Show Notes
The Silent Bugler is a good example of Spike Milligan revisiting earlier material, with the later Vintage Goons remake refining rather than reinventing the original.
The original story from Series 4 opens with a Cold War setting and digs at Senator McCarthy, Winston Churchill and the world of secret agents before introducing Seagoon as MI5's Agent X2. The Vintage Goons remake necessarily tweaks some of the more topical material.
Much of the enjoyment comes from the performances rather than the plot which is a bit confusing and follows X2's mission to thwart a Russian time machine, leading to an adventure involving spies, concerts, mistaken identities, explosions and improbable escapes in typical fashion.
Peter Sellers' later portrayal of Willium the ticket inspector is noticeably richer and more developed, while the original Series 4 recording has Sellers corpsing repeatedly. The episode also contains the first use of Bluebottle's immortal line, "Pauses for audience applause... not a sausage" though early Bluebottle is less pleasing to the ear.
As with most Goon Shows the storyline is largely incidental, serving as a framework for Spike's imagination and the interplay between the cast. While the Vintage Goons version benefits from more polished performances, some listeners may prefer the original Series 4 recording for its freshness and spontaneity and the fact it was a glimpse of the Goons reaching the peak of their powers in 1954.
Tyler and guest Chas Early examine the two shows and look at what was happening in the Goons' world the week the original show aired, including a fascinating tale of Ray Ellington coming to the aid of one of JFK's closest friends.
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Jet Storm, also known as Jet Stream or Killing Urge, is a British thriller directed and co-written by Cy Endfield and starring Richard Attenborough, Stanley Baker, Patrick Allen and Virginia Maskell. It is an early example of what would become the aviation disaster-film genre, preceding films such as Airport by more than a decade. Released in October 1959, it centres almost entirely on a transatlantic flight from London to New York and the psychological and moral crisis that develops among its passengers when one of them threatens to destroy the aircraft.
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.