The Telegoons

From The Goon Show Depository

The Telegoons
The Telegoons (TV series).jpg
Opening title card
Created byGrosvenor Films
StarringVoices of Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan
Music byEdward White
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes26
Production
Running time15 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkBBC
Release5 October 1963 (1963-10-05) –
1 August 1964 (1964-08-01)

The Telegoons is a comedy puppet show, adapted from the highly successful BBC radio comedy show of the 1950s, The Goon Show produced for BBC television and first shown during 1963 and 1964.[1] Two series of 13 episodes were made.[2] The series was briefly repeated immediately after its original run, and all episodes are known to have survived. Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan reprised their original voice roles from the radio series and appeared in promotional photos with some of the puppets from the series.[3] Among the puppeteers were Ann Field, John Dudley, and Violet Phelan.[4][5] The original radio scripts were adapted by Maurice Wiltshire, who had previously co-written a number of radio episodes with Larry Stephens.

The only official broadcasts of any Telegoons material since the 1960s was a short excerpt, claimed to have been newly printed from the original negative, shown on the 1980s BBC archive series Windmill, and a brief excerpt during the quiz programme Telly Addicts. However DVD compilations of all episodes (from unknown sources) are available on eBay and other outlets.[6]

A lengthy excerpt from a cast recording for the episode "The Lost Colony" is included on The Goon Show Compendium Volume 11 CD box set. The recording, made at Olympic Studios, is taken from a tape kept by the studio's former owner.[7]

Comic book adaptation

A Telegoons comic strip appeared in TV Comic, drawn by Bill Titcombe and was published in 1963-1964.[8]

Episodes

The Telegoons.jpg
The Telegoons Episodes
Episode Title Date Notes
1st Series (1963)
1. The Ascent of Mount Everest 5 October 1963 Based on part of The Goon Show series 3 episode 24
2. The Lost Colony 12 October 1963 Based on The Sale of Manhattan, series 6 episode 11
3. The Fear of Wages 19 October 1963 Based on series 6 episode 25
4. Napoleon's Piano 26 October 1963 Based on series 6 episode 4
5. The Last Tram 2 November 1963 Based on series 5 episode 9
6. The China Story 16 November 1963 Based on China Story, series 5 episode 17
7. The Canal 23 November 1963 Based on series 5 episode 6
8. The Choking Horror Scheduled for 30 November 1963; postponed due to repeat of Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child,Ep. 1;
Broadcast 28 December 1963 		Based on series 6 episode 22
9. The Hastings Flyer 7 December 1963 Based on The Pevensey Bay Disaster, series 6 episode 10
10. The Mystery of the Marie Celeste Solved? 14 December 1963 Based on The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (solved) series 5 episode 8
11. The International Christmas Pudding 21 December 1963 Based on series 6 episode 9
2nd Series (1964)
12. Scradje 28 March 1964 Based on series 6 episode 26
13. The Booted Gorilla 4 April 1964 Based on series 5 episode 10
14. The Underwater Mountain 11 April 1964 Based on The Greatest Mountain in the World series 4 episode 23, re-made as Vintage Goons episode 2
15. The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea 18 April 1964 Based on series 5 episode 3
16. Tales of Old Dartmoor 25 April 1964 Based on series 6 episode 21
17. Lurgi Strikes Britain 2 May 1964 Based on series 5 episode 7
18. Captain Seagoon R.N. 9 May 1964 Based on Personal Narrative, series 7 episode 8
19. The First Albert Memorial to the Moon 16 May 1964 Based on series 4 episode 7, remade as The Albert Memorial, Vintage Goons episode 14
20. The Whistling Spy Enigma 23 May 1964 Based on series 5 episode 1
21. Tales of Montmartre 30 May 1964 Based on series 6 episode 21
22. The Africa Ship Canal 6 June 1964 Based on series 7 episode 22
23. The Affair of the Lone Banana 13 June 1964 Based on series 5 episode 5
24. The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu Scheduled for 20 June 1964; postponed due to overrunning coverage of cricket from Lord's;
Broadcast 1 August 1964 		Based on Series 6 episode 12
25. The Nadger Plague 27 June 1964 Based on series 7 episode 3
26. The Siege of Fort Knight, or, The Underwater Gas-Stove 18 July 1964 Based on series 4 episode 30, remade as Vintage Goons episode 13

Sources

  1. ^ "GOONOGRAPHY". roxburgh.org.
  2. ^ "The Telegoons (a Titles & Air Dates Guide)". epguides.com.
  3. ^ "Gallery".
  4. ^ "People". roxburgh.org.
  5. ^ "The anniversary of the first showing of 'The Telegoons'". 6 October 2013.
  6. ^ "The Telegoons 4 Dual Layer DVDs Goon Show Puppet TV Series". store.earthstation1.com.
  7. ^ "The Goon Show Compendium: Volume 11 (Series 9, Pt 2 & Series 10), Twenty episodes of the classic BBC radio comedy series by Spike Milligan". penguin.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Bill Titcombe". lambiek.net.

External links

Retrieved from "https://www.thegoonshow.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=The_Telegoons&oldid=41597"