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4th Series
Scripts 1-9 and 11-20 by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens; no.
by Larry Stephens; remainder by Spike Milligan.
Announcer Andrew Timothy (nos. 1-5); then Wallace Greenslade.
Produced by Peter Eton, except no. 15 produced by Jacques Brow
Nos. 1-20 (except 13) broadcast on Fridays, nos. 21-30 on Monday
all pre-recorded the previous Sunday.
1 2-10-53 TLO 35079The Dreaded Piano Clubber(2)
2 9-10-53 TLO 35432The Man Who Tried to Destroy
London's Monuments(8)
3 16-10-53 TLO 35740The Ghastly Experiments of Dr.
Hans Eidelburger(4)
4 23-10-53 TLO 36235The Building of Britain's First
Atomic Cannon(5)
5 30-10-53 TLO 37145The Gibraltar Story(6)
6 6-11-53 TLO 37511Through the Sound Barrier in an
Airing Cupboard(7)
7 1-11-53 TLO 37898The First Albert Memorial to the
Moon
8 20-11-53 TLO 38482The Missing Bureaucrat(7)
9 27-11-53 TLO 37891Operation Bagpipes
10 4-12-53 TLO 39091The Flying Saucer Mystery(8)
11 11-12-53 TLO 39790The Spanish Armada(8)
12 18-12-53 TLO 40412The British Way
SP 25-12-53 TLO 40660Short insert in 'Christmas Crackers'
(which also contained contributions
from other Variety shows) (recorded
20-12-53)
13 26-12-53 TLO 40660The Giant Bombardon (with
Michael Bentine)
14 1-1-54 TLO 40965Ten Thousand Fathoms Down in a
Wardrobe
15 8-1-54 TLO 41242The Missing Prime Minister
16 15-1-54 TLO 41552Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Crun(10)
17 22-1-54 TLO 42416The Mummified Priest
18 29-1-54 TLO 42842The History of Communications(11)
19 5-2-54 TLO 48011The Kippered Herring Gang
20 12-2-54 TLO 49072The Toothpaste Expedition(12)
21 15-2-54 TLO 49191The Case of the Vanishing Room
22 22-2-54 TLO 49628The Great Ink Drought of 1902(13)
23 1-3-54 TLO 50206The Greatest Mountain in the World
24 8-3-54 TLO 50546The Collapse of the British Railway
Sandwich System
25 15-3-54 TLO 50871The Silent Bugler(14)
26 22-3-54 TLO 51429Western Story(15)
27 29-3-54 TLO 51769The Saga of the Internal Mountain
28 5-4-54 TLO 52346The Invisible Acrobat(16) (Ellington
pre-recorded)
29 12-4-54 TLO 52583The Great Bank of England Robbery
(Ellington pre-recorded)
30 19-4-54 TLO 52599The Siege of Fort Knight (Ellingt
pre-recorded)
SP 11-6-54 TLO 55169ARCHIE IN GOONLAND
with Peter Brough and Archie
Andrews, Peter Sellers, Spike
Milligan, Harry Secombe, Hattie
Jacques, and the BBC Variety
Orchestra, conductor Paul Fenoulhet.
Script by Eric Sykes and Spike
Milligan.
Produced by Roy Speer. Recorded
6-5-54.
SP 31-8-54 TNC 408THE STARLINGS
Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike
Milligan and Andrew Timothy.
Written by Spike Milligan. Without
musicians or audience.
Produced by Peter Eton. Recorded
11/12-8-54.
Notes to 4th series
With this series, the shows begin for the first time to take on
familiar dramatic format, although it is not until the second half of
series that the majority of the shows have a straight-through half-hour
plot (apart from the musical items, of course). As yet the shows were
not given titles at the time of writing, with the result that the situat
has become rather confused. Spike Milligan has titled his own copies
of the scripts with abbreviated titles that are really more of a shorthand
indication of the content. Someone has written in pencil on the front
of the BBC Script Library copies titles which tend to be based on
opening announcements; however, as many of the shows have a short
opening sketch with the main part of the programme starting only
after the first musical items, these titles tend to be misleading.
The titles given in the list opposite are derived from both sources
with a tendency to use Milligan's titles where there is a choice
between two reasonably acceptable alternatives. Only one show in this
series has been preserved in BBC Sound Archives (no. 23)- in this
case the BBC title has been retained in preference to Milligan's.
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Three-episode show, the middle section is 'The Dreaded Piano
Clubber'.
3. This story occupies the second and third episodes of the show.
4. The first part of the show is 'The Adventures of Fearless Harry
Secombe', a 'serial' which appears at the start of several shows;
the title given for the show is the subtitle of this first section.
The remainder of the show is about the ascent of Mount Everest.
5. Announced as title. This is the first show in this series to have
single plot lasting through all three parts.
6. The title given applies to parts 2 and 3.
7. The first part of the show is 'The Further Adventures of Fearless
Harry Secombe - A Race to the Death'. 'The Missing Burea-
crat' is parts 2 and 3.
8. The first part of the show is again 'The Adventures of Fearless
Harry Secombe' (the title given on the BBC Script Library
copy); however, the main part of the show is about flying
saucers, and as Spike Milligan's copy of the script is missing
and therefore no title has been given for it, I have taken the
liberty of inventing a title.
9. In the first part of the show 'Harry Proves he is Not a Dog';
parts 2 and 3 are the story of the Armada.
10. Announced as 'Crime Does Not Pay Income Tax'.
11. Part one of the script is 'The History of Communications';
originally part of the 7th of the 1st series and later re-worked
into 'The GPO Show'. Parts 2 and 3 are 'The Siege of Khar-
toum', originally part of the 18th of the 3rd series.
12. The first part of the script was originally used in the 2nd of the
2nd series; 'The Toothpaste Expedition' was originally used in
the 5th of the 3rd series.
13. Announced as 'Hansard Unexpurgated'.
14. The nearest to an announcement is 'take the case of Agent X2....'
15. Announced as 'Brain!' (inspired by the film, Shane).
16. Announced as 'Bulletto'.
Fourteen of these scripts were re-worked for the 'Vintage Goon'
series recorded in 1957/8 for Transcription Services.
5th Series
From now on the announcer is Wallace Greenslade.
Scripts for shows 1-6 by Spike Milligan, remainder by Milligan and
Eric Sykes.
Produced by Peter Eton.
Broadcast Tuesdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday, except nos.
14 and 20.
1 28-9-54 TLO 62960The Whistling Spy Enigma
2 5-10-54 TLO 63962The Lost Gold Mine (of Charlotte)(2)
3 12-10-54 TLO 64018The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler
(of Bexhill-on-Sea)(3)
4 19-10-54 TLO 64443The Phantom Head Shaver (of
Brighton)
5 26-10-54 TLO 64692The Affair of the Lone Banana
6 2-11-54 TLO 65467The Canal (with Valentine Dyall)
7 9-11-54 TLO 65972Lurgi Strikes Britain(1) (TS: Lurgi
Strikes Again)
8 16-11-54 TLO 67106The Mystery of the Marie Celeste
(Solved)
9 23-11-54 TLO 67320The Last Tram (from Clapham)
10 30-11-54 TLO 67468The Booted Gorilla (found?)
11 7-12-54 TLO 68322The Spanish Suitcase(1)
12 14-12-54 TLO 68149Dishonoured, or The Fall of Neddie
13 21-12-54 TLO 69220Forog
14 28-12-54 TLO 69221Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest
(recorded 19-12-54: with Charlotte
Mitchell)
15 4-1-55 TLO 70044Nineteen-Eighty-Five(5) (orch. cond.
by Bruce Campbell)
16 11-1-54 TLO 70045The Case of the Missing Heir(1)
17 18-1-55 TLO 70610China Story
18 25-1-55 TLO 72116Under Two Floorboards - A Story
of the Legion(1)
19 1-2-55 TLO 71797The Missing Scroll(4)
20 8-2-55 TLO 71798Nineteen-Eighty-Five(5) (recorded
30-1-55: with John Snagge - pre-
rec.)
21 15-2-55 TLO 72450The Sinking of Westminster Pier(6)
22 22-2-55 TLO 72538The Fireball of Milton Street(7)
23 1-3-55 TLO 73044The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street(8)
24 8-3-55 TLO 73495Yehti
25 15-3-55 TLO 74145The White Box of Great Bardfield(1)
26 22-3-55 TLO 74489The End(9) (TS: - reissue only:
Confessions of a Secret Senna-pod
Drinker)
Notes to 5th series
With the beginning of this series, the first to be taken by the BBC
Transcription Services, the shows become the familiar and well-
remembered full-length stories, featuring by now most of the best-
known characters. This is the only series honoured by Radio Times
with a synopsis and cast list for most shows (although these get
progressively more divorced from reality as the series wears on).
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'Death in the Desert'.
3. Announced as 'The Terror of Bexhill-on-Sea'.
4. Announced as 'The Lost Music of Purdom'.
5. Inspired by Nigel Kneale's television adaptation of Orwell's 1984.
The show was such a success that the script was repeated by
popular demand: the second appearance is not a recorded repeat,
but a new performance of the script, which was re-typed, in-
corporating all but one of the timing cuts made for the first version.
In the second show Snagge (pre-recorded) reads the telescreen
announcement near the beginning: in the original this is read by
Sellers.
6. Billed in Radio Times (and Programme Index) as 'The Six Ingots
of Leadenhall Street'; the script was changed at short notice to a
story inspired by the appearance of a photograph of the floating
pier at Westminster under several feet of water with an 'Out of
Order' notice being pinned to it. Greenslade tries to announce the
show as 'The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street' (insisting that the
Radio Times is never wrong): finally Sellers announces it as 'The
Port of London Authority's valuable hand-carved, oil-painted,
valuable floating pier'.
7. 'Milton Street' is the name of a village in Sussex.
8. The title situation for this show can best be described as confusing.
The front of the script, Radio Times, Programme Index and the
'Programme as Broadcast' files give the title as 'The Terrible
Blasting of Moreton's Bank'. However, the show is in fact 'The
Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street', the script postponed from
15-2-55 (see note 6), is announced as such, and titled as such by
TS. Strictly speaking, the title opposite ought to match the
official files, but since the 'Six Ingots' title makes more sense,
and in fact would have been the official title of the script had
not the last-minute change of plan happened, I have decided to
adopt It
9. Announced as 'The Confessions of a Secret Senna-pod Drinker'.
6th Series
Scripts by Spike Milligan (SM) except where indicated; ES=Eric
Sykes, LS=Larry Stephens.
Produced by Peter Eton (nos. 1-21) and Pat Dixon (nos. 22-27).
Broadcast Tuesdays, pre-recorded the previous Sunday (except nos.
10 & 15).
1 20-9-55 TLO 86722The Man Who Won the War(2) (SM & ES)
(TS: Seagoon MCC)
2 27-9-55 TLO 87028The Secret Escritoire (SM & ES)
3 4-10-55 TLO 87493The Lost Emperor(1)
4 11-10-55 TLO 88253Napoleon's Piano(3)
5 18-10-55 TLO 88477The Case of the Missing CD Plates(4)
6 25-10-55 TLO 88977Rommel's Treasure(5)
7 1-11-55 TLO 89727Foiled by President Fred(6)
8 8-11-55 TLO 90136Shangri-La Again(7)
9 15-11-55 TBU 52103The International Christmas
Pudding(8)
22-11-55 (No. 10 postponed to 3-4-56,(9)
replaced by repeat of 'China Story',
first broadcast 18-1-55)
11 29-11-55 TLO 91637The Sale of Manhattan(10)
(TS: The Lost Colony)
12 6-12-55 TLO 92346The Terrible Revenge of Fred
Fu-Manchu(11)
SP 8-12-55 TLO 92849The Missing Christmas Parcel - Post
Early for Christmas (ES) (15 minutes-
broadcast in Children's Hour;
recorded 27-11-55: without
musicians). Devised and produced by
Peter Eton and John Lane
13 13-12-55 TLO 93483The Lost Year
14 20-12-55 TLO 93839The Greenslade Story (with John
Snagge)
15 27-12-55 TLO 93838The Hastings Flyer - Robbed(12)
(recorded 18-12-55)
16 3-1-56 TLO 94673The Mighty Wurlitzer
17 10-1-56 TLO 94832The Raid of the International
Christmas Pudding(1)
18 17-1-56 TLO 95608Tales of Montmartre (SM & ES)
(with Charlotte Mitchell)
19 24-1-56 TLO 95990The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI(1)
20 31-1-56 TLO 96271The House of Teeth(1) (with Valentine
Dyan)
21 7-2-56 TLO 97228Tales of Old Dartmoor (orch. cond.
by Bruce Campbell)
22 14-2-56 TLO 97297The Choking Horror (orch. cond. by
Bruce Campbell)
23 21-2-56 TLO 98295The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal(13)
(without musicians, with John
Snagge - pre-rec.)
24 28-2-56 TLO 98661The Treasure in the Lake(14) (orch
cond. Bruce Campbell)
SP 1-3-56 TLO 98662The Goons Hit Wales (5 1/2 minute
insert in St. David's Day programme,
recorded 26-2-S6)
25 6-3-56 TLO 98778The Fear of Wages(15) (SM & LS)
26 13-3-56 TLO 98950Scradje (SM & LS) (with John
Snagge - pre-rec.)
27 20-3-56 TLO 99481The Man Who Never Was(16) (SM & LS)
10 3-4-56 TLO 90647The Pevensey Bay Disaster(9) (recorded
20-11-55)
SP 29-8-56 TLO 11466China Story (SM & ES)(17) (recorded
24-8-56 at the National Radio Show.
Produced by Dennis Main Wilson)
Notes to 6th series
1. Not coherently announced.
2. Announced as 'Seagoon MCC' (because he was a batman...).
3. The script and the Programme Index entry are wrongly titled
'The Sale of Manhattan'.
4. Announced as 'A Strange Case of Diplomatic Immunity'.
5. Announced as 'The Search for Rommel's Treasure'.
6. Announced as 'In Honour Bound'.
7. Announced as 'Lost Horizon'.
8. Announced as 'The Great International Christmas Pudding'.
9. On the day the show was recorded there was a serious train crash
at Didcot in which 10 people were killed and 116 injured. In
view of the fact that the show contains a train crash, the broadcast
was cancelled and replaced with a repeat of 'China Story' from
the previous series. (See 'The Hastings Flyer - Robbed'(12)).
10. Announced as 'The Lost Colony'.
11. Announced as 'Fred Fu-Manchu and his Bamboo Saxophone'.
12. This script is identical to that for 'The Pevensey Bay Disaster'
(see note 9), incorporating the timing cuts made for that oc-
casion; only the announcements are changed, to 'The Hastings
Flyer'. The earlier version of the show is the one issued by TS,
as they recorded directly by line from the studio, so that to them
'The Hastings Flyer' was a repeat. 'The Pevensey Bay Disaster'
was eventually broadcast two weeks after the end of the series,
so that to the British listeners 'The Hastings Flyer' is the original
version.
13. There was a musicians' strike on at the time. In common with
other Variety shows, the cast made do without music. This show
and the next also include Milligan's famous ballad 'I'm Walking8
Backwards for Christmas'. The programme is not coherently
announced.
14. Announced as 'The Treasure of Loch Lomond'.
15. Inspired by the film 'The Wages of Fear'.
16. This is an expanded version of the script which formed parts 2
& 3 of the 20th of the 3rd series. It appears again in the 8th
series.
17. This is a new production of no. 17 of the 5th series - the script
is almost identical.
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