The Treasure in the Tower
| "The Treasure in the Tower" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 8 Episode: 5 |
| Written by | |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Charles Chilton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 40562 |
| First broadcast | 28 October 1957 |
| Running time | 30:52 |
SHOW 8/5: Treasure in Tower (aka The Treasure in the Tower) (CD ),Track I) Recording: Sunday 27 October 1957. 9.15pm. Camden. TLO 40562. First Home Service Broadcast: Monday 28 October 1957, 8.30pm. Ratings: 1.5 million. RI: 68. Repeat: Thursday 31 October 1957. 9pm. 2.6 million [Light Programme]. Transcription Service Synopsis: What does it feel like to be split in two - metaphorically speaking of course' In this episode the Goons find themselves living in the year 1600 - during which they bury a priceless treasure at the Tower of London - and simultaneously in the year 1957. in which they set out to discover the treasure. Perhaps this ingenious script will launch a new theor y on the nature of time! Music: Max Geldray plays Nice Work l(You Can Get It (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin):The Ray Ellington Quartet plays How Will I Know? (Norvis/Baxter). On the Transcription reissue version, the Ray Ellington Quartet plays Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Seo (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) from Ill Met by Goonlight
The Seagoon Memoirs is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the fifteenth show in the eighth series.
A pre-recording session took place Sunday 17 February 1957, 5pm. at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London (DLO 25010). The recording for transmission was created later that same Sunday, also at The Camden, at 9pm (TLO 22507).
The first Home Service broadcast was the following Thursday at 8.30pm 3 January 1957, its ratings were 2.6 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 6 was compiled from the TGS disc, the POTG master tape and domestic recordings of both the original transmission and the 1964 repeat.[1] 8/5 - The Treasure In The Tower. Originally recorded on 40562. This tape no longer exists, and the C/TLO from Wood Norton was used for this issue, with the opening exchange between Greenslade and the band restored from the TGS disc.
Show Notes
Treasure in Tower (aka The Treasure in the Tower) was recorded on Sunday 27 October and was one of the stronger shows of the run, with a complex chronological element adding to a plot inspired by another of the many bizarre newspaper cuttings which Spike was collecting in a file for inspiration.
An Audience Research Report summarising the views of 352 listeners on Treasure in Tower was compiled on Friday 15 November. The comments this time were far more promising: 'the peak of sound entertainment' observed a 'Chemist', although there were still some suggestions that the series had 'deteriorated somewhat, becoming over-complicated and stereotyped'. The clever plot for the episode was particularly admired; 'the switching from 1600 to 1957 exploited the use of sound radio to the full. An excellent half-hour of madness,' enthused a 'Printer' while there was considerable praise for the main cast. The Red Fort was reviewed by The Critics - i.e. J. W. Lambert, Stephen Potter, Margaret Lane, Stephen Bone and Freda Bruce Lockhart - on the BBC Home Service at lunchtime on Sunday 17 November, shortly before the next recording session which comprised a remake of The Giant Bombardon plus The Missing Battleship.
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2012). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 7 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4458-9133-0.
