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 Larry Stephens
Producer: Pat Dixon
Recorded: Sunday 9 December 1956
First UK Broadcast: Thursday 25 December 1986 on BBC Radio 4
A special edition, recorded for the BBC General Overseas Service.
Due to the shortage of civilian contractors, they cannot provide enough Christmas pudding for the overseas forces. Parliament therefore decides to have the services combine their efforts to produce a giant Christmas pudding for their own use. Communication from the Madagan Trans-Antarctic Expedition requests a Christmas pudding, so it’s decided to increase the size of the Combined Services pudding to allow an extra slice for the Antarctic base. At Chatham, Richard Dimbleby reports on the Navy, under Admiral Seagoon’s command, mixing the pudding in a dry-dock, using a flotilla of torpedo boats, with a cruiser in their wake dropping depth charges to bring the raisins to the surface, while Fairey Gannets drop candied peel, stoned ginger, and sultanas. The pudding is pumped into a tanker and transferred to the Salisbury plain, where it’s under Army control. There, Major Bloodnok’s regiment cook the pudding in a gasometer by having tanks bring their flame-throwers to bear on it. The Sappers blast open the gasometer with Bangalore torpedoes and then the Artillery fire threepenny bits into the pudding. When an infantry patrol reports that it has reached the summit of the Christmas pudding and planted the British holly in it, it’s transferred to RAF control. Sopwith Camels drop delayed brandy bombs on the pudding, setting it alight. The Christmas duff is now ready for transportation. One slice is cut and filled with anti-freeze for transport to the Trans-Antarctic expedition. The rest is fitted with wheels and a diesel engine, to be driven to the Middle East depots for distribution. Eccles and Bluebottle, having been recruited into the Army to play the piano, find themselves driving the pudding. They’re stopped by the starving Grytpype and Moriarty, who claim that the only thing that can save Moriarty’s life is eating Christmas pudding on the move. Having picked up the two scoundrels, they drive on. Meanwhile Seagoon and Bloodnok have reached the Filcher ice shelf and proceed inland. Several months later they start eating slices of the pudding to stay alive. Seagoon catches Bloodnok brown-handed digging after threepenny bits. Just then Eccles and company arrive with the rest of the pudding, remarking that it’s probably the first time they’ve had snow in Libya. On asking a passer-by, they discover they’re in New York. Eccles wants to know what New York is doing in Libya. Seagoon wants to know what New York is doing in the Antarctic. Bloodnok flips a coin and concludes they’re in Mongolia.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 