The Curse of Frankenstein

"The Curse of Frankenstein"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.	Series: 8 Episode: 18
Written by	Spike Milligan
Announcer	Wallace Greenslade
Produced by	Charles Chilton
Music	Orchestra: Wally Stott Geldray: I Kiss Your Little Hand, Madame Ellington: Cut for time
Recording Number	TLO 47557
First broadcast	27 January 1958 (1958-01-27)
Running time	29:48
Guest appearances
George Chisolm, no Ray Ellington

The Curse of Frankenstein is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the eighteenth show in the eighth series.

A pre-recording (DLO 47557A) session took place Sunday 19 January 1958, 6.30pm. at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London. The recording (TLO 47557) for transmission was created later that same Sunday, also at The Camden, at 9pm.

The first Home Service broadcast was a week later on Monday 27 January 1957, at 8.30pm, its ratings were 1.9 million.

The show was repeated on the following Thursday at 10pm, 30 January 1958, on the Light Programme to 2.3 million listeners. The next repeat wasn't for another 25 years on Sunday 9 October 1983 at 12.00 noon on Radio 4 in Smash of the Day.

Transcription Service Synopsis

Any connection between the title and the plot (if one is discernible) in this script is purely accidental! Basically, we suppose, the story has something to do with the South Pole. How the laird Red Hairy McBurke and his bagpipes become involved, listeners must discover for themselves.

Music

• The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
• Max Geldray plays I Kiss Your Little Hand, Madame (Ralph Erwin (music) / Fritz Rotter (lyrics))
• The Ray Ellington Quartet's spot was cut for time.

Technical

Originally recorded on TLO 47557 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House). The TLO 47557 master tape no longer exists, and the version of the show included on The Goon Show Compendium Vol 8 was compiled from the TGS master tape, the POTG master tape and a domestic recording of original transmission.

Show Notes

• The script of The Curse of Frankenstein by Spike was a fragmented affair which saw the introduction of a regular litany recited by Lalkaka and Banajee, another appearance by George Chisholm, and Spike started ad-libbing the phrase ‘I don't like what they're sayin' Pat’ in an Australian accent. This interjection was apparently because of complaints about The Goon Show on ABC radio made by Queensland Senator Roy Kendall in the Australian Senate on 8 October 1957 (‘To put a show like that on the Sabbath day is disgracefu1’).

• The script was over-length, and even after various cuts the whole of the Ray Ellington Quartet's number had to be removed from the broadcast version; originally, this came just before Seagoon encountered Major Bloodnok and his party near the South Pole after announcer Wallace Greenslade declared that listeners were hearing Wuthering Heights Part Three.