Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
Spike MILLIGAN (1918-2002)
THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Terence Alan 'Spike' Milligan, comedian, writer and actor, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews during a reunion of his wartime colleagues at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, from where the programme was then recorded.
Spike, who was born in India and was the son of an Irish captain in the British Raj, moved to London with his family in 1931. He spent his formative years playing the trumpet in local jazz bands before joining the British Army at the outbreak of the Second World War, serving in the 56th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery, D Battery, through the North African and Italian campaigns.
After the war, Spike broke into show business and found work in radio as a performer and scriptwriter. He later joined forces with Harry Secombe, whom he had met while in the Army, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine to create The Goons. Spike acted as a co-creator and the primary writer of what became the ground-breaking BBC radio series The Goon Show, which was first broadcast in 1951 and ran until 1960.
Spike Milligan was a subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions - surprised again by Michael Aspel in January 1995 at London's Euston Station.
"Christ! You call this a life?"
programme details...
- Edition No: 356
- Subject No: 357
- Broadcast date: Wed 11 Apr 1973
- Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
- Recorded: Sat 7 Apr 1973
- Venue: De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
- Series: 13
- Edition: 22
on the guest list...
- Paddy - wife
- Laura - daughter
- Sean - son
- Sile - daughter
- Jane - daughter
- Florence - mother
- Desmond - brother
- Nadia - sister-in-law
- Michael - nephew
- Bill Dawson
- Alf Fildes
- Doug Kidgell
- Joseph White
- Jimmy Devine
- Harry Edgington - live link
- Pearl Chappell
- Peter Sellers
- Michael Bentine
- Jimmy Grafton
- Eric Sykes Filmed tributes:
- Harry Secombe
- Robert Graves
related appearances...
- Harry Secombe - Mar 1958
- Joe Loss - May 1963
- Eric Sykes - Dec 1979
- Joe Loss - Oct 1980
- Tim Brooke-Taylor - Feb 1981
- Katie Boyle - Nov 1982
- Bob Todd - Feb 1984
- Bernard Miles - Jan 1985
- William Rushton - Apr 1987
- Cliff Morgan - Dec 1988
- Harry Secombe - Mar 1990
- Bernard Braden - Jan 1991
- Bill Pertwee - Feb 1999
- Rita Tushingham - Dec 1999
production team...
- Researcher: Sarah Manwaring-White
- Writer: John Sandilands
- Director: Margery Baker
- Producer: Malcolm Morris
- names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life
second tribute
it's all about the comedy
surprised again!
tributes to the original presenter
Irish magazine RTE Guide reveals some behind-the-scenes secrets
When a life hangs in the balance
TV Times reveals more behind-the-scenes stories
Screenshots of Spike Milligan This Is Your Life
Malcolm Morris, producer of This Is Your Life and I had worked together since Tyne Tees Television began in the late Fifties and in 1973, not long after he moved to This Is Your Life, he rang to ask if there was anywhere I could guarantee that Spike would turn up on time as arranged.
'His Army reunion,' I said, 'apart from the times he's in Australia he never misses one.'
Completely unaware of what had been planned, Spike drove to the reunion in Bexhill in his Mini. Malcolm decided he would have one of his researchers keep an eye on him. The researcher certainly would not have made a detective. When Spike left home that morning he noticed a car waiting outside his house and, when he checked his mirror, he saw it following. He decided to take a back road and once again the car followed, so he drove to a police station and said he was being tailed by a suspicious character. The police collared the driver and locked him up. Spike got back into the Mini and drove off like the clappers so as not to be late for the reunion. The researcher tried to get a message to Malcolm, asking him to confirm to the police that he was a researcher doing a job. Malcolm was loath to let the police know he was about to do a This is Your Life but he was in a pickle. He simply had to know where Spike was in case he had decided to stop off somewhere. So he let the police into the secret and obligingly they put out an alert over two counties.
I was supposed to travel to Bexhill in a car provided by Thames Television but Peter Sellers, who was of course to appear in the programme, insisted I travel with him in his car. He had decided to turn up in a German storm trooper's helmet and long black leather coat. At the time he was filming Soft Beds and Hard Battles and had had his head shaved for the part, and was desperate that nobody should see him bald. That was a logic typical of Milligan. What was the point when millions would soon see him on screen? Before he dozed off in the back of the car he asked me to wake him up ten minutes before we arrived at the reunion. When we did I got the gallant Sellers treatment. He summoned one of the researchers and ordered a bottle of champagne and smoked salmon sandwiches. For Pete that was done at the double. But he did not want them for himself, they were for me. I thought, that's just like Spike. When Malcolm walked in and saw me with a glass of champagne in one hand and a sandwich in the other he was furious because he thought I had ordered them. He calmed down when I told him it had been Pete's idea.
After the show, which was hilarious, I wanted to give the party a miss and get back to London as soon as possible. Pete knew this and said, 'Don't worry. We'll go back together. They won't refuse me an early car.' I did not know it at the time but he wanted to get back to Liza Minnelli.
Spike's recall of the events of his war was greatly enhanced by the D Battery reunions, which he attended regularly, and helped to organise. The one at Bexhill in April 1973 included a surprise:
'Waiting for me was Eamonn Andrews and 'Spike Milligan, tonight, this is your life.' I was nonplussed, flabbergasted... All my family were there, including my mother all the way from Australia with [his brother] Desmond and [Desmond's wife] Nadia. Peter Sellers came dressed as a German soldier and denied all knowledge of me... Harry Secombe overwhelmed me with praise and ended with a raspberry to which I replied tenfold.'
Harry Edgington, pianist in the D Battery band, contributed to This Is Your Life from his home in New Zealand. 'We are closer than ever,' Spike writes of him in Rommel? Gunner Who?. 'Our correspondence is prodigious, his letters fill 3 boxfiles, likewise recorded tapes, in which he sends his latest compositions, asking my opinions.'
In the spring of 1973, Eamonn Andrews made one of his famous This Is Your Life programmes about Spike. Flo, Desmond and family were flown from Australia for the occasion and Harry Edgington, now living in New Zealand, was linked up by cable. But what delighted Spike most of all was Robert Graves's appearance. Graves was staying for a few days with friends in Chelsea. No lover of technology, he declined to go to the studios but sat firmly on a window-seat with his back to the garden. While he reminisced about the times he had spent with Spike, the light shone through his mass of fluffy silver hair, transforming it into a curious, shining halo. He concluded his completely unrehearsed words with an affectionate 'Well, Spike. Goodbye now - I love you and you know it.'
Whilst he had been speaking, the milkman walked up the path in shot to deliver the milk passing the window closely. The desirability of a retake was discussed and stoutly vetoed by Graves.
'Nonsense. Certainly not,' he said. 'The milkman is part of life. Spike will have no objection to the milkman.'
About two weeks later, when Graves had returned to Majorca, Spike wrote him a letter.
April 16 (my birthday)
Orme Court
Bayswater W2
My dearest Robert,
How delighted I was to see that unexpected film of you on the This Is Your Life show... yes, I know you love me - but it's mutual. I wish I had known you were in London recently, I would have loved to see you. When you come again, I will take you to where there is food, wine, music and friendship, who can refuse such an offer? ...
Our plans to surprise Spike Milligan at a reunion of his wartime colleagues were drawn up naturally with all the precision of a military operation. But, as we might have guessed, those plans were to tumble as fast and as funnily as the lines from a Goon Show script.
On reflection, This Is Your Life, Spike Milligan, was probably the greatest gamble of all. We had waited for years for the right time and the right place to tell the incredible story of one of the world's most unpredictable characters.
In April 1973, we heard that Spike had promised to attend a reunion of his former comrades in the 56th Regiment of the Royal Artillery. It was to take place in the south coast resort of Bexhill-on-Sea, where, thirty-three years before, Spike had joined the Regiment's "D" Battery as 954024, Gunner Milligan.
We knew just how fond he was of the comrades who shared his wartime days and we believed that no matter how unpredictable he was, he would be there if he had promised.
The zany Spike actually comes from a long line of military men and was born in Ahmednagar in India, where his father Leo Milligan was serving as a regular soldier. And with a name like that, no wonder Spike used to sign his letters to me "The King of Ireland's Son".
As you might imagine, Spike's army record had see-sawed between bravery and buffoonery. And I am sure it was his liking for the latter that no doubt inspired him to form a dance band among the lads in "D" Battery to entertain their army pals.
Spike played trumpet in the band which boasted a pianist, drummer, bass player, guitarist and vocalist. The drums, which were "requisitioned" by Spike to "stop them falling into German hands", had been found by the lads in an old church hall in Bexhill, just a short walk away from the place where they had made their musical debut – Bexhill's grandly-named, De La Warr Pavilion.
And it was the De La Warr Pavilion that had been chosen by Spike's comrades as the venue for the reunion. Nothing could be more obvious. That was the time. And that was the place, we had been waiting for.
The former soldiers would be travelling from all over the country to attend the reunion. They all knew Spike and we all knew how they would love to hear his story and meet the others who had played their parts in it outside the Army.
The organisers of the reunion readily agreed to co-operate and we began our preparations to mount an outside broadcast.
That may sound a lot simpler than it really is. Without going into detail, an outside broadcast is a big job that means a lot of skilled people putting in maximum effort over a period of precious time to make it work.
If it doesn't work, then it is a big job that means a lot of skilled people putting in maximum effort over a period of precious time to explain why.
It was with that in mind that the This Is Your Life team set about the task of designing a plan that would be, to coin an appropriate phrase, bomb proof.
The over-riding problem, of course, was that no one could guarantee what Spike's movements would be on the day.
By accepting the invitation to the reunion he had had to turn down a request to attend a function in aid of one of the many causes he has taken to heart. But before he said no to that he got his wife Paddy to agree to stand in for him. And Paddy, in turn, got someone else to stand in for her. That meant, on the one hand, that Paddy would be free to join us at our secret rendezvous in Bexhill. But on the other hand it meant that Spike would be free to do as he pleased. What route he would take and what time he would arrive no one could know.
On the day, we put a man outside his house to spot him as he left and tail him, reporting to us – already in Bexhill – whenever he could.
It did not take long for the drama to switch to farce. After following Spike for nearly 20 miles on an "away-from-it-all" route that even the AA wouldn't have recommended on a sunny Bank Holiday, our "private eye" could only presume he had been spotted and he gave up his pursuit.
When he finally telephoned, we switched to an even more dramatic plan and called in the police from two counties who kindly agreed to watch out for Spike's car.
We knew what hotel Spike had booked into for the night, so we had carefully chosen another one for his surprise guests – assuming, of course, that he turned up in time for us to spring them.
We were in the TV lounge of the Granville Hotel anxiously awaiting a pre-arranged phone call from Spike's hotel to tip us off that he had checked in. Out of the blue, one of our hotel staff said that the Granville was one of Spike's favourite meeting places before he was posted abroad during the war. Whenever he was in the area, he never failed to make it his first stop.
Never have so many doors been locked so quickly. Never have so many people changed to go out so fast as they did that night. And never has Spike Milligan been so taken aback as he was when I interrupted that reunion in the De La Warr Pavillion one hour later. When I said, "This Is Your Life, Spike Milligan", he looked shattered in that zany way we all know well. But there was an air of vulnerability about him.
When the show got going, he was obviously touched by the surprises, particularly by the arrival of his mother from her home in Australia. But, of course, those who know Spike know that when he is moved, he tries to disguise the fact with another touch of humour.
Like the moment Peter Sellers arrived on set to greet him wearing his German uniform of helmet, dark glasses and leather overcoat. Spike shook his hand – then dropped his trousers.
It was a mad, mad but moving, evening and I wouldn't have been at all surprised if, before the programme had ended, the De La Warr Pavillion had not itself taken off to sea with all of us on board and Spike at the helm.
...military music was more appropriate when the late Peter Sellers, wearing a German SS uniform, complete with helmet and dark glasses, joined us to surprise Spike Milligan.
As it turned out, Spike surprised us. It was April 1973 and we were waiting for him, with Sellers, at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, scene of a reunion with his former comrades in the 56th Regiment of the Royal Artillery. That's where he had joined up as Gunner Milligan.
Knowing Spike's unpredictability, we had a researcher follow his car all the way from London. Spike got suspicious and reported his follower to the police, who stopped the unfortunate researcher and detained him for questioning. A phone call from the 'nick' cleared him.
Peter Sellers howled with laughter when I told him about this predicament. 'Don't worry,' he said, 'Spike wouldn't miss this reunion for anything.'
He was right, and when Sellers marched on in his Nazi outfit even Spike was taken aback. But only momentarily. Spike shook the proffered hand of the 'SS man' – then instantly dropped his trousers. His Royal Artillery pals roared.
There are a million things that can go wrong with the making of This is Your Life and doing Spike Milligan's life doubles the chance of disaster.
Spike was due to go to a reunion of old wartime mates at Bexhill so we decided that this would be the perfect place to make the programme and everything was set up. We had to rehearse some of the moves for the cameras and it occurred to me that, knowing Spike, he might just decide to come a few hours early if the mood took him and I did not want him to catch us in mid-rehearsal.
I asked one of our researchers to follow him and keep telephoning me to tell me exactly where Spike was throughout the day. It wasn't until the afternoon that I received the call from the researcher informing me that he was in jail and could I explain to the police what it was all about. Apparently Spike had seen our car parked outside his house and then again as the day wore on, so he telephoned the police to ask their help as someone was definitely following him. As it was against the researcher's instinct to say why he was following Spike, he was clapped in a cell.
I spoke to the station officer and told him who we were but not what we were doing, but then I realised we would need their help because if my researcher was in jail, who was following Spike? I decide to tell them all our secrets and asked if they could trace his car. The police put out an alert in two counties to find Spike's car, and he turned up on time to be beautifully harassed by Harry Secombe in a farmer's smock and Peter Sellers wearing a German storm trooper's helmet and a long black leather coat!
When Spike Milligan topped the bill at this Dublin theatre [the Gaiety Theatre], Eamonn went along to see his friend whom he had first been introduced to in the late forties by Joe Loss. After the show, Eamonn and Spike dined out together and reminisced about old times. 'Spike didn't like to see Eamonn smoking large cigars,' says Jack O'Connor. 'I once heard him tell Eamonn, "Take that weed out of your mouth, can't you!" Eamonn laughed, but I think Spike was serious. They were good friends, and although they seemed to me very different characters, Eamonn enjoyed Spike's zany sense of humour. He thought he had a lot of talent. He told me once that he used to enjoy the Goon Show enormously.'
The Thames Life team knew that Eamonn was anxious to surprise Spike, but how actually to do so posed a problem. Spike's movements could be as unpredictable as the man himself. Yet Eamonn was determined to present him with the red book. But he had no illusions about the task before him. As he said, 'On reflection, This Is Your Life, Spike Milligan was probably the greatest gamble of all. We had waited for years for the right time and the right place to tell the incredible story of one of the world's most unpredictable characters.'
Now the place chosen to surprise him was Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion, where Spike's former comrades in the 56th Regiment of the Royal Artillery were holding a reunion. Eamonn knew how fond Spike was of his old comrades and therefore would not miss the reunion. And they would love to hear his story and meet the others who had played their parts in it outside the Army.
The Life team experienced no problems with the organisers of the event. Full cooperation was promised. But Eamonn was still worried about the programme. Could they, for instance, find out exactly Spike's movements for that day? Would he actually turn up at the reunion? It was decided to put a man outside his house to spot him as he left and tail him, reporting to Eamonn and the Life production team in Bexhill - whenever he could.
'It did not take long for the drama to switch to farce,' recalled Eamonn. 'After following Spike for nearly 20 miles on an "away-from-it-all" route that even the AA wouldn't have recommended on a sunny Bank Holiday, our "private eye" could only presume he had been spotted and he gave up his pursuit.'
It was agreed at this stage to call in the police from two counties who kept watch for Spike's car. By now the planning had reached bizarre proportions. Eamonn and the Life team were in the TV lounge of the Granville Hotel anxiously awaiting news about Spike and if he had checked into his hotel some distance away, when one of the hotel staff said that the Granville was one of Spike's favourite meeting places before he was posted abroad during the war. Whenever he was in the area he never failed to make it his first stop.
Eamonn saw the amusing side: 'Never have so many doors been locked so quickly. Never have so many people changed to go out so fast as they did that night.'
Later, Spike looked shattered when Eamonn surprised him at the reunion with the words, 'This Is Your Life, Spike Milligan.' Eamonn, at that moment, reckoned that there was an air of vulnerability about the actor. 'When the show got going, he was obviously touched by the surprises, particularly by the arrival of his mother from her home in Australia. But of course, those who know Spike know that when he is moved he tries to disguise the fact with another touch of humour.'
There was a funny moment - the funniest of the show when Peter Sellers arrived on set to greet Spike wearing his German uniform of helmet, dark glasses, and leather overcoat. Spike shook his hand - then dropped his trousers.
Eamonn summed up: 'It was a mad, mad but moving evening and I wouldn't have been at all surprised if, before the programme had ended, the De La Warr Pavilion had not itself taken off to sea with all of us on board and Spike at the helm'.
Series 13 subjects
Pat Phoenix | Bill Griffiths | Shirley Bassey | Warren Mitchell | Dudley Moore | Phyllis Calvert | Larry Grayson | Clive SullivanBill Shankly | Willie Carson | Jack Smethurst | Mary Peters | Noele Gordon | James Corrigan | Pat Reid | Diana Coupland
Dulcie Gray | Janet Adams | Rita Hunter | Leslie Crowther | Jimmy Logan | Spike Milligan | Jackie Pallo
John Gregson | Jackie Charlton | Francis O'Leary