May 21st, 1996 proved to be an auspicious day in London’s Goon diary. Not only was it the launch of the new Wenlock Arms venue, but it heralded An Evening With Fred, with Goon ‘celebrities’ arriving to speak words, such as John P. Hamilton (who he?) but also final Goon Show producer John Browell (cue cheers, whistles, banners, etc, etc) and his panel operator for those latter shows, Brian Willey.
Under the unrelenting scrutiny of Mike Waring’s roving video camera unit, these three gentlemen regaled us with tales linked to John Browell’s association with the Goons individually and also through those latter series of the Show, as well as The Last Goon Show of All. John Browell paid tribute to Milligan’s ‘undeniable genius’ in his recollections, but also tempered the celebration by admitting those latter Goon Shows were ‘brilliant’ but ‘came through blood’. An honest man.
People happily posed questions as well as listened to comments from the panel, and those fortunate enough to attend were duly appreciative at seeing half of one of Spike’s A Show Called Fred, screened for the first time to the GSPS – which gave John P. Hamilton opportunity to fill us in on the stringencies accompanying the production of those shows back in 1956.
The upper meeting room of the Arms was, as it happened, comfortably full to create the sense of occasion. Copies of recently acquired rare photos of Spike were on display to idiots, and added another echo of the Bournemouth convention to the proceedings. The only point of amazement to this writer (and others present) was that the numbers who had made the effort to travel from Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne and several other places beyond London outnumbered those who reached the Arms after a local journey by car or Tube!! Well really ……where were the rest of you London members ?
This report came from the July 1996 issue of the GSPS newsletter. As mentioned above, there is a video recording of the meeting. It can be found in the GSPS Videos section of Encyclopædia Goonicus.
Transcripts from parts of that video are here.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 