Commissioner Dreyfus had for years wanted to see his infuriating underling Inspector Jacques Clouseau dead and buried and for a while, with the death of Peter Sellers in 1980, it seemed like the shambolic Sûreté shamus had indeed been laid to rest...

... Until somebody had the bright idea of filming two new movies back-to-back trading on the Clouseau character - after all, the Pink Panther film series had been a massively successful franchise, why spoil it all just because the main actor was dead?

First was Trail Of The Pink Panther which featured out-takes and deleted scenes from previous films, which was bad enough. Then Blake Edwards ran out of old footage so hit upon the idea of introducing a brand new character for the second feature, Curse Of The Pink Panther.

This bumbling new detective, Clifton Sleigh, would be tasked with finding the missing Inspector Clouseau, and in the course of which would be just as hapless and hilarious and hopefully be seen as the heir to Sellers. In fact, the idea was to make six more films with Sleigh! I know right?

It didn't quite work out. Jon Auty from Behind The Stunts joins Tyler to pick over the bones of this thoroughly-flogged dead horse and while acknowledging one or two genuine titters and some pretty impressive stunt work there's little else of any merit.

Ted Wass, as Sgt Clifton Sleigh, tries to make the most of what he's given to work with (including an inflatable woman) and there's some fun to be had spotting familiar faces including Michael Elphick, Bill Nighy and - appearing as Turk Thrust II - Roger Moore. But the fact remains that it's a lame film that should never have been made and really should have been the final nail in that particular coffin. Yet amazingly it wasn't! (That's a story for another time)

Jon talks about the various stunt coordinators involved with the film including Joe Dunne and Roy Alon and Behind The Stunts can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/behind-the-stunts/id1547078357

When Adam Faith and chums decide to make a fake Loch Ness monster they set off a chain of events too hilarious to describe.

With a script by Terry Nation, What A Whopper! is a serviceable British comedy film of the early sixties slightly let down by rather colourless leads but lending solid support are the likes of Sid James, Wilfred Bramble, Charles Hawtrey and - you guessed it - Spike Milligan, who plays a tramp fishing on the bank of the Serpentine.

Returning guests Tilt Araiza and Gary Rodger from The Sitcom Club mull over Scottish stereotypes, Terry Scott's potty mouth and rubber salmon. Also:

• Recasting Adam Faith as Harold Steptoe?
• Is Sid James the Paul Eddington of dirty old men?
• How does the film compare to Psycho?
• Is Terence Longdon a young Tommy Cockles?
• Who thought casting Freddie Frinton was a good idea?
• Is it a sort of sequel to What A Carve Up?
• And who brought along Eccles cakes?

Tune in to find out the answers to all this and more!

Issued on BBC LP in 1979, The Rent Collectors is still often overlooked which is a bit unfair. Although given of a slight plot - not unusual for a Goon Show! - it has some marvellous set pieces and gags and an interesting guest performer in the shape of actor Bernard Miles.

It also heralded the first official appearance of Little Jim whose catchphrase has delighted audiences ever since (it says here).

We talk about Miles' appearance (which was very much last-minute), Sellers' ATV Saturday night specials scripted by Eric Sykes in which he portrayed the likes of Bloodnok & Willium, and we touch on Aldous Huxley, Marilyn Monroe and General Gordon (what a party THAT was!)

This week's guest is performer and podcaster Ciarán Moffatt who posits that the episode is possibly two unfinished shows bolted together. Later the discussion turns to talk of inflatable dolls and manatees... something for everyone folks!

This week a slight departure as we go back forty years to the alternative comedy landscape of the 1980s and Tyler chats with Rowland Rivron, that difficult-to-define Swiss army knife of a man who has done a bit of pretty much everything: musician, comedian, actor, writer, voice-over artiste, panel game captain, television presenter, dancer and at least a dozen other things.

Rowland was partly responsible for one of the funniest hours of British television: The Comic Strip Presents Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, starring Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmondson. Tyler was keen to discuss this in particular with him in a conversation which also covered:

• Interviewing Spike Milligan
• Sharing a flat with Rik Mayall
• Raw Sex and The Idiot Bastard Band
• Money for old rope voiceover work
• Interviewing Tony Blackburn in the middle of the Thames
• The Groovy Fellers and Set of Six
• Working with French & Saunders
• Winning Let’s Dance For Sport Relief doing Weapon Of Choice
• Getting drunk with Kevin McNally
• Shooting Stars & Jack and Jeremy’s Real Lives
• Caravanning around Europe

… And a whole lot more!

This week Tyler talks to Robert Sellers, author of a new book detailing the entire history of the Pink Panther/Inspector Clouseau film series from Peter Sellers to Steve Martin.

There's loads of interesting stuff discussed - did you know:

• Peter Sellers was once upstaged by Richard Burton & Elisabeth Taylor at the premiere of Return Of The Pink Panther?
• The creator of Asterix tried to claim authorship of the plot of The Pink Panther Strikes Again?
• Blake Edwards broke his neck diving into a swimming pool?
• Carole Cleveland was almost totally cut out of a Panther film?
• Dudley Moore was supposed to play 'The Ferret'?

Robert is also the author of many other books on comedy and popular culture and they also talk sitcoms, Oliver Reed and why 1971 was the greatest year in film.

This week we fire up a Wurlitzer and crack open an oyster as we celebrate one of the aspects of the Goon Show that made it so unique: the sound effects.

Joining Tyler to talk about some of our favourites are Chris Smith and Graeme Lindsay-Foot and the idea for the show first occurred to Chris when he heard a news item on the radio several years ago. According to Chris:

"They covered the recent creation of a "sounds archive", dedicated to preserving sounds previously very familiar butwhich are fast fading in popular memory, such as a steam train or bakelite telephone dialling tone (or its ring for that matter), or cine camera or film projector. The point being that the "lifespan" of familiar sounds is becoming shorter as technology and equipment changes - leading tothose sounds literally fading away from popular memory."

Taking this as a starting point, they consider what effects in the Goon Show would totally baffle younger listeners today, before running through some of the greatest (and some fairly obscure) FX and GRAMS inclusions throughout the show's run, including many listeners' favourites such as Tom the piano-playing penguin, someone knocking on the door with a duck and the otherworldly Radiophonic Workshop effects used in 'The Scarlet Capsule'. There's also a salute to those unsung lads who made the magic happen!

We revisit some beloved children's television series from the seventies and eighties this week as Chris Diamond returns to talk about those occasions when Spike Milligan would pop up as a special guest in shows such as Super Gran, The Sooty Show, Pob's Programme, Jackanory, The Muppet Show, Number 73, Tiswas and The Ratties (which Spike narrated).

Wiping a nostalgia-fuelled tear from his eye, Chris regrets the lack of original children's programming which has cut-through these days and warmly reminisces about other shows from the period such as The Wombles, The Smurfs and The Trap Door (with Willie Rushton).

There's also time for a game of 'Which Major Celebrity Of The Eighties Didn't Guest Star In Super Gran?' and an attempt by Chris to remember the lyrics to that show's infectiously catchy theme tune.

With huge thanks to the exceptional Roger Langridge for this episode's artwork!

"Ah, here is is Christmas Eve and still no offers of pantomime!"

One of the best-known Goon Shows ever, Dishonoured - Again went out in January 1959 and before the year was at an end was commercially released (with Tales Of Old Dartmoor) on the LP The Best Of The Goon Shows. It was subsequently repeated more frequently than most Goon Shows and its script was published in a Roger Wilmut book.

A remake (superior in every respect) of a Series 5 episode, due to Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens both being unwell and unable to produce an original script, it positively pops and the cast are clearly having a ball.

Steve Hatcher joins us this week to talk about this very fine episode which somewhat gives the lie to the lazy belief that by this late point in the show's run the team were coasting and looking to their own individual careers and future success.

As well as the episode itself they discuss Harry on stage in Large As Life, Sellers' major film commitments and Spike's rather muddled version of some tragic events.