Idiot Weekly, Price 2d, The

1 9 5 6 (UK)
5 x 30 minute episodes

In 1956, Associated-Rediffusion tried to cash in on the popularity of The Goon Show by recreating the lunacy of radio comedy’s finest half-hour.

The Idiot Weekly (price 2d) was a tatty Victorian tabloid run by Peter Sellers, and each week its headlines served as a convenient link to a number of off-the-wall sketches featuring Sellers and Spike Milligan (who also wrote most of the scripts).

Other performers on the show were Eric Sykes, Valentine Dyall (radio’s infamous ‘Man in Black’), Kenneth Connor, Graham Stark, June Whitfield, Patti Lewis and Max Geldray.

The series ran for five episodes, ending in April 1956. It was only aired in the London area.

By May, Milligan and Sellers were back with A Show Called Fred, which also ran for five episodes before re-emerging in September as Son of Fred.

NB: Spike Milligan reused the title The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d for an Australian radio show that ran for three series between June 1958 and November 1962. It was never broadcast in Britain.

Peter Sellers
Valentine Dyall
Kenneth Connor
Graham Stark
Patti Lewis
Spike Milligan
Eric Sykes
June Whitfield
Max Geldray