The String Robberies

"The String Robberies"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.	Series: 8 Episode: 16
Written by	Spike Milligan
Announcer	Wallace Greenslade
Produced by	Tom Ronald
Music	Orchestra: Wally Stott Geldray: Don't Worry About Me Ellington: Living Doll
Recording Number	TLO 46344
First broadcast	13 January 1958 (1958-01-13)
Running time	29:57
Guest appearance
George Chisholm

The String Robberies is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the sixteenth show in the eighth series.

A pre-recording (DLO 46344B) session took place Sunday 12 January 1958, 6.30pm. at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London. The recording (TLO 46344) for transmission was created later that same Sunday, also at The Camden, at 9pm.

The first Home Service broadcast was the next day, Monday, at 8.30pm 13 January 1958, its ratings were 1.5 million.

The show was repeated on the following Thursday at 9pm, 16 January 1958, on the Light Programme to 3.0 million listeners. Then in later years…

• Sunday 11pm, 9 March 1974 on Radio 4 in The Late Show.
• Sunday 12.00 noon, 2 October 1983 on Radio 4 in Smash of the Day.

Transcription Service Synopsis

Only a detective of the highest calibre could deduce that a piece of string holding up Moriarty's sock is the missing link in the notorious String Robberies. Neddie Seagoon, the arch-criminal investigator, is assisted in his inquiries by, among others, two new arrivals from the Far East – Mr Banajee and Mr Lalkaka.

Music

• The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
• Max Geldray plays Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Rube Bloom / Ted Koehler)
• The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Living Doll (Boudleaux Bryant)

Technical

Originally recorded on TLO 46344 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House). This tape survived almost intact in TS, but was cut about in the making of the simulated stereo POTG issue. A cover copy made as part of this same process emerged from a wall cavity in Kensington House in 1986, and this has been used to repair the original recording.

Show Notes

• Spike submitted his script for The String Robberies some days prior to recording, only to have somebody – probably Tom Ronald – append the note: ‘Really. This is too much. Does Spike think we could possibly pass this? Has not the time arrived for a straight talk?’ It was clear that Tom did not have a future with The Goon Show and on Friday 10 January, Jim Davidson – the Assistant Head of Light Entertainment (Sound) – wrote to Charles Chilton, indicating that from the following week he would again become the series' producer, either until the end of the series or when Roy Speer returned from sick leave.

• Two editions of The Goon Show were taped on Sunday 12January. The first was a remake of The Mustard and Cress Shortage for Transcription Services, followed by The String Robberies for the Home Service.

• George Chisholm, the jovial Scots trombonist with Wally Stott's orchestra, was given a speaking part in this show.

• This edition also saw the introduction of ad-libbed choruses of 'Morning' from the elderly characters of Minnie Bannister and Henry Crun, while characters such as Little Jim (‘He's fallen in the water!’), Jim Spriggs (‘Hello Jim!’) and the recently created Indian duo of Mr Lalkaka and Mr Banajee all continued to appear; this last pair were scripted to use genuine Indian phrases which Spike recalled from his days growing up in Poona and which the author would explain in his stage directions (e.g. 'Eck Dum … (For the foul minded this means "At once").

• Tom Ronald made various cuts to Spike's script, removing a couple of gags about defecation and having ‘Minger Lane’ changed to ‘Fairy Cake Lane’.

• Spike's temper was not improved when he heard the edited version of The String Robberies broadcast that night. ‘Despite an agreement on what was to be in and what was to be out, when The Goon Show came out nearly all of what was agreed to leave in had been cut out,’ he raged to Jim Davidson on Tuesday 14, citing the omission of one innocent gag; when informed by Willium that there was a house outside to see him, Seagoon had asked, ‘House? Male or female?’ to which Willium replied, ‘I couldn't tell, it had the blinds drawn, mate.’ The writer was particularly incensed as this joke had already been cleared as having no ‘crude implications’. Later the same day, Spike wrote again to Jim, explaining that ‘a show needs a certain type of producer to bring its fullness to an audience… Pat Dixon is the only person up there who knows what The Goon Show is about. He was instrumental in putting it on the air, he thinks the same type of humour, and he has a touch of the rebel, all of which create the ideal climate… Tom Ronald's atrocious cutting of the show which is tantamount to complete amateurism… If Pat won't produce the show, I assure you it could go through without a producer, and with just Roy Speer's secretary, Doreen Mills, in attendance.’ ‘If Pat Dixon would just consent to cut the show, I would be most grateful.’ Jim responded to Spike promptly explaining that Pat's heavy workload made his return to The Goon Show ‘physically impossible’ but that Tom was being replaced by Charles Chilton: ‘No doubt these arrangements will be satisfactory as we have all experienced the results of Chilton's production in the recent past’.