''Milligna (or Your Favourite Spike)'', also known as "The Milligna Show", was a radio comedy sketch show, written by

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 ...

, performed by

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...

, Vilma Hollingbery, and Milligan himself. Musical interludes were provided by

Ray Ellington Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet h ...

and the

Alan Clare Alan George Clare (born Alan George Jaycock; 31 May 1921 – 29 November 1993) was a British jazz pianist and composer. Family Singer Bloom Rose Houtman married Alan Clare in 1947. Alan and Bloom lived for most of their marriage in Holland Par ...

Quartet. Alan Clare also took speaking parts. The show was broadcast on Radio 4 in 1972. Its name was based on Milligan's introduction in '' The Last Goon Show of All'' as "Spike Milligna, the well-known typing error".

Format

The show progressed through a loosely linked collection of sketches, one-liners, puns and ethnic jokes. Bluthal provided multiple voices, including impressions of an African chieftain,

Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme '' Whicke ...

, and a Jewish Londoner. Vilma Hollingbery came on when the script required a female voice but otherwise remained in the background. Alan Clare tended to portray stupid teenagers and adults, using a weak Cockney voice which may have been his natural one. Running ideas provided some continuity. For instance in one edition, Milligan repeatedly announced that he would do an impression of

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

singing "Yesterday, When I Was Young", only to be interrupted by Bluthal each time, such as: :{{dialogue , m=Milligan , b=Bluthal , m, Yesterday... when I was young... , b, Stop! Stop! Stop in Israeli! , m, Are you Jewish? , b, No, a tree fell on me! Milligan tended to repeat his favourite jokes. He would announce "Good evening to you all, except Mrs. Ada Shagnasty of Leeds". In ''

The World of Beachcomber ''The World of Beachcomber'' was a surreal television comedy show produced by the BBC inspired by the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express'' newspaper. Description The show, like the column, consisted of a series of unrelated pieces of hum ...

'' he often used a similar line ending "except Maurice Ponk." The show included spoof news items including, "Long-missing

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

ear found in a British Rail sandwich". A longer sketch toward the end of the show might, as in one edition, have Milligan and Bluthal acting as door-to-door salesmen trying to persuade Vilma Hollingbery to upgrade her "dustbin image" by buying the "Midnight Thrill Dustbinette", along with sterilised and perfumed rubbish to put in it. The same edition included Milligan reciting a version of his story ''"The Singing Foot"'', originally published in the collection ''"The Bedside Milligan"''. The producer was John Browell who, as tradition then demanded, was subject to a certain amount of abuse. Milligan would read the closing credits, in the voice of a petty official, and pretend to be unable to read Browell's name.

References

BBC Radio comedy programmes British radio sketch shows 1972 radio programme debuts 1972 radio programme endings Works by Spike Milligan