''The Telegoons'' is a comedy puppet show, adapted from the highly esteemed and successful BBC radio comedy show of the 1950s, ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

'' produced by Tony Young for BBC television and first shown during 1963 and 1964. Two series of 13 episodes were made. The series was briefly repeated immediately after its original run, and all episodes are known to have survived.

Harry Secombe Sir Harry Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, mos ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

reprised their original voice roles from the radio series and appeared in promotional photos with some of the puppets from the series. Among the puppeteers were Ann Field, John Dudley, and Violet Phelan. 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 were a short excerpt, claimed to have been newly printed from the original negative, shown on the 1980s BBC archive series ''

Windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

'', and a brief excerpt during the quiz programme '' Telly Addicts''. However DVD compilations of all episodes (from unknown sources) are available on

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

and other outlets. 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.

Comic book adaptation

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

Episodes

1st Series (1963): 1. ''The Ascent of Mount Everest'' - 5 October Based on part of ''The Goon Show'' series 3 episode 24 2. ''The Lost Colony'' - 12 October Based on ''The Sale of Manhattan'', series 6 episode 11 3. ''The Fear of Wages'' - 19 October Based on series 6 episode 25 4. ''Napoleon's Piano'' - 26 October Based on series 6 episode 4 5. ''The Last Tram'' - 2 November Based on series 5 episode 9 6. ''The China Story'' - 16 November Based on ''China Story'', series 5 episode 17 7. ''The Canal'' - 23 November Based on series 5 episode 6 8. ''The Choking Horror'' - scheduled for 30 November; postponed due to repeat of ''

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An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 Decem ...

'', Episode 1; broadcast 28 December Based on series 6 episode 22 9. ''The Hastings Flyer'' - 7 December Based on ''The Pevensey Bay Disaster'', series 6 episode 10, remade as ''The Hastings Flyer - Robbed'', series 6 episode 15 10. ''The Mystery of the Marie Celeste-Solved'' - 14 December Based on ''The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (Solved)'' series 5 episode 8 11. ''The International Christmas Pudding'' - 21 December Based on series 6 episode 9 2nd Series (1964): 12. ''Scradje'' - 28 March Based on series 6 episode 26 13. '' The Booted Gorilla'' - 4 April Based on series 5 episode 10 14. ''The Underwater Mountain'' - 11 April Based on ''The Greatest Mountain in the World'' series 4 episode 23, remade as ''Vintage Goons'' episode 2 15. ''The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea'' - 18 April Based on series 5 episode 3 16. ''Tales of Old Dartmoor'' - 25 April Based on series 6 episode 21 17. ''Lurgi Strikes Britain'' - 2 May Based on series 5 episode 7 18. ''Captain Seagoon R.N.'' - 9 May Based on ''Personal Narrative'', series 7 episode 8 19. ''The First Albert Memorial to the Moon'' - 16 May Based on series 4 episode 7, remade as ''The Albert Memorial'', ''Vintage Goons'' episode 14 20. ''The Whistling Spy Enigma'' - 23 May Based on series 5 episode 1 21. ''Tales of Montmartre'' - 30 May Based on series 6 episode 21 22. ''The Africa Ship Canal'' - 6 June Based on series 7 episode 22 23. ''The Affair of the Lone Banana'' - 13 June Based on series 5 episode 5 24. ''The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu'' - scheduled for 20 June; postponed due to overrunning coverage of cricket from

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

; broadcast 1 August Based on Series 6 episode 12 25. ''The Nadger Plague'' - 27 June Based on series 7 episode 3 26. ''The Siege of Fort Knight'', or, ''The Underwater Gas-Stove'' - 18 July Based on series 4 episode 30, remade as ''Vintage Goons'' episode 13

Sources

External links

*
The Official G.S.P.S. Telegoons tribute site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telegoons BBC television comedy British television shows featuring puppetry 1963 British television series debuts 1964 British television series endings The Goon Show Television shows adapted into comics 1960s British comedy television series