After his air rifle prank, when he was "bound over" by the magistrate, "to keep the peace for 12 months," the reporters were waiting outside the court. The Press asked him, "What happened, Spike?" He said "The Judge said that I can't do it again for a year!"
I've never seen Spike so serious. A fascinating example of his shrewd side. Deeply intelligent and ahead of his time when criticizing smokers. I empathise with his feelings towards people and society.
David Hail-Thomas Spike was not crushed by the idiocy of mankind but by his his awareness of it and mankind's total lack of desire to remedy it. Worse now than in Spike's time. Spike ..Lovely man, My Hero. One of many in many fields.
Much like Bertrand Russell in that sense. When a man looks into the chasm of collective human incompetence it demands great courage for the psyche not to spasm with disgust and dread. Its a good test really, life drives some of our best minds mad - necessary but insufficient as the diagnosticians say.
Spike was a beautiful human. He chose not to conform and took the path of eccentricity which blessed us with wonderful memories. No doubt he was emotionally scarred from his war days. I so enjoyed this interview - especially Spikes view of the western world and obsession with materialism. Miss him loads. Dimbleby does a good job here - Spike was notoriously a difficult interviewee and he opened up so much here.
willie otoole..good observation..not a correct paraphrase but they say"behind every comedienne/funnyman lays a very sad person"..none the less a fucking comic genius..especially compared 2now..most of the humour is shite.
He said he did have a traumatic childhood when he was on a psychiatry program called "In the pyschiatrists chair with Anthony Clare". Hes not being completely honest here, maybe he wasnt in the mood.
OK, so I just read another couple of comments below. I am over 60 years old now. I have suffered from depression at times. I read a lot though, when I'm not in that state, obviously. Now Spike is talking about exactly what I went through. It just took me quite a few more years than him to really become comedic. Funny, now it's talking about him losing all faith in women, and that's how I feel about men. But those men are the ones that basically conned me with emotions, then conned me out of my money. Lovely, Spike says!. I know what he means. One can only laugh at oneself if they want to get over the emotional setback. It has also been said, for many years now, that people with a high IQ can be bordering on mental illness such as depression. I reckon that it could be, in my opinion, that one realises that others do not live to the same values that you and your family have grown up to believe. These values have nothing to do with religion, but all to do with respect, compassion, and caring for your family :-)
Great man. Loved him. He was so right that we had a society of idiots. In 2022 we see the climax of this. The British Isles, including Ireland, are today on their last legs due to years of idiocy - especially in the career political/establishment classes.
The amount of honest response in some of these older interviews is astonishing. Hugely ahead of his time, full of witt with his dark corners like every great comedian. He freed people's minds from convention.
I’ve never actually heard him talking seriously like this before, but even 40 years after this interview his observations are still wonderfully accurate, poignant and relevant in 2017. I genuinely think he demonstrates some of the best traits in humanity while highlighting some of the worst.No fu##ing wonder he was depressed!!
@@MsSteve70 Precisely... He was depressed because he saw the TRUTH and could not deny it to himself like many do ((same frickin reason I get depressed))
This whole interview was beautiful. Spike was so laid back and candid and very endearing. The guy is brilliant. I love his heart. The interviewer was spot on. The whole thing was such a joy to watch.
Spike Milligan, not a brilliant academic mind, but rather a genius intellect, a complicated " by the worlds' hypocrisy" man, but with huge empathy, compassion, and a heart bigger than most, all of this I learnt in one weekend with him, Sellers and Seecombe, who was a great friend of my Father, Harold Lake,and mother, Maureen Adair. A beautiful mind of note. He told me ' Martin my lad, don't ever enter show biz, we're all mad, don't know who we are, and are mostly queer".
I still miss Spike , he was part of my life since childhood, I only listened to the goons once , as i was young, then along came the telegoons , especially for me. I wrote to Spike in late 70s & got such a lovely reply , it made a great impression on me.. I believe I shall get to sit n chat with him one day in the great beyond & laugh & laugh & laugh. what a gift .
I think I saw the Telegoons on TV first before I heard the original series proper. We had the Goon Show Scripts books at home and these gave me an insight into the use of sound effects and existing music in radio programmes.
I think he was more of an example of what normal is.... he was authentic. Something that is greatly lacking in alot of people. He knew himself. How many know themselves? I feel an affinity with him. The man sitting across from him to me represents what's expected of people, expected to be straight laced, suited and booted following a narrative with out question. Spike's eyes, very expressive, deep but guarded and full of humour at times, a man full to the brim of ever changing emotions within, swirling about. He was very human and showed his many sides, that's a rare gift to the world. We all have many sides to us but are scared to let them show because of what society will say..... I'm glad for the likes of Spike Milligan he gives me courage to be my authentic self and to challenge my own narrative and that of society's. I agree its a beautiful thing when the wind changes.... such simplicity.
Not been a Spike fan before but slowly being converted by this candid relaxed interview. His silly sense of humour through manic expressions of life and it’s ways in society attracts you to him. He is comical in his own world displaying to all his thoughts ,giggles of life. Not ever to be taken seriously! Not an idiot!! Breakdowns in his life have made him wiser!!! Thanks Spike for your imput in life and your ‘madness’ and comedy wisdom.
In his outrageous humour Mr M was already a long-standing hero of mine since my youth in the 50s but after this he moved up even further. What a thoroughly 'nice' man! Mad? Wish I was that mad! Wish that I'd known him. Wish that I could have thanked him for installing my own zany sense of humour. (Controlled Idiocy?) Spike did an ace job and it's still in good work order. "Milligan..His part in my maturing as a teenager!" Aided and Abetted by Sellers, Neddy Seagoon and Ben...Ben whom? Ben Teeeen, of course.
Wonderfully frank and honest interview. “It wasn’t me, it was her” typical spike retort, so why did she turn it around? You rose above all the grovelling, greedy, b@stards in life, you were a genius Spike! Thank you for putting the first Irishman in space and for filling my life with laughter.
Love this, there is something comforting in the imperfection it relates to us all and in some way I would not want is any other way. Thanks Mr Milligan for your honesty.
WHAT AN AMAZING INTERVIEW. THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THIS ANY MORE. INCREDIBLY HONEST AND PENETRATING. HOW FASCINATING TO SEE THE 'REAL' SPIKE, OR RATHER, THE SIDE OF HIM THAT HE RARELY REVEALED. AN ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS JEWEL....PRICELESS.
Spike Milligan was an extremely complex person later in life and turned more to writing, poetry and music to escape from the world around him, especially when attacks of deep depression were upon him. Although he was the main stay of the Goon Shows it was a terrible strain upon him, both physically and mentally.
Mr milligan a very nice man with his head screwed on the correct way God bless him.This World is short of people like spike miss him and all his exentricities was a very talented man for his era.
I found this an insightful interview that would sadly never happen today. I loved the openness, honesty and at times shear vulnerability. Astounding compared to the inane TV interviews of today - which sadly I have been part of. Shame on me.
I was brought up on Q series. 8 years old to around 15. I just thought that sense of humour was normal. "Put it in the curry!" Genius, and a big hero of mine.
I read the comments below and disagree with the criticisms. Dimbleby was the first man I've ever seen that was able to appreciate the man Milligan, and probe seriously for his heart. His questioning was tough. Spike interpreted 'evasion' correctly as 'moral cowardice,' but answered with brutal honesty. To me Mr Milligan came across as beautifully flawed and refreshingly humble for such a comedic icon. I agree with vvoodee that Spike was a 'treasure.' Kudos to David Dimbleby for doing justice to a difficult subject with rare insight. Bless you Spike Milligan. Thank you for your laughter. Now rest in peace.
A candid and revealing interview with Milligan which deserved to be much longer. He was a deep man, perhaps too deep. I do miss the days when he and Peter Cook were alive and entertaining us.
Thanks for posting this very good interview - most interviews of Spike are in front of a TV audience. An opportunity to understand more about Spike as an individual.
A genius at every level, a poetic God at his best, to laugh with Spike, was to laugh at at life, he was a one off, and the mould is definitely broken. Sleep warm Spike, we all miss you. Clive & Pamela.
Dimbleby is a BBC clone who is accepted by the establishment as a "standard interviewer" In actual fact the whole Dimbleby Family were bred into being BBC/Establishment figures. When people like the Dimblebys come up against someone like Mr. Milligan, they are completely out of their depth. In my humble opinion Spike and the legion of comedians that he inspired, soar high above the intelligence level of the Average.
absolutely correct, Dimbleby seems uncomfortable and clearly out of his comfort zone, what is clear is his struggle to even consider Spike as someone without university education but for some unknown reason has a talent.
Interesting interview series first broadcast in 1974. David Dimbleby best known for political interviewing, here attempts to delve beneath the surface of some well known personalities of the day. This was a series of seven interviews which included politicians Lords Longford, Hailsham and George Brown.The non political comprised of Spike, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Germaine Greer. Well worth repeating.
Nobody could interview Milligan. He made all interviewers look banal and trite and pointless. And it wasn't because he was constantly hilarious. He had a sort of quiet charisma that radiated happiness and sadness in equal measure, as though they were the same thing, and then his occasional shafts of wit were more like light than words.
Extremely impressed that Spike here answers some very difficult searching questions - despite being in my opinion deflective at times in answering some of the more difficult ones, in an honest manner. More interviewers should ask these kind of questions and more people should answer them even when they are uncomfortable questions. If this was encouraged in society people wouldn't have such hang-ups about their faults and perhaps do more about them and not spend every second of their lives worrying too much what other people thought about them.
Whenever I listen to people like Spike, and other folk from that era, the Indian [sic] ‘colonies’ sound like wonderful and romantic places to have been born and raised (perhaps only if you were British?). But in any case it really does highlight just what an absolute mess we have collectively made of our world.
Funnily enough, me too. Spike in this interview is far from eccentric, he is candid and articulate. If anything, there is greater consistency in his take on life than the model that causes him dismay. Spike reasoning is a benchmark for sanity, observation bereft of political correctness. Spike was the antipathy of formulaic entertainment. On a sad note, it is a shame that a mental breakdown is spoken about as a deficiency, where in this case, it is simply the result of Sipke's insight and sensitivity. Clearly Spike would be better company than David in any circumstance.
True sanity, bent by the ill-winds of consumerism. This is what happens to the sane in an insane world is all. Still a celebration of willpower, gifts and tenacity. And the healing joy of a laugh.
How marvellous! - so interesting to watch Spike and listen to those close to him. Funniest man at times - sad at others... I feel a kinship somehow with that guy. See you someday Spike, I hope! ... I met him once in Hastings at a poetry reading - funny and intelligent. Happy memories watching him.
Just when I thought I could not possibly love this man any more than I already did he states this: "I didn't manufacture western society and I don't quite agree with it. I'm in it, BUT I LOCK MYSELF UP FOR DAYS ...I read books... Play music... ...and I DON'T NEED PEOPLE" "...The society that's been created is a very material one and happiness cannot be allied to materialism" My soul and his soul... We come from the same place I felt an instant love for this man long before I knew his personal views on anything... Something about him was "familiar" to me... Before I ever knew a thing about him personally.. He is literally the male version of me
I grew up listening to The Goons and particularly loved Spike. His contribution to British culture shaped even the royals. He was his own naysayer. In the early sixties I hitchhiked to London to see The Bedsitting Room which was being touted as funniest ever but couldn't afford the ticket. The absurdity fit the objective to goon around. Cheers Spike.
A really deep and insightful look into psyche of Spike Milligan. I love it that Spike opened up, but feel he was still hiding some of his demons and that he did not want to hang out too much of the dirty washing of his life in the interview for public scrutiny. His first wife in particular who left him because she simply could not cope with his mental instability that led up to a nervous breakdown was a wonderful woman who Spike by his own admission truly deeply loved. She was the love of Spike's life. Deep down inside Spike felt so much painful regret, remorse, and guilt for what he had put his wonderful wife through. Spike must have looked within himself and thought, 'Me. I did that. I was the one that drove that wonderful woman, the mother of my children, away. The woman I loved, the woman who meant everything to me in this life. Yes, it was me, I did that.' Considering himself a failure because of that stupidity, often wishing he could simply turn back the clock to put things to rights, must have gnawed on his conscious. Spikes second wife who died of cancer was not mentioned either, being another wonderful woman, and that too must have had a profound affect on him both emotionally and mentally. An intellectual eccentric none conformist, I liked Spikes viewpoint and can admire his desire to retreat from materialism into a world of simple living devoid of adults and more attune to children and nature. This is a retreat not so much from society or responsibility generally but as a means of alleviating high stress levels and disorder in his life that he had suffered from for years mainly due to others pressuring him beyond his capabilities leading him to spates of depression and mental instability. God bless Spike. He made his mistakes, but under the duress of intense pressure that caused him to mentally deteriorate. How refreshing it was that Spike recovered from his condition, realising its cause and directing his life to minimise a potential reoccurrence. On the whole Spike Milligan was a good man who stuck with his phenomenal talent, and who tried his best under very strenuous circumstances in his life not only for himself, but for his children and others. RIP Spike. Thank you for all you gave us. We miss you.
Utterly beguiling. His depth of pain, when it surfaces, seems to render him more childlike than he professes. His views about Western civilisation show the extent of his intellectual independence. Truly a multifaceted genius, in my humble opinion.
David Dimbleby was not up to the task of interviewing Spike and uneducated as he was, Spike seems to be far more intelligent than Dimbleby. and superior in his general understanding of life. A golden opportunity was lost here as it was rare to find Spike in a serious mood. Still it's very interesting.
i thought dimbleby did a great job probing spike. he got spike to open up about his "madness", his mood swings, his early life, and even happiness itself.
I'd say Spike was a very difficult man to interview. His secretary who was with him for many years wrote a very interesting and affectionate biography of Spike after his death. There were many times when he was almost impossible to deal with and she thought that his chronic insomnia had a great effect on his behavior. Finally when he was completely exhausted he would lock himself into his office and with the aid of powerful sleeping pills he might sleep for three straight days. Maybe the war had a lasting effect on him.
Tim mcCaffrey spike does go into these things, he's said he was called "difficult" in those days because of his depression, no doubt the insomnia was a symptom of that depression. spike has said the war made him aware of his condition, something that was there all along. david foster wallace (also a brilliant man with depression) explains how there are "good days" and "bad days" and how there is little control over which way it will go, or how long it will last. spike also said about the powerful sedatives he took, or were prescribed, that they would shut him down long enough the symptoms would calm down.
I'm only repeating what his long time secretary wrote in her biography of Spike. I can't remember her name right now but she is still alive. It is plain to anyone who has read this book that this lady liked Spike very much, but she said he was hopeless as regards his financial affairs and tried to avoid any responsibility in general. He was also she said the kindest and most generous man she had ever met. The man was a genius and I love his work.
How would you have interviewed Spike then Tim.Tell us,we are dying to know.Set out your questions for us to evaluate and see if we all agree.Out of your depth Timmy my old tipper.Jim.Liverpool.
Spike was a man of character I would aspire too , He was sensitive and had to deal with awful matters , very much like we all do, I regard him as a brother , Funny beyond anything i could conceive, he made fun of the rubbish, fabulous man, He said waking up and seeing rain or another day was far more important , He was right!!
In my 30s and find myself watching due to his manic depression aka Bipolar. Have this myself and watched a few videos on him- can see the traits and like him on Lithium- . He died of Kidney failure- wonderif the Lithium done this which I fear as a known thing with Lithium
There was a part where spike was talking about being happier with plants and animals rather than people and all the problem created by them. He admitted that he could, perhaps, be accused of coward's. My opinion is that, without good reason, one would not want to place oneself in physical danger, and yet we often, allow ourself's to be placed in mental danger? So Spike, being out of step with our mad, often crawl, society provably means that your more sane than the rest of us.
delightful to listen to this . hes being a bit serious here. his childhood stories were great to know. the interview with gay burne was hilarious . not serious a second...wonderful
A really nice interview. A lot of people having a go at Dimbleby here, but I thought he was sensitive and moreover he didn't get in the way of Milligan. No eyebrows though.
