Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish (Sunny Afternoon) will reprise his critically acclaimed role as ‘Spike Milligan’ this autumn, as Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s comedy Spike tours the UK, following a successful run at The Watermill in January.

Opening at the Cheltenham Everyman on 6 September, the show will then visit Malvern, Guildford, Oxford, Salisbury, Brighton, Aylesbury, Glasgow, Richmond, Blackpool and Cardiff.

Spike is directed by Watermill Artistic Director Paul Hart, with design by Katie Lias, lighting by Rory Beaton, composition by Tayo Akinbode, sound by Tom Marshall, and movement direction by Anjali Mehra.

Full casting will be announced shortly.

It’s 1950s austerity Britain, and out of the gloom comes 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 theBBC.

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. His war with Hitler may be over, but his war with Auntie Beeb -  and ultimately himself -  has just begun.

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?

Ian Hislop and Nick Newman said: “It’s a privilege to take Spike on tour, exploring the genius of Britain’s most inspirational and ground-breaking comedian. And of course, it’s another chance to steal all his jokes and pass them off as our own. Spike Milligan may be Goon, but he’s not forgotten.”

Spike earned itself five stars from us at The Watermill so don’t miss it, Besties!

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