The Flea
| "The Flea" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 7 Episode: 12 |
| Written by | |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Pat Dixon |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 18731 |
| First broadcast | 20 December 1956 |
| Running time | 29:49 |
The Seagoon Memoirs is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the seventh show in the ninth series.
SHOW 164 (7/12): The Flea (CD6, Track I J Pre-recording: Sunday 16 December 1956, 5.30pm, The Camden Theatre. DLO 19692/A. Recording: Sunday 16 December 1956, 9pm, The Camden Theatre. TLO I 873 I . First Home Service Broadcast Thursday 20 December 1956, 8.30pm. Ratings: 2.3 million. Rf: 67. Repeat Monday 24 December 1956, 8pm, 3.4 million [Light Programme];Thursday 2 May 1957, 9.55pm, 0.8 million [Home Service (except Scotland)] Transcription Service Synopsis: It is 1665.An international situation has arisen because Count Jim Moriarty of the French Court has been bitten by an English flea. Mr Harry Seagoon Pepys finds time between writing entries in his diary to identify the so-called 'English' flea as French.This, of course, would restore the broken international relations.As usual, Moriarty and Grytpype-Thynne are deeply involved in the plot and they succeed in their avowed purpose - the downfall of Neddie Seagoon Pepys. Music: Max Geldray plays Oh, Lady Be Good! (George Gershwin);The Ray Ellington Quartet plays You Do Something to Me (Cole Porter).
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]
7/12 - The Flea Originally recorded on TLO I 873 I. This tape no longer exists, and this issue was compiled from the TGS disc, the POTG master tape and a domestic recording of the original transmission.
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2011). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 13. ISBN 978-1408-427286.
