The only problem is that Old Auntie has been wildly inconsistent in formats and naming conventions for the series. Consider this:

• Titles: The first release was titled simply "Goon Show Classics." Then came Goon Show Classics 2 through 8. Then they switched to names instead of numbers. The next four, which would have been 9-12, were instead called "Goon Show Classics: '[installment title].'" After that the word "Classics" was dropped, and subsequent sets have been titled "The Goon Show: '[installment title].'" Goon Show Classics 1-10 were originally released as shows not restored by Kendall, just redubs (and not always particularly well done redubs) of existing tapes. Later, Kendall went back and restored this series.

• Formats: The first ten were released in England in double-cassette format only. But in Australia they were released on double-CDs. The edits were the same, but the sound quality of the CDs was in general better, with the CD version ranging from slightly to substantially superior to cassette in most cases.

*In 2010, BBC turned production of these reissues over to AudioGo Ltd., which picked up the series of double-CD reissues with Series Four, Part One (named out of the usual pattern, which then picked up with Vol. 28; see list below), and the compendium series starting with Volume Six. However, AudioGo went bankrupt in the fall of 2013, and production of Goon Show reissues was turned over to Penguin-Random House.

The Goon Show: Moriarty, where are you? (ZBBC 1864 / ZBBC 1864 CD, 1996) [previously Goon Show Classics 1; ZBBC 1007, 1988]

• 5/3--The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea
• 7/25--The Histories of Pliny the Elder
• 6/19--The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI
• 8/25--The Evils of Bushey Spon

• 5/7--Lurgi Strikes Britain
• 6/9--The International Christmas Pudding
• 6/4--Napoleon's Piano
• 7/12--The Flea

• 6/24--The Treasure of Loch Lomond
• 6/14--The Greenslade Story
• 7/15--Wings Over Dagenham
• 7/16--The Rent Collectors

• 8/21--The Man Who Never Was
• 6/5--The Missing CD Plates
• 8/22--World War I
• 7/1--The Nasty Affair at the Burami Oasis

• 9/12--The Call of the West
• 10/6--The Last Smoking Seagoon
• 5/15--1985 [beware that liner notes say that this is the show first broadcast 2/8/55. WRONG. That show would be 5/20. This is 5/15, the first version (without John Snagge), which aired 1/4/55.]
• 7/17--Shifting Sands

• 6/6--Rommel's Treasure
• 7/23--Ill Met by Goonlight
• 9/2--I Was Monty's Treble
• 9/7--The Seagoon Memoirs

• 5/1--The Whistling Spy Enigma
• 5/5--The Affair of the Lone Banana
• 6/23--The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal
• 6/26--Scradje

• 4/23--The Greatest Mountain in the World
• 5/8--The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (solved)
• 5/9--The Last Tram (from Clapham)
• 5/11--The Spanish Suitcase
  

• 5/18--Under Two Floorboards
• 5/21--The Sinking of Westminster Pier
• 5/24--Yehti
• 7/19--The Mysterious Punch-up-the-Conker

• 5/25--The White Box of Great Bardfield
• 6/18--Tales of Montmartre
• 7/7--The Great Bank Robbery
• 7/9--The Mystery of the Fake Neddie Seagoons

Goon Show Classics [11]: He's fallen in the water* (ZBBC 1602, 1994, or ZBBC 1602 CD, 1995)

• 8/16--The String Robberies
• 8/19--The White Neddie Trade
• 8/23--The Spon Plague
• 9/5--The Mountain Eaters

Goon Show Classics [12]: Shut Up, Eccles! (ZBBC 1725 / ZBBC 1725 CD, 1995)

• 5/4--The Phantom Head Shaver of Brighton
• 6/3--The Lost Emperor
• 7/2--Drums Along the Mersey
• V/1--The Mummified Priest

• 8/17--The Moriarty Murder Mystery
• 8/10--King Solomon's Mines
• 9/3--The £1,000,000 Penny
• V/6--The Vanishing Room

• 9/6--The Childe Harolde Reward
• 9/8--Queen Anne's Rain
• 9/9--The Battle of Spion Kop
• 9/16--The Gold Plate Robbery

• 5/14--Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest
• 6/16--The Mighty Wurlitzer
• 7/SP--Operation Christmas Duff
• 10/1--A Christmas Carol

• 8/1--Spon
• 8/18--The Curse of Frankenstein
• 9/11--The Spy, or Who Is Pink Oboe?
• 9/17--The £50 Cure

• V/10--The Silent Bugler
• 7/SP--The Reason Why
• 8/5--The Treasure in the Tower
• 8/13--The Plasticine Man

• 8/14--African Incident
• 8/24--Tiddleywinks
• V/4--The Giant Bombardon
• 9/15--The Tay Bridge

• 6/10--The Pevensey Bay Disaster
• 7/5--The Spectre of Tintagel
• 6/8--Shangri-La Again
• 9/10--Ned's Atomic Dustbin

• 6/25--The Fear of Wages
• 7/3--The Nadger Plague
• 8/12--The Great British Revolution
• 9/1--The Sahara Desert Statue

• 8/2--The Junk Affair
• 8/3--The Burning Embassy
• 8/8--The Missing Battleship
• 8/20--Ten Snowballs That Shook the World

• 5/10--The Booted Gorilla
• 6/11--The Sale of Manhattan
• 6/22--The Choking Horror
• V/7--The Ink Shortage

• 4/24--The Collapse of the British Railway Sandwich System
• 5/2--The Lost Gold Mine (of Charlotte)
• 5/6--The Canal
• 6/20--The House of Teeth

• 5/16--The Case of the Missing Heir
• 6/2--The Secret Escritoire
• V/12--The Dreaded Piano Clubber
• 9/4--The Pam's Paper Insurance Policy

• 5/22--Fireball of Milton Street
• 5/26--The End (Confessions of a Secret Senna-Pods Drinker)
• 6/12--The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu
• V/9--The Internal Mountain

• 6/13--The Lost Year
• V/11--The Great Bank of England Robbery
• V/13--The Siege of Fort Night
• 10/3--The Chinese Legs

• V/2--The Greatest Mountain in the World
• V/5--The Kippered Herring Gang
• V/14--The Albert Memorial
• 10/4--Robin's Post

• 4/18--The History of Communications/The Siege of Khartoum
• 4/20--The Expedition for Toothpaste
• 4/26--Western Story 'Drain'
• 4/29--The Great Bank of England Robbery

• 8/4--The Great Regent's Park Swim
• 8/6--The Space Age
• 8/9--The Policy
• 8/11--The Stolen Postman

• 7/25--The Histories of Pliny the Elder
• 5/3--The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler of Bexhill-on-Sea
  (*Yes, the "Goon Show Classics" label has been used before ([see above], and both these shows have already been issued in Ted Kendall restorations, even though the amazon.co.uk blurb states clearly that they're "now on CD for the first time ever." This is in fact a reissue of an early BBC LP, using the same cover.)

• 8/15--The Thing on the Mountain
• V/8--The Collapse of the British Rail Sandwich System [aka The Mustard and Cress Shortage]
• 8/26--The Great Statue Debate
• 10/5--The Silver Dubloons

• 5/12--Dishonoured, or the Fall of Neddie Seagoon
• 5/3--The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea)
• 6/15--The Hastings Flyer--Robbed
• 6/SP--China Story

• 4/SP--The Starlings
• 5/19--The Missing Scroll
• 5/20--1985
• 6/1--The Man Who Won the War

• 5/13--Forog
• 5/23--The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street
• 9/14--The Scarlet Capsule
• 10/2--The Tale of Men's Shirts

• 6/7--Foiled by President Fred
• 7/8--Personal Narrative
• 7/21--Round the World in Eighty Days
• 7/25--The Missing Boa Constrictor

• 6/21--Tales of Old Dartmoor
• 7/6--The Sleeping Prince
• 7/SP--Robin Hood
• 7/18--The Moon Show

The Compendium series presents the episodes in chronological order of broadcast date. Includes The Whistling Spy Enigma, The Lost Gold Mine (of Charlotte), The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea), The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton), The Affair of the Lone Banana, The Canal, Lurgi Strikes Britain! (aka Lurgi Strikes Again), The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (solved), The Last Tram (from Clapham), The Booted Gorilla (found?), The Spanish Suitcase, Dishonoured or The Fall of Neddie Seagoon and Forog.

Also featured are some rare archive bonus items including out-takes and the programme Me and My Shadows: Peter Sellers. Two illustrated booklets tell the story of the show's development with reference to original archive paperwork, plus the history of the recordings themselves.

This volume includes Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest, Nineteen Eighty-Five, The Case of the Missing Heir, Under Two Floorboards, The Missing Scroll, Nineteen Eighty-Five (remake), The Sinking of Westminster Pier, The Fireball of Milton Street, The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street, Yehti, The White Box of Great Bardfield and The End.

Also featured are some rare archive bonus items, including the unbroadcast and previously unreleased version of The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea).

Includes The Man Who Won the War, The Secret Escritoire, The Lost Emperor, Napoleon's Piano, The Case of the Missing CD Plates, Rommel's Treasure, Foiled by President Fred, Shangri-La Again, The International Christmas Pudding, The Pevensey Bay Disaster, The Sale of Manhattan (aka The Lost Colony), and The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu, The Lost Year, and The Greenslade Story, plus bonus archive items.

Includes The Hastings Flyer--Robbed, The Mighty Wurlitzer, The Raid of the International Christmas Pudding, The Tales of Montmartre, The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI, The House of Teeth, The Choking Horror, The Great Tuscan Salami Scandal, The Treasure in the Lake (aka The Treasure of Loch Lomond), Fear of Wages, Scradje, The Man Who Never Was, and China Story. In addition, there's The Goons Hit Wales (a special live St David's Day performance from 1956) and some rare archive bonus items, including Harry Secombe in The Laughtermakers.

Includes eleven of the first thirteen shows of the Seventh Series (EMI, not BBC, owns the rights to 7/4 and 7/13) plus a special, Operation Christmas Duff. Among the many bonus items are "Curiouser and Curiouser," an anthology of Anglo-American off-beat humour; and the cast rehearsal for The Nasty Affair at the Burami Oasis.

Includes eleven of the last twelve shows of the Seventh Series (EMI, not BBC, owns the rights to 7/21, "Insurance, the White Man's Burden") and "The Reason Why," a special broadcast between the 7th and 8th series. Bonus items include Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939 [you might ask why, which is a darned good question].

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 7 (Series 8, Part 1) -- (ISBN 978-144589133-0) [CD], 2012

Includes fourteen of the first fifteen shows of the 8th Series (EMI, not BBC, owns the rights to 8/7, "The Red Fort").

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 8 (Series 8, Part 2) -- (ISBN 978-1-4456-2560-1) [CD], 2012

Includes the rest of the Eighth Series, the last of which, 8/26 "The Great Statute Debate," is presented as the entire original studio recording before edits were made for broadcast on the Home Service. Bonus items include "The Royal Tiddlywinks Tournament," the BBC report on an event that figures prominently in 8/24, "Tiddlywinks," plus rehearsals for two other shows in the series.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 9 (Vintage Goons) -- (ISBN 978-1-4713-3161-9) [CD], 2014

Contains 13 of the 14 Goon Shows specially recorded for overseas broadcast in 1957-58, based on scripts from the 4th Series, but extensively rewritten and updated. [Missing is "The Missing 10 Downing Street," to which EMI, not BBC, holds the rights; but you can find it here in the U.S. Archives.] Plus outtakes and rehearsals for shows in the series.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 10 (Series 9, Part 1) -- (ISBN 978-1785290312) [CD], 2015
[Production now assumed by Penguin Random House]

Contains the first 12 episodes from the 9th Series, broadcast 1958-59, plus three CDs full of various bonus materials: outtakes, rehearsals, pre-show warm-ups, sound effects, and several Goon-related broadcasts and documentaries.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 11 (Series 9, Part 2, and Series 10) -- (ISBN 978-1785291296) [CD], 2015

Contains the last five episodes of the 9th series and all six episodes of the 10th (and last) series, early Goonish gems such as The GPO Show, The Army Show, The Naughty Navy Show, and all six episodes of the Omar Khayam Show.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 12 -- (ISBN 978-1785294495) [CD], 2016

Contains 5/17 China Story, 6/7 Foiled By President Fred, 6/21 Tales of Old Dartmoor, 7/4 The MacReekie Rising of '74, 7/SP1 Robin Hood, 7/13 Six Charlies in Search of an Author, 7/21 Insurance, the White Man's Burden, 8/7 The Red Fort, V/3 The Missing Ten Downing Street, The Last Goon Show of All, plus several CDs of bonus items.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 13 -- (ISBN 978-1785298776) [CD], 2017

Contains the Goon Show's earliest surviving recordings, including episodes 1, 3 and 25 from Series 2, episode 17 from Series 3, and episodes 2, 3 and 15 from Series 4. It also has an extended version of the 1991 documentary At Last the Go On Show" and several CDs of other Goonish arcana.

The Goon Show Compendium, Vol. 14 -- (ISBN 978-1787532663) [CD], 2018

Contains the following shows from the 4th series:
• 18 The History of Communications
• 19 The Kippered Herring Gang
• 20 The Toothpaste Expedition
• 21 The Case of the Vanishing Room
• 23 The Greatest Mountain in the World
• 24 The Collapse of the British Rail Sandwich System
• 25 The Silent Bugler
• 26 Western Story
• 27 The Saga of the Internal Mountain
• 29 The great Bank of England Robbery
• SP The Starlings

Where to buy them? The situation has become quite depressing. The Continental Shop in Santa Monica, long a possible source in the U.S., has gone out of business. Neither HMV nor the BBC Shop in the U.K. still carries Goon recordings. But amazon.com in the U.S. and Amazon.co.uk in Great Britain have them (with amazon.co.uk having a greater selection, naturally) and can do mail order via credit card to all corners of the world.

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