''Son of Fred'' was the successor series to ''

The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d ''The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'' was the first real attempt to translate the humour of ''The Goon Show'' to television. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion during 1956 and was broadcast only in the London area. It combined elements of a sitcom ...

'' and '' A Show Called Fred''. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in the London area,

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

and Northern England. It was the third and final in a series of

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

shows attempting to translate the humour of '' The Goon Show'' to television.

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 Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

concentrated on writing and only made small walk on appearances, leaving the lead acting to Peter Sellers. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester.

Impact on comedy and culture

The minimalist format, with little or no scenery and few props, sketches without any real purpose or punch line, and mixing live action and short animations directly influenced the format of ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...

''. The unconventional format was revived in

's '' Q'' series more than a decade later. A half hour special ''Best of Fred'' was broadcast on 18 September 1963 combining surviving sketches from '' A Show Called Fred'' and ''Son of Fred''. The 1997 convention of the Goon Show Preservation Society was billed as ''Son of a Weekend Called Fred''.

Archive status

The show is believed lost, with the exception of the first episode, which is available to stream on BFI Player.

Footnotes

{{reflist 1956 British television series debuts 1956 British television series endings 1950s British television sketch shows British surreal comedy television series ITV sketch shows Lost television shows