Birmingham Comedy Festival is to celebrate the centenary of the birth of ‘forgotten’ Goon Show co-writer Larry Stephens with a brand new comedy staging at Symphony Hall on Sunday 8 October.

The Goon Show will feature rare performance of two scripts from the seminal radio series - neither of which has been aired in public since 1958. 

Born in West Bromwich and raised in Birmingham, Stephens was one of the leading British comedy writers of the 1950s, penning material for some of the biggest stars of the day (including Tony Hancock). Sadly, Stephens' career was cut short by his sudden death in 1959.

Bringing such characters as Bluebottle, Seagoon and Eccles to vivid life are talkSPORT, Planet Rock and BRMB broadcaster Ian Danter (as the Announcer), Richard Usher (as Peter Sellers), Mark Earby (as Spike Milligan) and Walsall actor Jimm Rennie (as Harry Secombe).

What's On recently caught up with Rennie to find out more about the show...

Can you tell us a bit about who you play and your approach?
The Goon Show, as we present it, is almost a play within a play. Richard, Mark and I play all the roles attributed to each of the original cast, so I play Harry Secombe, and through that role I play his main character of Neddie Seagoon, as well as a couple of minor parts such as a retired Field Marshall collecting his pension.

Neddie is usually the protagonist of the story, whether as an investigator, a son returning home, an explorer, a removals man, or a former soldier convinced to write his memoirs. Although his job changes between episodes, the character remains his affable self and helps guide the audience through the action alongside the announcer.

The key part for me is understanding that I am playing Harry, playing Neddie; I’m not playing Neddie directly. This means that some of Harry’s idiosyncrasies need to come through as well, such as his laughter. Harry can be heard in the original broadcasts giggling at the antics of Peter and Spike, so I need to react in a similar way as the audience expect.

Has it been difficult to bring a radio show into a live environment?
There are certain things that need to be adapted, which our Director/Producer Dave is good at teasing out of us. We’re not reading the script of a radio show, we are putting on a theatrical performance of the recording sessions.

This is made easier by the fact that The Goon Show was originally recorded in front of an audience, so from the broadcast recordings, as well as from video of some of the reunion shows the cast made, you can gauge how to react when the audience laugh - or when one of your cast mates starts giggling!

Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan continue to get a lot of acclaim - with various TV documentaries etc. Do you think Harry's role (and comic timing) are often overlooked?
I think Harry’s contribution was not so much overlooked, as overshadowed by his own passion for singing. Harry forged a career in Musical Theatre, with many of his roles requiring his comedic skills honed in The Goon Show to bring the best to his performances. For example, the timing of his reaction in the film version of Oliver! when Mr Bumble is asked by the leading boy for more gruel. As Harry’s career progressed I think it became clear that, although a brilliant comedian, his heart lay in music, and especially where his singing could be an expression of his faith through presenting Songs of Praise, Highway, and similar programmes.

The Goon Show is still being broadcast today (on BBC Radio 4 Extra). Why do you think it has continued to be so popular 70 years on?
I think the continued popularity is down to the appeal across generations. Children hearing it enjoy the silly voices and sound effects, adults enjoy the satirical themes and innuendo (and the silly voices and sound effects). The people who heard it when first broadcast recognised the ground-breaking shift in comedic style that it presented, and the relatively easy to impersonate characters allowed for repetition at home, school, or work. As the children who listened first time round grew up they introduced the programme to the next generation, and so on. Similar then happened with the comedians influenced by The Goon Show, such as The Goodies, Monty Python, etc.

As subsequent generations are introduced to Python, etc, or look into the influences on comedy programmes like The Fast Show, The League of Gentlemen, there is a thread that leads back to The Goon Show. And having a large collection of the broadcasts available through the BBC Sounds app means that in an era of podcast listening it is easy for people to engage with the show while on the go - whereas when I was a child it would have been tough to get me to listen to a radio show when the TV was right next to the stereo system.

What's your connection to the show?
I am one of the children of a Goon Show fan. Growing up my Dad would often do silly voices or say funny phrases that would entertain my brothers and I. Later in my childhood I found my Dad’s copy of (the book) More Goon Show Scripts, and was introduced to the idea that my Dad had shamelessly plagiarised Spike, Peter, and Harry. In truth he was offering a loving tribute to them, not plagiarising at all.

When I needed to look at a research topic for my degree - a bachelors in Drama and Performance from the University of Wolverhampton, a small group of friends and I chose to specialise in comedy. From this I looked into a couple of topics and focused on sketch comedy. I finally settled on researching the success and appeal of radio sketch comedy in a document that I think I titled Do you have to see the funny side?

Why do you think Larry Stephens has been forgotten when he played such a critical role in the development of The Goon Show and - arguably - British comedy?
The wonderful Julie Warren (author of It’s All In The Mind looking at the life and legacy of Larry Stephens) would be best placed to answer that I think. She will be interviewed at the start of our show on the 8th of October and so that’s when you can find out her research-based opinion. Personally I think it was the unfortunate timing of his death.

When Larry died The Goon Show had one year left to run before everyone went off and did new things. No doubt he is not the only writer from that period that has not necessarily been recognised as widely as they should, but he’s one of the most prolific to be overlooked in my opinion. Not only his work with The Goon Show - where following the end of the series it seems to have been regarded as written by Spike, overlooking the various other contributors throughout the years - but also his work with Tony Hancock. His contribution to The Tony Hancock Show, for example, is rarely mentioned.

I think if Larry had survived to see the repeat appeal of The Goon Show and Hancock’s shows in the 60’s (when my Dad was introduced to them properly), he could have raised his voice and made his credits stick out a bit more, as well as no doubt continuing to write for radio and TV. As it is, I think at that crucial time he didn’t have anyone fighting his corner and so was relegated to a footnote in comedy history.

Hopefully through Julie’s book, and highlighting some of his work, he will get the recognition he richly deserves. And who knows, maybe this will pave the way for others to have their work recognised a bit more too?

Birmingham Comedy Festival presents The Goon Show at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, on Sunday 8 October at 7pm