defining moments when somebody comes along and genuinely creates a breakthrough, takes us into territory where nobody has been before. The only experiences to which I can compare my own discovery of the Goons are going to see N. F. Simpson's play One Way Pendulum ... or, later on, hearing Peter Cook for the first time. They were just light years ahead of everyone else.":151 The Beatles The Goons made a considerable impact on the humour of the Beatles, especially John Lennon. On 30 September 1973, Lennon reviewed the book The Goon Show Scripts for The New York Times. He wrote: "I was 12 when The Goon Show first hit me, 16 when they finished with me. Their humour was the only proof that the world was insane. One of my earlier efforts at writing was a 'newspaper' called The Daily Howl. I would write it at night, then take it into school and read it aloud to my friends. Looking at it now, it seems strangely similar to The Goon Show." Lennon also noted that George Martin, the Beatles' long-time producer, had previously made records with both Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. In a discussion of an accidentally Goonish nature, about introducing the next song during the 1963 BBC production of Pop Go The Beatles, Lennon is also recorded as quipping "Love these Goon shows". This was included in the double album and CD titled Live at the BBC (side 4, track 10 of the LP; track 62 of CD). Royal Family The Goons were popular among the British royal family, particularly with Prince Charles (now Charles III) who would often mimic the voices of the characters. Prince Philip and Princess Anne attended the recording of The Last Goon Show of All; Charles was unable to do so due to naval duties but sent a telegram to the cast. Charles wrote introductions to More Goon Show Scripts (1973) and The Book of the Goons (1974), and became patron of the Goon Show Preservation Society in 1998. Firesign Theatre The NBC radio network broadcast the programme in the United States in the mid-1950s. In 1965, Peter Bergman met and befriended Milligan during the time he worked in the UK on the BBC television programme Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life. He also saw the Beatles in concert, which gave him the inspiration to form a four-man