Goon Again

For Jeff, Goon Again remains one of the happiest and most memorable nights of his career. Recorded at the Playhouse Theatre, London for radio and on CD for posterity, it brought together a cast many of whom were related to those in the original series. Broadcast on 29^th May 2001, the programme was heralded as a Goons 50^th Anniversary Night and ultimately went on to win The Spoken Word Award for Comedy/Humour 2002.

A major Goon and Peter Sellers fan, Jeff has been mimicking his idle for many years and it was with great pride that he assumed the mantle of the Seller’s characters for this programme. Joining Jeff in the cast was Andy Secombe who emulated his father Sir Harry, Christopher Timothy took on the role of the announcer as his father before him, Lance Ellington replaced his father Duke Ellington in the musical spots with Jon Glover taking on the characters of Spike Milligan, Lizzie Glassborow as the opera singer and Harry Pitch on harmonica.

London Calling

London Calling was a short comedy series written by Jimmy Perry originally with television in mind and ran for four episodes during September 1994. Set in 1922, the series was based on the early days of the BBC and the people running Radio Station 2LO. Jeff played one of the studio engineers and also sung the theme tune which was also written by Jimmy Perry. Other cast members included Roy Hudd, Jimmy Perry, Bill Pertwee, Amanda Belling and Peter Cellier. The show was broadcast on Radio 4 with an unusually large cast which may have been a factor for the programme not transferring to television as hoped.

Crowned Hudds

Broadcast in 1994 on Radio 4, Crowned Hudds was a one off special in which Jeff joined the original cast of The News Huddlines starring Roy Hudd, June Whitfield and Chris Emmett. Based on The News Huddlines, the show incorporated a sketch in which Jeff and Chris Emmett impersonated Major Bloodknock from the hugely successful series The Goons. Although it was later suggested that Jeff joined Huddlines proper, the idea sadly never came to fruition as it was felt that adding an extra performer may upset the format of the show.

Week Ending

Week Ending was a satirical radio current affairs show first broadcast on Radio 4 in 1970 and which ran until 1998. Jeff joined the series on a number of occasions between 1985 and 1995 taking part in numerous satirical, topical and political sketches and ultimately becoming a regular cast member taking over from Alistair McGowen. Other regular cast members over the years included David Jason, Suzie Blake, Jon Glover and Sheila Steafel.

Mooney's Monday Magazine

Mooney’s Monday Magazine was the very first radio comedy Jeff was to become involved with alongside the late Irish comedian Pat Mooney. Producer Richard Willcox had spotted Jeff in Russ Abbott’s Madhouse while at a television recording and realized his potential not least as an impressionist. Jeff appeared in a number of series recorded for Radio 2, the first of which was broadcast in 1984. Also in the cast were Jon Glover whom Jeff was later to team up with for the series Week Ending and well known actress Nichola McAuliffe.