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''The Idiot Weekly'' (1958–1962) was a
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 ...
program made by the
Australian Broadcasting Commission
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...
.
Background
Transcriptions 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 ...
'' were broadcast on Australian radio from late 1955. When
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 ...
visited his parents in
Woy Woy
Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water north of Sydney. It is a population centre within the local government area.
Woy Woy is located in the no ...
in 1958, the
Australian Broadcasting Commission
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...
signed him for a series of radio comedy broadcasts. They hoped for a local equivalent 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 ...
'' with an Australian slant to it, but without
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
Format and characters
The format was very similar to ''
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 ...
'', with Milligan recycling or adapting scripts and jokes for the new show. The show contained typical Goonish humour and some of Milligan's ''
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 1 ...
'' characters, notably Eccles, made regular appearances. However it was distinctly Australian with plots translated to Australian locations and frequent references to topical events and Australian political figures of the time.
The closing credits were "a radio reading of ''The Idiot Weekly''" with the actors credited as "Headlines by.." or "Cartoons by..." and the producer credited as a sub-editor.
Running gags
Many episodes include references to the perceived poor state of the
ABC, usually by the announcer. For example, "This is the Australian Broadcasting Commission and it's going bald" or "This is the ABC, and the roof leaks". These are similar to ''
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 ...
's'' references to 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. ...
...
, e.g. "This is the BBC Home Service." ''(Coin dropped into charity tin)'' "Thank you."
Most episodes include references to
Woy Woy
Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water north of Sydney. It is a population centre within the local government area.
Woy Woy is located in the no ...
.
Episode guide
1st Series
1. 1–1 June 3, 1958
2. 1–2 June 10, 1958
3. 1–3 June 17, 1958
4. 1–4 June 24, 1958
5. 1–5 July 1, 1958
6. 1–6 July 8, 1958
7. 1–7 July 15, 1958
8. 1–8 July 22, 1958
9. 1–9 July 29, 1958
10. 1–10 August 5, 1958
11. 1–11 August 12, 1958 ''The All Australian Leather Rocket''
12. 1–12 August 19, 1958
The cast was
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Bobby Limb
Robert "Bobby" Limb AO, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, television and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s, he also founded the film a ...
,
Michael Eisdell and
Ray Barrett
Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in ''The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...
with music by
Jim Gussey and the ABC Dance Orchestra. The producer was
Max Greaves.
2nd Series
13. 2–1 June 30, 1959 ''Son of Andrea''
14. 2–2 July 7, 1959
15. 2–3 July 14, 1959
16. 2–4 July 21, 1959
17. 2–5 July 28, 1959
18. 2–6 August 4, 1959
19. 2–7 August 11, 1959
20. 2–8 August 18, 1959
21. 2–9 August 25, 1959
22. 2–10 September 1, 1959
23. 2–11 September 8, 1959 ''The French Connection''
24. 2–12 September 15, 1959
25. 2–13 September 22, 1959 ''The Australian Flag''
Broadcast dates unknown: ''The Prime Minister's Trousers'', ''The First Australian into Outer Woy Woy''
The cast was
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 ...
,
Bobby Limb
Robert "Bobby" Limb AO, OBE (10 November 1924 – 11 September 1999) was an Australian-born entertainment pioneer, comedian, band leader and musician and legend of radio, television and theatre of the 1960s and 1970s, he also founded the film a ...
,
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 ...
,
Peter Carver,
Michael Eisdell, announcer
Graham Connolly with music by
Johnny Bamford
Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females.
Varian ...
(vibraphone),
Bruce Findlay (vocals),
Jim Gussey and the ABC Dance Orchestra. The producer was
John McCloud.
3rd Series
26. 3–1 August 28, 1962
27. 3–2 September 4, 1962
28. 3–3 September 11, 1962
29. 3–4 September 18, 1962
30. 3–5 September 25, 1962
31. 3–6 October 2, 1962
32. 3–7 October 9, 1962
33. 3–8 October 16, 1962
34. 3–9 October 23, 1962
35. 3–10 October 30, 1962
36. 3–11 November 6, 1962
37. 3–12 November 13, 1962
38. 3–13 November 20, 1962
Broadcast dates unknown: ''The Ashes'', ''The King's Bridge Saga'', ''The American Cup'', ''The World's Greatest Adventure'', ''The Spon Plague'', ''King's Cross - The East Berlin of Australia'', ''The Great Christmas Pudding'', ''The Flying Dustman of the Outback''.
The cast was
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 ...
,
John Ewart
Jon Ewart (06th May 1996) is a British television and film actor. Ewart attended the prestigious National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and has appeared in many successful Television shows.
Biography Career
Ewart, who was born in M ...
,
Ric Hutton
Ric Hutton (1926–1996) was an Australian actor. He worked in Britain, Australia and the United States of America. He was best known in Australia as the voice of "Black Jack Seager" in the hit radio series ''The Castlereagh Line'' written by Ros ...
,
Paul Westerman
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
,
Al Thomas,
Michael Eisdell, announcer
Peter Young with music by
Patricia Ridgeway (vocals),
Dudley Stapleton (piano),
Jim Gussey and the ABC Dance Orchestra. The producer was
John McCloud.
Notes
* Some published sources list ''The Australian Flag'' and ''The Prime Minister's Trousers'' as being in Series 1. Both credit the Series 2 cast. ''The Australian Flag'' is announced as "the last of the present series".
* The surviving recording of ''The First Australian into Outer Woy Woy'' includes the audience warm up, which includes a short jazz number by the
ABC Dance Band with
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 ...
playing the trumpet.
* ''The Spon Plague'' combines elements 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 ...
's ''Lurgi Strikes Britain'' and ''The Nadger Plague''. Some publications list this episode title as ''The Spon Berry vs The Spon Plague'' or just ''Spon''. The show is announced as ''The Spon Plague''. In this episode,
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 ...
sings a version of the ''Dustbin Dance'' from 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. ...
...
television series ''