Scripts for one of the most influential British comedy shows have been discovered in York.
The previously unknown material was created by legendary comedy writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
And some of the material made it into The Goon Show, the BBC’s iconic 1950s radio series. It’s the first tangible evidence suggesting Galton and Simpson may have directly contributed to Goon Show material, York researchers say.
Scripts were found in a folder marked ‘Peter Sellers Sketches’ in the Galton and Simpson archive. Part of that is held at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
The titles of the sketches included Sherlock Holmes, Cowboy Sketch and Caine Mutiny. They lasted no more than five minutes each and was clearly linked to Goon Show, “written for Sellers to perform at his vocal best,” archivists said.
The sketches aired as part of Midday Music Hall, a variety programme on the BBC Home Service in October 1954.
Sellers was billed as ‘resident top of the bill’ for three weeks.
Gary Brannan, keeper of archives at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York, told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: “What we found here is that actually Ray and Alan wrote Goon Show material, which nobody really knew about.
“And it was only by stumbling through and seeing the character names that I realised what we got.”
The material includes themes and voices typical of Sellers, including Goon Show favourite Major Bloodnok, and one joke even appears three years later in a Goon Show episode.
Galton and Simpson would go on to pioneer the British sitcom genre, with the classics Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour among their most well-known hits.
Gary will be giving an illustrated talk about the duo as part of the York Festival of Ideas tomorrow (Sunday, 8 June).
He will explore rare treasures, including original scripts, memorabilia and unseen gems from both Hancock and Steptoe.
You can book free tickets here.
The Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York has launched a fundraising campaign to secure the archive of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
The archive includes rare early drafts for some of the biggest moments in British comedy; unmade films for Tony Hancock; Harold Steptoe’s scarf from Steptoe and Son; and scripts for shows unseen for over 60 years.
Part of the collection has already been acquired by the university thanks to generous donations.
However, the university needs to raise a final £30,000 to ensure that some of the archive’s greatest gems, which are currently loaned to the university, aren’t split up and sold into private hands.
Treasures at risk include the script for ‘The Blood Donor’ an episode of Hancock first broadcast in 1961, which remains one of the best-known sitcom episodes ever broadcast in the UK.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.