Show 31

"Handsome Harry and the Ministry of Documentation"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.	Series: 2 Episode: 14
Written by	Spike Milligan Larry Stephens
Announcer	Andrew Timothy
Produced by	Dennis Main Wilson
Music	Stanley Black and The BBC Dance Orchestra Max Geldray: Adios, Muchachos Ellington Quartet: Some of These Days My Yiddishe Momme The Goons (Grafton's Parodies) Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much) El Cumbanchero Jarabe Tapatío Tico-Tico no Fubá Incidental music: Wally Stott
Editing by	Jimmy Grafton
Recording Number	SLO 6959
First broadcast	29 April 1952 (1952-04-29)

The series 2 shows didn't have 'official' episode names per se, but for ease of reference using the show number and Handsome Harry sketch name is to differentiate them.

The show had now changed its name from Crazy People to "The Goon Show, featuring those crazy people…"

Show 31 (aka Handsome Harry and the Ministry of Documentation) is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the fourteenth show in the second series.

The show recording session was on Sunday, 27 April 1952 at 9pm and was recorded at The Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, Central London.

The first British public broadcast was on the Home Service on Tuesday, 29 April 1952 at 9.30pm (except Northern Ireland). It reached a peak listenership of 1.5m.

The show's repeat was broadcast the following Thursday at 7.30pm, 1 May 1952 on the Light Programme to an audience of 4.7 million listeners.

Sketches

• Handsome Harry and the Ministry of Documentation: Tells how Harry safeguarded the Ministry of Documentation against burglary when he was a detective;
• Captain Pureheart builds a Time Machine: Pureheart tells Andrew Timothy how he was summoned by the President of the Scientific Research Committee to make HG Wells’ Time Machine.
• Regent’s Park Zoo: Features Michael Bentine, Brian Johnston and Jack Islott commentating on one of the most popular places to visit on Easter Monday.
• Haroldo Secombe loves the President’s daughter Conchita and becomes the Mexican bandit El Gato to rebel against repression and taxes.

Music

• Max Geldray performed Adios, Muchachos ([Julio Cesar Sanders]]).
• The Ray Ellington Quartet (pays tribute to Sophie Tucker with) Some of These Days (Shelton Brooks) and My Yiddishe Momme (Jack Yellen/Lew Pollack).
• The Goons sing Jimmy Grafton’s parodies of the Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross (Traditional), I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much) (Harry Warren/Mack Gordon), El Cumbanchero (Rafael Hernández Marín), Jarabe Tapatío (Jesús González Rubio) and Tico-Tico no Fubá (Zequinha de Abreu/Aloísio de Oliveira).

Show Trivia

The fourteenth show experimented with a new closing adventure with neither Bloodnok nor Slocombe, but concerning the Mexican bandit El Gato (Harry).

Technical

Originally recorded on SLO 6959. (33⅓ rpm, coarse-groove 16" disk recorded at Broadcasting House).