The Goon Show

This is the BBC Home Service. Do you have a gorilla?

Today is the 64th anniversary of one my favourite radio comedies. I'm of course talking about the all leather Goon Show.

My late grandfather introduced me to this surreal comedy from the 1950s a while back. It has been in my mind ever since then. Initially starting out as a sketch comedy starring Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, and Peter Sellers, it was later re-formatted into a sitcom with a recurring cast of principal characters.

Harry Secombe stars as the protagonist, an affable but gullible idiot named Neddie Seagoon. Meanwhile, Milligan and Sellers serve as a double act as the other characters: The world's greatest fool known simply as Eccles, East Finchley's long-suffering boy adventurer Bluebottle, the cowardly soldier Major Dennis Bloodnok, the doddering seniors Henry Crun and Minnie Bannnister, and the two main antagonists Hercules Grytpype-Thynne and Count Jim Moriarty. While the scenarios vary, the overall formula consists of Seagoon becoming a fall guy for the schemes of Grytpype and Moriarty, and meeting the other characters along the way.

As the opening sentence suggests, the show was built on surreal comedy, built on non-sequitur comebacks and sound effects. It's like a cartoon without any visuals, yet the musical interludes by Max Geldray and Ray Ellington give it the feeling of a variety show.

While there is the occasional joke that's a little offside by today's social standards, there is still a very timeless feel to the show. If you get the chance to hear some episodes, I recommend that you take it. They still make me laugh even today.

Owd Grandad Piggott

Back in November 2014, I did my first public reading as part of an event held at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. While looking for inspiration, I was somehow led to a seemingly long-lost icon of Stoke; The Owd Grandad Piggott stories of Alan Povey.

For those who don't know, these stories were performance pieces written by Povey, which he read out on BBC Radio Stoke in the Seventies. Taking place in Longton in the 1950s and told from the author's perspective,  they relate to the misadventures of his neighbour, the cantankerous pensioner known only as Owd Grandad Piggott.

The title character is no role model: He smokes, drinks to excess, is incredibly foul-mouthed, generally unkempt in his personal appearance, and always in trouble with the law. He's the kind of person you love to hate. It's always great to hear him getting his just desserts.

There are few other characters who appear throughout the stories. These include Nana Piggott, his long-suffering wife, the pub landlord Tommy Dawkins, and Club Paper Jack, the man who would do anything for money except work. He's kind of like Del Trotter in that regard. The author sometimes gets involved too, often to make snarky responses to Piggott's complaints.

So, what happened?

Well, it was difficult for Owd Grandad to get much fanfare outside of Stoke-on-Trent, mainly because the stories required a strong understanding of the local Potteries dialect. But he might be fading away within Stoke too, as fewer people can relate to growing up there during the 50s. On top of that, the running themes of domestic violence may not sit well with a modern audience.

I think it's a neat little series, if you can get your hands on it. A few of the stories are available on YouTube from this channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Rasputin63xxx/videos

They're worth a listen, if you can understand them.

Well, that's about it. I didn't really have much else to say. I'll see you next time.