View source for The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)

{{italictitle}}
{{Infobox Goon Show episode
| series         = [[The Goon Show]]
| image          = Head-Shaver-RT.jpg
| image_size     = 175px
| image_alt      = 
| caption        = 
| series_no      = 5
| episode        = 4
| writer         = [[Spike Milligan]]
| presenter      = [[Wallace Greenslade]]
| producer       = [[Peter Eton]]
| music          = *Geldray: ''[[I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me]]''
*Ellington: ''[[Skokiaan]]''
| production     = [[The Goon Show recording numbers#TLO|TLO]] 64443
| recording_date = {{Start date|1954|10|17|df=y}}
| airdate        = {{Start date|1954|10|19|df=y}}
| length         = {{Duration|m=31|s=1}}
| guests         = 
| prev           = [[The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea)]]
| next           = [[The Affair of the Lone Banana]]
| season_article = [[The Goon Show series 5]]
| CD_volume      = [[The Goon Show CDs#Vol12|12]]
| Compendium     = [[The Goon Show Compendiums#Vol1|1]]
}}

'''''The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)''''' is an episode of [[The Goon Show]]. It is the fourth episode of the fifth series. It was aired for the first time on the [[BBC Home Service|BBC Home Service]] on Tuesday {{Date|1954-10-19}} at 8.30pm to a peak listenership of 2.3m radio listeners. It was recorded the previous Sunday, {{Date|1954-10-17}} at [[Paris Theatre|The Paris Cinema]], 12 Lower Regent Street in central London.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Repeats
|-
! Day !! Date !! Time !! Ratings !! Station !! Show
|-
| Friday 
|style=text-align:center;| {{date|1954-10-22}} 
|style=text-align:center;| 12.25pm / 12.30pm
|style=text-align:center;| 1.5m 
|| [[BBC Home Service|Home Service]] 
||
|-
| Friday 
|style=text-align:center;| {{Date|1955-05-13}}
|style=text-align:center;| 7.30pm
|style=text-align:center;| 4.1m
|| [[BBC Light Programme|Light Programme]]
|| 
|-
| Friday
|style=text-align:center;| {{Date|1975-03-14}} 
|style=text-align:center;| 10.30pm 
|style=text-align:center;| 0.9m 
|| [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] 
||in ''Encore the Goons''
|-
|}

==Story==
During the hot summer of 1898 Mr and Mrs Nugent Dirt were just one of many honeymooning couples enjoying the bracing air of [[Brighton]]. The, one torrid night, like a bolt from the blue the Phantom Head Shaver struck and Mr Dirt woke up — bald! Prunella, his wife, summoned him for concealing his baldness from her during their courtship and the great [[Queen's Counsel|QC]] Hairy Seagoon was briefed for the defence. But no sooner had he arrived on the scene than the Phantom struck again! This time the victim was Mr Seagoon. As the court case dragged on the Phantom struck again and again — 50 times — until Brighton became a city of terror. The military flund a cordon around the district leaving only one exit at [[Haywards Heath]] and it was there, in a lonely railwayman's hut, that Hairy Seagoon finally comes to grips with the dreaded 'Shaver'.

==Music==
*The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by [[Wally Stott]]
*[[Max Geldray]] plays ''[[I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me]]'' {{small|([[Clarence Gaskill]] / [[Jimmy McHugh]])}}
*[[Ray Ellington|The Ray Ellington Quartet]] plays ''[[Skokiaan]]'' {{small|([[August Msarurgwa]])}}

==Technical==
Originally recorded on [[The Goon Show recording numbers#TLO|TLO 64443]] (tape at 15 ips ¼" tape recorded at [[Broadcasting House]]).<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=[[The Goon Show Compendiums#Vol1|The Goon Show Compendium Vol 1]] |first=Ted |last=Kendall | author-link=Ted Kendall |date=2007 |page=15|type=Booklet 2 |publisher=BBC Worldwide|ISBN=978-1-4056-7800-1}}</ref>

==Ted Kendall's Restoration==
The tape survived in [[BBC Transcription Services|TS]] and was used as the source of the POTG (Pick of the Goons TS re-issue). The cuts were, for the most part, preserved and restored in 1986. The remaining cuts and extra material came from a 7½ ips dub of the TLO (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House) made before editing. This tape demonstrates, contrary to popular belief, at this stage at least, that the Goons were a very disciplined set of performers. There were only 3 cuts in the whole half-hour performance.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=[[The Goon Show Compendiums#Vol1|The Goon Show Compendium Vol 1]] |first=Ted |last=Kendall | author-link=Ted Kendall |date=2007 |page=15|type=Booklet 2 |publisher=BBC Worldwide|ISBN=978-1-4056-7800-1}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{goons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton), The}}
[[Category:The Goon Show episodes]]
[[Category:Ted Kendall restored Goon Show episodes]]
[[Category:Goon Shows produced by Peter Eton]]