Eccles is the name of a comedy character, created and performed by Spike Milligan, from the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show. Very occasionally he was referred to as 'Mad Dan' Eccles. Terence Alan Milligan, KBE, (16 April 1918–27 February 2002), known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish writer, artist, musician, humanitarian, comedian, and poet. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The word comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humor with an intent to provoke laughter in general). ... The Goon Show was a popular and influential British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ...

Eccles was one of the show's secondary characters, but like his counterpart Bluebottle (portrayed by Peter Sellers), Eccles became extremely popular and he is regarded as epitomising the show's humour. Milligan visualised Eccles as a tall, lanky, amiable, well-meaning, but incredibly stupid teenager who usually found himself involved — usually alongside Bluebottle — in one of the nefarious schemes created by arch-villain Hercules Grytpype-Thynne. It has been suggested that Ruxton Hayward be merged into this article or section. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ... “Stupid” redirects here. ... For other uses of the term, see Villain (disambiguation). ... Hercules Grytpype-Thynne was a character from the British 1950s comedy radio programme the Goon Show. ...

It is alleged that Eccles was based upon a friend of Spike's, Ron Echles who resided in Magdalene Road, Bexhill-on-Sea. Spike couldn't properly pronounce Echles' name and thus was affectionately known as "Eccles". Bexhill-on-Sea is a town and seaside resort in the county of East Sussex, in the south of England. ...

Physique

Eccles was often reffered to as being something other than an ordinary human. Seagoon once stated of him "He was the nearest thing I had seen to a human being without actually being one". Another time, in a conversation about how Lurgi could easily kill every human in England, Eccles quips, "Then I'm okay, fellers!" He is also often implied to have more than the usual number of legs. For instance, in Napoleon's Piano, Neddie saws off four of his legs, believing them to have been the legs of the piano. In The Greenslade Story, Grytpype-Thynne mentions that Eccles is colour-blind.

The Eccles character and his distinctive voicing were strongly influenced by Milligan's childhood love for the classic Walt Disney cartoons and specifically Disney's anthropomorphic buffoon dog character Goofy. However Eccles transcended the denseness of Goofy, being instead more like a small child with adult impulses, which may explain his friendship with Bluebottle. His special talent is for taking things he hears literally, with humorous and occasionally insightful results. Thus: For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ... The term Buffoon is used to define someone who provides amusement through inappropriate appearance and/or behavior. ... It has been suggested that Goofy holler be merged into this article or section. ...

 Seagoon (finding Eccles in a coal cellar): What are you doing here? Eccles: Everybody's gotta be somewhere. 

and in the same conversation (from The Last Goon Show of All):

 Seagoon: After you deliver the coal, you're supposed to go back to the cart! Eccles: You mean I should let go of the sack? Seagoon: Yes! Eccles: But they said they was givin' me the sack! 

During an arctic expedition in Scradge:

 Seagoon: Now then Dr. Eccles, any cases of frozen feet? Eccles: You didn't order any cases of frozen feet! 

Early cameo at the Beginning of The Great Art Mystery : The Case Of The Fake Neddie Seagoons:

 Eccles: What's going on here!? Thynne: Nothing. Eccles: Oh I'd better go then. Bill: The part of the mysterious stranger was played by Eccles. The rest of him was played by Rawicz and Landauer. 

Eccles really belongs to a tradition of comic characters that includes Stan Laurel and stretches to Woody Boyd. Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as part of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th Century until post-World War II. // Stan Laurel... Woodrow Tiberius Boyd, was a character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Woody Harrelson. ...

When Milligan wrote The Idiot Weekly, an Australian version of The Goon Show, Eccles often made appearances in the script. Ray Barrett, Michael Eisdell, John Bluthal, Bobby Limb, Reg Goldsworthy and Spike Milligan at a recording session of The Idiot Weekly in 1958. ... The Goon Show was a popular and influential British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ...