Show 21

"The Return of Handsome Harry Secombe"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.	Series: 2 Episode: 4
Written by	Spike Milligan Larry Stephens
Produced by	Dennis Main Wilson
Music	The Stargazers: Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle Secombe: Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci Geldray: Undecided Ellington: Sonny Boy'
Editing by	Jimmy Grafton
Recording Number	SLO 2519
First broadcast	19 February 1952 (1952-02-19)
Running time	27:45

SHOW 21 (2/4) Scheduled Recording: Sunday 10 February 1952, 7.45pm, Aeolian I. Recording: Sunday 17 February 1952, 7.45pm, Aeolian I. SLO 3334. Scheduled Home Service Broadcast: Tuesday 12 February 1952, 9.30pm [replaced by The World Today and Everyman] First Home Service Broadcast: Tuesday 19 February 1952, 9.30pm [except Wales]. Ratings: 1.8 million. Repeat: Saturday 23 February 1952, 12.15pm, 0.4 million [Light Programme].

The series 2 shows didn't have 'official' episode names per se, but for ease of reference using the show number is to differentiate them.

The show had now changed its name from Crazy People to "The Goon Show, featuring those crazy people…"

Show 20 (aka Captain Pureheart builds the Crystal Palace) is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the third show in the second series. The show was recorded at 7.45pm on Sunday . The recording session was at Aeolian I, 135–137 New Bond Street, London.

The first British public broadcast was on the Home Service on Tuesday 5 February 1952 at 9.30pm (except Scotland, Wales and the West). It reached a peak listenership of 1.8m.

Sketches: ‘Handsome Harry chases Andrew Timothy’ finds Harry accusing the announcer of trying to burn him alive in The Return of Handsome Harry Secombe; ‘Captain Pureheart constructs Croydon Airport’ is the latest Triumphs of Engineering; ‘BBC Programmes crammed together’ looks at the consequences of the Corporation losing wavelengths to commercial stations and so having to combine programmes like Flint, the Flying Codd; ‘Colonel Slocombe fights the Chippawar Tribe’ is another tale of encounters with American Indians from Colonel Josh Slocombe.

Sketches

• Captain Pureheart builds the Crystal Palace: finds the inventor busy in Hyde Park but not insuring his creation against fire.
• Handsome Harry hunts for lost drummer: has Harry hired to find a drummer for an orchestra while in Venice in The Adventures of Handsome Harry Secombe.
• Major Bloodnok protects the women from Senapatti and his tribesmen, featuring the show’s historian recalling a dangerous mission from his days in India when he was sent to Manicure Hill.
• Queue Vadit: The story of the world’s greatest film, a Roman epic about Nero.

Music: Harry Secombe sings Tell Me Tonight (Mischa Spoliansky); Max Geldray plays Allentown Jail (Irving Gordon); The Stargazers perform There’s Always Room at Our House (Bob Merrill); The Ray Ellington Quartet pays tribute to Donald Peers with In a Shady Nook (Harry Pease/Ed G Nelson).

Music

• The Stargazers sing Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle (Bob Merrill).
• Harry Secombe sings Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo).
• Max Geldray plays Undecided (Charlie Shavers).
• The Ray Ellington Quartet pays tribute to Al Jolson with Sonny Boy (Ray Henderson/BG De Sylva/Lew Brown).

Technical

Originally recorded on SLO 2519 (33⅓ rpm, coarse-groove 16" disk recorded at Broadcasting House).

This is the second show borrowed from Spike Milligan, and is less distorted, but marred throughout by low-level breakthrough of another programme. This may be due to poor reception conditions, but could also be due to the imperfect erasure of a previous recording — the erase head on a Soundmirror tape recorder was simply a permanent magnet swung into contact with the tape.