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Born Terrence Alan Milligan in the British colony of India on the 16th April 1918, writer, comedian, poet and social campaigner Spike Milligan remains one of the most influential and important figures in postwar entertainment. Following the Second World War which loomed large in the minds of the many survivors who risked their lives in the name of our freedom, Spike’s trauma became something he battled with for the rest of his life. In the era before mental health was something that was understood or even acknowledged, Spike used frequent spells of manic depression to cultivate one of the most original minds ever to grace British comedy. Beginning his postwar comedy career at the infamous Windmill Theatre alongside future comedy legends, Spike honed his skills in live entertainment but it was always his talents with pen and paper which always shone through.
Meeting Jimmy Grafton; the Landlord of Finnegan’s Wake; a pub in Central London, would unknowingly spur Milligan onto the next chapter of his career. In an upstairs room in this pub was the very first meeting of Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine who set about forming a comedy troupe. Apart from being a landlord, Jimmy Grafton was a theatrical agent and continuity announcer for the BBC which provided a vital link between Spike and the corporation. Originally called The Crazy People, The Goon Show was first broadcast on the 29th May 1951 and became an instant hit, offering a sense of escapism in what was a very bleak socioeconomic period. With a surreal, satirical bite to his work, Milligan thrived on the ability to play around with concepts of modernity in a primal manner that was devoid of political consciousness. In creating a world which lampooned authority and mocked the British establishment, Spike was unknowingly re-writing the comedy rule book and heralded a new era of entertainment.
For writer, singer and entertainer Jane Milligan, by the time she was old enough to fully comprehend her dad’s vital contribution to British comedy, The Goons were a distant memory in Spike’s fascinating career. Born in 1966; the year that Associated London Scripts disbanded and Spike and Eric Sykes moved to Orme Court under the management of Norma Farnes, Jane was sadly too young to remember arguably the defining years of her father’s career as writer and creator of The Goons. Instead she has fond memories of the strong family man who told stories and played games with her and her sisters Cilé and Laura. This coincided with him turning his hand to poetry for children with the publication of Silly Verse For Kids in 1959. Poetry and literature were slowly taking over Milligan’s creative output as he became acclimatised to parenthood.
Spike wasn’t just a visionary of comedy. Before the 1950’s, the role of the comedy scriptwriter was somewhat overlooked surrounding the claiming of intellectual rights over material. This was all about to change in 1953 when Milligan founded Associated London Scripts: a writing talent agency that specialised in television scriptwriting. Spike had founded the company in order to ease the process of getting Goon Show scripts into the BBC in amongst his regular spells of manic depression.
It wasn’t long before the company extended its licence to a talent agency looking after writers such as Galton and Simpson, Eric Sykes, Johnny Speight, Terry Nation and performers such as Frankie Howerd and Tony Hancock. Unlike many of its contemporaries all who worked here knew that this was definitely not an ordinary working environment. Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes shared an office for 40 years.
It wasn’t long before this crazy hotbed of talent required quite a certain person to provide a sense of order to ensure a sense of structure was at least adhered to some of the time. Grafton was good but he wasn’t a miracle worker.
Such an impossible task was left to Beryl Vertue, originally as junior receptionist in 1955 before being given the role as agency director. Vertue had been a school friend of Alan Simpson who had followed him into the entertainment business assisting him with the development of his early career. When a vacancy arose at Associated London Scripts Vertue had a man on the inside. When interviewed for the role there was only one question which was “What kind of tea do you make?” But she proved herself to be so much more than a tea-maker. Under Vertue, Associated London Scripts expanded to a small production company making feature film spin offs of popular television shows of the time including ‘The Rebel’ starring Tony Hancock as well as being the agent to all members of the company. A busy woman.
Yet in 1966 Spike and Eric left Associated London Scripts to form another new company, Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes Limited taking with them junior talent agent Norma Farnes and set up residence in Orme Court where the Spike Milligan estate remained until Farnes’s death in 2019 when it was safely returned to the family.
Today, Spike Milligan Productions is ran by Jane and her sister Silè from The Lodge in North London and continue to be amazed by the ongoing love and legacy of their father. Over twenty years since his death, Milligan’s legacy is still heavily felt throughout the international comedy fraternity and his family couldn’t be prouder to continue flying Spike’s flag. It was a pleasure to welcome the great Jane Milligan onto Beyond The Title to talk about her dad and may he live long in Britain’s collective cultural memory as arguably the most important figure in postwar entertainment. A genius.
Beyond The Title