Starring Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Music by Max Geldray and The Ray Ellington Quartet
The Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
Script: Spike Milligan
Producer: Peter Eton
Recorded: Sunday 26 September 1954
First Broadcast : Tuesday 28 September 1954 on the BBC Home Service
A review from the GSPS Newsletter – July 1979
Captain Harry Seagoon is summoned to MI5, where he is briefed by Lance-Brigadier Grytpype-Thynne. The reason for the recent fall in British prestige throughout the civilised world (and America) is the defeat by the Hungarian football team. To ensure that this doesn’t happen when they play again, MI5 will conduct Operation Explodable Boot. Seagoon is to go to Budapest to contact the British agent, X, by whistling a highly-mysterious tune (the Hungarian Rhapsody, but whistled in English). When Seagoon points out that there are thousands of Hungarians who can whistle in English. Grytpype summons Eccles, the highly-skilled mysterious whistling espionage agent, and they go off to see Henry Crun, MI5’s highly-skilled mysterious pianist/composer. Eccles gives the secret knock and Henry answers, but there is a big delay because the door and window appear to be locked. Once that’s sorted out, Henry whistles the new highly-skilled mysterious tune. There isn’t time to teach Eccles the tune, so Henry accompanies Seagoon and Eccles to Budapest. On arrival, they contact the British Ambassador, Major Bloodnok. They are discovered by Moriarty, of the anti-whistling Hungarian counter-espionage agency. A fight ensues. Seagoon wonders out loud where the mysterious, deaf British agent can be, and Bluebottle, agent X, answers. They go to the football stadium to insert the dreaded dynamite in the Hungarian team’s football boots. Having inserted the dynamite in the football boots, they all return to the embassy and switch on the radio to listen to the match. It turns out that the game was nearly cancelled because the British team forgot their football boots, but the Hungarians sportingly gave them theirs . . . .
The Goon Show Preservation Society 