Writers

While Spike Milligan did most of the Goon Show scriptwriting, he couldn’t do it all on his own, even when he wasn’t suffering health problems.

James Douglas (Jimmy) Grafton MC (1916-1986)
Jimmy was an ex-infantry officer, and also a radio comedy script-writer, who owned the Grafton Arms pub in London, which was frequented by the Goons and many other famous variety and music hall performers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Grafton is remembered as the man who supported and mentored the Goons in their early days, becoming known as KOGVOS – “Keeper Of Goons and Voice of Sanity”. Spike even got to live and help out in the pub for a while. He played a key role in getting The Goon Show approved by the BBC programme planners and into production. Jimmy Grafton edited the scripts for the first three series of Goon Shows, while Spike was still learning his craft. He was also Harry Secombe’s agent for over 25 years.
Jimmy Grafton on Wikipedia

Larry Stephens (1923-1959)
Larry Stephens trained and served as a Commando during World War II, seeing action in Asia and rising to the rank of Captain. In peacetime, he became a scriptwriter who wrote for a variety of radio show, and later television shows. In particular, he wrote for, and became a close friend of, Tony Hancock. Dennis Main Wilson brought Stephens in to write for The Goon Show during the first series as the task was too big for one man, and Larry was better at turning Spike’s ideas into coherent stories. Over the years he was credited as writer or co-writer on 133 Goon Shows, his last contribution was 9/7 The Seagoon Memoirs.

It’s unclear how many, but it’s believed that some shows were written alone or mostly by either Milligan or Stephens, but credited to both. This seems even more likely as there were times when they weren’t on speaking terms, thanks to Milligan’s mental state and Stephens’ heavy drinking. Larry certainly had a hand in well over half of them, and it’s to Milligan’s discredit that he sought to diminish the importance of Larry Stephens’ contribution to the Goons. It didn’t help that Stephens died in 1959, at the age of only 35.
It’s All In the Mind: The Life and Legacy of Larry Stephens by Julie Warren
Larry Stephens on Wikipedia

Eric Sykes, CBE (1923-2012)
To the public at large, Sykes is mostly remembered for the various TV sitcoms of that name, which he wrote and performed in with Hattie Jacques. His contribution to British culture is much, much wider. His career started as a starving writer in the late 1940s, who slowly he built up a body of work writing for comedians like Bill Fraser and Frankie Howerd. From 1953 he shared an office with Spike Milligan, before both went on to be part of Associated London Scripts. He was brought in to help Spike write Goon Shows, particularly during series 5 when Larry Stephens wasn’t there, and wrote some on his own – see Eric Sykes on who wrote what.

Eric had a long, successful career as both writer and performer, and in 1992 he was awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the British Comedy Awards and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
Eric Sykes – interviewed in 2006
Eric Sykes on Wikipedia

Maurice Wiltshire (1916-1991)
Wiltshire was a professional scriptwriter who worked on a wide range of radio and TV programmes. He often collaborated with Larry Stephens. It’s recorded that during series 8 and 9 of the Goon Show, when Spike Milligan was unavailable, he stepped in to help Larry, and he’s credited as co-writer on 4 shows. However, it’s believed he had been lending an uncredited hand in scriptwriting as early as series 4. He was also the writer who worked on the Telegoons shows, editing the radio scripts down to fifteen minutes.

John Antrobus (1933- )
Another highly regarded film, theatre, TV and radio writer, John is credited as the co-writer, with Spike, of two of the Series 8 Goon Shows, and also the TV Series. He also wrote on Spike’s 1956 “Show Called Fred” TV series, and a great deal of the TV comedy going from then on. Later, he co-wrote the stageshow/movie “The Bed Sitting Room” and the radio show “The Milligan Papers” with Spike. He has also written the book – Goon But Not Forgotten.
This interview with John Antrobus was published in Newsletter 121 in 2007.
John Antrobus on Wikipedia

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