The Great Ink Drought of 1902

From The Goon Show Depository

"The Great Ink Drought of 1902"
The Goon Show episode
Episode: no.Series: 4
Episode: 22
Written bySpike Milligan
AnnouncerWallace Greenslade
Produced byPeter Eton
Music
Recording
Number
TLO 49628
First broadcast22 February 1954 (1954-02-22)
Episode Order
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"The Case of the Vanishing Room"
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"The Greatest Mountain in the World"
The Goon Show series 4
List of episodes

The Great Ink Drought of 1902 is an episode from The Goon Show although the show is announced as Hansard Unexpurgated. It is the twenty-second show in the fourth series. The show was recorded at 9pm on Sunday 21 February 1954 The recording took place at Aeolian I, 135–137 New Bond Street, London.

The first British public broadcast was on the Home Service on Monday 22 February 1954 at 8.30pm. It reached a peak listenership of 3.0m.

The show's first repeat was the following Saturday at 8.45am, Saturday 27 February 1954, on the Home Service. It was listened to by 0.8 million.

No known, publically available recording is known to exist as of 18 November 2024.

Transcription Service Remake Synopsis

A starving fountain pen is distraught, hungry and running on empty.

Pen manufacturers across the land are panicking for it is 1902, and the Great Ink Drought has hit. The public are requested to keep calm, and not fill their fountain pens unless absolutely necessary. To find a new source of ink, blotting paper manufacturer Henry Crun sends an expedition to drill the inkwells in China. But financial lizard Sir Bernard Seagoon has bought shares in ink, and has disguised himself as John Chinaman in order to thwart the expedition. He, Grytpype-Thynne and Moriarty plan to blow up the whole drilling area, with the help of Bluebottle… will they succeed?

Music

Technical

Originally recorded on TLO 49628 (Agfa FR tape stock at 15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).[1]

References

  1. ^ Kendall, Ted (2018). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 14 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-7875-3266-3.