The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)
| "The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 5 Episode: 4 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 64443 |
| First broadcast | 19 October 1954 |
| Running time | 31:01 |
The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton) is an episode of The Goon Show. It is the fourth episode of the fifth series. It was aired for the first time on the BBC Home Service on Tuesday 19 October 1954 at 8.30pm to a peak listenership of 2.3m radio listeners. It was recorded the previous Sunday, 17 October 1954 at The Paris Cinema, 12 Lower Regent Street in central London.
| Day | Date | Time | Ratings | Station | Show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 22 October 1954 | 12.25pm / 12.30pm | 1.5m | Home Service | |
| Friday | 13 May 1955 | 7.30pm | 4.1m | Light Programme | |
| Friday | 14 March 1975 | 10.30pm | 0.9m | Radio 4 | in Encore the Goons |
Story
During the hot summer of 1898 Mr and Mrs Nugent Dirt were just one of many honeymooning couples enjoying the bracing air of Brighton. The, one torrid night, like a bolt from the blue the Phantom Head Shaver struck and Mr Dirt woke up — bald! Prunella, his wife, summoned him for concealing his baldness from her during their courtship and the great QC Hairy Seagoon was briefed for the defence. But no sooner had he arrived on the scene than the Phantom struck again! This time the victim was Mr Seagoon. As the court case dragged on the Phantom struck again and again — 50 times — until Brighton became a city of terror. The military flund a cordon around the district leaving only one exit at Haywards Heath and it was there, in a lonely railwayman's hut, that Hairy Seagoon finally comes to grips with the dreaded 'Shaver'.
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me (Clarence Gaskill / Jimmy McHugh)
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Skokiaan (August Msarurgwa)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 64443 (tape at 15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).[1]
Ted Kendall's Restoration
The tape survived in TS and was used as the source of the POTG (Pick of the Goons TS re-issue). The cuts were, for the most part, preserved and restored in 1986. The remaining cuts and extra material came from a 7½ ips dub of the TLO (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House) made before editing. This tape demonstrates, contrary to popular belief, at this stage at least, that the Goons were a very disciplined set of performers. There were only 3 cuts in the whole half-hour performance.[2]
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2007). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 1 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4056-7800-1.
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2007). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 1 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4056-7800-1.
