Cruzy People 60th Anniversary - Extra Pages, Extra Photos

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Chairman's bit
Laughs And Tears

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Goontents
6

Menories

Sixry Yea^ Ago ro the Day

ofMiuigln

16 SixtycloLious Yeds

U Aword in thc

Ear

19 AnniveNdyPidufes

HuUoftomOz

Preservation

RememberingdeMilligds

32

A Duilbin

Repoft

ofBib

3E GolB Goiry...

ftonl

Mlke Biowi, Mark Cousiis,

Desmond Milligan, Laura
Mligan, Michael Oliphanl, Neil

Jim Spiggs

Pato.

HRH Pince

Edc Sykes,Jaie

otwales

Milligm

ndsgoons@gmail.com

ww.lheqenshoworg.uk

ln the wake of The Goon Shoils big day, a couple ofpeople suggested making this issue a special edition devoted
entirely to the event. After all, how often do 60th anniversaries come round? Besides which, a lot happened on the
day and some of the guests and members may be laughing
upstairs by the time ofthe 70th.
On the other hand, that would have meant stockpiling
more news, aticles and interviews in the already bursting

goldmine ofstuff.
Then any thoughts ofsprcials were abruptly put to slep
when we heard the sad news ofSpike's widow Shelagh.
Her unexpected passing revived memories ofGSPS group
visits to s@ them at home in Rye md ofm equally colourful event when a pdty of us took them out to dinner in
Tunbridge Wells after Spike's performance in Snow

White.
Family friction over Shelagh's inheritance has not, so ftr,
detracted from the opinion that she did Spike a power of
good. We have compiled a family & friends tribute to both
ofthem, revealing some surprises. We have so much material that it will be continued in
the next issue. And ifyou too
have memories ofShelagh, let's
hear them.

Meanwhile, with the welier of

anniversary photos being hurled
in from all directions - for which
multiplethankyous wehave
decided to re-mofrgage
Moridty's teeth and splash out
on some extra colour pages. But
where is a close-up ofSandra
Caron's hat?

Looknofurther!

m reently - on Remembrance Sunday of all days - "Did you have a

good war?"
Someone said to

I was appalld, scretly, allhough I made selfdeprecating noises at the dme. "Howcan anyone apd frcm Mr hpp have had a good
wa?" I thought.

I was pushed dong from behind, finishing up

right against ihe car and direcily benea& the
great mn himself, who now begd to addrcss

At Regimental Reunions I'm there wi.h lhe

lads, stiring up old memories. "'Ere - d'you
remember old Okehampton being caught behind the NAAFI in Alderehot with the ATs
Sgt. Major, and saying he didnl mindjankers
bsause he'djust redised Hslife's ambidon?"
And remembedng that Okehampbn\ real
name was WoodcGk.

"T*e your hals ofi I want to see what you

look l*e." I stuggld b de off my bere.,
hot with the howledge thaa beneafr ia lay
four months' growth of wiry Welsh hair. L
had gone reasonably unnoticed widn the
fairly lax discipline ofa unit actively engagd
in ba.tle, but old hawkeye above me was no.
going to miss it. To add ao ahe geneml decrepit nature of my appeamce, I was wearing a pair of sbel spechcles which had ben
repaired at the bridge and ar both sides with
el@rician\ hpe, wirh the resultthil the
fmmes sat on my nose at an angle of fortyfive degrees. To complets my Hammer Horror kt, I was also wearing a piee ofpla$er
over a nosquitobite on my chin. My hair,
released ftom is bereted bondage, cascaded
over my face and ea6 in a shower ofsand.

It is amazing what the mind can be pereuaded

to forget, especially when reminiscing ex'
soldiers gettogether. Skirmishes beome tullscale battles, reFeas turn into stntegic wiihdrawils, mole hils b4ome mountains - md
when theyve finished hlHng about sex they

Above me. Monty was telling us that we of

the First Army were now joining the glorious
Eigh.h Army and we had a tradition to kep
up. Cautiously I raised ny head and lmkd
up at him, trying to look commilbd to the
usk ahead.

Yet I must conf6s that I'm thefirst one to try

to teach our four kids how to mrch in step
whenever there's a militdy band on the box.
I've given up tying to teach the wife - she was
a toolsetterin Se wn anyway. There's ajoke
in there somewhere, I.hink.

I canl honestly say thar I loved the war. I was

in il but not of it, you might say, and yet even
at this distance I rcmemberpars ofit with a
stdliry clrrity and a etuin rueful affection. . .
We were about to embtrk on the Invasion of
Sicily, and ourregiment stood lo attendon on a
sandy pmde ground outside Sousse in Tuni
sia.

Montgomery drove hs desrfcamouflaged

staffcar inlo the middle ofour pdade. "Bweak
wuks and gather wound," he said, waving his
fly whisk.

"We're going to hit the Hun forsix," he sa'd.

slapping his thigh with his fly whisk. I nod
ded fervenlly. The movement seemed to
catch his eye and he looked down at me.
Whal he saw seemed lo strike him spechless
and we stood looking at each other, locked in
a moment of time, the two opposite ends of
the scale face to face - aglittering Goliath
and a dishevelled David, but both on the
same side.
I cleared my throat, anxious to break the silence. "we're with you. sir.' I said faruously.
He shook his head dishtly, as if awakenins

from a petit mal. looked away and caried on

with his pep talk. But the pep seemed to ha!
gone out ofhim. and soon, with one last unbe
lieving glance in my direction. he was driveD
with
away wearing the expression ofa

'nan
something on his miDd. He must have b*n
retninded ofWellington's remark when walch
ing a march past ofhis men 'l don't know
what ctltct thcsc mcn will havc upon thc cncmy but, by God. they terify me.'

During my six nnd N hNlfyeaN in fie Army

fie only oiliercelebrities I man
aged o get near to werc Spike
Milligan who, like nrysell was
playing walk on pafrs in battles
Ceneral Alexandef who was
playing rhe lead tu the Mediler
ranean Theate ofWar and
Randolph Churchill. whon Sgt.
Ferris and mysetfcrprured out
side Medjaz-elBab. He happened to be ticirrg the wrong
way at the time. and his paratroop helnet did look Teutonic
in the halt:light. and besides.
who could believe a German
who claimed to be win$on
Churchill's son?

Therewasthetimewhenour

Ah. but life was not all like that. There was
one little bit ofglory which carne my way.
rhough prhrps not thc way I expcctcd.
Afier the frll ofTunis. x Vic(ory Parade was
held in which our Regiment took pad and,
having been dismissed as too scruffy for the
march pasl, I climbd up on ofthe palil
hes Iining th rout- I was quite nar the
saluting base. and as there were a couple of
cine cnmeras pointing my way. I fied to
wriggle inlo a posiltun ilhere I could be seen

My movemenh dislurbed a
y ofams livtug among
leaves, and

tfying

10

rhe

was too occupied

$op them marchtug

up my shorls ro pay nruch ar

tention to the mnrchtug down
or to the newsreel cam

I wrot home to my parents in

nry wcckly ainDail lcttcr tbal I
nright bc secn on lhc scrccn if
thcy kDkcd for a paLn rec ncar
die saluting stand. Allcr about
three ntunlhJ solid cinenragoing my mother linally saw
ne - well, nol all ofnre,jost m!
lell leg. She wde b say that

Enlcnainjnglrcops.hlyl9445 shewassureitwasnrinebea lilde

cause the socking was arotrnd the ankle and
thats how mine always was when I was a
boy. and did I get the balaclava helmel and
the lalcum powder?

lwenlyjive poundergtrns clallered inlo

lown in soulhern Ilaly. We were the firs Allied

noops the lilrabitants had seen. and I sat
as!ide nry baltered Matchless 350cc motortike
like a minialure. Drechanised John Wayne. The
lownsfolk stood eilher side ofthe main road
waving hr{ily made Unbn Jrcks rnd showel
ing us wfth fruit ind flowers fron thei balco
nies. The lads in the open lrucks were up to
rhel er$ in grrpes and figs, but I found il dif
ficuh 1o calch rnything wifioilt letring go of
fie handlebrr- I Jowed 1o r hrh. pretending
b wnle on the trffic. Frora?' Ienqukedof a
buxonr signorina leaning fronr a fh$ floor win
dow. Sj,' she snid. and knocked me off my
bike with a well-aimed pomegmnate.

I ncver got round to sccing it mysell. and I

havc watchcd Ai Our Ycsterdays on TV in
anticipation ever since- I want to point to the
screen and say to my kids - Look, ftats ny
leti leg in Tunis." Theres not much chance of

ftat row

though.

they!e

warperiod. Pity. I had

got up to the

po*-

good-looking lett leg

From GOON FOR LUNCH - Harry Secornbe

(Wyndham Publicatn)ns, 1977)

MEMORIES OF MILLIGAN
Review by Mike Brown
By any studards Spike was a complicated
prson. Ths fact has ben borne out by seveml biographes which Mve tded, not aiways
successtully. to sum up Hs penonality md hs
contibuiion ao comedy. You actualy have to
how the person you wdte about to conshct
ihe most accumle picture. Ths approach was
acheved to great eff*t in 2003 by Norma Fdnes, a her choice ofbook title - Spike, h
Intirore Memoir attests. If you wani to how
about Spike in his post Goon Showyeds, then
No@'s ecount of lhe last thrd of hs life is
bofr accurarc and ofren very moving.
There are so many facets to the man. in fact so
many ways to considerhis talents that a multilayered approach would be required for a subsequent book. This is what Norma bas
achieved to remarkable effect in her new book.
Memries ofMilligan. Her idea ofa question
and answerformat, although deceptively simple, paints a conplete and satisfying picture of
Spike fron twenty{wo well chosen informants, ranging fronfamily and friends to fel
low writere, aciors and comedians. The questions that she asks are to the point and sometimes in the form ofobseflaiions which often
elicit remtrkably cogentanswers, as she doesn t shirk frcn asking pople aboilt hos lhey
obsen ed md reacted to Spike s ilmliabiliq
and rudeness. She even uses words like
'treachelr' and 'racist' in her qilestions.
Spike's long term lady frierd Liz Co$ley remembers him as being sweet and beyond belief
and Denis Norden remembem his audacious
ness on radio. Sir Ceorge Marin comments
tbat ifyou were his friend he was reliable but
he could be dangercus orbrilliant. We hear
from a Iife-long fan. down on his luck. who
was helped by Spike and says that he hated
being thousht ofas public propety and Barry
Humphries saw him as a lyrical Irish poet with

a demon at work. Rchrd kster was the only

American &at Spke genuinely lbd and
{an J. W. Beil, teling ofhis work direcling
Spfte on television. says that he respectd
people who unders.ood hm md hs humou
md mstly sN Spike s good $de. Joa@
Ludey sums up the people who have fived
tuough a wa and Dick Douglas-Boyd saw
the literdy side ofSpike, as maketing dire
tor of hs publisheN.

Norma has wo.ked her way through a rich

vein ofanecdotes and insighls on Spike. but
struck gold with her intrview with Tery
Wosan. His observations ofSpike are amazingly accurale and always apposiie. His
longer answers to her questions are filled
with one observation after another. all of
which are ofquotable quality. Add to this the
thoughts of the academics ofco'nedy - Michael Palin, Jonathan Miller and Stephen Fry
- withMichael'sview that Spike created a
new form ofcomedy and Jonathan saying he
didn l mEt anyone at univesity $lD $as not
absolutely familiarwth he Goon Show
Stephen said fratpoeb kavel the shofrest
dhtance to the truth and Spike was a poei
rvho didn't demand to be lked.

This mix of people represents a wide ranse of

thoughts and opinions regarding Spike, yet
one sentimentclarly @nes through. They
all revere him, fauls and all. This is ably
sumned up by Eddie Iard's closing comment thai Spike was our fiNt comic philosopher. In a (welve page section to@mplete
herbook, Norma has given us quotes, On
Spikei On The Coons and Spike On Spike.

This book h a Iong overdue reappraisal of

Spike Milligan by the people who knew him
best and deserves to be very widely read indeed.

(hblished

by Fourth Estate, 2010.)

Menr,ories

of

Milligan
.ka

m
N () l{Nl

A I:r\ }{N trS

sound; fre fun

of frespians trthe audience am-out
h the region of a mn75; and it wasn't goto rdn! As for fre speech,
remhd b be hetrd, so

up

fre

A good place lo staf was Se

alarm. Perched about
up on fre srutun

tums wall. embamssingly

b where the plaque was

ned off, AIS Total Secouldn'tbe allowd
"There's another amiveMry next ye&,
don't forget." Incredulous, I looked at lhe
genius who had uttercd frese words. We were
in The Shaton Ams, it was mid-moming on
Satuday 28 May, and I was busy filing ano.he. bucket of sweat getting the 60th anniversry event together: What was going where?
Would ou sound-man nive in time to set
up? Would we have a full cast of actors for
the Coon Show performance? Would the audi
ene be overwhelmingly v6t? Was itgoing to
nin? Would I remenber to say what I wanted
to say at Se plaque unveiling?
"Yes," he continued, like one ofthose Mady
Feldman chtracteN. "Next yetr will be the
40th anniverery ofthe CSPS..." But before
he could launch into what he was going to
launch inao, I gor him off the subjeca by telling
him I prefered ba.ding wim one anniverstry
at a time. md the next one would have to wait.
We can jump off .hat bridge when we come b

outshine ourli.de ma$erpiece. So I pointed

out tha! ilnfoilunately we had all missed the
altrm box's official unveiling the week before.
(We are promised that it is smn to be ransphnted to th other side of the building.)

resrgitate a hlping of
Coon history. Sixty yeam ago to the day. the
vry fi6t Crary People was broadest. Jimy
Crafton, the scriptwriting landltrd of this
highly stemed wabring hole, had lit the
tus, without which cerhin things might not
have happened. At that time, the frantic foursome included the formidable talnt of Mi
chel Bentine, whose Profssor Osnc Pure
hed was to play a radioactive rcle in getting
fre Goons off ee ground.
Then it was time to

il.

Over the yeas, Sp*e and Lmy's slaving in

the scibbling depdment would be shared by
Eric Sykes, Joh Antrcbus ild Mauie Wil.shire (whose son Rowan was in the crowd).
Ilrc Goon Sihow s smeal marchy had sone on
to draw a peak listenership of7 nillion.

Mercifully things stded slotting in nicely.

The oh-so-apprcpriate Tim Watson, grandson
ofJimmy Crafbn, turned up in good time to

Unfonunately the show has dso causd offence. Accusations ofncism have been acped ild the offending lines edited out.

Quite righdy so. There are aho elemenb that

er distinctly ageisl and r bi1 sexist, and really
these should be cut out too, along with various
homophobic refercnces and unsavoury h!
mour at the expense ofpeople who arc intel
lectually challenged. With these amendmenis
made, we will be able !o swieh on, sit back
and enjoy: "This is the BBC Home Service,"
taking us straight into the manellous Ray
Ellingion Qua.tet aDd the wonderful Max Gel
dray. And then: "Thai was Tte Coon Show."
Just four minules, (hough not quite so funny.

time to time, to the depressing news rnd currenl dlhirs. That, ofcouNe, was rhe wholejoy
of the Goons' humour: itwasn'tcompl'cated
orunkind. nor did ir rclyon a surfeirofsmut.
In*ead. ii rel'ed on bdlliandy witty plays on
words and a sloilously scentric form of
imagina.ionthat, with rhe aid ofines'*ible
sound effets, helped crea@ hysbrical visual
itnages in tbe minds oflisteners. The end re
sult ofall this was invar;ably to.aise the spir

There was then a plug for BBC Radio 4 kta

whch, under he comand of Mary Kdemkrim, was dght now bliEing the nation with

of psychosomdc seilice all ofthet own something from which some ofus have been
benefiting ever since, largely thuks to the
continuing effots ofrhe Goon Show Preser'
vation Society and its equnlly wellpreseiled
Chairman, John Repsch- We owe him a great
debtofgmdtude forhis dedication and enthusiasm, not to mnlion his rema*able capncity
to remem@ra grcat many more rmportant
detdls from Se old Coon Shos thnn his Pa-

an

andveNary ofGoonery.

Rounding it offwas a rallying cry to suppot

The Strutton Arms. Coon pictures have started
appearing on the walls. as in days ofyore. and
its metamorphosis into a theme pub is undeF
way. (Any thoughts on ihis or making it more
Fifties-slyle, perhaps with a regularcomedy
slot and/or reveiing to the name ofGmfton's.
would be received wirh uns*mly relish and
picked clean. Incidentally, js the pub the oldest hndon comedy venue?)
It was then high time for the Prince of wales's
message. and who beter to read it than Laura
Camuti? She had paddled herpiano across the
Atlantic especially to attend the celebntion,
and brought her best New York accent with
Clarence House
"Needless to say, I am incredibly so(y to be
missing the 60th anniverarycelebrations of
fte Goon Show, but what has alamed me is
to realize thaa I am acrually older than the

its and make people feel betler.

Hence. I suppose the Goons provided a

hnd

This brings you all my most special wishes

and congratulations on the occasion ofthe
60th anniversary, and may there be much mmpant hysterics in memory ofthe late, lamented
originaton ofthatgreat Brilish invendon -

fte

Goon Show."

HRH The Prince

ofWal6

The speech eamd a sianding ovadon, though

frat my hve been because everyon was
ilready shding. In grovelingly hudle acceptance of fre Pdnce's generous sendmenb.
may I add frat although I how a lot more
about fre Goon Show Sil a loi of people, a
lot ofpeople how alot more about ii han I'll

Show.
Last year. for my birthday. some kind person
save me a collection of several Goon Show
rordings. and I have been happjly convulsed
by laughterby listening to them in the mornings wher I get up - a welcome antidot, frcm

Next it was Spike's brcther Desmond's turn

to take cen! stage this time in the shape of
Tina Hammond- (It's that word again: meta
morphosis.) Desmond lives in woywoy,
Australia because that is where his home is.

0..!

Frtetrd! of the

CSPS,

[t fltetrd t!n. hr! ..k.d

e
Dl.tund Jubll..
cel.b!.!toa

to ,rtte
60 y..!!

.. oppnina .ddre.. for th. forlh.o!ilnl

.lnc rhe be!lnDtna.
of tne Coon'

The.rlBtnatoi
of tne Goon.,..
e.r born ln a
!q brothertsp!ke'.He
du.ty
ros
lndt.n
c.ll.d
AhMdn.Brr,ln
c.n!r!l
lndl..r.!her
Mt tlt8.n
,rr r.rvtna tn tn. llttllry
rn tit.
toh.
On tne l5th aprll 1918,4u6 xllllartr
unL into llbor and oent by Bulloc*
rraaon ro the llrtle.my
ho.pltrl,The
Docror h.d ro be c.ll.d,when
Muo e.t in flll
h..r!rv.d
l.b.!.
ne {lLed
lnro rhe roonerrh d hrppy'!fit
Florrle!"
ay ihrs trE
uh
h.natna onr. rh. lop
- - - !tc.r a,ry frtu er!!
sh. .c!.!ild,
t mv.r srnt to !e. .nothe! 4{
in
D!.hd.!!on.r.pp.d
b.ck !n rt.a
!'Donr bl.e d llollte,l
dtd,nr do trr!"
So ..8
forth one...1.rtnc.
At.n Ulllt8ar,
htr .ry
buddl.r 'Spllc Utlla.n'.

l.r.r

to

be nlcknimd

by

S.n F.th.r
flnllh.d
hlr.nt
s. found ourr.lv..
bicl
lerlc.
illltAu
!n *tnd.uept
.old ,er Londonl ! lut rc ..ttl.d
tn lnd 11fe ploale!led.
Splk. !rrlt.d
ro ptry truqet
ln J!zr
Brnd!, rnd from th.1!
rr.!t.d
to do coedy roullnes, !hl. Led ro belns..Led
co ulce ! co*dy.hos,,htclr
tn tuh t.d to htr wltlna
..d p.rfodn!
In th. rC@N SHO!!.
And l.t

th.t

b. 6 k3.on

for lll

or US!!

Sorry th.r I c.ntro. b. ulth you rll

an thl..u.ptcloq.
I 16 elth you .11 tn Sptrit (Scolch .nd !!y!)
tron Splte.

broiter

Dloond lst!tcl

Dlyan rllllg.n

occs.lon.

8ut

Then it was plaque time. Of detr old Eric

Sykes there was no sign, so that other legend
in hh own lifetime. Chtrles Chilton, stood up
ild stood in. puling the cord with the wordsi
"I nane this ship 'The Goon', and God bles all
who drink in her." That was the cue for a loud
somd effect frcm Fred the OysEr. but it didnl
happen. Fred clamed up, so we had to do a re
-ron wi& a flaiulent donkey in$ead I

said,'I'11 do it, I'[ do itl'He'd wiuen the

script. so I thought he nust be able to do the
show. And he did. And that's the fiNt show
he everdid: fre BoweryBar."

Hunt Emerson. cdoonht extraordinaire, was

at l6t able to peer up at his ma$erly ctricatures of the four actoN, and dsmed dre plaque
"very nice". It was an opinion prcbably shmd
by most of those present. but the Imufacturefs failure to truke the ctricatues stand out
in relief, as per the order. deseryes
a visit ftom Major Bloodnok with

stud
ome

Incidentdly, he idea of installing

a colmenonove pnque was
prompted by a noment of desperation la$ yetr at The Smtun
Arms. I had just been told that to
book ou day at the pub for a complimentily private pilty meant
guilanEeing a mininum of fifty
psple. Impossible, I thought.
Vr'e'd have to bring the boys back
to life. Then I noticed one of those
'thinks'bubbles floating above ny
head, and it had a plaque in it.

D..^,'

Meanwhile. vdous people had been linedup

against the wal awaiting intemgation. They
were the VIPS who were seaEd there on the
pavement in frcnt of the pub. ild now it wd
time to extact a few sound-biEs. Chdes Chilton reminded us of how Spike's radio debut in
lte Bowery Bar happened by accident: "Five
minuEs before we were on the aif, I said.
'Right. everybody set? Where's the sttr?'The
sttr isn't there. Len Yowg had got stage ftight
ild had locked hinsen in the lavatory. So we
went to ty to get him out but we couldn't. So I
said. 'What are we going to do?' And Spite

BuriKwouk was asked whai iiwas

like io do a rehedsal wifr Seilers in the Pink
Panther sedes, he replid, "ReheaNd - what's
Sai? We never takd about whai we were
doins. we just did it. Peter would say, 'You
When

there, I'[ go over there ild when I

out you jump on me, all right?"' He
added. "I was rather sad when PeEr died. for
a rat many re6ons. one of then was the
pay cheques stopped codng!"

McGah recalled a ielevision

conedy he had direcbd, and iwo
reasons why it is never shown: "I
did a series with Milligan - iffre
BBC is listening - cdled O In
Colour. And a yetr or so ago I
wrote to them asking why they
never repeat it. I got a leuer brck
saying, 'It's racially intolerant and
we can'tpossibly show this stufi'
They also quoted one of
Miligan's lines in it. which is
absolute Goon. Ut's set inl this
Br""a-"h plrce tul of Brithh soldieN
who'd bsn ilre$ed hiding ftom
fre enemy. ild we're at fre castle
there - 'The Ca*le hvier of, as they say in
Fm, Chateau Lovief - 'YouN sincerely,
Joe

the

BBC'.'

A young girl's eye-view was provided by

Jimy Grafton's daughter Sally. who had
waehed the Goons tying out their etrly
showsr "ReheaNals were in what w6 our
dining room. with a stage under the window
looking out onto the flat roof at the back.
They were quiE funny. We had an audience
of other show business people, and I think
they were very glad when my father got off
fre grcund."
Before we could have at he nexi victim,

voie from fre crowd inboduced is

owner as

Bnd Ashton. Back in fre Sixiies, Bmd had

ben in pmership with Dick Vosbugh and
had shiled the otrice above Spite's at Associated hndon Scripts. He said that after six
yeils he had had enough of Dick. and decided
to bke a break in Anerica: "While I was there,
Dick wrote a pilot show for the BBC - dre
Dickie Valentine show called How About
You? And drey said. 'Risht, we're soins to do
a series.' Dick's wife Mote to me and said,
'While you're enjoying youNelf in America.
my husbild is doing all the work. ild you're
benefiting, you bastard.' I wrcte back and I
sdd, 'Dear Dick, as you wife
says I'm a basttrd, I think ir's
time to bre* he pdnersHp.'
And I got a lefter back from
Spfte saying, 'As senior member of Associated hndon
Scrips, I under$and you tre
complaining because Dick's
wife has called you a basidd.
In show business fre tem

cord: "Peterwas in Japan b m*e a mvie;

Harry was in Wales mahng a concetr; and
Spike was the only one I had. And I was
asked to make one last record. Spike said.
'I've got an idea - ftuit. 'The Raspbery
Song'." So Petercare back ftomJapil.
Hary came back fton Wales to nuke the
recording and So back the next day. My claim
to fame was to get those thre genii together
in one rcom at one ime. To rsord them h
the only thing that I did in my life that I'm

redly

proud

ot"

We could almosi have finished ii all off on

frat high noie, but there was anofrer one to
ome. Sixty short yeils had
galoped by since that fiNt
Crary People brcadcast and it
was time to resurect the
script. If,s Drew had ben
masterminding the operation.
tweaking the odd line, casting
the cast and foraging for
noises. That morning the Sussex Goons Phil Ladd and

ft+.v

V'-

a termofendetrGohome.youordbs-

'ba\ttrd'I
nenr
rrrd!"

fi

":
--x
lTt
\ii
It

From one funny "old bastdd"

to Mtrcel Stellman. It was the
rocketing popultrity of fre Goon Show hat
had sparked Marcel inb getting fre thre onto
disc. But there was a problem: "I phoned
Johnny Franz lHarry's producer at Philips] and
I said,'Can Ihave Mr Seombe?'He sdd,
'What for?' I said, 'I'd like to have him record
wifr the Goons.'He said,'He cant sing. He
sings for me, and fratk ii.' - 'Well, cm I have
him?' - 'You can, on one condition. He can
shout, he can blow nspbenies, he cm say
myhing you want but he cannot sing a note.' 'I'll have him because without Hm I don'i have
the Goons."' Oh, what wonders came io pass
when Htrry w6nt singingl
Twenty yetrs and a $ack of Deea frcks
later, Mtrcel did ii agdn with freir final re-

'DesperaE' Dave Withal

along wih Peter Stanford,
had been suffering from

Chronic Lack of Rehedsals

Syndrom, but hey found
fremselves in good company when Se famous Goon Again actors Jon Glover and Jeffrey Holland climbed abotrd. Jon md Jefftey
had noieven seen the scdpi! Ahuddled readtuough or two in one of the pub's nooks
should, it was hoped. save everyone's bacon.

had ben on sandby in c6e of any actoN

suddenly pullins out and any bmls neding
scraping. Sory to confess. having studied the
script, I had found it dated and pun-heavy.
and I had expected the audience to lapse into
embmassed silence. So I sutrered a very
pleasant seizue when the ilcient mumnified
text suddenly came alive, inciiing laughter
and applause. right frcm the off:

_e-.
a ''/

show on the air today?

Er

ANNOUNCER:

ye$efdry in Prilirnent?

No, il s rhose Crazy People.

the Goons.

And

PETER:
HARRY:
PETER:

Cood work, J@k.

SPIKE:

I can't, they?ejoined

Ohhhhhhhl

Good heavensl Snowey s

fhinred. Quick, Jock, you take his legs.
10

his

few tasters for those who missed it:

HARRY:

At thal time I was living in dire

poverty - have you ever lived in dirc poverly,
friendt

PETtrR:

No. I havc

lil1lc flal

ll

Finchley.

HARRY:

What a meny place to be sure conliDuirg my stofy - I wa! very. vefy poor.
worry tumed me grey. This gave me a pculiar
appearance as I was completeiy bald ar the

ofthc shows skctches tells thc story of

how British motor racing slafied:
One

MICmEL:

Splutmuscle. here s five ihousand pounds. I want you to go to ltaly and

bing back fre flnest motodng brains that

PETER: Righty hol

MICHAEL: Three weeks

later he anived
back with a glassjar. In it were the linest motoring brxins thlt moncy could buy.

Ifyou

Devils Gallop'

ln our last episode you will

rcmenber we lefi Dick, Jock and Snowey
trapped in a gas filled sewer (which youll
rcmenber was befleath a haddock stetching
factory in Park LaDe). You will fenember
they were susFnded by thch feet. (You will
rcmcmbcr thcy had fict.) Jock wofks himsclf
tk and cuts Dick and Snowey down.

ANNOUNCERT What is thc zanicst comcdy

SPIKE:

GroMS:
HARRY:

dciem

enough to rcnember
Banonl Spechl Agem! ths my sound
arc

Dick
unfi

Whilc our actor werc conjuing up xcacoph

on) ofchrmctcrs, sound cflbcts macstro Lcs
was rt his wil's end in squcczing so much as r
squerk out ofhis stcrm-driven tape nrrchine.
Nalumlly, the more toubles Les hrd. the
louder the laughter. Aftefr1l, il wrs fre Goon
Show, so what did we expect?
The performnce was foUowed by an 'onihe'
house'bufiel. preparcd coufresy ofthe resident cordon bleu. Lyndsey Lynch. and ravenously devoured courtesy ofall presenl. Also
thown into lhe rdx was r blthdry cake.
baked and clverly covered wih Goon Show
ingredients by Mrs Steed, wife ofMr Steed.
Rounding thhgs off were more quick fire
interviews, including oDe with dre crptivating
Sandra CNor, always in drnger ofbeing up
strged bl her har (Did Nnyone get i pholo of
it?). and followed by a nffle in aid ofdie
strrving plaque. And really puting die old tin
lid on it was a 29 second clip ofour day's
depravities paraded on BBC'S

bndon

News

just betbre closing time.

Now, when did
is?

he say the next

anniversary

Th Bit at the End wher th Credis Roll

We render our deepest gratitude to a[ the VIPS
forenteilaining us. And hedry handshakes b
Mike Brown forcaptudng Brad Ashton, and b
chauffeur de luxe Terry Frednan for driving
Buil Kwouk and Charles & Penny Chilton to

distrction (via We$ HampsEad).

Great also to see Ann 'Telegoons'Peffin. with
Eccles and movie cane.a unledhed, and Gina
Milks, a distant cousin ofPeter Selle.s. sadly
the nem$ to a Goon lmily nembe. that we

Well done de bavelling playeN

ks,

Phil,

'Desperate' Dave, Peter and especially Jeffrey

ild Jon, fresh frcn their recent gig lron En
yeds ago in Goon Again.

Many franks to Tin'grandson ofde grandfather' Watson for nahng things audible; b
BBC cane.a-operator Angie Walker for filning fie show; and to Mdk Adans for digicaning fie outside bit- A nulritude of tha* yous
to Dave & Lyndsey Lynch, Ian md the.est of
the Strutton tuns saff for shting their *ufl
md pulling the pints and sbings b help n*e

Tunultuous thanks to those who donated to

fie plaque appeal - anofierf,750 b go- And
to the illusrious illusFator Hunt Ene.son
whose Goon faces are on it.
a poignant thank you to David 'Mare'
on naNhalling duty outside, for naking sue that any people being run over or
falling down drains were kept to a minimum.

And

Sdth,

Also best wishes to those who said they'd be

unable to attend. including Lady Secombe
(.ight as.ain again afd a bad cough and
cold): John Antrcbus (who to ou.blessed
.elief has sent packing a very na$y case of
nuscular dysaophy ol the throat): Jimmy
Gafton and Gaham Stark (boh a lotbeder
since fie mniversdy than before it); Richdd
Lests (who was helping sped up convdescene in the fanily).
Christopher Tinothy. enslaved by rehearsals
for Alan Ayckboum's Haunting Julia: and
the evergren Bery Cryer. who was on tour
and'reallyp--.'.- offfiat I cant nake it.'
And finally Sandra Ctron's hat-

Ying tong iddle-i po - bang

on 6O years, it's Goons Day
Jonalhm

Sa.l

Spike Milligan nnd his panners in anar

chy mayhlvegone to rhecreat Studioin
ihe Skybul TheGoon Showmue Eoon.
Tomorow it will h exactly6oyearssince
the first episdeofoneoflhc most influntial radio shows of all time.
To elebralc, survivor! of ihar rdented

scripls wcre Thc Dreaded 8atrer hdding

I luder, Th. Afr!l ofihe Lone &naha, ild

"lt ws. hugccult, $id John Rcp*h,

chdmanof iheprcervrtion sdevwith

hcwill

Tetry toncs aFeed: "We were tryint to do

will unveil

phque rnd hear. messge

from Pdncachnles, cmn fan,and Ftron

of the Gmn Show Preser!ation SGioty.

"The Coon show r9tr-r96o first

exploded here," the plaquc will declare
on thc exierior wnll of the Stnilron Arms
(hen cnlled cnfton\). listrnE nho thc
nrmes and caricatures of the hu0rorists
who made it 80 bang: Spikc Milligrn,
Peler Sellers. l{atry tocombeand Michael

onnwhatrhecoonsdadon mdio:deate
a frca.wheelinS, fantNt wodd."
On hand this wcckcnd to share the
oemories will k Marcel Srclldan, who
produced The Yi ng-Tong Song rnd ot her
Goons hit sinSlca, ind the plrywrighl
lohn Antrobus, whoco.wrotescdpts wilh
Mil ligrn. Ch. iles Chilton, creator of th

tunShilfu
d ccl.bnte rh

rcddofspfrcmltta, hn, dd ue

othertus!r 6.

The man who lit thcbluctouchpipet

wsrimmyGrdon, publicrn.rdplwnier
and Secombes m:nager. Ile instnlled a
smdl slaS upsdrs in rhe pub, ediled t he
malerialand 6ndly naseda nervousBBc
into signing up the6.n8.
"we had Spike Millisan livinr in the
.llic, wtrh a monkay in the next room,
rcciued Crrftons son, Iames, who was
eighr when he walchcd therehcarel of
lho firsl in rhaseiiesofThoscrazy P@plc,atheshowwasnrmadwhanthf
the
nirwnveson 28 Mny t95t.
No recording exhts ofthat tround-

bre*inabrcdcn$ btrtlhosdptstrrvives,
ind ifr er theunvilinacaremonyil willh
re'enaddby memhrsof theCen Show
Despite 0entino soon leavint, The

Goon Show ran rntil lhc Last Snokint

sentoon, theepisodcthit brought down
rhcunain in rilunry r960.nlicr ro kries
and about 250 shows. A mong I h. classi(

sci6seriesJourneyintoSpaca,andpro'

ducerof eanycoon shows, willh joiniry

in lheQ&A sessionon Goonth.rcana.
Princechills 6 proud tod*larehim'

Rlf

somsnewhoArew!ptothesounds

oflhe Goon show on the steam-driven

wreb$". Hesid,otr missint the record.
int ott

he reunion

Gsn

show in 1972: ,.My

haiiturnedFRnwithenvymdmyh*s
fll

oft"'lhar

r97os perlormaDce led to

the fomration ofthestriert when mcmhF oflhe iudience pt together in a pub

aftcrwards.'Thysaid,'wecan'tletlhis
h t he .nd ofihc coons , so th.y foundcd
thesdely,'sdd Les Drcu whorunsthe

Ref h sid:

"oneof !hchnuriesomhe

GmnShowb.t hGnl
on the

nmpa8ein

dated.

['llstillh

rcoyaB iime.'

SIXTY GLORIOUS YEARS

by Mike Brown
There is smething very special sbout a
60th amivrsary, dhough fre Goon Show
had passed ih fir$ greai dlesbne in May
2001 wift he 50fr anniveNary ofshow No.1.
On frat oeasion, the highlight of &e celebmtions feil b he BBC when &ey dedicated he
evening of May 29 on Radio 2 b dl hings
Coon. DhkMaggs's tsibute docurenbry was
updaEd for the event, lte Go On Show, last
broadcdt on the 40th ilniveNry in 1991,
w6 repeated and Denis Norden raced the
history of radio onedy frcm 19,15 to 1951.
The best was saved until last. with Goon
Asain a brild new venion ofa 1953 Goon
Show Ranking as ore oftl 'lost shows'. it
had not ben hetrd for 18 yeaN Ge GSPS
Newsletter No.102).
To rffik the Dianond Jubilee, ii was the
Goon Show heseNation Society hat rose to
the chdlenge. The plaque, unveiled by
Chdes Chilton, is a permanent tibute to the
bith of lte Goon Show and the event was
wel attended. with words of acknowledgnent
fton our honoured guests and il address read
out ftom our royal paron HRH Prine
Chdes. It had been decided. howevef, that
nothing less thil the fint ever Goon Show
should be an impofratu pafr of the day's le-

The scdpt had been published by &e GSPS in

five Newslefters - Nos.55,56,57,58 & 59.
The original script contained alterations
anounting to about ninety deleted lines and
lines changed, presumably by Spike md Larry
Siephens prior to bansdssion. For fre 60&
mniveNary this fully amendd veNion, in its
broadcast forn, was usd. The cast of five
conprised Jeffrey Holland ild Jon Glover
reprising their Goon Aeain roles. ild in the
blue cornef, GSPS stalwds Philip Ladd and
DesFrate Dave Wi6all filled in for Ned of

Wales md Mike Bentine. Peter Stanford

made a commnding announcer and Les
Drew won on poinh on the sound effets
ftont against mounting odds.
The format of the original show went as

fol-

l: Sillyinroductions.
2: Skebh Thetheft of 2000cigtretEs
3: The Sbrgee$ sng "Irt Youselfco"
4: Skebh - Moior mcing and Se story of fre
B.R.M. Oy Captain hrehetr0
5:

Ray

Ellin$on sng .Keep olfthe Gmss"

6: Skebh -DickBarbn, Sp&ial Agent

7: Ms Geldmy played "I Can't Cive You
Anything but Iave"
8: Skebh -The questforTutmhamen.
( Fist mention of 'Lurgi' in a Goon Shoy)
9: The Sbrgee$ sng'goney I love You
But"

l0:
l1:

Skerch - The 1951 Fe$ival ofBdtain

End of dre show "Marchof the Goons"

Our version contained all five sketches and

mercifully no StargeN! The cast all perfonned magnifiendy wifr no pdorrehedsal
and my fluffed lines or dodgy dialets only
added to the fun. The show itself was funny,
even though it had ben a firs effotr for fre
Goons themselves, md des us realhe what
we tre missing in dl he loil shows. Jon
Glover is one of our best 'voice' ffists. With
credirs going back to 1974 in mmy chmcier
pm, he did the voices in Spitting Imge for
The Duke ofEdinburgh. Melvin Brass,
Oliver Reed and Steve Davis.
The Goon Asain showin whichJon andJeffrey Hollard appeared wetu on b $in 'TlE
Spoken Wod A$ard for Comedy/Hunoil' in
2002. Jeftuey, as well as being one ofou best
conedy actoN, h a mjor Goon Show and
Peier SelleN fan and when asked about the

show he said, "The persnal high spot in my

carsr to date was in Mdch 2001 when I took
pan in a Goon Show re{reation for BBC Radio 2 celebrating 50 yeil ofthe Goons. I had
always been a mad fan of the pro&mme and
alq?ys 'did' the voices and rvhen I was asked
by my old friend Dirk Maggs to audition for it,
I w6 deligh@d. We had to pass the approval
ofSpike Milligan himselfand his agent
Norma Fames before we could be acp@d. It
was the gr&test night in the theatre that I have

wer spgnt.'
Our day at the fomer Gnfton's was memomble too and a commemontive book in he
shape offre Coon Show Companion by
Roger Wilmut and Jimmy Crafton was signed
by all ou honoured guests. Many more will be
asked to sign in the futue. In fact Roger has
Ifty Holhnd

fte atrdio ands you dssed on

4 Extra if you came b fte Annivffsary event. Aeordlng to thelr Nessletter:
Her are

kdio

The Coon Show Preservation Society has

planned a "Grand Day Out" tocelebraie the
first ever broadcast ofhe Goon Show. This
will be held at the pub known as Craftonh
which, in the posrwardays. was a watednghole for the younger gneration of comdians
dd comedy writers. And it was in Grafton's
that "The Coons" were bom. The pub is now
re named The Stutton Arms, and there, on
28th May, a commemontive Goons plaque
will be unveiled. Coons fans will ningle,
shde Goons anecdo(es, read scrips, ad ap
pdently a message from possibly the best
known Coons fan, HRH The hnce ofwales,
will be read oul.
Radio 4 Exaa's elebntion will be nore modes. on the actual day. we will be broadcasting

and

lor Clovi

ai rhe

micr@hoe

Goon fuain,

a 2001 re-recordins of Spike

scripts brcadcast to milk the 50th
anniveresy of1l'e Gmn Show. Hary
Secombe's pilt was played by his son Andrewi Jon Gloverand Jeffrey Holland took
on the pds played by PeEr Sellers and
Spikei vocals were pedormed by Ray Ellington's son, Lance, and the announcer was Andrew Timothy's son, Chrisbpher. All very
much kept in fre family. This will be fol
lowed byEric Sykes inroducing fre Atrair
ofthe hne Banana, and fre 3-hour special
will end on fre hst Coon Showof Al
which, as pa( ofthe 50th annivercdy ofhe
BBC. was simulcast on mdio and clevision
in 1972. Sadly, i.was indd the lasttime
frose .hree omedy geniuses were to work

Milligan

Mry Kalederian

Head of

Prcgrames at
kdio 4 Exta

BBC

L0YAI FANS: Unveiling 0f a plaque (bel0w) celebratjng the

Strutton Ams Pub, Victoria
Prrns by Grail Nunrtrry! L!28f:11 trFof02
SIXTY vears afler its lrrst
broadc'ast. one of the most

influenlial radio shows of all

time has been honoured

"'fl

e'33x".n.*

"u-"

H,i'3;t,i;:?i.'"ri

^i'he

c,.rtJn,i
l1LY"::"1";L:':n

/ff^

Gratlon. dauohter ol onornal

landlord Jrnriv Graftonlqas
presenl. Her {alher sel up a
small staoe in his flat

l"lf
t

"g:ii;:,: R:tl":'B::

rqi!lsi;t,?fi::"

qerm of the dea to start the

Sellers.
-y'.,j3f1#i$*1ffi!%["
Mrchael sh-ow qermrnated. Some geoole

Spike N-4illiqan. Peter

Haril Seconibe and

Bentine \rere the onqrnal team

behind the surreal wEeklv radio
show. $'hich built uo a cult
following after it was firsl

broadcast on Mav 28, 1951.

On Salurday. about 80 fans
and people who worled on the
onornal sno\ls walcneo lne
unVer|ng ol a plaque and heard
a messqe from Prince Charles.
patron ofthe Goon Show

3;:?"#,x'fin3?::"0'l;*n'"n
Tlvo actors. Jon Glover and
Jeffrey Holland. read oul the

;hilti;;i;";pi;;is;iiy

mav s6e The Goon Showi as a

linle bit dated but it s still
relevant because it
s,as revolutionary
al the time.

-Ameilcan

tourisls come _
over ano ask I rl s
the place where
it all happened.
and now

aj .
{*l
titI

$i!ili"
show them
-srr-tt}*_1
it w

/
-r-reo:rr.,,-.0,0.(-

Bu( Kwouk

Jean Sleilnan
Marcel Stellmn
Sally Grafton
Joe

Mccrath

Buft Kwouk

Marccl StcllMn *ith Sallv's

son Tim in the backsround

Eccles shnds by to lend a

hild whilst

Charles Chilton does the honouN...

An gathered to see the plaque..

and Smdra Carctr s stumiry hat!

Hullo from Oz - A Postcard fiom Eccle3 to

l,f":::,::,T,,-""
walked backwards for Christmas from north London 25 years ago
and ended up on a huge lsland called Australia,
When I crawled ontothe beach ofsydney harbour (with mythin
legs), I wasgreeted by four handsometanned men in white coats,
r
They have a weird Australian custom when theygreetforeignrs,
and puttwo big beautiful silver bracelets on mywrist joined together by a smaft silverchain.
Theytook me in an unusual white vanto a very nice buildingset
behind a high brickwall with elecvicgates.
I was overcome with emotion when six more tanned men in white
coatsgreeted me atthe porch.
I obserued Australians arevery physical when they meet strangL <Cteg
ert grabbing at all my body parts.
I tickled so much I couldn'tstop laughing.
Then they put me in a smadwhltejacket.
The silly buggers put it on backto front with my armstied at my back.
This must also be anotherAustralian custom.
I asked where I was, and a nice man with a stick (he must haveweak legs like me) said I was in
I

'

o.' r\ll

/()
\_;
il

a tOO-NA-TICK-A -SIGH-tEM.
I asked ifthat was an aboriginal word and he couldn't stop laughingthen answered,'Yeah
mate yeah, it'sthe aboriginal word forWEICOME.'

Laterthe nice men put me in a room with a view of a real Australian dunny, and in the distance the vellow arches of MacDonald's.
I asked why I had bars on my window and the nice man with a walking stick said it wasto keep
outthewild kangaroos,
Australians seem vefl Drotective oftourists' welfare and this makes me feel extra safe and
whh my friend Bluebotlecoold see me now, he'd be so proud.
l've spentthe lastfew days having breakfast in bed.
It'svery relaxing being spoon fed bythe man with a stick but he keeps mi$ing my mouth, silly
I

buser.
I think thy'r woried about mythin legs and want m to rest up before they send me to
christmas lsland.
l'm so excited and it's all free.
I like Australia very much and theircustoms.
Wish you were here everybody.
Hullo? ls there anvbodv there?

Love Eccles.
PS

-|

fi

nd the silver bracelets custom a bit uncomforta ble, but they I

in

sist I keep them

on. At

least I don't need toscratch my bum'costhere's

mozzies in Oz.
CAtCh YER LATER

MATES

lots

ofthi6ty

l'm bura the oldest daughtr ofSpike and sprunS from his
loins....um a longtime ago.
I wish I could be with you all and sharethis wondrful Goon
dayand the wonderful memories ota muh mi$ed tather.
Lovq Litht end Peace
Laura Tierney Milligan

Fans offre wdtan wod will be delightd

to hear that w hve recmtly acquired yt
more pils (we ile in desperate need ofoin men. for then) of original scripts for the Coon
Show.o augment.hose that we had previously
obtained ftom Sir Elton John Gee Newslet@r
129) and elsewbere.

Keith Wicklum (the poor mm's Ted Kendall)

acquired a bundle of casloff papers frcn Ted
and also penuaded DirkMaggs (erstwhiie
BBC hoducer ofGoon Again) to pdt with 99
early Goon Show scdpts. fre Maggs papen
yielded nany scripts frat were not previoudy
Afier several atempb to peNuade the BBC
Writen Archives Cenft to 'domte' the rerMiriry scripts that se didn t have. Moriag
and I organisd a quick whip rcund and col
lected sufiicientcoppercoins and old buttons
to allow Richtrd Usher lo spend the day at
Caversham. where he printed oficopies ofthe
remaining scripts. Ifanyone has a spare
bucket ofthanks. please send them to Richard

Radio Berkshne ild Jetr

Walden of.he BBC WritEn Archives Cente

UsherofBBC

for heh co-opemtion.

Thus, we nowhave the complete collection
(ircluding all of tlrc 'special' ndio programmet of Goon Show radio scripts preseNed forposterity and beyond.
Students ofthe EncFlopadia Goonicus will
(eventually) be able to enjoy these mailer-

Anyone who has pjles oforiginal Coon

Showpape. (e.g. Recording Log Sheets, Progaamme Editing Repons, Programme as
Brondcast Sheets) are rcquested to send them
6 the EditoLin-Chiefalong with any spa.e
cn bob notes lha. maybe lying around.
Our quest to preserye The Coon Show con-

unues...
Hercules Grytppe-Thynne (supplier of
bfoM paper parcels to the genby.)

REMEMBERING THE MILLIGANS

Comedian Spike Milligan's children

await details oflegacy after death of
his widow Shelagh
By Richard Eden,

fte

Telegraph online
l91h June 201 I

Six ycrs after a High Couftjudgc illd hat

Spile Milligan s third \rife. SlElagh $as enlitled to dE corredian s entire estate anC his
six children slnuld rffeir ody \rlut $as
$rylus to requirerren s'. slr lus died. aged
61.
Shelagh fur$er upset his children in 2008
when she auclioned offthe mementos ofthe
sld offre Goon Show, who counted fte
Pdnce ofWales amonghis biggest fans- They
sdd they hrd not been consulted and were
_deeply
disftssed" oler rhe sale at Bonhams.

It is understood that Shelagh, a foriner BBC

production assistant 25 yeare hisjunior, will
b bxrid ner to Millisatr ir Sl Thonas s

churchynrd in Winchclscn, Easl Sussex. His

gravc cmics thc thmous cpilaph (in Gaclic):
''I lold you I s?s lll.''
Milligan_s gm\'e staled trnmarked forllo
years because his family werc unable to agre
on a memorial to him.
The comedian. who died tiom kidney lhilure
in 2002 at the agc of83, had no childrcn with
Shclash, to whom hc was madcd for 19
]cars. Somc ofhis childrcn from his prcvious
marriGcs attcmptcd to havc his will rcvokcd

in favour ofan cariic. lcgal documcnt which

lcft thcm a sharc ofhis housc at Udimorc,
Despite his yean in entertainnent and his
repuhrion as one olthe leading lighrs ol Brl!
ish comedy. his todune had dwindled to
f626,636. A large part ofhis e*ab h said to
have been spenton providing health care fbr
him in his latd ycds.

INTERVIEW - Peter Sindair

John Repsch: While I ws afrending Shelagh's funeral, I spoke to some of the pople
who lflew her md Spike. A few weeks later
they reminisced in more detail. The frNt
was Shelagh's bro&er, Peter Shclair.
Peter Sinclair: Spike said to me on two osasions. "Shelagh is avery sood wife. I want
you to know that. She looks after me wondertully and I'n very happy. She's a wondertul
cook and she\ so wondertul for ne." He nilded a colonel's daughter. My dad was a coloThe Army was very much a pafr of Spike's
life.
It wasn't hh regiment, bui Spfte was Royal
Atillery, md ny dad was Royal tuiillery as
Did frey mea?
No, heyjust nissed, actually. Spike was doing a play called Son of Oblomv md my dad
took Shelagh to see ii. Spike said somefting io
her because frey were netr fre front of the
stage. but frey never actudly met.

I undeNhnd that Shelagh

staged s lot

of

pafries at The Carpenters.

She was a good hostess. And if Spike wasn't
upstaged he'd be all right. He was very sensitive, realy. Beins bi-polil. milic depressive.
it could be just one thing that broke the straw.
I'd feel encouraged to compete with psple
being tunny lite that ild, on one occasion.
Shelagh said. "Donl try to upstage him. He's
in abit ofa depression." His personality was
such that either he would be silent, and one
could get the impression that he was withdrawn. or he would be perforning, cracking
jokes ild entetainins. ild his timins was
very good. I ould heil himtell ajoke hundreds of tines and stil laugh at it. He told me
that he hadnt been to a pdty till he was 30

yetrs of age, so socially there were sone limirs. I renember him asking ne to open the
door once to let in the guess. He said, "Petef,
I'nhopeless atthings like this." He couldn't
relate. He was always going on about cliches
being the hild-rail of the crippled mind. So,
small talk was not his thing. Therefore there
was this uncomfotable silence. Greting psple wasr "Conein." Sma[ talk wasn'tthere:
r
"Hope you had a sood joumey down, eb.
Which is prcbably why he criticized it. but
everyone ended up notbeing able to say anything. Bsause he would bke a play on words
at everything you said, sometimes. You'd say.
"How are you, Spike?" And he'd say, "What,
are you a doctor? Why tre you asking how I
an?" Orpeople would come up to him ifwe
were out at dinner - women mainly - who he
probably didn't even know, and say, "Spike. I
lost my husband last week. " hd he'd say,
"Oh, that's very cdeless ofyou." It was quite
clever but it dghi have upsei &em. Lefs fae
it, you don'i have a minub's peace when
you're wellhown - hey hink hey own a
person like frat. I'm afraid that with Spike
also, when he ried to dissuise himself, he
looked nore like himself than he did before. I
rcmenber going to the De La Wm Pavilion I think it was the Ted Heath Bild. The foyer
was full of people, and he said. "I've sot to
get right acrcss there." So he put his hand in
ftont ofhis frce ild looked between his finseN. Of ouse, everybody looked, didn't
frey, to see who was doing whai.

Would

prfom st psrties or just sy

hsllo?
Soretimes he would, sometimes he wouldnt.
Realy the pdies just involved siting round
and chatting. If we had a sbge. he'd perfom
on it. Quite often he would go to bed etrly
and wiE or waeh television. He had a blrck
& white.

whv?
He just liked it. He had a wind-up telephone.

On one occasion when they chmged all fte

telephone sysbms, and you were puton hold,
which we never used to have yeaN ago, he
spoke to somebody ild they put him on hold
ild played him some music. And Spike, beins
Spite, thought, "l don't want to hetr this,
thilk you." So when they cane back on the
phone. he said. "Would you hold on for a minute?" And he put a rsord on of Rrchmaninov
ild left the telephone receiver beside it. He
w6 so incredibly quick - it was spontaneous
with hin. On one occasion there was a famous
ju z man who had died, and we were at the
tuneral. standing in the rain and dre heme
hadn't dved. There was a lot of silence, people despondeni. And he nextthing, iwo funeral cm iurned up. Spfte said, "CMst,
they've brought him in two hdves," which
wentdown OK - quite surpdsing redly. But
he couldjust get the edge ofgeuing away wi&
mmgs.

Spike msa hve don hundrds of thousan& of &ese frings.

It was when you leastexpeted ii. He usd b
do a little shoracut in London down a one-way
street, the wrcng way. He gotcaught by the
polie, who said. "This is aone-way sfter.
And Spite said, "l know - I'n only soins one
He used to say he

didn't like The Caryen-

Shelagh checked out for him 360 properties.

How nany he wentto see. I don\ know. But
he'd got thh neurcsis and there was always
sonething wong with it - he could heil a dog
bilking. Then he saw The Cilpenters and the
view was what he liked. And the owneN said,
"That was the old price. It's gone up f25.000,"
or something. And he paid it. Ifthat had ben
me, I'd have told then where to put it. He wa$
n't happy with the house and he told the previous owneN he didnl like it. Renember that
progmmme Room 101? Well, he dumped it in
the bin in kon l0l. Sounfortunadly iire-

flectd on him a bii, saying it was hodble. I

suppose people frought, "Whatdid you buy it
for?" They had tenible huble with burglil
alarms. They kept going off So they had to
have all this equipnent linked to the police
$ation. Quite often you'd get there and find
the police there. the alarm's gone off, the
lights m flashing. One time they locked
themselves out, so the police or the fire brigade climbed up and got through a bedroon
window. I thought. I w6 blocked in in Rye
with my vehicle one Saturday, and dpy said
they had no one to send. And yel if I'd ben
Spike, I'd prcbably have had what Spike had.
which was a policeman and a WPC. I was
staying here one weekend and I got up b
have a pee in fre night, and I thought I heard
a litde noise like a bedside alarn clock. It was
a very faini'b*p, bep, bep'. I wmdered
around &e roon to see where it was codng
fron. I opened he bedroom door, and I heard
itcodng tuon fre end ofhe landing. And I
gotdown here - it's 2 o'clock in fre momingand he whole ofhe downstaiN was full of
whiie smoke. The burglar alann was snoul
dering. It had shoted or sorething. And they
had so much rouble with it that Spike got up.
went downstain, grabbed hold of it and
yilked dre whole thing off the wall and threw
it out the ftont door. They didn't have a burglar altrn after that. When things happened
that were dodgy. like when sonething went
on fire, he would solve the prcblem, but he'd
do more damge in solving it thil if he'd left
it alone. ff the chip pil was on fire, he'd
smother itwith a hand-stibhed linen dining
table over that w6 worth a lot more than a

chlp pm.
The frre brigsde seem to have

ben reguls

visitos.
There was ilother occasion when they tuned
up. Spite and Shelagh had an elderly gtrdener. One day Spike sdd io Shelagh, "What
are all frose whib floweN siuck in &e gdden?" And she said, "Mr Diichefs put frose

in." They looked like a white sort of flower

you get in fields. He said, "I don't like then.
Tell him to take them away." So the next tine
Mr Dieher care, he did that and made a bonfire at the bottom of the gilden ild the hedge
caught light ild the whole of the botom of the
gtrden was ablaze. The fire brisade had to
cone up thrcugh the field at the back and they
sdd itcould easily have goi &e house.
Someone has ssid that whichever propefries
he had visitd, he could hear dogs barking.
He didn't like doss and he viewed them as
crapping ruhines that come and sniff your
balls all the tine! He liked cats. He spent a lot
of money with fre vet when he cat got run
over. Shelagh got a dog. It was aBasenji they don't btrk. But unfortunably it couldn't
resist junping up on hln and sniffing him all
the dne. So he got fd up with frat- He would
pat it gingerly and wish itwould go away.

Was &e mov from Bamet

Shelagh's rhtions?

ao b

narr

That was one reason. I know that Shelagh

wmtd to come to sussex to be netrer to
Mum, and Spike wanted to gei oui of hndon.
And the other thing was that the upksp on
Hadley Wood lBilnet] was horendous. One
of the daughteN left the bath tap on and all the
plasEr had core down in dre huse drawing
rcom. I thint I'm right in saying that insuance
won't pay for that because it's old plaster. So
the ost of repai.ing that drawing room must
have been astronomical.

Was he fed up with London bsruse he didn't like the urbil life?
I think so. Things were

bit annoying up
therei people rewing up ctrs next door. And
sone boys clinbing up dE apple tee in their
litde bit of gtrden. He got into a bit of trcuble
over that, buying an airgun. It was naughty but
it probably surprisd him frat he hit himl
a

Things were different in Sussex.

He usd b go round Udlnore and pdk his car

anywhere. The lady tmffic warden would
know hin. She soft of waved the ticket at him
and said. 'Spike. tre you going to be here
long?" He'd say. "No. I'njust going to getmy
prescription," or something. Atone tine he
put a notice on his cil: "Please don't give ne
a parking ticket - I'm a World We II veteril." I realize, frcn beins in the shadow of
soneone who was a celebrity. that they get all
the favouritism. He'd go to a restaurant, and
they'd say. "Dont wory about that - it's on
the house." Cbcasionally, if he'd booked a
table, they'd put hin by the window or under
a spotlight beause ii's very good for fre restaumt. So he was ready for frat dl he time:
'Could you iurn the light out?" or "Could you
iun that background music down, please?"
He knew what they were up to.

He liked rehumnts but

ws a big eatel

I don'a frink he

No. He usd to have knick-knacks dound fre

house. One fraiI hought was cleversaid:
'Vegettrians Are Nice To Meat'.
He was
eggs,

vgehtrn, wasn't h? But he at

he cm't have been a ful-blmded

vegetadan.
He would be quite happy with bolognese and
occasionallyhe'deat venison because it w6
culled. He used to tel a lew Jewish jokes but
he'd only Ell themto Jewish people! Things
like: Jewish Jalam - pork chops at half-

pnce.
Everyone was in the frring line.
This is dre problem with the Q series. He said,
"They'Il wait until I'n dead before they repeat
it." And the fact is it was sossing the line. It
was not politically orect. a lot of it. There
was nothing wong with it.
Cetting back to Shelagh, I think she
well have added to Spike's longevity.

my

He didn't cook. and drerefore he needed a

wife in the old fashioned way thal people ned

a wife. I think thal wrs a slabilizing inluence
on his life. I ve seen two sackfuls offannail
leters in that house. How can you cope with
that lot? Two big hundredweight srckfuls - in
one delivery. Shelagh was trained in PA work.
ild in the eillier days dnt phone would never
stop ringing - continual. You'd dng hinup
ild a voice would say. 'Next, please'or
''who's next?'Later, afb Spike died, there
w6 a problen with the will...Unfortunately, in

abit ofthejoumalisn dnt went on. Shelagh

didn'tcone out in a good light. and she was
notprepiled for a slanging natch. She was
deply nourning Spike rt the 1ine, and it was
like r knife going through her 10 have the will
conlesled- And she wrnted to keep r dignified
silence overil rll- ThaCs why I fel thal now
some ofthe things can b explained differ-

enily.

It's inhrsting to hear about Spik's ltrb in

th

htter &ys.

After he died, I renenber seeing Joanna Lun

ley at fie nenorial service, outside St Mdinin the Fields lols ofcaneras going- She
cane over to me and said, "Do I know you?"
She'd cone to tea at Spike and Shelaghk when
I was there one tine. I wasn't very well and I
w6 in my dressins sown. She was givins ne
spiritual healing. holding my hilds. But she
did recognize ne weadng a suit.
Whn was

tht?

when he stded to get i11. l've never ben in

the entertainnent world but I ve met a few
people. I renenber answering the door when
Spike lived in Barnet, to Janes Coburn and
Lynsey de Paul, and I ve been drere with
Ronnie Scou, Johnny Spight. Johnny Speight
ws saying thatherd gotabad leg. And hed
gone to his doctor ild said. 'Doctor. my left
leg is giving me a lot oftouble. Can you fix
itl" The doctor shookhis head and said, "lm
sofy, Johnny, Iln aftaid i1's old age-' And
Johnny said, 'Don'1 give ne tha1, doctor, i1h

fre sane age

as

he ofrer

leg.

That's fre Hnd of fring Spik would have

sid.
Spike would recount it as what Johnny
Speighthad said. And hed tell a few stories
about his father, when he was in lndia. He
used to Ell Spike about all the tigers he'd
shot, in those days ofbig gane hunting. One
night, at 2 or 3 oclock in the moming. he
burst into Spikes bedroon and said. "Son.
Ive gotto tell you something. Ive never shot
a tiger." And Spike said, "Couldnt you have
told ne that in the morningl He said. 'Well.
I feel guilty. I tell you, Ive never shot atiger.
Sofy to le1 you down.' Spike said, Well,
why did you tell ne Drd that you've shol all
these tigers?' He said, 'Which do you prefer:
an exciling lie or a boring 1ru1h? And that
was the'crealivily'ofwhal hc used to tell
Spike. Whetherlhis next one h 1rue or not, I
dont know- I think i1h true. Spike's falher,
Leo, wenl a bit brld, rnd hc got hnnselfa wig
nade- One day r crow cane and look it off
his head- Anyway, Spike's falherhrd wilten
to sone chdity, like the Salvrtion Anny, be
cause he w6 very shotr offunds. when they
were in lndia. And Spike hadju$ done his
first show, I think. ild he senthis father a
botde of malt whisky and a box ofcigus.
And the nan conn*ted to the chilitycane to
interview ko about his povety{ricken
state. Spike s num said, "He s out on the terrace round the back.' He went round. ild
there he was. reclining in a chair with a bottle
of scotch and a cigil in his mouth. ltjust
would be a1 thrl line that he calledl

Spike & Shelagh's friend Michael

Oliphant shares his memories,

tion. Butever so gradually he would std to

respond and dter an hour or so he would be
normal. It was like a wtrm-up rct.

You 6ked ne if Shelash ninded givins up

herjob to be with Spike. Althoush during their
mdage I could see frai he could be quite a
handful, I never raisd the subject dll afier he
died. On hat occasion I was bying io get Shelagh io help with fre hospital chdty and we
were having a drink in Hastings. Dudng &e
conversaiion I told her how nuch I addred
her loyalty to Spike when he could be so difficult at dnes, and she said that she didnt regret
one monent of her ndage to spike. she fet
lucky to have had all frose yeds wih him and
didn't rert giving up her career at all.

I first ret then after they moved to Udimore

though Thea Ebn, wife of Peter (Goon Show
producer.). Thea said she was the one who told
them about CarpenteN and &ought it would
suit then.

ou first meeting over dinner I disovered that Spike had a great interest in Rugby. I
had ju$ helped std a rugby club in Rye and
he agreed to come to waeh us play on a Saturday. So I picked hin up ild took hin alons
ild we watched frcn my car on the touchline.
He was a geat hit with the lads after the gane
md he held coutr wih gusto. Like he roydty
he did not carry cash upon his person, so he
owes me quite a few dri*s! As he became
accustomd b he club he cane down independently in his Mini and enjoyed both fre
ganes and the times afterwilds in the btr.
During

Sometimes Shelagh would phone me in the

morning and 6k me to pop up to the house
just as Spike was dsing. I think this was the
htrdest time of the day for hin. black dog and
all. She would sit me down opposiE him and
give me a cup of coffee whilst he drank his
tea. He didn't speak and when he wasn't sipping the tea nothing moved exept his eyebrows. I would chat away about the rugby club
ild stuff going on in Rye and get litde reac-

had a potter fdend called Bunny who had

bought he buildings and lmd dound
Winchelsea Stadon. One day when I was
frere Spike appetrd. He had shuffld down
fre hill from Carpenters. Bunny colletd
frese old cdavans so it looked like a gypsy
sib and we would retire into a waterproof one
and discuss the Seond World Wd whilsi
sipping tea and nunching c*es. A chap
cdled Reg was ftere bo and it became a bit
of a badition (for some weird reason we all
had to wetr hats). Shelagh would core down
and collect Spike when it was tine to go. I
think it gave her a break and he ould spend
an nou or rwo ymrng.
Shelagh was a good egg. Soneiimes Spike
was unable to meet his commitnenh io open
an eveni or appear somewhere md Shelagh
would stand in for hln. I remenber organising The Festival of &e Natural World in
Hastings and Spike couldn't n*e the opening. So Shelagh did m excellentjob for him
in drivins rain | |
Spike was never any good with paperwork,
noi patient enough, and Shelagh used to try
and keep him in order. When we were raising
money for a rugby clubhouse he offered to
help apply for loibry funding. We gave hln
fre piles ofdocumentadon but hejust phond
fren up and demndd f,350,000. Nedless b
say &is was not sueessful. When he gave fre
papeN back to ne I discovered he had swept
up all fre stuffon his desk including his ddt
will! This was returned to Shelagh!
Spike's direct approach actualy worked
sometimes. Poor Elton John was badgered by
Spike and he generously donated !3.000 to
us. Spike's rerction was to phone hin again
and tel him he w6 a mean basttrd ild
should have given f300,0001 He dso got
f,1,000 from Paul Mccdtney md one or two

ne

that Spike would

probrbly ralhcr hrvc slaycd in Bmrct whcrc
norc pcople droppcd in fron timc 10 1ine.
Hc hatcd Crrpcntcrs, the btrilding, hcncc thc
Shelagh used to tell

"IF YOU could hLc boughi

S0ike

Villifnn in hs.$ rho iomr.{oE $otld

huvu scid 'liglrt thc fwc and stsd \irll
bic.k'," rccalls Udimore residert lllichel
Oliplrmt.

lvlich.ol caue 10 kooe SDike lvell

through his involvefienr with Ryc

Rtgby Club. dr. MeDla.iol Csrc (;ctrl.c
Sale ihe llrcde V.lley mfrpaign
He Narl oili "Mot pcoplc rvill rcnlcmber hin ar a cofiio gcnius nld
ki$! l[a( kc ruffcftd lrom mmic dcand rhe

lrc$ron
"Hc Nss !okll]' utrprcdictablc. tlut
hm6th fhi! $!s 0 sorrde.fol nru), ovtrfls'ing wiih compa*ion, elwa],6 willirg
to fighr agajnsr.irjusricc qnd s,qbc$itrg
aRnontJ1
"He wN olsu rcrt Beilcrour, I sksJ

hjm fo.

hcll qilh

Rye ho(litilJ thc

r u8by club ood trunuuus c\.@tr in Udj;
n)nrc. Rlc md lln$i[gs. He !eve! o[cd
lumcd m{ dotm,
"Somo did not nppeNiate hi$ $ue
ol humour - crcn found him ahihsivc.
Etrt he wis only humol. He <lislikcd
pompo$iD and one of hti le6t thloilrirc
pldces sls 0 nuis_\ cro\rdcd party qhcrc
h sould h. pinncd to flre \rll b1. posh
ludics in la*c hag"You qsuld see ttNnr elbwing thcir
{ay rcrois the ronfi h gel it hi$ lhdc
they \ould shoul "\bu'rc Spikc Milli.
gao!" d il'thal had nsdi 6onrc aMzitrg
disco'ery. IIe v,ould nply'l borv who I

plrquc to The Bhrd Archilccl. Bu1 thc vicws

wcrc lcdfic and I mcr no$ oflhc frmily
over the years. You heil a lot of rumours
butthey semed like a normal. slightly dy$
functional, nice modern family to me.

am madam. Do
4fe?"'

lou knov

who yon

"Bul he loved children, dApeoielly

fiis owD. aril I rcmcmbrr tlhcn I rras
once lookin! eller my njccc ind hcr
ttrolhcr, discovurirrg to my amazcmcnt
thnt Spike \1Rs

ns Nphe\e! hso.

'\\hctr I akcd him il hc rould likc

to urefi Spike. rhd so.or-year-old's e;*
ncarl-v poDDcd out of his head. I phoned
Spiko md he sid ur could rtrrr ruurLl
bd1fiat be wd sulposed to he ill in b.d
aodthol dre teleyisior t*ople surc thcrc.
"Surc mouri ahen \@ arrivcd at lhc
duor tllc(' els a hrgc black tsBC limo
biiog loaded .od Spike oer ur il his lry-

Jma

"Complfiety unphaed by tlE chaos

sound him hc sat us do\\n and became
deply orgoged il come,sotion \i(h ll)e
childrcn. I le rhen carel'fllty iutoemphsl
u book J0rils lul lrought u(l sml us on

"l lcmcd I lot ftom him. (]nc thjng

ir lh.t thcrc is nothing wrong fur a
Srowr rmtr to halc a lcar in his cye and
6trolh6 that Do $atter hov overwl:elnr
jnq thc odds, ildividmls frtrs Alrilc tbr

uhol they bclicvu

ir lill

thcir dying

hffi0r.

"l

look

lonrtd o

mectin3 him

^gain
in gteftity to resuote oul$ diroursioos
aboui the Eame of nt!'J1v, lhr Mndcs of
the uuivetse aud thr foolichnuss of
mdkind."

In a STOP PRESS, we have recalled the

Newslefier in order to chmge the news of
Ruaon's ailhg hlth, Sadly we must now
repora hs pa$ing on 18 Spt. Our dep6t
sfpa&ies ao hs family & fdends. Obib

at Leices&r Sqmre Theatre? Wrifien &

directed by John, performd by The Wirele$ Theatre Co and no doubt s@n [stnable to onfne.

iilo@drlssthtrecompanycork

or

08448 733433

Ruxlon on hh 80S bidday. pholo Mdgarct Pedson

For this issue of the Newsletter we have TWO
prire quizzes. Here's the fint ore.
NIEMORIES OF MLLIGAN
Norm has kindly donaEd two sisned copies.
ild Mike Brcwn has set dtre fiendish ques
tions to trake sue you don't win them. So, to
prove him dght, just mswer these inconectly:
1. In wHchyetrdid Noma join Spike at
Orme Coui - 1962, 1964 or 1966?
2. Who was the firstchdlmn of 6e GSPS?
3. WhchGoon Show is set in bofr 1600 and
19512
Better prove hm wrong. AnsweN by Oct 12
to Mfte Brom,

ImmeN relief ao se John Anarobus beating hs desa and yodellhg again after may
duel with "muscular dystrophy of th
throaa", bua you n't keep a good man
down, Anyone se his htest play, Help: I'm
a Pdsoner in a Tootposb Facbry, July 30

The Audio LbmrJ is soon to have the sound

of a new broom sweeping frrough it. Achi
vht Tony Reynolds was a lad when he bok
overoperations in 1924 md is now 103 and
waiting to be measued up: "mat we ned is
you6, preferably of the youfrful vadety, and
two of them: one to do fre techical stuff,
keeping sbck up-b-date, and the other b
send off psple's rquess. We have an eyebogling ollstion here - il absoluEly priceless asset with prcbably more Goonery than
the BBCI" Besides Goon Shows, there is everything ftom Spike\ Australian Idiot Weekly
ild Mike's Round the Bnd to Hry's Desert
IslandDiscs ild PeErin Ray's a hugh. Anyone interested please drop a line to newsgoons@gmail.com or John Repsch.

WANTED! FiNt-hand accomb fmm those

who attended Gmn Shows. What do you
rmember best about them? How

ompare wiol the bmadcss?

etc.

dd thy

Janet Brown, famed impersonator of Mtrgaret

Thaoher and who peformed in Goon Show
demo Tatters Castle ild toued with dre
Goons, died in May.
As tribu@ to Shelagh, GSPS

snt f30 dona-

George IV pub in Chiswick on Saturdsy

20th Augus.
Charles CHlton taks about his dne in fre
BBC and producing fre Goon Show in an
inierview on the BBC websib at http://

tion to St Michael's Hospice,

www.bbc.co.uk/newvenieriainmenGatrs-

Comins soon: sage veNion ofSelleN's fiNt

mjor fila fte Indykilers. Playing in hndon from 26 Nov. www.freladykillers.co.uk

And {inally, il the {int quiz wasn't enough

for the "little grcy cells", herc's the seond

WANTEDI Goon Show storyline for Tim

Lestherbarrow whose frngeN are itching to
illustrate them for Newslefier. 750 - 1,000
words or theresboub, plese.

HUNGRY?

1,t312805

Also preseni in crowd ai 60fr mniveNary:

Maudce Wilishhe's son Rowan and Hmy

Before you

shfr gawing the photo ofJohn

Steed's cake, identify:

1. The 6 Gmn items adoming it.
2. On G@n Show &aa d itm is ass@i-

aad

frfr.

ao compile amivsary DVD: plaqu

uviling, inadws, C{on Show prform-

You may win &e BBC Radio Conedon's

doubl-casaa of fre hst Goon Show of
Al and At hst th Go orr Show. (On ee
othr han4 you my noa,) hswrs by Oca

mce, photos.

12

Monis\ GpotFX) son Dave.

Plan

Ronnie Corbett, once managed by Jinmy

Gdton, was fildng at The Shiton Anns
following week. Ronnie Corbeils Comedy
Briiain shown on ITV Aug I I, included a
cameo peformance by our illusdous plaque.
hoks like we got it up ju$ in time.

During the week begiming sth September,

those nice people fmm the Wonderful
World of Wirels BBC 4 Extn deided to
repeat the 5 paft series of Sir Harry resding
G@n Abread
Folowing hot on the heals of the seond series
of Michael Bentine\ Potty Tim cores....wait
forit....series thr* on DVD. (gad how cunning ) And, just in cas you can't guess $hat
could be oming next. November wil see the
release of Series 4. Deails online at http://
www.neiworkdvd.net
|

The last surviving producer of The Goon

Showyoung Mr Charles Chilton launched
his autobiography , xrte's Chulie * the

toJoh

Steed,

(photo of the cake on Page 22 for those who

have eaEn their slicel)

Netrly ten yem after his deatll comdy genius Spike Milligil will agdn be fre cente of attention when one of his paintings cones up for sale - the fiNt painting by the former Goon to go

Grild Auctions expects a huse mount ofinErest in the paintins. a l0-inch by 7-inch watercolou of a femle nude, painted in 1948. Our paintings specialist, Jonathan Riley. says. "There is
no doubt that Milligil w6 a gifted and naturally{alented dist. This painting has never been
exhibitd

and

inded

has never

ben sen in public before."

The estimate is f,800 - [1,200.

The owner of the painting is Foke$one atrist Chdes Newington, a close tuiend of Milligan for
20 yeds before Hs deafr in 2002. He struck up m endudng fdendship after a chme encounter
in the sheet: "I was in fre wondetrlly-named Dumb Woman's Lane betwen Winchelsea md
Rye when I recognid Hm waking along. We stded chatting and when I said I was an trdst,
he said, 'Me bo,'md invitd me for ba. We had a shtrd passion for di and we got on incrdi
bly well iogeher. We'd met every wek or so, usually at fre Indim re$amnt in Rye, and I not
only regdded him as a detr friend but also a mentor. In 1995 I orgmisd his fiNt and only solo
exhibition of his work as a fine dist at The Agency Club in St Matin's Lane, London. None of
the paintings were for sale ild the event did not include the 'Nude'. Like Edwtrd If,af, Spike's
d is known only for his humorous book illustrations. Both Millisan and lf,ar wished to be
known as serious fine dists but the shadow of their other notorieties denied them that. Aiter
Spfte died, his wife Shelagh gave me 6e pdnting as a gift."
Jeff Sims, Edwdds Htrvey, PR

& Mdkedng
Sprfu

Pgl,Pics0, l: AtranBngs

Pp2, I

se b6ck orer

Mre C@n Show $ript, Spike Milligln

tu tuk of de 6ons, 6o.s. Robso. Bmks
ww.muo..co.uk

Pg39:

Pder Sllers

Pg33:

S{onbe

Sid

3, 23: Spike

Mlligan,

his

pail

in our

liws,

F: Tina

PR &

Hanmnd
Pics6. ?, B: Julie

Atran Rigebfd
Ma*edng

a celebtudon,

Pg{: Bwds Hdey,

Ppl 4, I ?, Pics 2, 4,

Pg35:

Pg32:
Pg3. Pi.s 5, 8, 9. A: Ben Gritte.
Pe5: h Entedai.i.g L6. Hq
Pp8. Pi.s C, G: John

'rpdutig

PgA: wwwtlegdph.co.uk
Pg29: Dar tuben Dar Spik, Pauline Scdad@

Wmn