Eccles (character)
Encyclopedia
T.F. Eccles is the name of a comedy character, created and performed by Spike Milligan
, from the 1950s United Kingdom
radio
comedy
series The Goon Show
. In the episode "The Macreekie Rising of '74", Peter Sellers
had to fill-in for the role in Milligan's absence. Very occasionally, he was referred to as 'Mad Dan' Eccles.
Eccles was one of the show's secondary characters, but like his counterpart Bluebottle
(portrayed by Peter Sellers
), Eccles became extremely popular and he is regarded as epitomising the show's humour.
Milligan visualised Eccles as a tall, lanky, amiable, well-meaning, but incredibly stupid
teenager who often found himself involved — usually alongside Bluebottle — in one of the nefarious schemes created by arch-villain
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
.
was not a hoax."
The Eccles character and his distinctive voicing were strongly influenced by Milligan's childhood love for the classic Walt Disney
cartoons and specifically Disney's anthropomorphic buffoon dog character Goofy
. However Eccles transcended the denseness of Goofy, being instead more like a young adult with child-like impulses, which may explain his friendship with Bluebottle. His special talent is for taking things he hears literally, with humorous and occasionally insightful results.
Thus:
and in the same conversation (from "The Last Goon Show of All
"):
During an arctic expedition in "Scradge":
Early cameo at the beginning of "The Great Art Mystery/The Case Of The Fake Neddie Seagoons":
When Milligan wrote The Idiot Weekly
, an Australia
n version of The Goon Show
, Eccles often made appearances in the script.
Eccles also possessed remarkable stupidity when dealing with physical objects; in "The Greatest Mountain in the World" he describes two sticks of dynamite as "What luck! Two big cigars and they're both lit!"
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
, from the 1950s United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
. In the episode "The Macreekie Rising of '74", Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
had to fill-in for the role in Milligan's absence. Very occasionally, he was referred to as 'Mad Dan' Eccles.
Eccles was one of the show's secondary characters, but like his counterpart Bluebottle
Bluebottle (character)
Bluebottle is a comedy character from the Goon Show, a 1950s British comedy radio show. The character was created and performed by Peter Sellers....
(portrayed by Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
), Eccles became extremely popular and he is regarded as epitomising the show's humour.
Milligan visualised Eccles as a tall, lanky, amiable, well-meaning, but incredibly stupid
Stupidity
Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, wit, or sense. It may be innate, assumed, or reactive - 'being "stupid with grief" as a defence against trauma', a state marked with 'grief and despair...making even simple daily tasks a hardship'....
teenager who often found himself involved — usually alongside Bluebottle — in one of the nefarious schemes created by arch-villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne was a character from the British 1950s comedy radio programme The Goon Show. He was voiced by Peter Sellers. In the episode "Who Is Pink Oboe?", Valentine Dyall filled-in for the role in Sellers' absence....
.
Physique
Eccles was often referred to as being something other than an ordinary human. Seagoon says of him "He was the nearest thing I had seen to a human being without actually being one" ("The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-On-Sea"). In "Lurgi Strikes Britain", in a conversation about how Lurgi could easily kill every human in England, Eccles quips, "Then I'm okay, fellers!" In "The Greenslade Story", Grytpype-Thynne mentions that Eccles is colour-blind, and in another show, Seagoon says of Eccles: "He was living proof that the Piltdown SkullPiltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England...
was not a hoax."
The Eccles character and his distinctive voicing were strongly influenced by Milligan's childhood love for the classic Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
cartoons and specifically Disney's anthropomorphic buffoon dog character Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
. However Eccles transcended the denseness of Goofy, being instead more like a young adult with child-like impulses, which may explain his friendship with Bluebottle. His special talent is for taking things he hears literally, with humorous and occasionally insightful results.
Thus:
- Seagoon (finding Eccles in a coal cellar): What are you doing here?
- Eccles: Everybody's gotta be somewhere.
and in the same conversation (from "The Last Goon Show of All
The Last Goon Show of All
The Last Goon Show of All, broadcast on 5 October 1972, was a special edition of the famous BBC Radio show, The Goon Show, commissioned as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the BBC. It was simulcast on radio and television, and later released as an audio recording on long-playing...
"):
- Seagoon: After you deliver the coal, you're supposed to go back to the cart!
- Eccles: You mean I should let go of the sack?
- Seagoon: Yes!
- Eccles: But they said they was givin' me the sack!
During an arctic expedition in "Scradge":
- Seagoon: Now then Dr. Eccles, any cases of frozen feet?
- Eccles: You didn't order any cases of frozen feet!
Early cameo at the beginning of "The Great Art Mystery/The Case Of The Fake Neddie Seagoons":
- Eccles: What's going on here!?
- Grytpype-Thynne: Nothing.
- Eccles: Oh I'd better go then.
- Bill: The part of the mysterious stranger was played by Eccles. The rest of him was played by Rawicz and LandauerRawicz and LandauerRawicz and Landauer were an immensely popular piano duo team that performed from 1932 to 1970. They were initially based in Vienna, Austria, but moved to the United Kingdom in the early part of their career. They were known for their arrangements of popular classics.Marjan Rawicz was Polish...
.
When Milligan wrote The Idiot Weekly
The Idiot Weekly
The Idiot Weekly was a radio programme made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.-Background:Transcriptions of the Goon Show were broadcast on Australian radio from late 1955. When Spike Milligan visited his parents in Woy Woy in 1958, the Australian Broadcasting Commission signed him for a...
, an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n version of The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
, Eccles often made appearances in the script.
Eccles also possessed remarkable stupidity when dealing with physical objects; in "The Greatest Mountain in the World" he describes two sticks of dynamite as "What luck! Two big cigars and they're both lit!"