The Sleeping Prince
| "The Sleeping Prince" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 7 Episode: 6 |
| Written by | |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Pat Dixon |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 14930 |
| First broadcast | 14 February 1957 |
| Running time | 30:31 |
SHOW 158 (7/6 & 7/20): The Sleeping Prince (CDl,Track I) Pre-recording: Sunday 4 November 1956, 5pm, The Camden Theatre. DLO 16371 (Knees Up Mother Brown played on piano by Spike Milligan). Recording: Sunday 4 November 1956, 9pm,The Camden Theatre as The President's Protocol. no 14930. Scheduled Home Service Broodcasl: Thursday 8 November 1956, 8.30pm. Replaced by The Greens/ode Story. Scheduled Repeat: Monday 12 November 1956, 8pm. Replaced by The Greens/ode Story. First Home Service Broadcast: Thursday 14 February 1957, 8.30pm. Ratings: 2.3 million. RI: 67. Repeats: Monday 18 February I 9S7, 8pm, 3.6 million (Light Programme]; Monday 19 October 1992, 11 pm [Radio 4 in The Goons]. Transcription Service Synopsis: Ed Hurn, the lively radio reporter, is sent to cover a dangerous assignment in the Republic of Yacabaku, where the newly-elected President, Mr Neddie To m Dick Harry Seagoon, is to be installed. But all is not well, and there are rumours of a coup. President Seagoon is in danger. How his brilliant stratagem saves the situation - and his life - is revealed in this programme. Music: Max Geld ray plays Hoe Down Rag (Roger Edens);
The Sleeping Prince is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the fifteenth show in the seventh series.
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 8pm on Sunday 14 December 1958, at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London (TLO 72138).
The first Home Service broadcast was the following Thursday at 8.30pm 3 January 1957, its ratings were 2.6 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
'To open the scene, take a knife and cut along the dotted line. Inside you will find the Great North Road in an icy blizzard.' This is how Spike Milligan describes the setting for the start of the latest unexpurgated edition of Seagoon's memoirs. Listeners can, in fact, buy a copy (in a plain sealed envelope) at any local Second Class Slipper Bath.
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 plays The Late Late Show (Murray Berlin (music) / Roy Alfred (lyrics))
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 72138 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).
The TLO 72138 master tape no longer exists, and the version of the show included on The Goon Show Compendium Vol 6 was compiled from the TGS disc, the POTG master tape and domestic recordings of both the original transmission and the 1964 repeat.[1]
7/6 - The Sleeplnf Prince Originally recorded on TLO 14930. This tape still exists, and was ased for this issue.
Note about The President's Protocol
The President's Protocol – an adventure about a Latin American revolution – was recorded on Sunday 4 November, but by the following day the Home Service was already concerned about the programme because of the situation in Hungary where a revolution against the Soviet government had erupted in late October. At the very least, Pat Dixon was informed that the title of the show would have to be changed, and the Corporation would need to listen to the edited programme before deciding if it was suitable for transmission.
Meanwhile the international situation in Hungary forced the Queen to cancel her attendance at the Royal Command Performance – in which Harry was featured – while an extended news bulletin cancelled Spike's Desert Island Discs. It was soon clear that The President's Protocol was entirely inappropriate for broadcast, and so a popular show from the previous series, The Greenslade Story, was substituted. Retitled The Sleeping Prince, the unbroadcast episode was shelved until later in the run.
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2012). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 6 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 13. ISBN 978-1408-468548.
