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Happy New Year everybody. To begin the year, we have excellent news to share in the form of the following press release:

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Our “Highly Esteemed” organisation has received its own version of a New Year’s Honour in the shape of a communication confirming that His Majesty The King would be delighted to retain Patronage of The Goon Show Preservation Society.

We are overjoyed that His Majesty continues to honour us with the Royal Patronage he bestowed upon us as the former Prince of Wales. It is well documented that His Majesty has been a lifelong aficionado of
The Goon Show and a friend and admirer of the principal stars of the series, Sir Spike Milligan, Sir Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine.

The Goon Show Preservation Society was created in 1972 following a performance of The Last Goon Show of All for the BBCs 50th anniversary celebrations. Famously, the then Prince of Wales was unable to attend the recording, which was, however, attended by Prince Philip and Princess Anne. A telegram was despatched and read out by announcer Andrew Timothy:
“One of your most devoted fans is enraged at the knowledge he is missing your last performance. Last night my hair fell out and my knees dropped off, having turned green with envy at the thought of my father and my sister attending the show. One day, perhaps, you will find time to give a performance to a shipful of Seagoons.”

The GSPS is not simply a humble fan club, oh no! The clue is in the society’s name, a remit to preserve anything associated with a radio series that began life as Crazy People in May, 1951, and quite literally changed the landscape of British comedy for generations to come. As devotees of this groundbreaking radio comedy show, the membership of the GSPS has collected and collated a mass of items including scripts, photographs, rare film reels and even a typewriter. Much of the society’s archive is now deposited with the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York, while we continue to seek out rare items and safeguard all things Goon.

In addition to our Royal Patronage, the society is proud to have as honorary presidents, Spike Milligan’s daughters, Silé and Jane Milligan, who look after their father’s archive and perpetuate his legacy through Spike Milligan Productions Ltd.

For more information or to join our merry band, please browse this website and follow the ‘join us’ link.

GREENSLADE: I would just like to mention that the Radio Times is now on sale at all book stores, price thruppence. Three copper coins, mark you.

Yes Wal, but the latest price on the newsstands is £5.50. Compare that to the value of a year’s membership of the GSPS, with which you get four issues of Goon Show News.

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And with that short diversion, we regret to announce that the time has come for the GSPS annual membership fees to go up. They’ve been held at the old level since 2014, but rising postage costs have to be accounted for.

So, the following prices will come into force at New Year 2026:
Electronic Membership: will rise to £9
Standard Membership: will rise to £14
Overseas Membership: will rise to £18

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A Very Merry Christmas to everyone from the Goon Show Preservation Society.

If you’re looking to pass some time over the festive season, have a go at the quizzes which were set for this year’s annual meeting. There’s the Great Multiple Choice Quiz and the Peter Sellers Picture Quiz.

Also new to the website and worth a read is a transcript from a 1996 GSPS meeting known as An Evening Called Fred. John Browell talked about his days as producer of series 9 and 10, The Last Goon Show Of All, and later jobs with Spike and Peter. Brian Wiley remembered working with Peter, while John P Hamilton described the making of A Show Called Fred for TV and told a funny blooper story featuring Wallace Greenslade.

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And, BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Tuesday Goon Show slot this week features the 1956 panto style episode Robin Hood, featuring Valentine Dyall and Dennis Price. This is a show which was recorded for overseas use and it wasn’t actually aired by the BBC until 1988. UK listeners can stream it here from Tuesday.

Sad news to report from the world of the Goon Show. John Antrobus, the esteemed writer and honorary president of the GSPS, passed away on 15th December at the age of 92.

John was probably the last remaining person who contributed directly to the Goon Show. He co-wrote the scripts to The Spon Plague and The Great Statue Debate episodes from series 8 in 1958.

Having tried army and merchant navy life, John became a full-time playwright and scriptwriter in 1955. At that time met and worked with met Spike Milligan, Larry Stevens, Galton and Simpson, and everyone else at Associated London Scripts.

His other Goon-related involvements included the 1956 Show Called Fred TV series and Spike’s Australian Radio show Idiot Weekly. Later collaborations with Spike included the play, and later film, The Bed Sitting Room, and the 1987 radio series The Milligan Papers.
His books include a memoirs of the Goon Show days, Surviving Spike Milligan andGoon But Not Forgotten.

John created many other works during his career and won many awards. A full tribute will appear in the next issue of Goon Show News.

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Obituary from The Guardian

It’s that Christmassy-themed time again, and the final issue of our newsletter for 2025 is on its way to members.

Things in this issue include:

John Browell recalls the Last Goon Show Of All
Michael Bentine’s thoughts on comedy
The GSPS with Talking Pictures TV at Hebden Bridge
The GSPS Annual Meeting report
and many more articles, letters and news items.

The clickable Kick up the Archives feature from this issue is here.

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The newsletter is published quarterly and sent to all of our members. A sample copy can be downloaded here. If you’re not getting it, why not join the GSPS. You won’t be disappointed.

Peter Sellers’ centenary celebrations are still going on. Those of you in the Birmingham area will have a chance to see a programme of Sellers material at the Midlands Arts Centre on Saturday afternoon, 15^th November.

The show, collated by the BFI, will feature a number of Sellers’ TV appearances, including interviews and performances featuring him with Spike Milligan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Anthony Newley and Eric Sykes. There will also be glimpses of Sellers’ own home movies and a complete screening of that rare filmed Goon Show – The Whistling Spy Enigma.

Details and tickets are available here

As the Radio 4 Extra Tuesday Goon Show series completes its airing of Series 8, the episode scheduled for broadcast on 11th November will be the last of the series, The Great Statue Debate.

This show, script written by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus, was originally broadcast on 24th March 1958. This will be the first time the BBC has played it since. It was included in two commercial releases in 2012, The Goon Show Compendium Volume 8 and The Goon Show Volume 29.

The episode will be available to stream on BBC Sounds (for those of us in the British Isles who aren’t geo-blocked) for thirty days from the date of broadcast.

The Great Statue Debate on BBC Radio
The Great Statue Debate episode details

There are currently 22 episodes available to stream on Sounds. Alas, after 15th February next, this will be reduced to just those which have aired in the previous 30 days, as the last batch added for 5 years during lockdown expires.

Hambledon Productions, the theatre company which specialises in vintage comedy, has announced a new production which will tour in Autumn 2026. It’s a new adaption of the Spike Milligan and Ronnie Barker classic, The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town.

The work was originally conceived to be a Goon Show revival project, but Peter, Harry and Spike couldn’t get together at the time. It’s best remembered from the serialisation in The Two Ronnies in 1976.

We believe this will be the first time the story has been adapted for the stage. Keep an eye on hambledonproductions.com for news.

The animated TV series based on Spike Milligan’s book Badjelly The Witch is set to appear for the first time in the UK on Thursday 16th October. The 13 part series was made in New Zealand and originally broadcast there. It features Miriam Margolyes as Badjelly.

The shows will become available on ITV’s streaming channel, ITVX, from Thursday 16th October. You can find them on ITVX here (free account required).

What a great opportunity to introduce Spike’s humour to a new generation.

The annual meeting of the GSPS was held at Stephens House and Garden in Finchley on 13^th September, our fourth visit to the venue. The roll says there were 13 members present, with another 9 tuned in on Zoom.

The day started off with the AGM. To summarise:

• There’s no change to the society’s office bearers, and we still need someone to step up as chairman or secretary.
• Our worldwide membership numbers over 400, with another 48 who haven’t paid up to date.
• There will be a small rise in our Annual fees, as of 1^st January coming. This is mostly to cover the rising cost of printing and (particularly) posting the newsletter. It’s the first rise in many years.
  Electronic Membership: currently £8 – will rise to £9
  Standard Membership: currently £12.50 – will rise to £14
  Overseas Membership: currently £15 – will rise to £17
• There was some discussion on the state of preservation and acquisitions policy, but with nothing particularly new to report.

The main part of the meeting concluded and was followed by a fiendish Finchley quiz organised by Richard and won by Jennifer from the online contingent. It may well appear on the website around the festive period.

Following a break for lunch, there was an interview with special guest Stephen Palmer, author of a forthcoming new book, The Goons in Africa. Hopefully it will appear on the shelves next year, watch out for news here as we get it.

There was also a guided tour of the Lodge and Spike’s archive for Stephen and a few members, led by Jane Milligan.

Sadly, we ran out of time for Goon related screenings, or the performance of Tatter’s Castle.