During the lifetime of the GSPS, our quest to fully document The Goon Show and associated programmes has resulted in a vast collection of material. In past decades, we ran a tape and video library which members could access. However, borrowing cassettes/CDs/VHS tapes/DVDs and returning them after use is not the modern way. Nowadays, paid-up members of the GSPS can obtain a copy of The Encyclopædia Goonicus.
The EG now comes in electronic format and is sent out on a 128 gigabyte USB 3.0 silver metal flash drive. Yes folks, that is a whole lot of material in a terribly small package. The fee for this is 25 British Pounds.
The 6th edition of The Encyclopædia Goonicus was released in 2022. It’s the world’s most comprehensive repository of information about The Goon Show and associated programmes, and is recommended reading for all students of the Gooniverse. It contains over 21,000 displayable pages of information, includes over 17,200 digital images, more than 1600 audio recordings totalling 716 hours, and a collection of 82 hours of video recordings.
The contents of Encyclopædia Goonicus include:
GOON SHOWS – One of our major aims is to preserve a collection of the recorded Goon Shows which is as complete and unexpurgated as possible. All the recordings we have of each show are included, in a compressed MP3 format. There are multiple versions of many shows, taken from broadcast and commercial release sources. There’s even a recording of a never-broadcast version of The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler, recorded without Spike Milligan. We include a copy of the original script for each show (including the early series), and an easier-to-read transcribed text too.
The show’s listings also have detailed technical information. There’s a complete set of Goon Show related (1951 to 1974) Radio Times listing pages, and many pages of associated BBC documentation. Related audio files have also been added, including recordings of Goon songs and sound effects produced by the backroom boys.
Biographical information about many of the people that were an integral part of The Goon Show and The Telegoons is included. Many of the entries have audio and/or video sections, from which you can listen to and/or view recorded programmes. There are even some movies which feature at least two Goons. For more reading, there’s the reference work, The Annotated Goon Show, too.
What else? Well, there are extensive listings of the commercial recordings and books which have been released. There are restored 16mm film versions of The Telegoons shows, and many examples of the cartoon version seen in the pages of TV Comic.
Other sections detail additional information on The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d., The Idiot Weekly, The Omar Khayyam Show, A Show Called Fred, Son of Fred, Best of Fred and Yes, It’s the Cathode Ray Tube Show.
And, there’s a new section which documents the post-war years leading up to The Goon Show.
GSPS
This section provides access to things produced by the GSPS and its regional and international groups. The complete set (1972-2021) of Goon Show Preservation Society Newsletters is included, along with an index of major articles and videos from the GSPS Goonventions.
The Goonsday Book is the Society’s collection of photographs, press cuttings and assorted papers, presented in chronological order (where known).
If you have material that is missing from this edition or have an uncle Ted who has a large collection of original, unprocessed programmes that can be used to fill the holes in this historical record, please let us know.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 