Napoleon's Piano
| "Napoleon's Piano" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 6 Episode: 4 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 88253 |
| First broadcast | 11 October 1955 |
| Running time | 29:11 |
Napoleon's Piano[nb 1] is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the fourth show in the sixth series. The show was recorded at 9pm on Sunday 9 Octber 1955. The recording took place at the Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London.
The first British public broadcast was on the Home Service on Tuesday 4 October 1955 at 8.30pm. It reached a peak listenership of 3.4m.
| Day | Date | Time | Ratings | Station | Show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 15 October 1955 | 7.30pm | 2.3m | Light Programme | |
| Sunday | 6 July 1980 | 12.27pm | 0.4m | Radio 4 | in Smash of the Day as The Story of Napleon's Piano |
| Friday | 31 May 1991 | 7.02pm | 0.4m | Radio 2 | in Spike's Pick of the Goons |
| Thursday | 29 August 1991 | 12.25pm | Radio 2 | in Spike's Pick of the Goons | |
| Thursday | 23 December 1993 | 11.30pm | Radio 2 | in Spike's Pick of the Goons replacing Today in Parliament |
Transcription Service Synopsis
Answering an advertisement to move a piano from one room to another for the large sum of ₤5, young Neddie Seagoon finds that he has been tricked. It is not, as Neddie at first thinks, 'money for old rope', but a much more cunning job that those arch-criminals Brigadier Grytpype-Thynne and Count Fred Moriarty have in mind. They want him to bring Napoleon's Piano, now in the Paris Louvre, over to England – for a quick resale…
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays Ain't Misbehavin' (Harry Brooks / Fats Waller / Andy Razaf)
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Bloodshot Eyes (Hank Penny / Ruth Hall)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 88253 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).
This tape survived in TS, and was used to produce the POTG issue; the cuts were not kept. The show included on Compendium Vol 3 was compiled from the TLO, the TGS master tape (salvaged in 1962 after being slated for destruction) and a domestic tape recording.[2]
Notes
References
- ^ Wilmut, Roger (1976). The Goon Show Companion. Robson Books. p. 125. ISBN 0860518361.
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2009). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 3 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4084-1044-8.
