The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)
| "The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Series 05 Episode 04 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Presented by | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
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| Production code | TLO 64443 |
| Original air date | 17 October 1954 |
| Running time | 31 mins 1 secs |
The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton) is an episode of The Goon Show. It is the 4th episode of the 5th series. It was aired for the first time on the BBC Home Service on Tuesday 19 October 1954 at 8.30pm to a peak listenership of 2.3m radio listeners. It was recorded the previous Sunday, 17 October 1954 at The Paris Cinema, 12 Lower Regent Street in central London. It's recording number is TLO 64443.
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 64443. The tape survived in TS and was used as the source of the POTG (Pick of the Goons TS re-issue). The cuts were, for the most part, preserved and restored in 1986. The remaining cuts and extra material came from a 7½ ips dub of the TLO (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House) made before editing. This tape demonstrates, contrary to popular belief, at this stage at least, that the Goons were a very disciplined set of performers. There were only 3 cuts in the whole half-hour performance.
Story
During the hot summer of 1898 Mr and Mrs Nugent Dirt were just one of many honeymooning couples enjoying the bracing air of Brighton. The, one torrid night, like a bolt from the blue the Phantom Head Shaver struck and Mr Dirt woke up — bald! Prunella, his wife, summoned him for concealing his baldness from her during their courtship and the great QC Hairy Seagoon was briefed for the defence. But no sooner had he arrived on the scene than the Phantom struck again! This time the victim was Mr Seagoon. As the court case dragged on the Phantom struck again and again — 50 times — until Brighton became a city of terror. The military flund a cordon around the district leaving only one exit at Haywards Heath and it was there, in a lonely railwayman's hut, that Hairy Seagoon finally comes to grips with the dreaded 'Shaver'.
