The finest Goon Show related podcast in our planetary system, Goon Pod, has reached the milestone of 200 episodes. Congratulations Tyler!
Show number 200 was a look at the 1991 Radio 2 documentary, At Last The Go On Show. Guests on the podcast included that programme’s producer Dirk Maggs and the man who pulled together the clips for it, Ted Kendall.
To listen to this show, search for ‘Goon Pod’ and subscribe on whichever podcast app or service you habitually use. If you don’t habitually use any of those, then there are recent episodes at the foot of the page. Alternatively, click on the Goon Pod logo above to be taken to a suitable corner of the web where all the episodes are available.
Listeners' Top 20 British Sitcoms Of All Time –
Goon Pod
Let's go out with a bang as we count down Listeners’ Top 20 British Sitcoms of All Time – as voted for by you. In total 73 different shows were nominated – some of the very greatest and most popular, others quite obscure or forgotten. But which ones made the final list? In this show we find out, with very special guests Chris Diamond and Donna Rees.Whether your tastes run towards the communal warmth of classic ensemble shows, the brittle awkwardness of suburban frustration, or the fragmented edges of sitcom storytelling, there’s plenty here to argue about. We talk about why some comedies endure, why others divide opinion and how shifting zeitgeists shape what people laugh at. Expect nostalgia, rediscovery and the occasional raised eyebrow or disapproving 'tut' as we move through the list. Will the obvious favourites dominate, or will a few unexpected titles sneak in? Expect a few surprises!
In Character: Peter Sellers The British Film Institute season
by Mark Cousins
“For me, the most influential actor in films was Peter Sellers” – Robin Williams
Marking what would have been his one hundredth birthday, for their Sellers retrospective season the BFI’s Justin Johnson and Dick Fiddy have worked hard to choose performances which include his breakthrough roles, formative years and greatest hits together with some rare and seldom shown material.
Rather than provide full details of every film, I have just focused on the basics. Full information on the BFI’s programme can be found on their website, together with more information on each of the films and screenings. BFI Website
For those who can’t get there, you might like to know about the BFI Player where you can stream other Sellers films including: Mr Topaz, Let’s Go Crazy, The Optimists of Nine Elms, Penny Points To Paradise, The Slappiest Days Of Our Lives and The Blockhouse. BFI Player
The season runs throughout August. Coincident with this, on 4th August Studiocanal will be releasing:
There will also be a Peter Sellers box-set with these titles and more!
The BFI’s screenings are as follows:
Sellers In Context Tuesday 05 August 2025 18:20 The season opens with this introductory event which takes the form of a richly illustrated discussion. Invited guests will explore Sellers’ iconic roles, his comedic brilliance and his lasting influence on film and modern comedy.
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The Ladykillers UK 1955 – (97 mins) Digital 4K Saturday 02 August 2025, Monday 11 August 2025 & Tuesday 19 August 2025 Sellers’ A breakthrough role that allowed him to work with his hero and inspiration, Alec Guinness.
Shown together with…. An Audio Recording 1955 – (7 mins) Sellers’ own privately recorded promotional audio recording in which he impersonates the entire cast and the director!
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The Smallest Show on Earth – 1957 (80 mins) 35mm Saturday 02 August 2025 18:15 & Sunday 17 August 2025 15:30 Sellers as projectionist Percy Quill alongside Bernard Miles and Margaret Rutherford.
Screened with… In Focus – Number One: The Super Secret Service – 1953 (24 mins) Video A rare chance to see Sellers with Graham Stark and Dick Emery in this short by Goon Show script writers Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens.
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The Naked Truth – 1957 (91 mins) 35mm Sunday 03 August 2025 15:00 & Wednesday 13 August 2025 20:30 An early Sellers classic with Terry-Thomas which gives him the chance to play many other characters.
Followed by… Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn – 1956 (29 mins) 35mm Sellers and Milligan with Dick Emery in a knockabout short written by Goon Show writer Larry Stephens with producers Harry Booth and Jon Pennington.
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I’m All Right Jack – 1959 (105 mins) Digital Tuesday 05 August 2025 20:20 & Saturday 16 August 2025 12:20 A big breakthrough film for Sellers which set him on the road to real film stardom with the creation of one of his best remembered characters, Union Shop Steward Fred Kite. A real British comedy classic with co-stars Terry-Thomas and a host of supporting character actors.
Screened with… The Running, Jumping and Standing Still film – 1960 (11 mins) Digital A hugely influential experimental short devised by Sellers and shot on his own 16mm camera. Nominated for the 1959 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short, it influenced director Dick Lester when he made The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.
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Two Way Stretch (New Restoration) – 1960 (87 mins) Digital 4k restoration Wednesday 06 August 2025 20:45 & Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:10 Sellers in prison with David Lodge and Bernard Cribbins overseen by Lionel Jeffries
Followed by… World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Insomnia Is Good For You –1957 (26 mins) Digital 4k restoration One of three lost shorts featuring Sellers as everyman Hector Dimwittie, in which he spends a weekend worrying about a meeting with his boss and is unable to sleep for 62 hours.
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Heavens Above 1963 (118 mins) Digital 4k restoration Saturday 09 August 2025 14:50 & Monday 18 August 2025 20:25 In another Boulting brothers’ film, the wrong vicar is appointed to a parish and tries to implement Christian values.
Screened together with… Cold Comfort – 1957 (16 mins) Video Another lost short featuring Sellers as Hector Dimwittie who catches a cold and tries many ways of treating it.
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World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Only Two Can Play – 1962 (106 mins) Digital 4k restoration Monday 25 August 2025 15:00 & Friday 15 August 2025 18:15 + intro by Vic Pratt, Producer, BFI Home Entertainment Caught between his ambitious wife and a glamorous amateur actress, Welsh librarian John Lewis is caught with the seven-year itch.
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The Wrong Arm of the Law – 1963 (94 mins) Digital 4k restoration Tuesday 12 August 2025 18:10 & Saturday 23 August 2025 18:00 Sellers is ‘Pearly’ Gates, an underworld kingpin, who enters into an uneasy alliance with the police to thwart a gang of Australian crooks muscling-in on the local territory by posing as police officers.
Shown alongside… World Premiere of 4K Restoration: Dearth of A Salesman – 1957 (30 mins) The third lost Sellers shorts as Hector Dimwittie, this time as a salesman.
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Dr Strangelove – 1963 (95 mins) Digital 4k Saturday 09 August 2025 12:15, Friday 22 August 2025 20:50, Monday 25 August 2025 18:10 & Thursday 28 August 2025 20:45 A Sellers classic in which he plays three roles, but steals the film with Dr. Strangelove with some memorable, mostly improvised set pieces.
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Being There – 1979 (130 mins) Digital Sunday 03 August 2025 18:10, Tuesday 26 August 2025 18:00 & Saturday 30 August 2025 20:25 In what has been referred to as Sellers’ swansong, he is Chance, the gardener. Arguably the perfect end to Sellers’ film career in which he plays a faceless nonentity who becomes both a celebrity and a presidential advisor.
Shown together with… Promotional film with director Hal Ashby – 1979 (3 mins) Video
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A Shot in the Dark USA – 1964 (102 mins) Digital Sunday 24 August 2025 12:20 & Wednesday 27 August 2025 18:20 The second Pink Panther film to feature Sellers as Inspector Clouseau
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The Return of the Pink Panther – 1975 (114 mins) 35mm Sunday 24 August 2025 14:50 & Wednesday 27 August 2025 20:40 Arguably the best film in the revival of the Pink Panther series
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Peter Sellers: Oddities and Rarities (100 mins) Monday 18 August 2025 18:15 A bespoke collection of Sellers’ TV appearances including interviews and performances with, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Anthony Newley and Eric Sykes together with some footage of Sellers’ home movies.
Together with… The Whistling Spy Enigma. A filmed TV version of a Goon Show filmed for Secombe and Friends but only shown in part.
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In addition, the BFI are showing the following BFI Families screenings:
Tom Thumb – 1958 (95 mins) 35mm Saturday 02 August 2025 12:00 & Sunday 10 August 2025 12:00 Sellers paired with Terry-Thomas as a pair of thieves for this telling of the Grimms fairytale
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The Optimists of Nine Elms – 1973 (111 mins) 35mm Saturday 23 August 2025 12:10 & Saturday 30 August 2025 12:10 This charming and underrated family film sees Sellers as an itinerant busker who befriends two children. An understated and underrated comedy laced with melancholic charm.
My summary – One of the most extensive and well thought through selections of some of the best performances from throughout Sellers’ career. We can all say, why aren’t they showing for example; The Millionairess, Lolita, Never Let Go or There’s A Girl In My Soup. But even with quite a big expanse of slots to fill, so diverse was Sellers’ career that it’s impossible to please everyone. It is however especially nice to see a few rarities screened in amongst the classics and favourites. Hat’s off to the BFI for getting it right!
The BBC are broadcasting a radio play on Friday 4th July which should appeal to students of Goon Show history. 1977, by Sarah Wooley, tells the story of the composer Angela Morley in the years after she transitioned from being the Goon Show’s Wally Stott. In particular, it’s set at the time she was writing of the Watership Down movie score. It was first broadcast in 2015 as part of the Drama on 4 series.
The programme is on BBC Radio 4 Extra, on Friday 4th July at 3.00 pm. It will be available to stream for the following 30 days from the programme’s BBC Sounds webpage or the Sounds app.
Angela Morley (photo from angelamorley.com)
Also worthy of a read is this blog post in which the writer explains the background to the play.
The 2025 annual GSPS member’s meeting is set for Saturday, 13th September. Once again, we’ll be gathering within earshot of the Spike Milligan Memorial Bench and the Lodge House which houses the Spike Milligan Archive. The venue, for the fourth year, is Stephens House and Gardens in Finchley, North London.
The event will run from 10.30am to 4.30pm, with a break for lunch in the Inky’s Café.
As well as our AGM, we are planning to have another quiz, a requested performance (or table read) of Tatter’s Castle (info), the initial Goon Show or Crazy People trial recording, and a chat with an author currently penning a brand new book on The Goon Show!
Oh, and bring along some of that lovely moolah you have stitched inside your mattress as we will be offering a variety of books, tapes and CDs for sale with the proceeds going back to society funds. Jane and Silé will also have new Spike related merchandise available, including the 2026 calendars!
Last year’s Jet Propelled Guided NAAFi reading
It isn’t necessary to book a place at this meeting. However, so we can judge how many teas and biscuits to bring in, it would be helpful to let us know you’re coming by sending a message through the form below.
Stephens House & Gardens 17 East End Rd, London N3 3QE
The venue is accessible for disabled visitors, and there are a few parking places can be reserved for those who might need one.
CAFE ON-SITE for coffee, tea and lunches. BY BUS Buses 13, 125, 143, 460 and 326 stop nearby. BY UNDERGROUND Nearest underground station: Finchley Central on the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line. On leaving the station walk up to Regents Park Road, turn left and, at the A504 junction, turn left again into East End Road. The house is on the left.
The video of the Galton and Simpson Archive talk at the University of York’s Festival of Ideas (we’ve mentioned it more than once) has been uploaded to YouTube. It includes Richard Usher performing one of the scripts which was written for Peter Sellers’ appearances on Midday Music Hall in 1954.
Richard Usher’s performance of ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Two Raised Fingers’:
Don’t miss this week’s edition of Goon Pod. In it, Tyler talks to “the Grand Poobah” of the GSPS, Richard Usher and the University of York archivist Gary Brannan.
As well as discussing the Galton and Simpson archive which Gary is working on, and scripts found in it which were written for Peter Sellers and as performed recently by Richard (more info), the topics ranged from the archives being collected more generally at York, including the GSPS’s, collection, and the strength and future of the GSPS.
The very same day as the podcast was released, the video of Gary’s talk and Richard’s performance was uploaded to YouTube. See it here.
The crowdfunding campaign to help secure the Galton and Simpson archive, as mentioned in the podcast, is here
Listen to Goon Pod on your favourite source of podcasts, or here
Listeners' Top 20 British Sitcoms Of All Time –
Goon Pod
Let's go out with a bang as we count down Listeners’ Top 20 British Sitcoms of All Time – as voted for by you. In total 73 different shows were nominated – some of the very greatest and most popular, others quite obscure or forgotten. But which ones made the final list? In this show we find out, with very special guests Chris Diamond and Donna Rees.Whether your tastes run towards the communal warmth of classic ensemble shows, the brittle awkwardness of suburban frustration, or the fragmented edges of sitcom storytelling, there’s plenty here to argue about. We talk about why some comedies endure, why others divide opinion and how shifting zeitgeists shape what people laugh at. Expect nostalgia, rediscovery and the occasional raised eyebrow or disapproving 'tut' as we move through the list. Will the obvious favourites dominate, or will a few unexpected titles sneak in? Expect a few surprises!
Many members will be aware of The Footage Detectives programme on Talking Pictures TV, the show which features lots of archive clips recovered from days gone by, hosted by Mike Read and Noel Cronin.
Next Sunday, June 15th, they’ll be running a Goon Show Special! Mike and Noel will share some interesting rare lost reels from the Goon Preservation Society, and there will be a special guest!
Who will the guest from the GSPS be? What will they show?
You can watch Talking Pictures TV on Virgin 445, Freesat 306, Freeview or Youview 82 or on the Sky digital satellite platform, channel 328. Schedules are available at talkingpicturestv.co.uk Programmes can also be streamed on catch-up at www.tptvencore.co.uk
On 8th June, Richard Usher will be performing material written for Peter Sellers by Galton and Simpson in Goon Show style. There’s a link to book a (free) ticket in the text below.
Missing Goon Show Sketches Unearthed in Galton and Simpson Archive University of York discovers lost comedy gems tied to Peter Sellers and The Goon Show
Previously unknown Goon Show material has been uncovered in the personal archive of legendary comedy writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, held at the University of York. The sketches were found in a folder marked ‘Peter Sellers Sketches’ and include script titles such as Sherlock Holmes, Cowboy Sketch, and Caine Mutiny. On closer inspection, the material – short, tightly written scripts likely no more than five minutes each – was clearly Goon Show content, written for Sellers to perform at his vocal best. These sketches aired as part of Midday Music Hall, a variety programme on the BBC Home Service between 16th – 30th October 1954. Sellers was billed as ‘resident top of the bill’ for three weeks. The material includes themes and voices typical of Sellers, and one joke even appears three years later in a Goon Show episode. The Midday Music Hall sketches were broadcast in the middle of the Goon Show’s fifth series, at a time when the series was at its creative peak. No episodes of Midday Music Hall are known to exist in the archive. The discovery opens up new avenues of research on collaborative writing practices at Associated London Scripts (ALS), the writers’ agency founded by Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, and Galton and Simpson. While it’s well known that ALS writers collaborated freely, this is the first tangible evidence suggesting Galton and Simpson may have directly contributed to Goon Show material. To celebrate, the University of York will restage one of the rediscovered sketches – The Case of the Missing Two Fingers, a Sherlock Holmes parody – at the York Festival of Ideas on 8 June. Actor Richard Usher will bring the material to life for the first time in over 70 years to a live audience, complete with period-accurate sound effects: https://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2025/calendar/hancock-steptoe The performance forms part of a wider campaign to secure and preserve the Galton and Simpson archive for future research, enjoyment, and appreciation, and the comedy community can help via donations to a special crowdfunding campaign at https://yustart.hubbub.net/p/galtonandsimpson Gary Brannan, Keeper of Archives and Research Collections at the University of York, said: “As a fan of both Galton and Simpson and the Goons, I can’t wait to share these unknown gems with the comedy community. Who knows what else we’ll find? That’s why it’s really important to make sure we save the archive for future fans to enjoy and to secure the legacy of Ray and Alan.”
There has been sad news in the world of the GSPS this week. Mike Coveney, our founder and honorary vice-president, passed away on 26th May. He was 92 years old.
The story of the society being formed after Mike met other fans in a pub after the recording of The Last Goon Show of All in 1972 is well known. You can read a description of the early days in Mike’s own words here. Many more reports and articles by Mike are spread around this website, our newsletter archive, and the book Goons Show News.
Another long-time member, Mark Cousins, also summed up Mike’s contribution: Mike Coveney was quite simply a legend in the world of The Goon Show Preservation Society. He started the GSPS and ran it with Linton Culver for many years as it got off the ground, and was Chairman and President. We have a lot to thank him for. Most importantly, Mike was a really nice guy and I have many fond memories of him during those early days of the GSPS, including going on the famous GSPS march to the BBC and visiting Spike’s house. They will live with me forever. God bless you Mike. You are still a legend!
The 28th of May is designated National Goon Show Day. This year, it’s the 74th anniversary of the first ever Goon Show being broadcast by the BBC.
Here’s today’s special offer: To receive a quarterly magazine AND be able to buy our exclusive Encyclopaedia Goonicus, JOIN US TODAY, and get a whopping 25% off an e-membership. That’s only £6, it’s less than a single copy of the Radio Times ! Use the codeword: SPON
* Offer only available to new members signing up 28th May – deadline – 4th June 2025. Special offer membership is valid for only one year. This offer is not available to lapsed members or members renewing their subscription.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 