Hancock's Half Hour: The Very Best Episodes Volume 1

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According to Hancock's dependable Australian side-kick, Bill Kerr, recordings had to be regularly halted because the cast were laughing so much as Sid James's, Sidney Balmoral James (the middle name a nod to the star's break-out role in The Lavender Hill Mob) twisted Hancock for all he was worth. It is an iconic photograph but it doesn't really convey the lasting appeal of Hancock's character, which essentially lies within a certain childlike vulnerability that he always managed to convey, even in the character's most arrogant moments.

The BBC won't show them again because there aren't enough gay, black, lesbian or disabled characters. Hearst UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 30 Panton Street, Leicester Square, London, SW1Y 4AJ. always makes me laughs when he starts singing coughs and sneezes spreads diseases, also finding the guy in the bed next to him is so similar to him and they end up saying quotes to eachother, and being told that blood is the same world over by the nurse - "I did not come here for a lecture on communism, young lady!

The people of Japan believe that everyone has an ikigai - a reason for being; the thing that gets you out of bed each morning.

Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Starting life in the 1950's as a radio sitcom, 'Hancock's Half Hour' was the second sitcom to be broadcast on British television, just behind 'Pinwright's Progress'. Lady Don't Fall Backwards is the name of the mystery crime thriller Tony is reading in the iconic Hancock's Half Hour television episode The Missing Page . This particular CD contains four of the best episodes from the series – 2 on each CD, making up two hours listening in total (easy maths, even for me). For a lot of movies or TV series that we attempt to revisit later on in our lives, there's an element of 'You really had to be there' - yet somehow, Hancock's adventures spanning the mid-fifties to very early sixties retain a kind of ageless beauty, standing in the comedy landscape like a great old castle - they seem to exist on a higher plane.

It is a bit hard to judge the early episodes of "Hancock's Half Hour" as the episodes from the first and second series are mainly missing. Kevin McNally otherwise starred as Tony Hancock for these remakes, truly channelling the lad himself in his performance. From "The New Nose" where Tony resorts to desperate measures to change his old nose that happens to be the height of hilarity according to all the girls he dates!

This 1950s series remains an affectionate milestone in television comedy, in its entertaining snippets of the life of egomaniac and resident moaner of Cheam, Anthony Aloysius Hancock. This resulted in Williams playing his other characters in some of the later radio episodes (such as Edwardian Fred and the Vicar). In 1965 Hancock had been reunited with his former comedy partner when he and James recorded some of their adventures for release on LP in front of a full audience; The Missing Page and, significantly, The Reunion Party. We are delighted to be back at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith on Sat 4th November for three more Hancock's Half Hours on the big screen and again on the 9th December for a Christmas special.In The New Secretary, Hancock decides his life is in a mess, so Sid suggests he get a secretary to organise him: ideally a blonde, Anita Ekberg lookalike.

It does not export to the US although the US has tried to copy the genre, not particularly consistently or well (q. The episodes are certainly low tech by today’s standards, but the characters themselves provide enough visual cues and background noise to entice the modern listener.

This new set includes improved audio quality and extended edits for five episodes, plus a previously unreleased 'mini-episode' recorded to coincide with the 1958 Commonwealth Games. Hancock'a Half Hour was a seminal radio show, that was key to the popularity of radio comedy especially for the BBC.