Lost Goon Show sketch to be performed for first time in 70 years

BBC News

08-06-2025

A lost Goon Show sketch written by revered comedy duo Ray Galton and Alan Simpson will be performed later for the first time in 70 years after being unearthed in a university archive.The skit was found among a trove of work by the pair, who created hit shows including Steptoe and Son and Hancock's Half Hour and are often credited with inventing the British sitcom.Running on the BBC from 1951 to 1960, the Goon Show featured Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.Richard Usher, chair of the Goon Show Preservation Society, said the discovery of the sketch - found amongst a portion of the Galton and Simpson collection owned by the University of York - was "insanely exciting".
Gary Brannan, keeper of archives and research collections at the University's Borthwick Institute for Archives, said: "Galton and Simpson invented modern British comedy as we know it, with their wit and humour leaving a profound and lasting imprint on the shows we watch today."Real-world or situation comedy simply didn't exist before them."He described The Case of the Missing Two Fingers sketch, which will be performed later at the York Festival of Ideas, as a Shakespearean parody, believed to have been first written by Galton and Simpson just before Hancock's Half Hour started and the pair became household names."They're just on the edge of their big career moment when here they are writing these Goon Shows, which to me I think are brilliant and are really very funny," Mr Brannan said.
Milligan collaborated with other writers during the Goon Show's lifespan, but it was previously unknown that Galton and Simpson had written for the programme."It did feel exciting. [As an archivist] I often find it can be a life of disappointment," Mr Brannan said."I have a record of getting excited and then someone going 'no, we know all about this'."There was a knowledge that Peter [Sellers] had performed these sketches, but no-one knew who had written them and the assumption was naturally that they were Spike Milligan's."Mr Usher, from the Goon Show Preservation Society, will be performing the sketch after a talk by Mr Brannan."I was insanely excited by the idea that these hadn't been seen or performed since 1954," he said."On lots of levels it's ticking lots of boxes for me as a Goon fan, a Peter Sellers fan and somebody who just loves British comedy."
In the spirit of the original programme, Mr Usher has created his own sound effects, and will be utilising his impression skills to bring the sketch to life."It features a good spread of Goon Show characters - I'm really looking forward to seeing how it visually translates to an audience, because that's going to be a nice challenge to get my teeth into," he added.The University of York currently owns part of the full collection of Galton and Simpson's life's work, which includes rare early drafts, unseen scripts and memorabilia.The institution is now looking to raise £30,000 to buy the rest of the loaned items, to avoid it being split up and sold on.Mr Brannan's talk 'Innit Marvellous? The world of Hancock and Steptoe' will take place at the Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, University of York, from 16:00 BST.
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.