| Runtime: | 15 minutes per episode |
| Creator: | Grosvenor Films |
| Starring: | Voices of Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan |
| Music: | Edward White |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Network: | BBC |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
| Producer: | Tony Young |
The Telegoons is a comedy puppet show, adapted from the highly esteemed and successful BBC radio comedy show of the 1950s, The Goon Show produced by Tony Young for BBC television[1] and first shown during 1963 and 1964.[2] Two series of 13 episodes were made.[3] The series was briefly repeated immediately after its original run, and all episodes are known to have survived. Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan reprised their original voice roles from the radio series and appeared in promotional photos with some of the puppets from the series.[4] Among the puppeteers were Ann Field, John Dudley, and Violet Phelan.[5] [6] The original radio scripts were adapted by Maurice Wiltshire, who had previously co-written a number of radio episodes with Larry Stephens.
The only official broadcasts of any Telegoons material since the 1960s were a short excerpt, claimed to have been newly printed from the original negative, shown on the 1980s BBC archive series Windmill, and a brief excerpt during the quiz programme Telly Addicts. However DVD compilations of all episodes (from unknown sources) are available on eBay and other outlets.[7]
A lengthy excerpt from a cast recording for the episode "The Lost Colony" is included on The Goon Show Compendium Volume 11 CD box set. The recording, made at Olympic Studios, is taken from a tape kept by the studio's former owner.[8]
A Telegoons comic strip appeared in TV Comic, drawn by Bill Titcombe and was published in 1963-1964.[9]
1st Series (1963):
1. The Ascent of Mount Everest - 5 OctoberBased on part of The Goon Show series 3 episode 24
2. The Lost Colony - 12 OctoberBased on The Sale of Manhattan, series 6 episode 11
3. The Fear of Wages - 19 OctoberBased on series 6 episode 25
4. Napoleon's Piano - 26 OctoberBased on series 6 episode 4
5. The Last Tram - 2 NovemberBased on series 5 episode 9
6. The China Story - 16 NovemberBased on China Story, series 5 episode 17
7. The Canal - 23 NovemberBased on series 5 episode 6
8. The Choking Horror - scheduled for 30 November; postponed due to repeat of Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child, Episode 1; broadcast 28 DecemberBased on series 6 episode 22
9. The Hastings Flyer - 7 DecemberBased on The Pevensey Bay Disaster, series 6 episode 10, remade as The Hastings Flyer - Robbed, series 6 episode 15
10. The Mystery of the Marie Celeste-Solved - 14 DecemberBased on The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (Solved) series 5 episode 8
11. The International Christmas Pudding - 21 DecemberBased on series 6 episode 9
2nd Series (1964):
12. Scradje - 28 MarchBased on series 6 episode 26
13. The Booted Gorilla - 4 AprilBased on series 5 episode 10
14. The Underwater Mountain - 11 AprilBased on The Greatest Mountain in the World series 4 episode 23, remade as Vintage Goons episode 2
15. The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea - 18 AprilBased on series 5 episode 3
16. Tales of Old Dartmoor - 25 AprilBased on series 6 episode 21
17. Lurgi Strikes Britain - 2 MayBased on series 5 episode 7
18. Captain Seagoon R.N. - 9 MayBased on Personal Narrative, series 7 episode 8
19. The First Albert Memorial to the Moon - 16 MayBased on series 4 episode 7, remade as The Albert Memorial, Vintage Goons episode 14
20. The Whistling Spy Enigma - 23 MayBased on series 5 episode 1
21. Tales of Montmartre - 30 MayBased on series 6 episode 21
22. The Africa Ship Canal - 6 JuneBased on series 7 episode 22
23. The Affair of the Lone Banana - 13 JuneBased on series 5 episode 5
24. The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu - scheduled for 20 June; postponed due to overrunning coverage of cricket from Lord's; broadcast 1 AugustBased on Series 6 episode 12
25. The Nadger Plague - 27 JuneBased on series 7 episode 3
26. The Siege of Fort Knight, or, The Underwater Gas-Stove - 18 JulyBased on series 4 episode 30, remade as Vintage Goons episode 13