[1][2][3] Whilst the BBC destroyed most broadcast recordings it produced for its various outlets, BBC Transcription Services often retained their copy and many of the surviving radio programmes from the 1940s onwards owe their survival to the fact that Transcription Services issued the material.
As witness Ted Kendall's Technical Notes included in The Goon Show Compendium box sets, the 16-inch discs were superseded by 10-inch and later 12-inch vinyl LPs from the mid-1950s onward.
These discs were edited to run to standard lengths, and to remove any content deemed too topical or potentially offensive.
In the case of The Goon Show, for instance, each episode was cut to approximately 29 minutes and 30 seconds.
A later reissue series of Goon Show episodes was cut further to 27 minutes to accommodate commercials.