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
Producer: Peter Eton
Recorded: Sunday 14 March 1954
First Broadcast : Monday 15 March 1954 on the BBC Home Service
This episode was rerecorded as V/10 The Silent Bugler.
Neddie Seagoon, MI5 Agent X2, is summoned to London. On the train he has an encounter with the conductor, Willium. On arrival at HQ, he is informed that the Russians have developed a time machine, with which they will travel to the future and build planes that travel faster than the speed of light. X2 is sent to Henry Crun for briefing. He warns him about the Russian master spy, Igor Blimey, also known as the Silent Bugler. Seagoon spends the next two days in training under Major Bloodnok, who steals all his valuables during a blindfold sensitivity test. Sergeant Eccles tests Seagoon’s ability to identify objects held up in rapid succession. Seagoon guesses them all except the last (an elephant). Bluebottle demonstrates his back-shot pistol to Seagoon, and ends up being deaded. Bloodnok, Eccles, and Seagoon, disguised, board the special mystery flight X to Berlin. On arrival, they open their secret orders. They are to apprehend the Silent Bugler, who knows where the time machine is. He is in the Dresden Opera House. Our heroes go to the concert that night, and the gaps in the orchestra’s playing indicate that the Silent Bugler is indeed there. But he has fooled them – the entire orchestra is miming to a gramophone record. Eccles and Bloodnok find the time machine in a room under the Opera House and blow it up. But it turns out to be a fake put there by Seagoon to fool the Russians. Just as they’re about to deal with the real machine, Justin Eidelburger discovers them. They flee by car, horse, race car, and hearse, only to find themselves back where they started. There is only one way to escape Eidelburger – go into the future in the time machine. Those who would like to hear how the story ends must tune in on 15 March 1984.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 