The Watermill have announced full casting for the world premiere of Spike, a new comedy by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, running from 27 January-5 March 2022.

The title role will be played by Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish, with Stephen Fry voicing the BBC Announcer.

“I’m not acting crazy. I’m the genuine article.”

It’s the booming fifties, and Britain is in the clutches of Goon mania as men, women and children across the country scramble to get their ear to a wireless for another instalment of The Goon Show. While Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers get down to the serious business of becoming overnight celebrities, fellow Goon and chief writer Spike finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy, and testing the patience of the BBC.

Flanked by his fellow Goons and bolstered by the efforts of irrepressible sound assistant Janet, Spike takes a flourishing nosedive off the cliffs of respectability, and mashes up his haunted past to create the comedy of the future. 

Will Spike’s dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?

Joining Dagleish will be TV comedienne Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Motherland, Miranda) as ‘Janet’, George Kemp (Bridgerton) as ‘Peter Sellers’, Jeremy Lloyd (The Comedy About a Bank Robbery) as ‘Harry Secombe’, James Mack (The Watermill’s The Hound of the Baskervilles) as ‘Denis Main-Wilson/Peter Eton’,  Ellie Morris (The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Movie Night, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery) playing ‘June’ and Robert Mountford (The Habit of Art) as ‘BBC Executive’. 

Spike will be directed by Watermill Artistic Director Paul Hart, with design by Katie Lias, lighting by Rory Beaton, composition by Tayo Akinbode, and sound by Tom Marshall.

Ian Hislop and Nick Newman said: “Writing Spike gave us the opportunity to celebrate the genius of the founding father of modern comedy, explore what inspired him and steal all his jokes”.

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.