About Me
ABOUT SPIKE MILLIGAN:
I consider Spine Millington, sorry, Spike Milligan
to be a comic genius. His best work is unrivalled in the field of modern comedy. Just look at his 1956 tv series with Peter Sellers 'A Show Called Fred'. There are aspects of this show that have been copied wholesale by other 'surreal' comedians (no names, nudge nudge, wink wink!).
He first became a star in the early 1950's as a writer and performer in the legendary radio show 'The Goons', a show mostly written by Spike that also made stars of Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine. It was the most surreal, inventive and exciting show of that time, perhaps the most listened to radio comedy of that decade, and they also released comedy records which were big hits. In 1960 The Goons came to an end. Spike continued to be a familiar presence on tv, film and radio. Spike's career as a comic writer continued with his books of comic verse for children and his original comic novels such as 'Puckoon'. His tv career went from strength to strength throughout the 1960's culminating in the very influential and groundbreaking 'Q5' in early 1969.
'Q5' was a huge influence on a new generation of comedy fans and also the fledgling Monty Python team, who admit that they took a great deal from Spike, but in the
following years most of the series was wiped by
the BBC. That still astounds me and many other fans.
The clips of Q5 that do exist are wonderful and totally
original. The series had been broadcast in colour but sadly the few clips that survived being wiped are mostly in black and white! In 1971 Spike published the first of his (very offbeat) war memoirs, a series of six books beginning with 'Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall'. The first book was made into a film, with Carry On star Jim Dale playing the younger Spike and the real Spike playing his own father! He returned to the 'Q' series, after a break of 6 years, in late 1975 beginning with 'Q6' and finishing in 1982 with 'There's A Lot Of It About'(or 'Q10' as it should have been called - the BBC never liked the name 'Q' and asked that it be changed!). Spike was an electric performer, sometimes reminiscent of Robin Williams (who is a fan). I think his work stays in the mind because he had such an irreverent approach to comedy. He had great comic ideas and didn't care for established ways of realising them. He seemed to want
to create a new kind of comedy - as fellow founding member
of The Goons Michael Bentine noted, "he had this tremendous driving ambition".
Spike is rarely shown on tv since his death in 2002 because he didn't care for boundaries and frequently crossed them, causing offence to some. Programme planners are too scared to take that risk again so Spike's legacy has suffered. I love him because he operated in a field of one - nobody was doing anything like his stuff, nobody had the guts to
try basically.
He cheered me as a kid and the day he died was
a very sad one indeed. This page is a drop in the ocean but it's my way of saying thanks - from
a fellow idiot! - Sam.
'A Show Called Fred' (1956) part 1 'A Show Called Fred' (1956) part 2 'A Show Called Fred' (1956) part 3 The Goons on 'This Is Your Life' (1958) 'The Telegoons' - short clip (BBC 1963) Spike interview from 1965 The Goons - 'Tales of Men's Shirts' (ITV 1968) - Part 1 (out of 3) The Goons - 'Tales of Men's Shirts' (ITV 1968) - Part 2 (out of 3) The Goons - 'Tales of Men's Shirts' (ITV 1968) - Part 3 (out of 3) 'The Bed Sitting Room' (film 1969) 'Pim Pom Pom Pom Pom' - Q5 sketch (BBC 1969) Army Bomb Disposal sketch - 'The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine' (with Spike 1972) Undertakers sketch - 'The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine' (with Spike 1972) 'The Great McGonagall' (film 1974) 'Everything Is Fresh Today' song - Q7 (BBC 1977) 'Come In Chummy' - 'There's A Lot Of It About' sketch (BBC 1982) Spike talking about his war memoirs on 'The Book Show' (BBC2 1987)
