{{Short description|British TV comedy series (1963–1964)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox television | image = The_Telegoons_(TV_series).jpg | caption = Opening title card | runtime = 15 minutes per episode | creator = Grosvenor Films | voices = Peter Sellers<br>Harry Secombe<br>Spike Milligan | music = Edward White | country = United Kingdom | network = BBC | first_aired = {{start date|1963|10|5|df=y}} | last_aired = {{end date|1964|8|1|df=y}} | 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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegoons |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=telegoons#top |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112081332/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=telegoons#top |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 January 2024 |access-date=12 January 2024 |website=BBC Programme Index}}</ref> and first shown during 1963 and 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://roxburgh.org/telegoons/goonography.htm|title=GOONOGRAPHY|website=roxburgh.org}}</ref> Two series of 13 episodes were made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epguides.com/Telegoons/|title=The Telegoons (a Titles & Air Dates Guide)|website=epguides.com}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://roxburgh.org/telegoons/photo_gallery.htm|title=Photo Gallery}}</ref> Among the puppeteers were Ann Field, John Dudley, and Violet Phelan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://roxburgh.org/telegoons/people.htm|title=People|website=roxburgh.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://annperrin.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/the-anniversary-of-the-first-showing-of-the-telegoons/|title=The anniversary of the first showing of 'The Telegoons'|date=6 October 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://store.earthstation1.com/the-telegoons-2-dual-layer-dvds-goon-show-puppet-tv-serie2.html|title=The Telegoons 4 Dual Layer DVDs Goon Show Puppet TV Series|website=store.earthstation1.com}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1109765/the-goon-show-compendium-volume-11-series-9-pt-2-series-10/|title=The Goon Show Compendium: Volume 11 (Series 9, Pt 2 & Series 10), Twenty episodes of the classic BBC radio comedy series by Spike Milligan|website=penguin.co.uk|date=19 November 2015 }}</ref>
==Comic book adaptation==
A ''Telegoons'' comic strip appeared in ''TV Comic'', drawn by Bill Titcombe and was published in 1963-1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/titcombe_bill.htm|title=Bill Titcombe|website=lambiek.net}}</ref>
==Episodes==
1st Series (1963):
1. ''The Ascent of Mount Everest'' - 5 October Based on part of ''The Goon Show'' series 3 episode 24
2. ''The Lost Colony'' - 12 October Based on ''The Sale of Manhattan'', series 6 episode 11
3. ''The Fear of Wages'' - 19 October Based on series 6 episode 25
4. ''Napoleon's Piano'' - 26 October Based on series 6 episode 4
5. ''The Last Tram'' - 2 November Based on series 5 episode 9
6. ''The China Story'' - 16 November Based on ''China Story'', series 5 episode 17
7. ''The Canal'' - 23 November Based 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 December Based on series 6 episode 22
9. ''The Hastings Flyer'' - 7 December Based 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 (''sic'') Celeste-Solved'' - 14 December Based on ''The Mystery of the Marie (''sic'') Celeste (Solved)'' series 5 episode 8
11. ''The International Christmas Pudding'' - 21 December Based on series 6 episode 9
2nd Series (1964):
12. ''Scradje'' - 28 March Based on series 6 episode 26
13. ''The Booted Gorilla'' - 4 April Based on series 5 episode 10
14. ''The Underwater Mountain'' - 11 April Based 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 April Based on series 5 episode 3
16. ''Tales of Old Dartmoor'' - 25 April Based on series 6 episode 21
17. ''Lurgi Strikes Britain'' - 2 May Based on series 5 episode 7
18. ''Captain Seagoon R.N.'' - 9 May Based on ''Personal Narrative'', series 7 episode 8
19. ''The First Albert Memorial to the Moon'' - 16 May Based on series 4 episode 7, remade as ''The Albert Memorial'', ''Vintage Goons'' episode 14
20. ''The Whistling Spy Enigma'' - 23 May Based on series 5 episode 1
21. ''Tales of Montmartre'' - 30 May Based on series 6 episode 21
22. ''The Africa Ship Canal'' - 6 June Based on series 7 episode 22
23. ''The Affair of the Lone Banana'' - 13 June Based 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 August Based on Series 6 episode 12
25. ''The Nadger Plague'' - 27 June Based on series 7 episode 3
26. ''The Siege of Fort Knight'', or, ''The Underwater Gas-Stove'' - 18 July Based on series 4 episode 30, remade as ''Vintage Goons'' episode 13
==Sources== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0056787|title=The Telegoons}} * [http://roxburgh.org/telegoons The Official G.S.P.S. Telegoons tribute site] * [https://raretv.blogspot.com/2006/03/telegoons-canal.html Rare British Television Reviews — The Telegoons]
{{Goons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telegoons}} Category:BBC television comedy Category:British television shows featuring puppetry Category:1963 British television series debuts Category:1964 British television series endings Category:The Goon Show Category:Television shows adapted into comics Category:1960s British comedy television series