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 and Eric Sykes
Producer: Peter Eton
Recorded: Sunday 13 March 1955
First Broadcast : Tuesday 15 March 1955 on the BBC Home Service
Ned Seagoon, Son of Houdini, accepts a bet of ten shillings that he can’t escape from a set of chains. Scotsman Ray ‘Ginger’ Ellington duly wraps him in chains, but gives up trying to collect the bet when Seagoon is still trying contortionist manoeuvres to free himself thirteen hours later. Moriarty takes Neddie to Grytpype, in Scotland. Grytpype sells Neddie all of the snow in England, explaining that Neddie can ship it to the Sudan, where they’ve never seen snow, and make a fortune exhibiting it. Neddie buys the show and pays a visit to Henry Crun, England’s only snow packer. Minnie enters with a sick tiger – it has the flu. They argue over whether Henry’s old and square, then the tiger eats Minnie, who decides to go to sleep inside it. After instructing Henry to pack the snow and send it to the quay, Neddie goes to the docks in search of a ship. He meets Eccles, who has with him a tiger, and Bluebottle, who has a rocket ship. Seagoon eventually makes it to the Sudan where he’s met by Bloodnok, who manages to steal the gold scissors used to cut the tape to open the snow exhibit, as well as the safe the scissors are kept in. But when the box of snow is opened, it’s full of water. All is not lost – the Pong people of the desert will pay handsomely for water. Bloodnok sells camels and provisions to Neddie for twenty pounds. At the city of El Pong, Sheikh Ellinga buys the water. Neddie gives the money to Bloodnok to put in the safe. While everyone has their eyes shut so that they won’t see the combination, Bloodnok runs off with the money. On opening the box, they find that it contains only steam – the heat of the desert evaporated the water. Neddie is saved from the wrath of the Sheikh by Grytpype and Moriarty, who show up and come to an amicable agreement with the Sheikh by shooting him. Grytpype tells Neddie that he knows of a place that will pay a lot for empty cardboard boxes – England. They need them to fill with snow to ship to the Sudan, where the natives have never seen it . . . .
The Goon Show Preservation Society 