The Scarlet Capsule
| "The Scarlet Capsule" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 9 Episode: 14 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Based on | Quatermass (disambiguation) |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | John Browell |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 76513 |
| First broadcast | 2 February 1959 |
| Running time | 28:23 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Andrew Timothy (pre-recorded and uncredited) | |
The Seagoon Memoirs is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the seventh show in the ninth series.
Repeats:
Wednesday 4 February 1959, 9.31pm, 1.9 million [Light Programme];
Thursday 10 March 1960, 7.30pm, 0.5 million [Home Service];
Monday 16 November 1992, 11pm [Radio 4];
Thursday 23 April 1998, 11 pm [Radio 4; unscheduled].
Two pre-recording sessions took place:
- Wednesday 28 January 1959, 4.15pm/5.15pm. Aeolian Hall Studio 2 (TLO & C/DLO 76382, TLO 77924)
- Saturday 1 February 1959, 5.45pm, The Paris Cinema (DLO 76513/A)
The recording for transmission was created at 9pm on Sunday 1 February 1959, at The Paris Cinema, 12 Lower Regent Street in central London.
The first Home Service broadcast was the next day at 8.30pm on Monday {Date|1959-02-02}}, its ratings were 0.8 million.
The show was repeated:
- Wednesday 9.31pm, 17 December 1958, on the Light Programme to 2.3 million listeners.
- Friday 9.30pm, 6 March 1964 on the Home Service in Vintage Goons, to 0.5 million listeners.
- Friday 9.30pm, 20 August 1965 on the Home Service in Let's Laugh Again, to 0.2 million listeners (the broadcast was affected by a fault on the reproduction equipment).
Transcription Service Synopsis
This is a story in true science fiction style. An Unexplained Thing is discovered deep in the earth beneath London. It soon becomes obvious that it has arrived there from outer space but how and when, nobody knows. There is no doubt, however, of the extraordinary effect that the Thing has on Londoners, or of the horrific solution.
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby (Jimmy McHugh / Dorothy Fields)
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays After You've Gone (Turner Layton / Henry Creamer)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 76513 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).
The TLO 76513 master tape survived until 1970, when it was erased in a purge of Goon Shows thought to be of no further use to TS. The version of the show found on Compendium 11 was compiled from a combination of a commercial version, the TGS disc and domestic recording of the original transmission.[1]
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2015). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 11 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-7852-9129-6.
