Bayswater birthplace of The Goon Show and Hancock’s Half Hour on sale for £6.5 million - see inside

A Victorian townhouse in Bayswater, Westminster, where iconic BBC comedies The Goon Show, Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son, has been put on the housing market for £6.5 million. The sprawling 5,697 sq.ft residence at 9 Orme Square near Queensway was used by some of the most famous writing names in British broadcasting over decades.

The property became known as the “fun factory” when it was bought by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes in 1962 and was used by the scriptwriter co-operative Associated London Scripts (ALS). Aside from housing the writing teams for The Goon Show, Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son, the residence also boasted occupants Terry Nation, who wrote for Doctor Who in the 60s and Dennis Spooner, who wrote scripts for marionette series Thunderbirds and Stingray.

In later years, Spike Milligan resided in three rooms in the house but sold his interest in the property back to Sykes after a well documented mental breakdown in the 70s. Eric Sykes continued to work in the townhouse until his death in 2012 and the his family are currently the owners who have decided to put the property on the market

The property has two blue placards from The Heritage Foundation on the building to celebrate  both Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan, however those features aren’t listed  as a selling point for the property. Speaking to Yahoo!, Tim Macpherson, head of residential sales at Carter Jonas, said: “On the doorstep of Kensington Gardens and Queensway, undergoing regeneration into Bayswater village, 9 Orme Court is in a prime location that has become one of the most sought after up-and-coming places to live in the capital.”

Gary Hersham, founding director of Beauchamp Estates, took more of a pop culture approach when discussing the property, saying it “would make an outstanding London townhouse on the doorstep of Kensington Gardens, perfect for comedy and Dr Who fans alike.”

What features does the townhouse in Bayswater include?

Listed as a joint sale by agents Beauchamp Estates and Carter Jonas, the BBC comedy birthplace is  expected to be turned into a six bedroom family home and could be worth more than £20 million when converted. Features include high ceilings, Dutch gables, stone dressed chamfered bays, first floor balcony and entrance canopy. It has two Heritage Foundation Blue Plaques celebrating Milligan and Sykes’s lives at the property, installed in 2003 and 2013 respectively