Event    From 1951  To 1960

The Goon Show

Categories: Humour, TV & Radio

Radio comedy show, originally broadcast as 'Crazy People' The first scripts were co-written by Spike Milligan and Jimmy Grafton. The pressure of writing eventually contributed to Milligan's mental breakdown. Michael Bentine was a co-founder but left in 1953. The inventiveness of the programme has been cited as a major influence for many subsequent comedians. A puppet series for television, 'The Telegoons' was made in the early 1960s. Milligan, Secombe and Sellers reunited for a final show in 1972 as part of the BBC's 50th anniversary celebrations. Our picture shows, left to right: Sellers, Secombe, Milligan, Bentine.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
The Goon Show

Commemorated ati

Last Goon Show

The Camden Palace was home to the Goon Show through the 1950s.

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Spike's statue - Goons

This little group shows Secombe, Milligan and Sellers, holding "Goons" script...

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The Goon Show

{Caricatures of the four comedians, followed by:} The Goon Show, 1951-1960, f...

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Other Subjects

Sid James

Sid James

Comedy actor.  Born in Johannesburg (on Hancock Street), South Africa, to a pair of British music hall performers and brought up in both South Africa and England.  Worked as a diamond sorter and th...

Person, Cinema, Humour, TV & Radio, South Africa

4 memorials
Eric Sykes

Eric Sykes

Scriptwriter and actor. Born in Oldham, Lancashire. As a writer, he worked with Spike Milligan on the early scripts for the Goon Shows. He wrote for many of the major comedians of the day, includin...

Person, Cinema, Humour, Theatre, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan

Goon. Born as Terence Alan Milligan near Bombay, India, his father being an Irish soldier who met his wife, Florence Winifred Kettleband, in India. Both parents were amateur, would-be professional,...

Person, Cinema, Humour, TV & Radio, India

7 memorials
Tommy Cooper

Tommy Cooper

Comedian.  Born Wales.  Member of the Magic Circle.  Died of a heart attack on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre, live on television. "I'm going to chop off the bottom of one of your trouser legs and...

Person, Humour, TV & Radio, Wales

4 memorials
Eric Morecambe, OBE

Eric Morecambe, OBE

Comedian.  Born John Eric Bartholomew in Morecambe, Lancashire.  Partnered by Ernie Wise their first joint TV show was in 1954 and the last in 1983, with the Christmas specials being national event...

Person, Humour, TV & Radio

4 memorials

Previously viewed

South African War / Boer War

South African War / Boer War

Also known as the (second) (Anglo-)Boer War. The war is described in three phases: first: The Boer offensive (October–December 1899); second: The British offensive (January to September 1900); thir...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy, Africa

8 memorials
Endell Street Military Hospital

Endell Street Military Hospital

Established in the disused St Giles workhouse buildings during WW1 under the command of Dr Flora Murray & Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson (both suffragettes), this 573-bed hospital is the only Briti...

Building, Gender Issues, Medicine

1 memorial