Ying Tong Iddle I Po Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dennis Price

The original Goons were Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Michael Bentine. Bentine left after the end of the second series. Dennis Price, amongst others, made the odd guest appearance.

Answer: Crazy People

When the first pilot was aired in February 1951 it was called 'Crazy People' as the BBC didn't like the title 'Goon Show'. Some BBC executives insisted on pronouncing it 'The Go On Show', they just didn't get it. It wasn't until the end of 1951 that the show got its enduring title.

Answer: Bluebottle

Bluebottle was a boy scout with a penchant for using weapons made of string and cardboard. He is usually found in the company of Eccles and tends to get blown up in every episode. Eccles was a total idiot who had no understanding of anything. One of his usual sayings was 'Shut up Eccles'.

Henry Crun was rather forgetful and often couldn't keep up with events. He was, however, devoted to Minnie Bannister. Only he knows why. Little Jim only ever had one line, (all together now) 'He's fallen in the water'.

Answer: Banana custard

In the episode 'The Lurgi Strikes Britain' Spike Milligan introduced the word lurgi into the English language. The word has survived to mean any unspecified illness. Rhubarb, rhubarb was used to simulate the background noise of a large crowd. When originally introduced in radio shows of the 1920s it was performed by a group of several people.

The Goons did the same thing with just three or four. Harry Secombe would, on occasions, throw in the odd 'custard'. Moriarty, when pronounced in a particular way (Mo-RYE-arty), was used by Peter Sellers to tell Spike Milligan he was hamming up his part too much.

Answer: False

It was actually Milligan and Secombe who met whilst serving in the army. Both were in the Royal Artillery, but in different units. One day, in Tunisia, Milligan's heavy artillery unit took over a position that had just been vacated by the cannon of Secombe's unit. Because the gun pits weren't big enough for the large howitzers, when Milligan's gun fired it's first round the recoil sent the gun backwards out of the pit and rolling down a cliff. Sat at the bottom of this cliff was Harry Secombe. When Milligan appeared he asked 'Anyone seen a gun?'. Secombe replied 'What Colour?'.

Answer: False

Although Charles was a long time fan of the Goons he wasn't at the theatre. He was away on duty with the Royal Navy. Broadcast on both radio and television it was the first time the Goons had performed together since a televised version of one of the original radio shows in 1968.

Answer: When I'm Calling Ewe

Not all the songs were performed on stage, though most were, at least, referred to. The classic 'I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas' was performed by Spike Milligan during episode 23 of series 6 called 'The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal' broadcast on February 21st 1956.

This was in response to a musicians strike at the time. The 'Ying Tong Song' didn't appear in any episode but was released as both a single (on the B side) and part of an album in 1955. It was re-released in 1973.

Answer: The Telegoons

'The Telegoons' was a string puppet show that was first aired in 1963. It used cut down scripts from the original radio series. In total there were 26 fifteen minute episodes spread across two series. They were not very popular with adults but did attract a large following amongst younger viewers. The final show was broadcast on August 1st 1964.

Answer: Shrek

During the film Shrek points to the sky and mentions the constellation of Bloodnok the Flatulent, a reference to the Peter Sellers character Major Dennis Bloodnok who was Neddy Seagoon's former commanding officer and who suffered from terrible wind.

Answer: Grafton's

'Grafton's' or 'The Grafton Arms' was run by Jimmy Grafton, himself a scriptwriter. It was he who was the main force behind getting the Goons on to BBC radio. He also acted as script editor during the early years.