Bagpuss rag doll called Madeleine. The wooden woodpecker bookend became the drily academic Professor Yaffle (based on the philosopher Bertrand Russell, whom Postgate had once met), while the mice carved on the side of the "mouse organ" (a small mechanical pipe organ that played rolls of music) woke up and scurried around, singing in high-pitched voices. Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner provided the voices of Madeleine and Gabriel respectively, and put together and performed all the folk songs. All the other voices (including the narrator and one out-of-tune mouse) were provided by Postgate, who also wrote the stories. The toys discussed
A Show Called Fred and "Son of Fred". The 1995 convention of the Goon Show Preservation Society was billed as "A Weekend Called Fred", followed in 2003 by its successor, the "Great Grandson of a Weekend Called Fred", held in Egham, Surrey. A Show Called Fred A Show Called Fred was the successor series to "The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d". It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in the London area. It was 25 minutes plus adverts. It was predominantly a sketch comedy attempting to translate the audio antics of "The Goon Show" into visual antics in bizarre and often surreal comedy sketches