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Hancock's Half Hour: The Very Best Episodes: v. 1 (Radio Collection) |  | Author: Alan Simpson
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £4.94
as of 15/3/2010 15:05 MDT details
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New (19) Used (2) from £4.94
Seller: chaptersmedia_uk
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 102278
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
ISBN: 056350403X
EAN: 9780563504030
ASIN: 056350403X
Publication Date: September 5, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 Among the best radio comedy shows ever recorded. January 11, 2010
Fiction Fan (Madchester)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a fan of Tony Hancock - particularly his radio work on Hancock's Half Hour with the brilliant scripts of Galton and Simpson - it seems nigh on impossible to choose the "best of the best" for a 2 CD release. That they have come so close in their selection is great news - and offers those who have never heard of Hancock the chance to hear some of his best work without splashing out for the "complete" (or remaining) episodes from each series.
The four episodes selected here are "Sunday afternoon at home" - for many the greatest of them all as it recalls, with rapier-like wit, the mindnumbing tedium of what Sundays used to be like (40 odd years ago), "The Poetry Society" - a total classic, and two minor (in comparison) classics - "Sid's Mystery Tours" and "The wild man of the woods." For myself, I would have chosen "Last of the McHancocks" or "The Americans hit town" or "The unexploded bomb" or "Fred's Pie Stall" or "The grappling game" or....which only goes to show how difficult it must have been to pick just four shows. If you can afford the complete series, go for series 4, 5 and 6. These are simply the best radio comedy shows ever recorded in Britain.
FROM EAST CHEAM December 14, 2009
A. Girvan (surrey United Kingdom)
i am 33 years old so never heard the original series
i got this the other day and while driving around - i could not stop laughing
this is genius
i have ordered the 2 other best of volumes.
 A good introduction to a classic comedy May 22, 2009
Emanon (Derbyshire)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Between 1954 and 1959, across six series, the BBC produced and broadcast over 100 episodes of HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR and created a comedy classic which to a great extent changed radio comedy forever and entertained (it would appear) the entire population during very austere times. Some of the episodes are now lost - gone forever it would seem - but those that remain give a vision of the heartbeat of the nation during that strange post-war era before the sixties swung. As a comedy creation, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock and his motley collection of cohorts - Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Wiliams and more - are comedy giants and the comic situations range from the commonplace to the downright surreal and with precious few of the musical interludes that bedevil much radio comedy of the era.
Coming to it fresh, and wondering what all the fuss is about, you might wonder quite where to start. After all, all of the existing episodes are available in series collections, but these can prove an expensive investment if you're not sure whether the "lad himself" is quite your particular bag, but this is as good a place as any to give it a try, and contains four cracking examples of the series at (as the cover says) its "very best".
SID'S MYSTERY TOURS (Series 6, episode 9) shows the Hancock/James relationship in full force with Hancock - ever gullible - falling for another of Sid's schemes with a classic business buyout scene that sums their characters up perfectly and goes on to leave Hancock holding the bag and trying desperately to entertain some American tourists, with (as the saying goes) "hilarious results".
THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS (Series 4, episode 16) finds Hancock in fed up with the rat race and deciding to get away from it all, only to fall for another of Sid's money-making schemes and find himself (believe it or not) discussing the merits of various loincloths with Kenneth Williams.
23 RAILWAY CUTTINGS (AKA "SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT HOME") (Series 5, episode 14) is a bona fide classic of the situation comedy of boredom from a time when the country did seem to shut down all afternoon and people genuinely had nothing to do but do the crossword, eat Sunday lunch and examine the wallpaper. It might not sound promising, but there's comedy gold in there.
THE POETRY SOCIETY (Series 6, episode 11) highlights Hancock's pretentious side as he tries to find his place amongst the intellectual set and is, as ever, found wanting, but this episode for me is made extra special by a star turn from Bill Kerr and his unforeseen poetic genius.
If you've never heard the radio HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR before, this is a highly recommended purchase and for your money you get two hours of classic comedy from a comic legend in his prime.
Worth buying for new material December 13, 2006
Enoch Sneed (Lisbon, Portugal)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
These 'best' episodes have previously been available on LP record and cassette. These new CD's contain material which was edited out of the original releases - particularly from "Sid's Mystery Tours" and "Sunday Afternoon at Home", while "Wild Man of Woods" includes a lovely verbal slip from Bill Kerr. So if you think you know these episodes, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised to find new lines, and new laughs.
A tour de force ! February 12, 2006
Graham Greenwich (London)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
what else can you say ? Tony Hancock was a genius for his impeccable timing, the cast including Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Hattie Jacques were sublime and the scripts are so well written. This is classic Hancock's Half Hour without the intrusion of later commercial interests.
If you like Hancock buy this !
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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