| Hancock's Half Hour was one of the most successful series ever made, and it created an international star. With his impeccable timing and brilliantly subtle shifts in intonation, Tony Hancock could create sound pictures that bore the unmistakable hallmark of a genius. The BBC broadcast eighty hours of Hancock on radio and television between 1954 and 1961. Now BBC Radio Collection is publishing, in chronological order, all 74 surviving radio shows from the BBC Archives. An accompanying booklet contains an introduction from the show's writers Galton & Simpson, a history of the show with contemporary press extracts and photos, episode synopses for all shows including the missing ones, and biographies of the cast. Seventeen shows remain from the fourth series, published here on nine CDs in a luxury box set. They are: Back from Holiday, The Bolshoi Ballet, The Income Tax Demand, Michelangelo 'Ancock, Anna and the King of Siam, Cyrano de Hancock, The Expresso Bar, Hancock's Happy Christmas, The Diary, The 13th of the Series, Almost a Gentleman, The Old School Reunion, The Wild Man of the Woods, Agricultural Hancock, Hancock in the Police, The Emigrant, The Last of the McHancocks, From Hancock connoisseur to first-time fan, this completely comprehensive collection makes for essential - and fantastically funny - listening. A worthy tribute to the comic genius of Tony Hancock. |
