The MacReekie Rising of '74
| "The MacReekie Rising of '74" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 7 Episode: 4 |
| Written by | |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Pat Dixon |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 14586 |
| First broadcast | 25 October 1956 |
| Running time | 29:11 |
| Guest appearances | |
| No Milligan, George Chisholm | |
The Seagoon Memoirs is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the seventh show in the ninth series.
Without Spike Milligan. The Glasgow-type Glasgow voice was by George Chisholm. Pre-recording: Sunday 21 October 1956, 5pm, The Camden Theatre. DLO 15599. Recording: Sunday 21 October 1956, 9pm, The Camden Theatre. TLO 14586. First Home Service Broadcast: Thursday 25 October 1956, 8.30pm. Ratings: 2.3 million. RI: 65. Repeats:Monday 29 October 1956, 8pm,4 . I million [Light Programme]; Friday 20 March 1964, 9.30pm, 0.5 million, RI: 72 [Home Service in Vintage Goons]. Transcription Service Synopsis: MacScotland is in Macperil, and the Laird, Red Hairy McLegs announces that the great Hairy Caber of the Clan MacReekie has been stolen by the Sassenachs. Consequently, the Clan marches south to England to besiege Captain Neddie Seagoon of the 3rd Foot in the Tower of London. A non-stop barrage of bagpipes reduces the English Garrison, and after an abortive raid by an English Kilt-Removing Patrol, led by Captain Seagoon (disguised as a Scottish Chinaman) the Hairy Caber is eventually recaptured by the Clan MacReekie. Music Max Geldray plays Jump for Me (Count Basie);The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Lulu's Back in Town (HarryWarren/AI Dubin).
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 next day at 8.30pm on Monday 15 December 1958, its ratings were 1.1 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 10 was compiled from the TGS disc, the POTG master tape and domestic recordings of both the original transmission and the 1964 repeat.[1]
1/4-The Mocreelde Rlslnof ,74_ Originally recorded on TLO 14586. The tape which survived under this number in TS is a dub made for repeat transmission in 1964, with two lines cut from the odginal transmission. This issue has been taken from the TLO, with one missing line replaced from the TGS disc and the other from a domestic recording of the original transmission. All surviving copies of this show tend towards the dim and hissy, and I have tried co ameliorate this as far as possible.
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2011). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 13. ISBN 978-1408-427286.
