Discovery in legendary writers' archives

Previously unknown material that legendary comedy writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson created for The Goon Show has been unearthed in their archive.

The material - short, tightly written scripts probably no more than five minutes each -  was found in a folder marked ‘Peter Sellers Sketches’ in the collection at the University of York.

The scripts - which have  titles such as Sherlock Holmes, Cowboy Sketch, and Caine Mutiny – and using characters, such as Eccles, as usually voiced by Spike Milligan, and Sellers; alter-ego Major Bloodnok.

Archivists at the University of York, where the archives are kept, determined that the sketches aired as part of Midday Music Hall, a variety programme that aired on the BBC Home Service, in October 1954. 

Sellers was a guest on the show three times that month, but it’s not known who – if anyone – he performed with as no episodes of Midday Music Hall are known to have survived.

But one of the Galton and Simpson jokes appears three years later in a Goon Show episode.  

The discovery opens up new avenues of research on collaborative writing practices at Associated London Scripts the writers’ cooperative founded by Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, and Galton and Simpson, below. 

While it’s well known that ALS writers collaborated freely, this is the first tangible evidence suggesting Galton and Simpson may have directly contributed to Goon Show material, researchers say.

The University of York will restage one of the rediscovered sketches - The Case of the Missing Two Fingers, a Sherlock Holmes parody - at the York Festival of Ideas on Sunday, performed by actor Richard Usher:

The performance forms part of a wider campaign to secure the Galton and Simpson archive for the future, with  a crowdfunder set up to help with the preservation.

Gary Brannan, keeper of archives and research collections at the University of York, said: ‘As a fan of both Galton and Simpson and the Goons, I can’t wait to share these unknown gems with the comedy community. Who knows what else we’ll find? 

‘That’s why it’s really important to make sure we save the archive for future fans to enjoy and to secure the legacy

of Ray and Alan.’

Published: 5 Jun 2025