Drums Along the Mersey
| "Drums Along the Mersey" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 7 Episode: 2 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 11799 |
| First broadcast | 11 October 1956 |
| Running time | 30:26 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Valentine Dyall | |
Drums Along the Mersey is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the second show in the ninth series.
A pre-recording session took place on Sunday 7 October 1956, 5pm. Aeolian Hall Studio 1 (DLO 14297)
The recording for transmission was created at 9pm on Sunday 7 October 1956, at Aeolian Hall Studio 1.
The first Home Service broadcast was the following Thursday at 8.30pm 11 October 1956, its ratings were 2.3 million.
The show was repeated:
- Monday 8pm, 15 October 1956, on the Light Programme to 4.5 million listeners.
- Friday 6.15pm, 31 January 1975 on the Radio 4 (except Scotland and Wales) in 'Encore the Goons, to 1.0 million listeners.
- Saturday 1.02pm, 2 May 1992 on the Radio 2 in Comedy Hour: the Radio 2 Comedy Season.
Transcription Service Synopsis
The Hon. Nedward Seagoon, last heard off the coast of Ireland, learns from his solicitors, Messrs. McRed Hairy McLegs, that he has inherited ₤1,000,000. He establishes his identity with the solicitors, but in order to claim his inheritance he must become a Peruvian. His quest leads him to South America, where he attempts to prove amongst other things that all Peruvians are Welsh. Unfortunately Neddie discovers that the man who left him the money - Baron Seagoon - is not dead, but had merely overslept.
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays Mountain Greenery (Richard Rodgers (music) / Lorenz Hart (lyrics))
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Giddy Up a Ding Dong (Freddie Bell / Joey Lattanzi)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 11799 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).
The TLO 11799 master tape survived in TS, but some cuts made at the time of the simulated stereo experiment with POTG re-issues were not kept but the version of the show included on The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 was compiled from the TGS disc and a domestic recording of both the original transmission.[1]
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2011). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 13. ISBN 978-1408-427286.
