Show Notes
Broadcast on Channel 4 on 2nd December 1985, The Last Laugh Before TV-am was Spike Milligan’s attempt to bring his particular vein of humour to a new generation... although very little about it suggested that Milligan had changed his approach since the early Q series.
The show assembled a familiar Milligan blend of sketches,visual jokes, corpsing, unfinished ideas and rehearsed improvisation. The recently late Chris Langham, Emil Wolk and a young Mark Steel were among the supporting performers, while the alternative circus group Ra-Ra Zoo added anappropriately offbeat physical dimension to the show. There were also, because Spike, the Royal Corgis.
Creaky old comedy sketch stand-by Mastermind saw Milligan as Magnusson, the Queen as a bit of cardboard and a banana down some underpants. A library skit featured some language which caused the entire edifice to sway as if ready to go down with all hands (Herbert Kretzmer, reviewing the show in TV Mail, considered this “pure, distilled Milligan”, arguing that the joke was driven by Spike's contempt for what he regarded as the absurdities of censorship. Hmmm.)
Joining Tyler this week to chew over this oddity and discussthe wider television landscape at the time is podcaster, author and broadcaster Ben Baker.
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