the only comedy show on pirate radio – The Auntie Mabel Hour, recordings of DJs acting comic sketches and parodying contemporary songs. Some material seems to have been stolen from The Goon Show and Round the Horne. At Christmas 1966 the show featured a parody of Alice in Wonderland and included the DJs singing new comic lyrics to instrumental versions of popular songs. Another novelty was The Anti-City Show, which invited listeners to send letters and reel-to-reel tapes of complaint about the station. It became a forum for complaints about anything that annoyed. Occasionally, "You've Got Your Troubles" by The Fortunes was broadcast as a signal to land-based associates of a problem, such as a supply shortage. The Port of London authority had placed wind and tide gauges on the isolated north tower and complained that City's signal interfered with their radio link to the mainland, potentially placing shipping at risk. Interference with official communications was a commonly cited reason for pirates to be banned but Radio City was to provide a more compelling reason for their closure. Merger talks and death of Reg Calvert In September 1965, merger talks began between City and Radio Caroline South. A transmitter was delivered to the fort, intended to be used by Caroline when it left its ship. The transmitter proved to be unsuitable and indeed, unusable. The merger collapsed, but the transmitter was never collected. Calvert then talked to Radio London about a merger, in a venture called UKGM (United Kingdom Good Music). In the early morning of 20 June 1966, a business associate of Calvert, retired Major Oliver Smedley (who claimed ownership of the transmitter), sent men to take possession of Shivering Sands with the intent of holding it for ransom. The next evening, Calvert visited Smedley's home and, in an alleged scuffle between him and a 3rd party, was shot by Smedley. Smedley was charged with murder but cleared on grounds of self-defence. Following Reg's death a number of consistences about the trial were revealed, plus the fact that Dorothy Calvert (Reg's widow) had been the subject of a D notice, preventing any of the many interviews she had given from being printed or broadcast. The killing spurred the Government to shut offshore stations, passing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act. However prior to this legislation, it was established that the fort, within British waters following a reinterpretation of the rules