Tyler welcomes comedy writer David Quantick to celebrate the 1965 film One Way Pendulum starring Goon Show alumnus Eric Sykes.

Adapted by NF Simpson from his own 1959 Royal Court play and directed by Peter Yates (fresh off Summer Holiday, soon to make Bullitt), Eric plays suburban dad Arthur Groomkirby, who is quietly building a full-scale Old Bailey in his living room while his son Kirby (Jonathan Miller) teaches speak-your-weight machines to sing the Hallelujah Chorus in the attic. Meanwhile, daughter Sylvia (Julia Foster) obsesses over her arms and Aunt Mildred (Mona Washbourne) witters endlessly about transport. Rounding out the madness are Peggy Mount as the food-dispatching charlady and George Cole, Graham Crowden & Douglas Wilmer in a superb hallucinatory courtroom sequence.

The comparisons to the Goon Show are obvious.

David – who met Simpson – explains how his very British absurdism (Lewis Carroll meets Kafka with actual laughs) cloaks the bizarre inside the banal which none of his characters question. The humour is in the mismatch between the bland domestic surroundings and the offbeat conversations therein.

"It's all in the mind."

How do you categorise Yellow Submarine? Animated psychedelic musical fantasy comedy?

That barely scratches the surface.

In this technicolour fantasia, the cartoon Beatles tackle the Blue Meanies, who’ve turned joyful Pepperland into a static, monochrome dystopia where music has been silenced. To restore harmony, John, Paul, George and Ringo - alongside Jeremy Hilary Boob PhD and the ever-anxious Old Fred - must travel from Liverpool to Pepperland in the titular underwater vessel, drifting through strange realms like the Sea of Science and the Foothills of the Headlands.

Packed with terrific songs (well, duh), a splendid voice cast (including the great Dick Emery), and a script sharpened - largely uncredited - by Roger McGough, Yellow Submarine may have begun as a contractual compromise but blossomed into something far better than most people expected. Even the real Beatles were impressed enough to pop up for a brief live-action cameo at the end, sealing the film with a smile and a song.

Joining Tyler to celebrate this singular sixties cinematic exclamation-mark is comedy writer and podcaster Joel Morris, bringing his trademark insight, deep pop-cultural savvy and boundless enthusiasm to the conversation.

As for why Goon Pod is covering this particular gem… well, all will be revealed in the episode!

Harry Secombe could have had reasonable grounds for claiming to be the hardest working man in showbusiness in January 1958: panto (Puss In Boots), TV (Sunday Night At The London Palladium), the Goons, a movie (Davy) and goodness knows what else.

Likewise, his colleague Peter Sellers was feeling the pressure of work and his doctor advised a rest on what would have been a scheduled Goon Show recording day. As a result – and much to the chagrin of Spike Milligan – on Sunday 19th January two Goon Shows were recorded, including the one we’re discussing this week, freeing up the following Sunday for Sellers to spend some time with his cameras.

The Curse of Frankenstein, as the title suggests, concerns a dying Laird intending to leave his entire fortune to the first Scotsman to play the bagpipes at the South Pole.

Joining Tyler this week is returning guest Chas Early and as well as breaking down the episode they chat Morecambe & Wise, Aussie politicians, a waxwork Welshman, the Quarrymen and Spike the balladeer!