The Fear of Wages

Last updated

"The Fear of Wages" is an episode of the British radio comedy The Goon Show , written by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens. [1] As the 25th episode of the sixth series, it was first broadcast on 6 March 1956 and was among the shows first repeated in the 1970s following the success of The Last Goon Show of All in 1972.

Contents

Appearing on a 50th anniversary program entitled 'Goons Night' on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on 29 May 2001, Milligan announced this as his favourite episode of The Goon Show.

Title

Like many of The Goon Show titles, it was a parody of a contemporary film, The Wages of Fear (1953). Wallace Greenslade initially announces that title as "Le Salaire de la peur, meaning The Wages of Fear, or in English...". Peter Sellers then announces, as Willium ("Mate"), "The Fear of Wages! Ohhh!".

Plot

The plot is loosely based on the plot of the film, The Wages of Fear ; transporting nitroglycerin by trucks.

Burma, 6 March 1956: Colonel Neddie Seagoon of the 4th Armoured Thunderboxes reads a telegram that Major Bloodnok failed to show him in 1945 because he thought it was a practical joke. The telegram states that World War II ended in August 1945, which comes as a shock because Seagoon and the others have been fighting the Imperial Japanese Army, now confined to a tree, for the last fourteen years.

Fortunately, however, General Yakamoto emerges from the tree with a white flag, wishing to borrow more ammunition to keep fighting. The British refuse and so the Japanese surrender, voluntarily giving up their supplies: one thousand cans of nitroglycerine and two thousand cans of sake. The ever-degenerate Bloodnok takes command of the sake, leaving Seagoon to telephone the War Office with news of the victory. Naturally, his first attempt is a "wrong number". After intoning a noble speech as he dials and listens to the phone ring, he hears the greeting (in the voice of Willium again), "Battersea Dogs Home, mate!".

Part two

The scene shifts to the Army Pay Corps, where Chief Cashier Hercules Grytpype-Thynne is blatantly stealing money from the army’s wages and hiding it in a variety of bizarre places, with the help of Moriarty. They receive a telephone call telling them of the miraculous return of the lost regiment. The two thieves are horrified as they have spent all the back pay due to the soldiers. While Moriarty panics and Grytpype ponders the situation, the show goes into its first musical interlude.

Back in Burma, Seagoon informs Bloodnok that Whitehall denies that the regiment's soldiers are alive. The only way to get their back pay is to take the Japanese army, in their tree, back to London. Seagoon announces that they should leave the nitroglycerine behind, but just then Grytpype telephones to say that they won't get paid unless all the supplies are accounted for. That means that someone must drive the truck full of nitroglycerin, which leads to a lengthy discussion. Seagoon refuses and Bloodnok has generously volunteered to drive the truck full of the sake, so Eccles (who appears off a record) is ordered to drive the truck, which quickly explodes. However, Eccles reveals he wasn't really driving the truck, and the unfortunate Bluebottle was asleep in the back.

After the second musical interlude, we discover that the truck convoy has been driving back to England for five weeks. Bloodnok has been continually drinking the sake all that time, which worries Seagoon as it means they won't get their back pay. In an aside to the audience, General Yakamoto reveals that he switched the sake with the nitroglycerin.

Meanwhile, Grytpype (aware that his plot to blow up Seagoon and the others has failed) has called a governmental meeting and informs the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the regiment's combined back pay amounts to millions of pounds, which will ruin the country's annual budget. The decision is made to stop the convoy by getting the Japanese to declare war again.

However, the Japanese run out of ammunition again and again are refused to be lent any by the British. However, when Bloodnok tries to cut the tree down, the Japanese reveal they have suddenly got more ammunition (presumably, as Bloodnok suggests, in a Red Cross package from home). Bloodnok and Seagoon jump into the bulletproof driving cab of the truck and continue driving back to England, fighting with the Japanese all the way.

At a British government Cabinet meeting, Grytpype finally concedes and admits that they will probably have to pay the regiment their owed wages. The truck pulls up outside and Seagoon and Bloodnok demand their back pay. In turn, Grytpype demands their supplies, willing to take the sake if not the nitroglycerin. Seagoon and the others tip Bloodnok upside down in an attempt to make him vomit up the sake, but as he really drank the nitroglycerin, he explodes.

The show ends with Bluebottle asking the announcer, Wallace Greenslade to inform the audience that he was not killed in this episode.

Characters (in order of appearance)

While Seagoon begins the story as Bloodnok's commanding officer, in Part 2 he acts as Bloodnok's subordinate, being addressed as "Seagoon" and addressing Bloodnok as "Sir". This is noticeable when the Japanese commander runs out of ammunition for the second time and asks how much he owes the British, at which point Bloodnok tells Seagoon to "play back their account", which turns out to be a gramophone record.

Musical interludes

References, notes

  1. The Fear of Wages; ISBN   0-563-53629-2; Track 11, 00:46.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Secombe</span> Welsh entertainer

Sir Harold Donald Secombe was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show (1951–1960), playing many characters, most notably Neddie Seagoon. An accomplished tenor, he also appeared in musicals and films – notably as Mr Bumble in Oliver! (1968) – and, in his later years, was a presenter of television shows incorporating hymns and other devotional songs.

<i>The Goon Show</i> BBC Radio show broadcast from 1951 to 1960

The Goon Show is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1951, was titled Crazy People; subsequent series had the title The Goon Show.

Eccles, also referred to as 'The Famous Eccles' or 'Mad Dan Eccles', is the name of a comedy character, created and performed by Spike Milligan, from the 1950s BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show. In the episode "The Macreekie Rising of '74", Peter Sellers had to fill in for the role in Milligan's absence. Very occasionally, he was referred to as 'Field Marshal' Eccles.

Bluebottle is a comedy character from The Goon Show, a 1950s British comedy radio show. The character was created and performed by Peter Sellers.

Neddie Seagoon was a character in the 1950s British radio comedy show The Goon Show. He was created and performed by Welsh comedian Harry Secombe. Seagoon was usually the central character of a Goon Show episode, with most plots involving or revolving around him.

Hercules Grytpype-Thynne was a character from the British 1950s comedy radio programme The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers. In the episode "Who Is Pink Oboe?", Valentine Dyall filled-in for the role in Sellers' absence.

Count Jim Moriarty is a character from the 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show. He was voiced by Spike Milligan. In the episode "The Macreekie Rising of '74", Harry Secombe filled-in for the role in Milligan's absence.

Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister are two characters from the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show. Crun and Min were performed by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan respectively.

Major Denis Bloodnok is a fictional character from the 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers.

This is a list of running jokes and catchphrases in the 1950s British radio programme The Goon Show.

<i>Down Among the Z Men</i> 1952 British film

Down Among the Z Men is a 1952 black-and-white British comedy film starring the Goons: Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine and Harry Secombe. The movie was filmed early in the Goons' career before many of the show's recurring characters were created, and the stars only play one character each: Eccles (Milligan), Colonel Bloodnok (Sellers), Osric Pureheart (Bentine) and Harry Jones (Secombe).

<i>The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn</i> 1956 British film

The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn is a 30-minute comedy film starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Dick Emery. The film was made in November 1955, and released in 1956.

"Six Charlies in Search of An Author" is an episode of the British radio comedy, The Goon Show. It was first broadcast on 26 December 1956.

The Goon Show Preservation Society is a non-profit organisation, formed to help preserve and research the history of the Goon Show. The society, founded in 1972, maintains an archive of Goon Show material, often used by professional researchers and media organisations, including the BBC. The society also owns the Neddie Seagoon puppet from The Telegoons.

The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea is an episode from series five of the 1950s BBC radio comedy, The Goon Show, first broadcast on 12 October 1954. It was written by Spike Milligan, who chose Bexhill-on-Sea as the location because he had been stationed there in World War II.

<i>The Last Goon Show of All</i>

The Last Goon Show of All is a special edition of the BBC Radio comedy programme The Goon Show commissioned as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the BBC. Simulcast on radio and television on 5 October 1972, the performance reunited Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe as well as other contributors to the programme's original run. It was later released as a long-playing record and on compact disc. The video recording of the television broadcast was also released on VHS and later on DVD, although with some omissions. In early October 2007, 35 years after the original broadcast, a full unedited version was broadcast on BBC 7, the digital radio channel dedicated to re-runs of classic shows.

The "Ying Tong Song" is a novelty song written by Spike Milligan and performed by the Goons, usually led by Harry Secombe. It is a nonsense song, consisting of small verses interspersed by a completely nonsensical chorus. The origin of the title is said to have come from Harry Secombe's mispronunciation of the name of Milligan's war-time friend and fellow jazz musician, Harry Edgington. When Secombe repeatedly called him "Edgerton", Milligan replied, "it's Edgington, Edgington" and emphasized the point by saying "Yington, Yington".

The Histories of Pliny the Elder is a parody of the occupation of Britain by the Romans, from series seven of the 1950s BBC radio comedy, The Goon Show, first broadcast on 28 March 1957.