Wogan's Radio Fun 10 - Spike Milligan & Harry Secombe Interview 1987

Part of the special "Wogan's Radio Fun" program broadcast on 30 December 1987.
Terry Wogan interviews Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe about The Goons.

[@AAHKLEE]

I am 74 years old and still recall my Dad's concern when he found me sobbing with laughter on my bedroom floor. Probably around 1957 or so. The Goons will live forever in my soul.

[@uncreativeranter]

So you father had to annalise why you were happy and laughing?

[@goatboy420]

My god… To have heard this raw? First time around…? I envy you, mate. Kudos.

[@aussieoffroader1974]

Pure genius all 3 of them. They may be gone but they will live on forever in hearts and laughs of millions of people across the world.

[@JJONNYREPP]

Comments on ‘1957: BRITISH SUNDAYS - Should We Have More FREEDOM? | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive’ 0921am 23.9.24 3!!!? i paid for 4... must have got fucked that week.... skint now, though... i paid for a hell of a lot.... there you go. the heady world of the artiste promoter...

[@1978rharris]

This type of humour doesn’t age, doesn’t get tired, transcends generations....simply iconic.

[@Fcutdlady]

Radio comedy doesnt age in the same way tv comedy does. Look at just a minute avd im sorry i havent a clue as well. Bith may now be finished due to vovid 19 stopping recirdibg and the deaths of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jeremy Hardy and Nicholas Parsons but they ran for over 70 series. No tv show has ever done that.

[@fionawinderam9987]

Everything used to stop in my house for The Goons & Michael Bentene. My favourite line "He's fallen in the water" 🤣😂

[@spizzenergi2292]

When he recruited for the army. They Said where were you born, he said “actually, in India”….oh which part…”all of me”

[@EmmaCohen91]

Here I am in August 2020. Still laughing hysterically. This world will never see the likes of Spike, Harry or Terry ever again and I am saddened to think about that. You don't need to be of a certain age to miss them either. I'm in my 20s and I still do.

[@tombombadil9123]

Spike Milligan the greatest gift from God to comedy

[@305Lfx]

2021 ... spike milligan is still a hero of mine. I have bipolar... I really appreciate his effort in taking the time to educate people on it.. he reminds me of my late dad... dad was spike to a T... just hilarious...no other words... I love you dad xxx I hope I've done your humour good service xxx

[@geoffpoole483]

Milligan, Sellers and Secombe were three very talented men. I think Milligan's wartime experiences contributed to his bipolar diagnosis.

[@305Lfx]

@@geoffpoole483 agreed sir

[@andyjay9346]

I grew up with the Goons on radio in the 50's, the famous Ying Tong Song, records in the 70's and the Goons specials. Loved the Milligan scripts. To me all British comedy stems from the Goons. Legendary.

[@wangdangdoodie]

Massive disservice to Will Hay.

[@bravo2966]

The Ying Tong Song was based on one of Spike's best mates, Harry Edgington, or Harry Edge-Ying-Tong, and there you have why it was the Ying Tong Song.

[@minicle426]

@@wangdangdoodie What about Stan Laurel?

[@oldfatbastad6053]

@@bravo2966 Harry Edgingtons recollection of the crabs outbreak in the crew of monkey 2 as told by spike is the fucking funniest thing i have ever read.

[@jeffstone2136]

Harry's laugh was pure joy.

[@garychallinor1411]

What,what,what?

[@synthonaplinth5980]

@@garychallinor1411 Please don't do that.....have a gorilla?

[@oldfatbastad6053]

@@synthonaplinth5980 Have one of my monkeys - they're milder. 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@macpdm]

“A man can’t have everything, where would he put it” 😂

[@TTraveller3]

The Goons changed the world. What an extraordinary group of talented comedians. How blessed we are to have had these wonderful people in our lives. RIP At Peace. Thanks for the memories and laughs.

[@Loreman72]

Could you come round? No, I'm conscious!! Nearly missed that one! 🤣😂

[@glassmanhere]

All have gone now but left us with such great memories that we can look back on a laugh.

[@mr-it4bb]

Pure genius and talent, not a swear word in sight, this generation of comedy/ comedians will never be equalled

[@oldfatbastad6053]

they invented the book of workarounds to get around the bbc censors.

[@michaeldeane9029]

I remember being in dad's car listening to the Goons and watching people in their cars also laughing obviously listening to the same program. I think they would have had a ball in today's mad world.

[@chefobrien6361]

Spike and Harry brilliant and Terry an absolute gent from Limerick of which he was always proud 😍

[@PossMcLeod]

I grew up listening to the Goons on Casette tape and record. So trippy seeing them on stage doing their thang lol. Looked like SOOOO much fun! And those scripts! OMGLEGEND!!

[@MrDaiseymay]

THEY WILL NEVER BE EQUALLED--LET ALONE BETTERED, FOR ORIGINALITY AND INVENTIVENESS. SADLY MISSED--ALL THREE OF THEM.

[@sarahbailey5336]

@MichaelKingsfordGray ha ha ha !

[@jrb1802uk]

Wasn't Michael Bentine a Goon also? Or did I imagine that??

[@porkiesb]

But they will be battered, in Bexhill On Sea! :D

[@arthurpewtey]

Can there ever have been funnier men than these? Just so natural and so easy..... wonderful.

[@terrygibbins25]

My Heroes, brilliant delivery and very funny....nuff said!

[@eddiebate3444]

I love it, grew up with it. The brilliance of this type of comedy cannot be replicated.

[@oldfatbastad6053]

spikes history of mental health problems is well known. when asked about it in an interview he said i have a certificate to prove im sane, have you? hahaha

[@dreadnaught90]

In tears from laughing so hard! Wonderful stuff.

[@Jubashakar]

These 3 are magical AND I STILL BELLY LAUGH 😂😂😂 2 THIS DAY 2019 😂😂😂.. NEVER BETTERED OR EQUILIED..

[@paulfanning7308]

Mark Maxwelloooo

[@Growler57]

Spike never be another like him

[@ElvarMasson]

...and Harry Secombe, by the looks of it

[@desperkins5721]

3 wonderful funny people gone,RIP

[@lindaandrews9245]

The old comedians were so funny without all the cussing those of today use. Watching their old clips everyone seems to laugh regardless of their age.

[@MrDaiseymay]

AND NOT FAKE RECORDED LAFTER LIKE TODAY

[@ewetoo]

They didn't cuss because they just told the pay-offs to the dirty jokes.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Oh, the Goons were (in)famous for getting crap past the BBC censors. Bloodnok was basically one continuous fart gag, after all.

[@DennisBloodnokPhotographyVideo]

@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 - Not to mention Hugh Jempton !!

[@minicle426]

@@DennisBloodnokPhotographyVideo The good ship Venus.

[@sgtmajvimy]

Harry had such a lovely generous laugh 🧐🥃

[@silasfatchett7380]

At Army Cadet camp, you would be woken up in the middle of the night by, "Psst! Do you want to buy a battleship?", to which the only acceptable response was, "What colour is it?"

[@edwardcarberry1095]

Ohhhhh no, another APC. hhheeeeee

[@richardcochrane1966]

"Is it a Russian submarine?" "I don't know...I've never heard it speak!"

[@oldfatbastad6053]

Officer - Milligan, how does Highland Laddie go? Milligan - He goes by bus sir.

[@musicman920]

I was lucky enough to work for the publisher of two volumes of The Goon Show Scripts, and was even luckier and went to the book launch of the second volume, what a night, held at The Eccentric Club in London( had to be did'nt it lol)...Prince Charles who wrote the forward was there...I met both Harry and Spike, Peter was in America filming I think....I still have the photographs taken on the night,and their autographs....A very special night I will NEVER forget........Because Prince Charles was there photos appeared in every newspaper the next day..the book of course became a best seller.....

[@davidrobinson8224]

Yes, all gone now BUT never to be forgotten. I often run tapes of the goons just as a bit of light relief and still laugh at the gags like, 'I was lead across a floor so cunningly laid that no mater where you stood it was always under your feet' - China Story

[@moviemad56]

Thanks for sharing this, Andrew - I'm a huge fan of the Goon Show. :)

[@grahamnewton1701]

Deborah, you are so right been laughing my head off for the last 10 mins, they are all true legends. G

[@Dowager666]

It’s just so sad to just see them on clips like this This is all we have left to remember them by now 🥺🥺🥺

[@deborahwatson5159]

Brilliant, Three True Icons, Spike, Harry & Terry, May You All Rest in Peace, Stay Safe Everyone, XXXX

[@deborahwatson5159]

@James Hama not 3 bad thanks and Keep Safe 😠😨☺😊

[@simonl1785]

Utterly brilliant stuff I got most of the GOONS on cassette for Sunday mornings listening

[@perrin6]

the timing of that splash sound effect after the scream, was perfect. What consummate professionals.

[@synthonaplinth5980]

Harry's laugh was hilarious.

[@bearheart2009]

Harry Secombe has one of the best laughs ever =)

[@amfwelsh]

Superb clip. Very much missed

[@sgtmajvimy]

love Harry's laugh :)

[@cyrilpeter1958]

I Would watch either of them all day, Really funny men.

[@cecilkettlye8290]

9

[@jeanmyers1787]

Absolutely so in front of their time. Comedy hero’s

[@vjab1108]

TV will never be Better than this.

[@stevetheduck1425]

You're seeing the result of several years fighting in WWII and yet surviving, possibly by recognising insanity wherever they encountered it.

[@tonybuk70]

"he's no longer with us, in fact he's no longer with anybody".. spike was wired differently to us mortals

[@andypandywalters]

All sadly missed. RIP gentlemen.

[@plumduff3303]

Horrible hairy hands is how spike described my grandmother in Rye...still makes me laugh

[@stevetheduck1425]

The bit about the Policeman saying 'oh... it's you.' is not only true, but, as Spike correctly points out; 'You can't make this stuff up, it HAS to HAPPEN'. Just for that joke and response, he should be celebrated forever.

[@gtrman9706]

Wonderful comedy.

[@stephendrabble912]

This is COMEDY off the wall.

[@oldfatbastad6053]

well put it back then

[@irvingbush]

Pure genius!

[@lindawhitburn7091]

Aching with laughter 🤪👌👍😂

[@stephenrice4554]

I honestly and genuinely miss these people

[@stephenrice4554]

@James Hama very well , the sun is shining and the goon show is playing on the stereo . You're well yourself ?

[@stephenrice4554]

@James Hama I'm living in the east Midlands of England , Lincolnshire in the town of Boston . The weather is warm and damp , not bad for early autumn .

[@stephenrice4554]

@James Hama good morning , sadly I don't have much time to chat , I work from 5 in the morning so I'm up at 3.30 , therefore I'm in the pit by 8.30 in the evening . I tend to my own company , I left home and school at 15 and lived in caravans and tents until I was in my early 30s , working around the country landscaping and gardening . Then there was a political shift that opened the gates to all manner of cowboys who thought they knew what they were doing . So I changed tack and worked on the railway for a fair while . Now through a multitude of twists and turns I'm driving a sweeper in Lincolnshire . You just never know .

[@stephenrice4554]

@James Hama I'm afraid I'm happy with solitude , I'm happy to chat but I find that too much contact makes me retire from groups etc . I'm happy to chat and I would value it but I don't want to upset or discombobulate you as you are on your own .

[@MrDavey2010]

Secombe and Milligan are so unselfconscious and they give themselves permission to be funny. That’s the trick! Brilliant!

[@johngadsby6599]

Magic have reel to reel tapes on my Revox for the Goon and also Round the Horn !!! Still reduce me to hysterics!!!!

[@VoiceofReason134]

I love and miss these men, watching to be cheered up by the best Jesters....

[@andypandywalters]

.......what colour is it.....! Absolute genius.

[@johngadsby1526]

Adore both all 3 even the 4!!! Got reel to reel 1950'60 tapes

[@petermorningsnow]

Great story of Peter Sellers. Perhaps he made it up. But if he didn't, what wonderful years they must have had long ago, when friendship entailed climbing into the trunk of an unarguably drunk friend's car, and letting him drive around, while you draw Xes in chalk on the interior of the trunk. There must have been a certain trust in that, or at the very least a reverence.

[@synthonaplinth5980]

The best part of that story was the constable opening the boot and saying 'Oh, it's you.'

[@spudgunn8695]

Or they were both pissed up!

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Sellers was described by many people who knew him as crazy. But yes, the three were great friends regardless.

[@emikiwi]

Haha I'd say it's not a given at all they were pissed - from what I know sounds like fairly standard behaviour for those two in their younger days! 😂

[@dizzyology7514]

@@emikiwi I was going to make the same point. On the basis of their behavior, it wasn't easy to determine whether Sellers and/or Milligan were drunk or sober.

[@paulgradley7183]

Good humour never dies

[@spinaway]

Naturally funny unlike the rubbish that performs today.

[@davidlarkey690]

Timeless. Absolutely timeless.

[@seamusolunacy]

found this. brilliant. .

[@Wahey]

It's impossible not to find Spike Milligan funny. It's a well known fact.

[@edwinkirkland8856]

As a veteran..82ND airborne division veteran/1976/79)i understand what mr milligan and secombe 😢rip were taking about.."what color 😂😂😂rip gentlemen

[@nigelinnes5540]

There will never be another. Sadly

[@mikewilliams258]

Spike calling Peter Sellers "a strange man". :)

[@robertbridger111]

Mike Williams yer that cracked me up too .

[@oldfatbastad6053]

pot kettle black hahaha

[@davidroman1342]

Brilliant absolutely genius

[@JohnPanto]

Great men in their one right. We owe that generation an immense debt

[@edwinkirkland8856]

I am a veteran. For r two men who were in the same batterey ESPECIALLY THE ARTILLERY ESPECIALLY IN WW2 AND LIVING TO SO A BL2RADIDO SHOW FOR THE BBC GODS WORK AMEN 😢😢😢

[@edwinkirkland8856]

😂😂😂😂what color??BRILLIANT

[@beagle7622]

Made me laugh so hard . These 3 were just unique. My Parents saw Seacombe around this time & he could all the characters himself .The story of Milligan’s of Sellers turning up at his house naked just cracked me up.As a very young kid I loved Eccles doesn’t matter what he said I laughed my head off.

[@georgebuller1914]

7-56: Back in the 1970's, this is really how we did it! :-)

[@BritishComedyUK69]

lol awesome

[@CH-pt8fz]

Oh, it's you! chuckle chuckle.

[@chrisevans5259]

You realize how poor comedy is today by comparison to these loony comedy geniuses,...the goon show had more humour, more imagination and creativity than a year of all the so called rubbish dished out on telly today....miss those great times

[@bettybolton3948]

Manic magic 😊

[@jazminebellx11]

"Oh it's you"

[@tonyburgin2946]

Ha ha,,that is when you know your a complete one off original legend ,,,milligram and sellers,,genius

[@edwinkirkland8856]

Brilliant 😂

[@edwinkirkland8856]

These new generation will never get it

[@edwinkirkland8856]

😢😢😢😢😢😢never again rip

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Aahhh... Wogan's Wig is the best comedy.

[@richardoakley8800]

They don't make em like that anymore...

[@odettewiddicombe6673]

There's three are together now rip

[@keepingitrealandtruthful.5081]

I thought spike was going to be lifted with the blind. 😂

[@edwinkirkland8856]

Rip to the goons😢

[@kevken3293]

real funny people.

[@parksyist]

I love Peter sellers died way too soon,

[@robsimons1609]

i once saw harry secombe when i was on a school visit to a zoo and i was about 10 years old.i went up to him and asked him for his autograph and he told me to piss off......not the man he portrayed himself to be...totally the opposite in my eyes.

[@robertstrugnell7842]

you should try to understand great people ..whether comedians or politicians or singers..perform for vast crowds of people..their mind is geared to entertain the majority...they dont relate to people one on one..because thats not their job or destiny to do so..

[@Blyskawica1]

100 x love

[@michaelsalisbury1960]

michael bentine the forgotten goon

[@sefton999]

I wonder if they found the squeak in the boot ;)

[@Bondek1996]

All gone. Never the like again

[@liten48]

saw harry couple times out walking around frensham pound

[@oldfatbastad6053]

did he pick it up?

[@enjolras76]

Genius. Vale Peter S.

[@Thursdaym2]

I was old before the Goons. Sad really.

[@WilliamGullis]

Oh it’s you...

[@JJONNYREPP]

Wogan's Radio Fun 10 - Spike Milligan & Harry Secombe Interview 1987 0917am 23.9.24 is it funny? dunno...if yer stoned and sit and listen to it unannoyed i think it might induce weird bouts of paranoia....

[@Jeffybonbon]

British army humour have you seen my gun ????

[@synthonaplinth5980]

What colour is it?

[@oldfatbastad6053]

@@synthonaplinth5980 ahahahahaha

[@edwinkirkland8856]

The goons, nuff said