''The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'' was the first real attempt to translate the humour of ''

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 ...

'' to television. It was made by

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

during 1956 and was broadcast only in the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

area. It combined elements of a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

and

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 ...

with

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 ...

as the editor of a tatty Victorian newspaper, ''The Idiot Weekly''. The headlines of the paper were used as links to comedy sketches. Although written mainly 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 Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

, there were many contributions from members of

Associated London Scripts Associated London Scripts (ALS) was a writers' agency organised as a co-operative which involved many leading comedy and television writers of the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1950s, as ''The Goon Show'' was gaining popularity, its main writer S ...

, the writers' co-operative, including Dave Freeman and

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Survivo ...

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

was credited as the script editor. The series was produced and directed by

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ''S ...

. It was followed by ''

A Show Called Fred ''A Show Called Fred'' is a sketch comedy series best known for being an early television work by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, then both regular performers on the BBC Home Service as two-thirds of the cast of ''The Goon Show''. Directed by ...

'' and ''

Son of Fred ''Son of Fred'' was the successor series to ''The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'' and ''A Show Called Fred''. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in the London area, English Midlands, Midlands and Northern England. It was the third ...

''. The title was revived by

for his Australian radio series ''

The Idiot Weekly ''The Idiot Weekly'' (1958–1962) was a radio program made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Background Transcriptions of ''The Goon Show'' were broadcast on Australian radio from late 1955. When Spike Milligan visited his parents in W ...

'' which ran from 1958.

References

External links

BBC Comedy Guide - The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idiot Weekly 1956 British television series debuts 1956 British television series endings 1950s British comedy television series British surreal comedy television series ITV comedy