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The following is a List of ''The Goon Show'' episodes. ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' was a popular and influential British

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series, originally produced by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

from 1951 to 1960 and broadcast on the BBC Home Service.

Availability of ''The Goon Show'' episodes

Lost episodes

Many of the earliest radio episodes no longer exist. When the first episodes were broadcast, recording technology was still expensive and primitive by later standards.

Audio tape An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

was not in general use, and any recordings were made directly on to

acetate disc An acetate disc (also known as a ''lacquer'', ''test acetate'', '' dubplate'', or ''transcription disc'') is a type of phonograph record generally used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and still in limited use ...

s. These could be played back, but tended to wear out quickly and did not survive unless further processed to create a master disc, which was only done for recordings intended for sale. Only one episode from the fourth series was preserved in the

BBC Sound Archive The BBC Sound Archive is a collection of audio recordings maintained by the BBC and founded in 1936. Its recordings date back to the late 19th century and include many rare items, including contemporary speeches by public and political figures, fo ...

(as a tape dub from an acetate disc). Other episodes from Series 2–4 have survived, sometimes in incomplete form, as off-air recordings of varying quality. Four episodes from Series 4 were released on CD as ''The Goon Show: Series Four, Part One'' (2010). A further seven episodes from Series 2–4 are included in ''The Goon Show Compendium Volume 13'' (2017) along with the only surviving fragment of the Series 4 episode "The Giant Bombardon". ''Volume 14'' (2018) includes all of the remaining Series 4 episodes, including those from the 2010 set. The special episodes "Archie in Goonland" (1954) (a crossover with ''

Educating Archie ''Educating Archie'' was a BBC Light Programme comedy show which was broadcast for nearly ten years between June 1950 and February 1960, mostly at lunchtime on Sundays. The programme featured ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andr ...

'') and "The Missing Christmas Parcel – Post Early for Christmas" (1955) (a 15-minute insert in '' Children's Hour'') are also believed lost.

Surviving episodes

Commencing with the start of the fifth series (in 1954),

BBC Transcription Services The BBC Transcription Services started life in the mid-1930s as the London Transcription Service to license BBC Radio programmes to overseas broadcasters who were authorised to broadcast the programmes for a set period, usually two or three years. ...

began making copies for overseas sales, and even commissioned re-recordings of some key fourth series episodes for the "Vintage Goons" series, which was mainly intended for overseas markets. The BBC Transcription Services versions were then cut to remove topical and parochial material and anything that might be potentially offensive. Later, BBC Transcription Services releases had further cuts for timing purposes. For many years, these abridged versions were thought to be only surviving copies of many episodes, but in recent years restoration experts such as Ted Kendall have found and restored a considerable amount of missing material. According to Kendall's sleeve notes to the ''Goon Show Compendium'' CD box sets, Transcription Services originally seem to have used the original broadcast tapes as the basis for their versions, making cuts as necessary. The cut material was often spliced onto the end of the reels in case it needed to be restored. When the "Vintage Goons" series began, episodes were recorded by TS at Maida Vale. Since these were performed on the same nights as Series 8 episodes, it made sense for Transcription Services to make their own simultaneous recordings at Maida Vale and it seems that this technique was also used on Series 9 and 10. These were then edited to match the broadcast versions before TS made its own cuts. However, it seems that in some cases the TS versions inadvertently preserve lines slated for deletion, meaning that longer cuts of these episodes can be reassembled. To date, the BBC has released 30 CD sets of these re-mastered episodes (originally on audio cassette tapes), containing 120 shows, plus an additional CD set comprising '' The Last Goon Show of All'' and '' Goon Again''. Another twelve shows had been previously issued by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, but for contractual reasons these were all heavily cut to remove musical interludes and other music cues. Until 2015 these were the only commercially available versions of those particular episodes, but three of them are included without the cuts, in their original chronological order, on ''The Goon Show Compendium Volume 11'', indicating that the rights to at least the earliest EMI releases had by then reverted to the BBC. It was later confirmed that ''Volume 12'', released on 3 November 2016, would include all of the remaining "missing" episodes, plus '' The Last Goon Show of All'' and bonus features. The 25th CD set, as well as the first of a new series of ''Goon Show Compendiums'' (which contains the first 13 episodes of series 5), were released on 7 April 2008. The Compendiums' bonus material includes notes by Ted Kendall, audio researcher and restorer, on the sources used for the recordings, which include BBC Sound Archive and Transcription Services master tapes and discs, unofficial copies made by engineers or other BBC staff, and even domestic off-air recordings from which a few cut lines were restored.

Broadcasting

Archive episodes of ''The Goon Show'' are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra; previously they were occasionally repeated on Radio 2 or Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. The

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

network in Australia has regularly broadcast ''The Goon Show'' since the 1960s. For many years, the series was broadcast every Saturday afternoon, just after the midday news bulletin. More recently, it was broadcast twice a week, on Friday mornings and Sunday afternoons. The network took the series off the air in January 2004, but following listener response to the cancellation, broadcasts of the show resumed in the Friday time slot in June. The ABC's broadcasts of the series have made ''The Goon Show'' one of the most repeated and longest-running of all radio programmes. The programme has been broadcast in the United States.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

broadcast ''The Goon Show'' as early as the mid-1950s.

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

of the Goon-influenced Monty Python comedy troupe recalled first hearing it broadcast on FM radio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in the 1960s. When

Vermont Public Radio Vermont Public Co. is the public broadcaster serving the U.S. state of Vermont. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio studios are located in Colchester, with television studios in Winooski. It operates two statewide radio services aligned with ...

signed on the air in 1977 (as a single station which has since evolved into a statewide network), the first programme to air was an episode of ''The Goon Show''. The show was described as a "madcap radio comedy classic".

Episodes

The following list of episodes of ''The Goon Show'' includes any "specials" and all episodes made for the BBC Transcription Service unaired domestically at the time (and therefore listed at the date of their recording).

Series overview

One-off special shows

First series: ''Crazy People'' (1951)

Cast:

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, m ...

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

Michael Bentine Michael Bentine, (born Michael James Bentin; 26 January 1922General Register Office for England and Wales – Birth Register for the March Quarter of 1922, Watford Registration District, Reference 3a 1478, listed as "Michael J. Bentin", mother ...

, The Ray Ellington Quartet, The Stargazers,

Max Geldray Max van Gelder (12 February 1916 – 2 October 2004), professionally known as Max Geldray, was a Dutch jazz harmonica player. Best known for providing musical interludes for the BBC radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'', he was also cr ...

and the BBC Dance Orchestra, conducted by Stanley Black.
Announcer:

Andrew Timothy Andrew Timothy (30 November 1912 – 9 December 1990) was an Anglican priest and BBC Radio announcer, who is known for being the original announcer of the comedy series ''The Goon Show''. His son is the Welsh actor Christopher Timothy. Early life ...

The shows were all recorded on a Sunday; episodes 1–9 were broadcast on Mondays, 10–17 were broadcast on Thursdays. No episodes are known to survive.

Second series (1952)

Cast:

, The Ray Ellington Quartet,

and the BBC Dance Orchestra, conducted by Stanley Black. The Stargazers were present for the first six shows only.
Announcer:

The shows were all recorded on a Sunday, except episodes 24 and 25; all episodes were broadcast on Tuesdays. Only three episodes are known to survive as truncated, off-air recordings.

Third series (1952–53)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

Wally Stott Angela Morley (10 March 192414 January 2009) was an English composer and conductor who became a familiar household name to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s. She attributed her entry into composing and arranging largely to the influence and en ...

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Tuesdays, with the exception of episode 7, a Christmas special. Only one excerpt and one full episode are known to survive.

Fourth series (1953–54)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcers:

(Episodes 1–5) and

Wallace Greenslade Wallace Frederick Powers Greenslade (1 July 1912 – 21 April 1961), also known as Bill Greenslade, was a BBC radio announcer and newsreader. He is best remembered for being the announcer—and frequently the straight man—for the BBC radio c ...

(Episodes 6–30, plus specials)
Episodes 1–20 were broadcast on Fridays; episodes 21–30 on Mondays.

Fifth series (1954–55)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Tuesdays. All episodes from this and subsequent series survive.

Sixth series (1955–56)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Tuesdays.

Seventh series (1956–57)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Tuesdays, except episodes 10 and 13, which were on Wednesdays.

Eighth series (1957–58)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Mondays.

''Vintage Goons'' series (1957–58)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The following episodes were especially recorded for overseas stations only during the Eighth Series and were re-recordings of earlier episodes. Six of these episodes were broadcast prior to the commencement of the Ninth series, which is why the Ninth series was shorter. However, many of these episodes were not broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

until the 1980s or 1990s. So for contextual purposes, the recording dates are listed alongside the original airdates in the United Kingdom.

Ninth series (1958–59)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Mondays, except episode 12, which was on a Tuesday.

Tenth series (1959–60)

Cast:

, with

and The Ray Ellington Quartet, conducted by

.
Announcer:

The shows were all broadcast on Thursdays.

Specials (1968–2001)

# "Tales of Men's Shirts" (8 August 1968; Thames Television) # " The Last Goon Show of All" (5 October 1972) # "Goon Again: the 50th Anniversary Cardboard Replica Goon Show" (29 May 2001)

Notes and references

Notes References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goon Show episodes, The Lost BBC episodes Lists of British radio series episodes