9th Series

Basic Cast :-

  • Peter Sellers,
  • Harry Secombe,
  • Spike Milligan,
  • The Ray Ellington Quartet,
  • Max Geldray.

  • Announcer is Wallace Greenslade.

  • Produced by John Browell.

Scripts by Spike Milligan (except no. 7).

Broadcast Mondays, except no. 12 broadcast Tuesday; pre-recorded the previous Sunday.

1 03-Nov-58 TLO 68887 The Sahara Desert Statue 1
2 01-Nov-58 TLO 68950 I Was Monty's Treble
3 17-Nov-58 TLO 69769 The £1,000,000 Penny 2
4 24-Nov-58 TLO 70536 The Pam's Paper Insurance Policy 1
5 0l-Dec-58 TLO 71336 The Mountain Eaters 1
6 08-Dec-58 TLO 71467 The Childe Harolde Rewarde 1
7 15-Dec-58 TLO 72138 The Seagoon Memoirs 1
(script by Larry Stephens and Maurice Wiltshire)
8 22-Dec-58 TLO 72851 Queen Anne's Rain 1
9 29-Dec-58 TLO 73413 The Battle of Spion Kop 1
10 05-Jan-59 TLO 74315 Ned's Atomic Dustbin 1
(with John Snagge - pre-rec.)
11 12-Jan-59 TLO 75177 Who Is Pink Oboe? 3
(without Sellers; with Kenneth Connor, Valentine Dyall, Graham Stark, Jack Train and John Snagge, (who was pre-rec.))
12 20-Jan-59 TLO 76074 The Call of the West 4
13 26-Jan-59 TLO 76177 Dishonoured - Again 5
14 02-Feb-59 TLO 76513 The Scarlet Capsule 6
(with Andrew Timothy - pre-rec.)
15 09-Feb-59 TLO 77465 The Tay Bridge 1
(with George Chisholm)
16 16-Feb-59 TLO 77725 The Gold Plate Robbery 7
17 23-Feb-59 TLO 47306 The £50 Cure 1
(without Secombe, with Kenneth Connor)
Notes to the 9th series

1. Not coherently announced.

2. Announced as 'The Story of a Crime-Type Murder'. After the first musical break it becomes 'Ned the Miser' - it is this plan which is the story of the £1,000,000 Penny. TS's publicity for their re-issue of this as 'Pick of the Goons' No. 81 wrongly describes it as 'The £1,000 Penny'. Inflation?

3. Announced as 'The Spy, or . . .'. Sellers developed throat trouble shortly before the recording and the other four actors were brought in by John Browell at very short notice. They take the various parts written for Sellers, with minimal re-writing. Dyall replaces Gryptype-Thynne, Connor replaces Willium and a few others, Stark replaces Henry Crun (the Min and Henry episode becomes an Irish couple who are not as successful as the other replacements) and Train as Colonel Chinstrap, replaces Major Bloodnok.

4. Announced as 'Captain Stingo, or Goon Law, or Anythinggggggg (Hern)'

5. Announced as 'I Knew Terence Nuke' ('From the book, I Knew Terence Nuke, by Eileen Beardsmore-Lewisham, tiddley-doo spot, we present the play, "I Knew Terence Nuke", from the book by Eileen Beardsmore-Lewisham'). This show is a new production of the script first broadcast as 'Dishonoured, or The Fall of 'Neddie Seagoon', 12th of 5th series; there are only slight variations in the text. It is this later version which has been issued on Parlophone PMC 1108, despite their title of 'Dishonoured'.

6. Announced as 'Quatermass O.B.E.'. This show is a parody of the highly successful BBC-TV serial 'Quatermass and the Pit'. Andrew Tmmothy, who is pre-recorded, reads annoumcements at the beginning and end of the show that were originally intended to be read by John Snagge.

7. Announced (eventually) as 'The Kleens of Blenchinghall, the story of an ordinary English comedy half-hour'.