1985

It’s good to be alive in 1985! Joining Tyler this week - after finishing his shift operating the pornograph machine in the Forbidden Records Dept – is Sean Gaffney, who was keen to talk about the Goons’ celebrated take on Orwell’s 1984 which had been dramatized for BBC Television merely weeks earlier. 1985 was received so warmly by listeners that it was swiftly followed by a restaged episode but the show we will be focusing on is the first (and best) version. We talk about how closely it follows the narrative of the source material, how its overwhelming topicality did not hinder the laughs and speculate as to the reasons for some script and performance decisions – what happened to the Ben Lyon gag? Was the old antique shop owner meant to be Crun or not? Plus we find out about Ronnie Waldman, Maurice Winnick, Len Hutton and Issy Bonn. Available in the usual places – please rate & review on iTunes! Sean is on Twitter @Toukochan GoonPod: @goonshowpod