The Treasure in the Tower

"The Treasure in the Tower"
The Goon Show4 episode
Episode: no.	Series: 8 Episode: 5
Written by	Spike Milligan Larry Stephens
Announcer	Wallace Greenslade
Produced by	Charles Chilton
Music	Orchestra: Wally Stott Geldray: Nice Work If You Can Get It Ellington: How Will I Know?
Recording Number	TLO 40562
First broadcast	28 October 1957 (1957-10-28)
Running time	30:52

The Treasure in the Tower is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the fifth show in the eighth series.

The recording session for transmission (TLO 40562) took place Sunday 27 October 1957, 9.15pm. at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London.

The first Home Service broadcast was the next day, Monday at 8.30pm 28 October 1957, its ratings were 1.5 million. The show was repeated the following Thursday 9pm, 31 October 1957, on the Light Programme to 2.6 million listeners.

Transcription Service Synopsis

The Tower of London,
not in 1957 or 1600.

What does it feel like to be split in two – metaphorically speaking of course' In this episode the Goons find themselves living in the year 1600 – during which they bury a priceless treasure at the Tower of London – and simultaneously in the year 1957. in which they set out to discover the treasure. Perhaps this ingenious script will launch a new theory on the nature of time!

Music

• The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
• Max Geldray plays Nice Work If You Can Get It (George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin)
• The Ray Ellington Quartet plays How Will I Know? (Norvis / Baxter)
• In the TS reissue The Ray Ellington Quartet played Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) from Ill Met by Goonlight

Technical

Originally recorded on TLO 40562 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).

The TLO 40562 master tape no longer exists, and the C/TLO from BBC Wood Norton was used for the version of the show appearing on Compendium 7, with the opening exchange between Greenslade and the band restored from the TGS disc.

Show Notes

• Treasure in Tower (a.k.a. The Treasure in the Tower) was one of the stronger shows of the run, with a complex chronological element adding to a plot inspired by another of the many bizarre newspaper cuttings which Spike was collecting in a file for inspiration.
• An Audience Research Report summarising the views of 352 listeners on The Treasure in the Tower was compiled on Friday 15 November. The comments this time were far more promising: ‘the peak of sound entertainment’ observed a ‘Chemist’, although there were still some suggestions that the series had ‘deteriorated somewhat, becoming over-complicated and stereotyped’. The clever plot for the episode was particularly admired; ‘the switching from 1600 to 1957 exploited the use of sound radio to the full. An excellent half-hour of madness,’ enthused a ‘Printer’ while there was considerable praise for the main cast.