‘The Shrdlu’, ‘French For Beginners’ and ‘The Film Extra Of The Year Award’ (originally written for the Yes, It’s The Cathode Ray Show for Peter Sellers) and even those sketches that haven’t dated as well still have points of interest – even if Tyler missed the point of a couple of them first time round! Producing The Beatles can be found here: https://www.producingthebeatles.com/
"It's the only time Sellers had to duplicate himself, at least physically." - Roger Lewis on The Prisoner Of Zenda. This 1979 film is an adaptation of the classic Anthony Hope adventure yarn with a screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais. Peter Sellers plays both Rudolf V, the bumbling King of Ruritania, and his English look-alike, Sydney Frewin, who must impersonate the monarch after Rudolf is kidnapped by his villainous half-brother, Duke Michael (Jeremy Kemp). As Frewin struggles with royal duties and falls for Princess Flavia (Lynne Frederick) the hunt is on for the imprisoned King, with his trusted subordinates General Sapt (Lionel Jeffries) and Fritz (Simon Williams) anxious to restore order to Ruritania. The film suffers from a rather lacklustre screenplay containing a paucity of jokes yet somehow Sellers manages to wring comedy out of the lumpen script, particularly with his characterisation of Frewin. Tensions were high on the set and Sellers' increasing manic behaviour and demands impacted not just Jeffries and Williams but the film's director Richard Quine. Famously they had to repaint an entire train to accommodate Sellers' bizarre superstitions!Joining Tyler to discuss the film is writer & performer John Hewer, who also has some exciting news for Spike Milligan fans!
"My dear sir, without doubt you have done for the art of singing what Columbus did for the steam engine."Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty plan to escape dire poverty by taking out a £10,000 life insurance policy on Neddie Seagoon. They tell him he can collect the money the moment he’s deceased, and give him an instruction book. After a number of stupid attempts to bring this about - which puts him into contact with Willium, Bluebottle, Eccles and Bloodnok - Seagoon finally discovers the meaning of the word 'deceased' and goes into hiding at the Albert Memorial. The drama climaxes in a shootout with him in between Bloodnok's regiment and a loaded record. Yet another Goon Show concerned with the vagaries of insurance policies, this episode was likely penned largely by Larry Stephens and if so it shows. It's not a bad episode at all but if anything the script lacks a certain something - a bit of inimitable Milligan magic perhaps. Returning guest Andy Bell and Tyler discuss the 'filth' which runs through the show and also: The Indigestion Waltz; Kenneth Griffith; the Radio Times; Royal Command Performances; producer Roy Speer and baseless allegations; Jayne Mansfield-type walking; the Tiddleywinks Tournament; George Martin and ITV's packed schedule!
“Aw, don’t come the raw prawn!” (Barry McKenzie)“There’s too many Barrys!” (Tyler)Based on the character created for Private Eye, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie was a huge hit in Australia when it was released in 1972, surpassing $1m in box office receipts thus making it the first Australian film to do so. Starring Barry Crocker in the titular role, it tells the story of the misadventures of a lantern-jawed larrikin when he leaves Australia and travels to London with his aunt (Edna Everage, played by co-writer and creator of Barry McKenzie, Barry Humphries). See what I mean about too many Barrys?Directed by the up-and-coming Bruce Beresford (thankfully Mr & Mrs Beresford decided against christening him Barry too), the film explores the cultural gulf between Australian and British culture in the early nineteen-seventies in a comic and often quite dark fashion. Jokes about ‘chundering’ and ‘unbuttoning the mutton’ abound as Barry navigates his new environment, along the way falling in with a sex-mad actress, a flamboyant ad man, a masochistic war veteran, his repressed daughter and her mad mother, exploitative hippies, a hard-nosed agent, doctors, a loopy psychiatrist, a lesbian and her sympathetic friend, a fickle television executive and Spike Milligan. Barry McKenzie is one of life’s innocents, a fish out of water, and we could almost believe he’s a distant cousin of Mick Dundee, though possessing none of the latter’s intuition, agility, courage or ‘success with the sheilas’. And what about the charge often levelled against the character that he is an outrageous depiction of the typical Aussie male? Barry Humphries said “I consider Barry McKenzie as no more representative of the average Australian than Macbeth was of the average Scotsman in Shakespeare’s audience.”The film is worth watching for the Spike scene alone, but there is plenty else amusing enough – the ‘One Eyed Trouser Snake’ song, the terrible Gort family, Barry with underpants full of beef curry – to keep audiences engaged. Joining Tyler this week to talk about it is co-host of Waffle On podcast Simon Meddings. You can check out Waffle On HERE: https://waffleon.podbean.com/As mentioned in this week’s show, Griff Rhys Jones is currently touring: https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/griff-rhys-jones
This is the earliest Goon Show we've covered on the podcast so far - the second show of Series 4 and while not fully matured to the level of quality we've come to expect it is still a solid and amusing edition with both cast and audience on fine form. It begins with a short sketch about Handsome Harry trying to save an heiress from drowning in order to glom a large reward but the story proper begins following Max's number. London is gripped by terror as a madman is at large threatening to blow up notable landmarks. Seagoon is tasked with tracking him down and enlists help from the likes of Bloodnok, Eccles and Henry Crun - a bomb diviner. Bluebottle is easily confused by pins and we also meet William Gladstone... or is it Churchill? Roger Stevenson joins Tyler and along the way they discuss Eva Bartok, Anna Neagle, Edwardian Dynamite genre fiction, Mrs Dale's Diary, the Robin Hood radio panto, James Finlayson, Ray's A Laugh, Hermione Gingold, Marilyn Monroe... and there's a couple of rounds of "Is It Spike Or is It Peter?" for good measure. They also look at the lead up to Series 4 and the mysterious 'Fred Flange'.
Goon Pod listeners were asked to send in their questions and comments about the show, the Goons or comedy in general and they didn't disappoint! Adam Leslie (Award-Winning Novelist) joined Tyler to work through the list of listener folderol and there was so much that they only managed to get through half of it! So - in a packed show you will hear us covering a wide range of topics and among many other things we discussed: PuckoonThe different Goon Show theme tunesAlexei Sayle's StuffAndrew TimothyThe best Spike film?Great Scott It's Maynard!Young Barry CryerThe Bride of FrankensteinShows for newbies?The Ray Ellington Quartet lineups Hancock vs SteptoeLater Bentine collaborations ... and much much more!
At first glance you may be forgiven for thinking this fairly obscure 1962 British film was one of those forgettable ‘let’s put the show on right here!’ teensploitation flicks full of popular music acts of the day, bland and generic enough to offend nobody other than crusty old colonel-types who objected to young people being seen to have fun. But this film, the feature directorial debut by Richard Lester, was something a little different, with an eye for visual flair to differentiate it from the formulaic British musical films which had preceded it. Lester pretty much determined that he had to make the absolute most of what he was given to work with and we see in the film the earliest knockings of what would later become known as the music video; and he would use these techniques to greater effect a couple of years later in A Hard Day’s Night. There was also actual proper comedy, not in abundance but any dads in the audience would have been reassured by the presence of Derek Nimmo, Mario Fabrizi, Frank Thornton and Hugh Lloyd – not to mention the soothing tones of Deryck Guyler as ‘The Narrator’. Lester employed cartoonish, one might almost say Goonish flourishes throughout the film: fast motion, reverse spooling, the aforementioned omnipresent narrator who’s in on the joke and there’s even a custard pie gag. The pairing of just-about-still-relevant pop stars Helen Shapiro and Craig Douglas as the film’s colourless leads was necessary to draw the target audience but by 1962 how many teenagers were still into Mr Acker Bilk, Chris Barber or even Chubby Checker? The Beatles’ heavy footfall was a creak on the stair and within months this sort of music would be swept away as Merseybeat and beat groups in general bestrode the Hit Parade. Joining Tyler to discuss “the whole swingy parade [which] goes like a good-humoured bomb” (The Daily Mirror) is Andrew Hickey, host of A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs who believes it is a standout film of its genre, but says the credit is largely owed to Richard Lester and his unique directorial style. He discusses the musical and cultural climate in Britain at the time, the origins of Trad Jazz, the early career of Lester and how films like this were usually largely cinematic landfill, plus talks about his show and plans for the future. (Recorded February 2025 and first heard on Goon Pod Film Club)
The year is 1656 in Ninfield, Sussex. Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty arrive at the stately home of Lord Neddie Seagoon, seeking shelter for the night. As he shows them to their room, Lord Seagoon notices that the seats of their trousers are burned out... a ghastly indication of the dreaded Nadger Plague!This is definitely one of those Goon Shows where you have to ask yourself, how did they get away with it? This week Tyler and returning guest Sean Gaffney discuss all things nadgers - plagues and otherwise. It's definitely a rather unsettling episode with a gothic undercurrent and a couple of ideas which prefigured Harry Potter by a good forty-odd years. There's a witch, an apothecary, talking clocks and gas-stoves, treasure chests, lantern slides and even early homeopathy!They also discuss the death of Son Of Fred, The Telegoons, Bernard Levin getting chinned on live telly, Lady Docker and Liberace!
Over the course of his relatively short film career Peter Sellers appeared in a lot of movies but this week we are looking at those film projects that he was at one stage attached to and were either never made or made withouthis involvement. Joining Tyler is actor Patrick Strain and the two of them consider such 'might have beens' as The Alien, God Ha Ha, Arigato, I'm All Right Jack 2 and The Phantom Vs The Fourth Reich. They also wonder how different 10, Topkapi and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - among many others - might have been had Sellers starred in them.
This week a bit of a diversion. MJ Price of Quite A Boast podcast - all things Reeves & Mortimer - joins Tyler to talk about his love of the Goons and considers what sort of influence or impact (or otherwise) they may have had on future comedians, specifically Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. Later the chat turns more generally towards R&M and their body of work, including Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Smell of Reeves & Mortimer, Bang Bang It's Reeves & Mortimer, Shooting Stars and Catterick (with dishonourable mentions to Randall & Hopkirk Deceased and that Ulrika special).They muse on how different generations of comics and comedians tended to flit into and out of each others' orbits and turn up in each others' shows and this is a tradition which applied equally to the Goons as it did to Reeves & Mortimer. It's a fun chat about a pair of comedy legends who crop up all too infrequently on Goon Pod but whose humour and inventiveness chimes with that of Milligan (although he would never have acknowledged that at the time!)You can find Quite A Boast here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL11Ba_QI4Z2_rczxZtu83mE7L4ZW6npL_&si=66WgrMaYtKOT0jEl
Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Jim Dale, Arthur Lowe and Spike Milligan. It is based on Milligan's best-selling first volume of war memoir of the same name but differs markedly in several respects. It was adapted by Milligan, Cohen and Johnny Byrne; Byrne said of the film: “We want to get away from the idea that Milligan is a clown. He is a clown but first of all he is a human being. As this is a film about the early Milligan, Milligan was more of a human being than a clown at that time.”The casting of Jim Dale as young Spike was inspired, and he received a BAFTA nomination. While the film prioritises comedy, it occasionally crowbars in a clunky 'war is hell' narrative and it struggles to find the right tone. Nevertheless it is a serviceable 90 minute 70s British comedy with a host of familiar faces such as Bill Maynard, Tony Selby, Geoffrey Hughes, Pat Coombs and Windsor Davies.Joining Tyler this week to discuss the film is comedy writer Matt Owen who can be found at https://www.mathew-owen.co.uk/
The Life & Death of Peter Sellers caused something of a stir upon original publication in 1994. Rather than being a dispassionate account of the actor's life and work it leaned in quite heavily on his failings as a man and the author himself wasn't afraid to offer his personal views. That author, Roger Lewis, joins Tyler this week as the book is out in a brand new edition to coincide with Sellers' centenary this year. Roger has written a new afterword: The Centennial Sellers and Steve Coogan supplied a foreword. They discussed Sellers' strengths and weaknesses, his films, the Goon Show, people he worked with and fell in and out with and tried to nail down what it was about his self-destructive melancholy private personality that so absorbed Roger early on in the writing of the book. Alexander Walker comes in for a bit of a kicking too! There's also quite a bit about the film of the book and speculations about what Sellers might have done had he lived beyond 1980. Added to this, Roger talks about his previous book on Charles Hawtrey which is being reissued next year and the book he is currently engaged upon: Victoria Wood, and the women in comedy who influenced and shaped her unique talent.
“I like the Pickwick score, it’s robust and British. I’ve often been offered parts in American musicals but I’ve always turned them down. No matter how good they are, I always feel they are not part of us. That’s why I waited and thought of this idea of making a musical of ‘Pickwick.” - Harry Secombe, 1963.And so the idea was realised, based on the 1837 Charles Dickens novel The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known simply as The Pickwick Papers. Harry got the idea for the musical while on holiday in the Bahamas, inspired by the success of Oliver! The writer Wolf Mankowitz agreed to turn it into a musical but faced the considerable challenge of condensing the 250,000words and loosely-linked anecdotes from the original novel into a workable stage production. He eventually decided to use the Pickwick-Bardell breach of promise action as a basic skeleton from which to hang the two-act musical adaptation. Pickwick premiered in Manchester in summer 1963 and as well as Secombe as the titular rotundity featured the likes of Anton Rodgers, Julian Orchard, Hilda Braid, Peter Bull and Norman Rossington among the cast.It swiftly transferred to the West End and two years later opened in the United States. Some of the original British cast reprised their roles (obviously including Harry) but Charlotte Rae came on board as Mrs Bardell and a young scapegrace called Davy Jones took up the part of Sam Weller. The story is he was spotted and signed up for The Monkees during this, and was subsequently replaced by the great Roy Castle. An original cast recording was released on LP in 1963 and in 1969 the BBC broadcast a 90-minute colour adaptation of the musical, adapted for the screen by James Gilbert and Jimmy Grafton. It reunited Secombe with Roy Castle and Julian Orchard and introduced us to Hattie Jacques as Mrs Bardell, Aubrey Woods as Mr Jingle and Robert Dorning as Tupman.This week returning guest Tim Worthington talks all things Pickwick but as you would expect with someone like Tim the conversation is wide-ranging and he pulls many a thread from the tapestry of sixties popular culture!