The latest Goon Show release - where to start? Well the title is as good a place as any: The Goon Show Compendium Volume 1. It has a nice ring to it and is slightly different to the other boxed editions of classic comedy that BBC audiobooks have released in the past - mainly because of some past agreements, but more of that later.
The first test of any high value item it whether it will travel through the post well - the majority of people I know now tend to order the majority of their DVDs, audiobooks, books, and small electrical items over the web and there is nothing more disappointing than finding that the long awaited release has got unceremoniously squashed and has to go back meaning you can't actually watch or listen to it when planned. I am very pleased to say that the new design of packaging - a slip case around the solid, tired, and tested multi jewel case - is a winner on this score. Not only this, but it mean you don't have to get your fingerprints on the discs to take them out of sleeves either so they will stay as fresh and clean as the day they were produced.
So what do you get for the cash? In short, 7 CDs and two well research booklets. This is the first 13 episodes, in chronological order, of the 5th series:
- The Whistling Spy Enigma
- The Lost Gold Mine (of Charlotte)
- The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea)
- The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)
- The Affair of the Lone Banana
- The Canal
- Lurgi Strikes Britain! (a.k.a. The Lurgi Strikes Again)
- The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (solved)
- The Last Tram (from Clapham)
- The Booted Gorilla (found?)
- The Spanish Suitcase
- Dishonoured or The Fall of Neddie Seagoon
- Forog
Plus extras in the form of Me and My Shadows: Peter Sellers, the BBC7 introductions to various episodes and out-takes from The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton) and The Affair of the Lone Banana. Phew!, I think that is everything, so now some more detail.
OK, so many of the shows have been commercially released before, or BBC7 has broadcast them recently, so why should I dip into my pocket and spend the contents? Quite simply, these are the best quality recordings you will find anywhere. But they were restored and released previously, so why pay again? Again, they are the best quality you will find. Time and technology has moved on apace since Ted Kendall first started to restore archive recordings. His skill has never been in doubt, but the work was always restricted by the recordings available and the hardware to the restoration. With any big project like this, time is set aside to locate all the necessary recordings, and a huge amount was amassed to do the job properly. Likewise, I know Ted has invested in the best hardware there is currently available, so the term 'bigger and better' can be applied with gusto.
Having the shows in chronological order is also quite important as there was a continuity, not necessarily in the stories themselves, but with throwaway lines and the general feel of the shows, and topical references make a bit more sense. This has been helped with a topical glossary supplied by Andrew Pixley, after all, these shows are now 54 years old!
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The out-takes, introductions, and Me and My Shadows: Peter Sellers are all welcome extras, although to say that Peter Sellers impersonates the Goons characters in the latter, is stretching a point a bit, as how can you impersonate yourself?
I mentioned early on that there are two booklets accompanying the recordings and both are written by Andrew Pixley and Ted Kendall. Quite simply, what they don't know about the recordings between them isn't worth knowing, and in the 28 or so 4" square pages there is a myriad of facts, figures, background details and littered with copies of entries from The Radio Times, and photographs they will keep the most ardent fan of the show happy for quite some time.
So why Compendium and not Complete, like all the other sets? Way back, when the commercial side of things was almost unheard of, making shows available for the public to own was more complex. The BBC didn't get its hand dirty with things like that, it was too busy producing and broadcasting great stuff, so it licensed the release of a select few shows to EMI. I don't know the details, but as I understand it, EMI still hold the commercial rights to those shows (without musical items, I might add) and reissue them from time to time, so the BBC can't include them in the boxes and can't call them complete. It is a great shame as I am sure if the right people were in the right room (with the right calibre gun held closely to the temple) a deal could be brokered where everything could be released as one, but big business is big business, and everyone will be the worse for it.
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How to sum up? Simply, this is a set not to be missed - it hits all the right notes, and in the right order. The packaging is robust and convenient, the recordings are undoubtedly the best you will find, the research is detailed and the price is not at all bad - especially if you order through Amazon at the moment as there is a whopping discount. The downside? I have to wait for series 5 part 2.
