The Missing Scroll

"The Missing Scroll"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.	Series: 5 Episode: 19
Written by	Spike Milligan Eric Sykes
Announcer	Wallace Greenslade
Produced by	Peter Eton
Music	Orchestra: Wally Stott Geldray: I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me Ellington: Mambo Italiano
Recording Number	TLO 52769
First broadcast	1 February 1955 (1955-02-01)
Running time	29:59

The Missing Scroll (announced as The Lost Music of Purdom) is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the nineteenth show in the fifth series. The show was recorded at 9.30pm on Sunday 30 January 1955. The recording took place at the Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London.

The first British public broadcast was on the Home Service on Tuesday 1 February 1955 at 8.30pm. It reached a peak listenership of 3.0m.

The show's first repeat was the following Friday at 12.25pm / 12.30pm (depending on area), 4 February 1955, on the Home Service. It was listened to by 1.9 million.

Synopsis

The Director of the BBC Home Service learns by stealth that the ancient Babylonian scroll of Purdom — the beginning of all music — has been found by a half-witted Syrian dustman in a cave in the valley of the Euphrates. He immediately fits out an expedition under Ned Seagoon LRAM, to locate the scroll and bring it back by hook or by crook for the Home Service to broadcast every Tuesday night thus leading to a revival of interest in sound radio.

Music

• The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
• Max Geldray plays I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me (Clarence Gaskill / Jimmy McHugh)
• The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Mambo Italiano (Bob Merrill)

Technical

Originally recorded on TLO 52769 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House). However the original tape no longer exists, so the version of the show found on the Compendium Vol 2 collection was compiled from the PotG 31 master tape and the TGS 11 disc.