Used to spend most of my summer holidays and Christmases in the 60s and early 70s in Lydd. I have many happy memories of the railway and the Marshes, truly an amazing part of the country
Spent my childhood summer holidays in Dymchurch. Harry was a local in Sutton and one day my dad was having a chat with the car next to us at the traffic lights. It was Secombe who was driving with the BBC chaffeur in the back.
Thank you so much for posting this! My dear, late uncle was a huge Goons fan and a train buff to boot! He had shown me this clip once years ago, but neither of us could find it thereafter. I’m sure he’s nudging Spike now saying “I knew he’d find it!” Thank you!!
They played with lots of things, but I don’t recall any train-based episodes. Spike could even have fun with staircases. (Footsteps down flight of steps.) (Footsteps across landing.) (Footsteps down flight of steps.) (Footsteps across landing.) (Footsteps down flight of steps.) (Footsteps across landing.) (Footsteps down flight of steps.) (Footsteps across landing.) (Footsteps down flight of steps.) “That’s odd. We live in a bungalow.”
Thank you so much for posting this - three remarkable human beings, each of their stories are well worth the time to research, Thank you again so very, very much. RIP to them all, they gave so much joy and laughter to the world, each one in their own special way, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Micheal Bentine.
My late father was a huge Goons fan and would have loved this. He told me one time about going to the pictures to see The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (which is on UA-cam), and remembering he was the only person in the whole cinema laughing at it! I think I got my love of surrealist/absurdist humour from him!
I can understand that German's surprise when he found out the engine wasn't a full size one. I guess they never realised they was trying to put a model railway out of working order
Perspective can be a tricky thing from an aircraft. I heard a story about a flying instructor who took their pupil to a very odd airstrip, to try a landing approach, where they came closer and closer and closer, but it still seemed far away. At nearly the last moment the instructor pulled the stick up before they could crash. And then explained that it was a model aircraft airstrip.
Spike is buried in Winchelsea churchyard, nearby, with the epitaph (in Gaelic) "I told you I was ill" - and I guess Michael Bentine had lived close, too (and I lied in nearby Hastings at the time)
It's a shame no Goon shows exist with all 4. There are some cine clips, but no one has admitted to a full radio show. Michael and Peter were great with other characters: voices and personalities; a talent beyond acting. It's really nice to see the surviving ones reunited here.
A couple of episodes still survive from the 2nd series (1952) which Bentine was still involved with, but the audio quality is rather poor - I don't think they've been released by the BBC, but they're in the GSPS archive.
Interesting in this clip at no time does Spike look or even talk to Bentine, Spike is a comedy genius and I grew up on The Goons with all my family (Uncles and Cousins) doing the voices but he could be a right funny bugger and he never forgave Bentine for leaving when he did, even though he wanted him to. Unlike the other three Bentine went to Eton, spoke quite well, was a pilot and had acted in a small repertoire theatre doing Shakespeare ie to Spike he was a toff. So it was not surprising they did not get on, especially and I expect Bentine did not mean to do so but his background just naturally in those days the others were 'oinks' and he should be in charge. They simply did not get on well at all as they argued over the scripts and direction for leaving the Goons. It was good really as even though Bentine did his own animations and shows which I watched as a kid, he never made me burst out loud laughing.
You're reading too much into this based on what happened in the past. He does look at Bentine but Secombe was asking the questions and that's why most of the time Milligan is facing him.
@@aires69uk Nope sorry, you honestly I expect not an oldy like me, who was listening to the Goons back in the fifties. As stated above, as much as I admire Spike I wonder if you have seen the documentaries done in the sixties, various books by his friends and people who worked with him, he was mentally ill for much of his life, suffered from very bad mood swings and was well-known for holding a grudge for always. Remember he was a professional, use to being on stage and TV, which meant as all entertainers learn to do, is to switch on their professional smiling and liking every one next to them in front of the cameras, Spike never did that. Remember when he called Prince Charles a "Little Grovelling Bastard" of course every one laughed, of course we did, but he meant it for real. Do some research and you find he fell out with Prince Charles because he wanted to move on from doing Eccles for him, So if Spike could that to royalty do you think he was concerned about ignoring Bentine on camera, no way, he hated the man.
@@wakeupuk3860 I read Eric Sykes's autobiography and he described sharing an office with Milligan in the 1950s. He could tell when Milligan was becoming unwell because that was when Milligan would just throw objects at him. The Goons was partly a result of WW2, an experience which had a profound effect on Milligan. It shaped his comedy but he paid a huge price.
He did look at Bentine a couple of times and was talking to Seacombe more because it was Seacombe's show and he was asking the questions. That said yes there had been issues between Spike and Michael Bentine but they resolved their difference before Bentine passed away.
I had no idea that Bentine was part of the railway. It's a terrific day out. I love the Goons, but I imagine Bentine would have been difficult to live with, he, like the others, had a strong personality.
@@Johnconno I've just read his autobiography.. The reluctant jester... He comes across as quite odd, very "I am" self-centered, which I would guess didn't go down well with Spike.. His departure from the Goons was played down.
Why don't we have any recorded Goon Show episodes that have Michael Bentine? The Goons began as a quartet and they weren't the same since Bentine left.
In the early days of radio they were recorded for broadcast and never considered for 'resale value' until long after (I think driven by things like a larger consumer market for recordings). The reels were expensive, and so a way to cut costs was to tape over old shows. But I think there were also a lot that were miscategorised and went missing - a bunch of old recordings resurfaced during a cleanout in the late 90s
The earliest Goon Shows were recorded to disc, and some were recorded a second time for export to foreign radio stations with topical English references edited out. I think Spike had a lot of stuff on those discs, which went missing due to a burglary. A lot of the early stuff that has survived has been recovered due to listeners' own home recordings from the radio broadcasts.
Not quite he was in RAF Intelligence and seconded to MI9, tasked with helping British and allied POWs with escaping from captivity. He was to have been a pilot and when he received his inoculation for typhoid they ran out of vaccine 2 men before him. On reloading the bottle, with a pure culture of typhoid they killed the man in front of Bentine and hospitalised him for a long period (he was in coma for a month and a half) and ruined his eyesight. His boss in MI9 was Airy Neave.
Bentine had a stutter, and was taught to overcome it with singing lessons. One of his great wartime yarns was about emptying the chemical toilet in a plane over Germany, and a complaint coming back via the Red Cross of 'chemical warfare'
"You live near here, don't you." "Yes, I have to; my house is there." Brilliance from Spike as usual.
Only one thing would have made absolutely perfect: If he had said it in Eccles' voice.
Spike & Harry & Peter were GODS. Such a great team.
That was Micheal, not Peter. 😵💫
What a joy! The only way it could have been better would have been if Peter had been alive to be there.
If only he’d listened to medical advice, and had that pacemaker fitted, instead of going with that “alternative medicine” nonsense ...
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 I doubt it would have helped; what killed him was an overdose of amyl nitrite.
@@MaskedMan66 You mean amyl nitrite?
'No wonder we came via Huddersfield', that did me in I was on the floor in stitches.
Used to spend most of my summer holidays and Christmases in the 60s and early 70s in Lydd. I have many happy memories of the railway and the Marshes, truly an amazing part of the country
This video is so sweet. My grandad generation and they remind me so much of him.
my God, better days...
Spent my childhood summer holidays in Dymchurch. Harry was a local in Sutton and one day my dad was having a chat with the car next to us at the traffic lights. It was Secombe who was driving with the BBC chaffeur in the back.
Thank you so much for posting this! My dear, late uncle was a huge Goons fan and a train buff to boot! He had shown me this clip once years ago, but neither of us could find it thereafter. I’m sure he’s nudging Spike now saying “I knew he’d find it!” Thank you!!
didn't they play trains in one of the episodes?
They played with lots of things, but I don’t recall any train-based episodes. Spike could even have fun with staircases.
(Footsteps down flight of steps.)
(Footsteps across landing.)
(Footsteps down flight of steps.)
(Footsteps across landing.)
(Footsteps down flight of steps.)
(Footsteps across landing.)
(Footsteps down flight of steps.)
(Footsteps across landing.)
(Footsteps down flight of steps.)
“That’s odd. We live in a bungalow.”
Thank you so much for posting this - three remarkable human beings, each of their stories are well worth the time to research, Thank you again so very, very much. RIP to them all, they gave so much joy and laughter to the world, each one in their own special way, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Micheal Bentine.
nothing can compare to the real comedy genius of Spike Miligna :D
You took the well-known typing error and added another error.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 yeah. I realised that 8 months ago 😆
Peter's looking down from Dimension 5 and thinking: "Lucky sods, I love trains too."
True, true. The only things that he liked more were Cars and buses.
@@robertwilloughby8050 And sexy starlets.
My late father was a huge Goons fan and would have loved this. He told me one time about going to the pictures to see The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (which is on UA-cam), and remembering he was the only person in the whole cinema laughing at it! I think I got my love of surrealist/absurdist humour from him!
He must have been the only living person in that theater, then!
I can understand that German's surprise when he found out the engine wasn't a full size one. I guess they never realised they was trying to put a model railway out of working order
Perspective can be a tricky thing from an aircraft. I heard a story about a flying instructor who took their pupil to a very odd airstrip, to try a landing approach, where they came closer and closer and closer, but it still seemed far away. At nearly the last moment the instructor pulled the stick up before they could crash. And then explained that it was a model aircraft airstrip.
Spike is buried in Winchelsea churchyard, nearby, with the epitaph (in Gaelic) "I told you I was ill" - and I guess Michael Bentine had lived close, too (and I lied in nearby Hastings at the time)
Ahhh the good ol' days....
They should have named one of the trains ning, one nang and one nong😂
Love you, Spike. Love you Mike. Love you Harry. Miss you all.
Sellers would've joined them but he wasn't in the mood.
It's a shame that Peter Sellers couldn't make the party.
God's own truth!
It's a shame no Goon shows exist with all 4. There are some cine clips, but no one has admitted to a full radio show. Michael and Peter were great with other characters: voices and personalities; a talent beyond acting.
It's really nice to see the surviving ones reunited here.
A couple of episodes still survive from the 2nd series (1952) which Bentine was still involved with, but the audio quality is rather poor - I don't think they've been released by the BBC, but they're in the GSPS archive.
Do a search for "the completest goon show transcripts of all pdf" and you'll be able to read the episodes with Bentine in.
The film Down among the Z men features all four of them gooning around.
@@andrewclayton4181 Yes in deed it does. I forgot about that. I had it on video tape.
Interesting in this clip at no time does Spike look or even talk to Bentine, Spike is a comedy genius and I grew up on The Goons with all my family (Uncles and Cousins) doing the voices but he could be a right funny bugger and he never forgave Bentine for leaving when he did, even though he wanted him to. Unlike the other three Bentine went to Eton, spoke quite well, was a pilot and had acted in a small repertoire theatre doing Shakespeare ie to Spike he was a toff. So it was not surprising they did not get on, especially and I expect Bentine did not mean to do so but his background just naturally in those days the others were 'oinks' and he should be in charge. They simply did not get on well at all as they argued over the scripts and direction for leaving the Goons. It was good really as even though Bentine did his own animations and shows which I watched as a kid, he never made me burst out loud laughing.
yeah I was wondering how this encounter would go and it was sad to see Spike can't even look at him, even though I was expecting it.
You're reading too much into this based on what happened in the past. He does look at Bentine but Secombe was asking the questions and that's why most of the time Milligan is facing him.
@@aires69uk Nope sorry, you honestly I expect not an oldy like me, who was listening to the Goons back in the fifties. As stated above, as much as I admire Spike I wonder if you have seen the documentaries done in the sixties, various books by his friends and people who worked with him, he was mentally ill for much of his life, suffered from very bad mood swings and was well-known for holding a grudge for always. Remember he was a professional, use to being on stage and TV, which meant as all entertainers learn to do, is to switch on their professional smiling and liking every one next to them in front of the cameras, Spike never did that. Remember when he called Prince Charles a "Little Grovelling Bastard" of course every one laughed, of course we did, but he meant it for real. Do some research and you find he fell out with Prince Charles because he wanted to move on from doing Eccles for him, So if Spike could that to royalty do you think he was concerned about ignoring Bentine on camera, no way, he hated the man.
@@wakeupuk3860 I read Eric Sykes's autobiography and he described sharing an office with Milligan in the 1950s. He could tell when Milligan was becoming unwell because that was when Milligan would just throw objects at him. The Goons was partly a result of WW2, an experience which had a profound effect on Milligan. It shaped his comedy but he paid a huge price.
He did look at Bentine a couple of times and was talking to Seacombe more because it was Seacombe's show and he was asking the questions. That said yes there had been issues between Spike and Michael Bentine but they resolved their difference before Bentine passed away.
Lovely.
Ahhhh😊😊😊😊
When we were Kings
Sadly, we'll not see their like again.
Does anyone know when this was filmed. Love to tread where my heroes trod
Read the description at the head of these comments...........
Only published 4 years ago? Where did you find this gem then?
I had no idea that Bentine was part of the railway. It's a terrific day out. I love the Goons, but I imagine Bentine would have been difficult to live with, he, like the others, had a strong personality.
@@Johnconno I've just read his autobiography.. The reluctant jester... He comes across as quite odd, very "I am" self-centered, which I would guess didn't go down well with Spike.. His departure from the Goons was played down.
No other bits of this
Sadly that's all they transmitted. You never know, someone might have a more extensive film clip squirrelled away somewhere.
Why don't we have any recorded Goon Show episodes that have Michael Bentine? The Goons began as a quartet and they weren't the same since Bentine left.
It started before the BBC began to fully archive programs. Some early shows without Bentine are also missing.
In the early days of radio they were recorded for broadcast and never considered for 'resale value' until long after (I think driven by things like a larger consumer market for recordings). The reels were expensive, and so a way to cut costs was to tape over old shows. But I think there were also a lot that were miscategorised and went missing - a bunch of old recordings resurfaced during a cleanout in the late 90s
The earliest Goon Shows were recorded to disc, and some were recorded a second time for export to foreign radio stations with topical English references edited out. I think Spike had a lot of stuff on those discs, which went missing due to a burglary. A lot of the early stuff that has survived has been recovered due to listeners' own home recordings from the radio broadcasts.
Kinda like a Beatles reunion minus John
oh yeah they both died in 1980
Bentine was an MI5 operative.
Not quite he was in RAF Intelligence and seconded to MI9, tasked with helping British and allied POWs with escaping from captivity. He was to have been a pilot and when he received his inoculation for typhoid they ran out of vaccine 2 men before him. On reloading the bottle, with a pure culture of typhoid they killed the man in front of Bentine and hospitalised him for a long period (he was in coma for a month and a half) and ruined his eyesight. His boss in MI9 was Airy Neave.
Bentine had a stutter, and was taught to overcome it with singing lessons. One of his great wartime yarns was about emptying the chemical toilet in a plane over Germany, and a complaint coming back via the Red Cross of 'chemical warfare'
I think this might be the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen. All copies of it should be burnt immediately.
Burn yours then, no one will care. We'll continue watching it and being happy. Bye bye now.