The Affair of the Lone Banana
| "The Affair of the Lone Banana" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 5 Episode: 5 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 64692 |
| First broadcast | 26 October 1954 |
| Running time | 32:41 |
The Whistling Spy Enigma is an episode from The Goon Show. It was the fifth show in series 5. It was recorded on Sunday 24 October 1954 at 9pm. It was recorded at The Paris Cinema, 12 Lower Regent Street in central London.
The first Home Service broadcast was on Tuesday 26 October 1954 at 8.30pm. It attracted a peak listenership of 3.0m listeners.
| Day | Date | Time | Ratings | Station | Show |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 29 October 1954 | 12.25pm /12.30pm | 1.5m | Home Service | |
| Friday | 20 May 1955 | 7.30pm | 3.4m | Light Programme | |
| Sunday | 19 June 1980 | 12.27pm | 0.2m | Radio 4 | in Smash of the Day |
| Wednesday | 29 May 1991 | 7.02pm | Radio 2 | ||
| Tuesday | 21 December 1993 | 11.30pm | 0.3m | Radio 4 | in Spike's Pick of the Goons |
| Thursday | 31 December 1998 | 9.00pm | 0.3m | Radio 2 | in Barry Took's Comedy Classics |
Story
Fred Nurke is missing! An over-ripe banana, in a deserted Cannon Street shipping office, is the only clue to his whereabouts. Inspector Ned Seagoon follows the trail to a British Embassy in South America where he is just in time to help the Embassy staff in a brush with the rebels. Why are Senor General Gonzales Mess and his gang trying to cut down the only banana tree in the Embassy gardens and what is the connection between Fred Nurke and the over-ripe banana in Cannon Street?
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays You're Driving Me Crazy (Walter Donaldson)
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Sky Blue Shirt and a Rainbow (Jack Berch / John Redmond)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 64692 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House). The original tape no longer exists, the version included on Compendium Vol 1 was sourced from an unofficial 7½ ips dub of the unedited TLO and the POTG 4 master tape.[1]
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2007). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 1 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4056-7800-1.
