Showing results by author "Alan Simpson" in All Categories

Tony Hancock stars with Sid James and Kenneth Williams in the legendary BBC Radio comedy series. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock’s Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane life of “the lad ‘imself”. Aided and abetted by Sid James, Andrée Melly, Bill Kerr, and Kenneth Williams, Hancock would enter into the spirit of each episode with characteristic dolefulness.

A fascinating collection of rare and remastered broadcast material starring Tony Hancock, Sid James and others. This first volume features the recently discovered soundtrack of 'The Horror Serial', a television episode of Hancock's Half Hour from 1959, plus remastered versions of the following radio shows: 'The Blackboard Jungle', 'The Student Prince' and 'The Test Match'. Also included are previously unreleased editions of 'Variety Bandbox', 'Calling All Forces' and 'Educating Archie'.

Kevin McNally stars in five brand new recordings of original Hancock's Half Hour scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.Whilst Hancock's Half Hour was an enormously popular radio sitcom in the 1950s, many of the episodes were not retained in the BBC Sound Archive and are believed to be lost. Now, five of them have been recreated by BBC Radio 4, with Kevin McNally taking the role made famous by Tony Hancock. Among the supporting cast are Simon Grenall, Kevin Eldon and Robin Sebastian.

Series 3 and 4 of the hilarious radio sitcom starring Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, adapted from the much-loved TV series. Steptoe & Son ran for eight series on BBC TV and even spawned two feature films. Such was the series' popularity in the mid-1960s that the cast specially recorded several episodes for BBC radio. Here, collected together for the first time, are all episodes from the third and fourth radio series, scripted by Hancock's Half Hour creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and adapted by Gale Pedrick.

Tony Hancock stars with Sid James and Kenneth Williams in the legendary BBC Radio comedy series. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock’s Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane life of “the lad 'imself”.

Series 1 and 2 of the hilarious radio sitcom starring Harry H. Corbett and Wilfred Brambell, adapted from the much-loved TV series. Steptoe and Son ran for eight series on BBC TV and even spawned two feature films. Such was the series' popularity in the mid-1960s that the cast specially recorded several episodes for BBC radio. Here, collected together for the first time, are all 21 episodes from the first and second radio series, scripted by Hancock's Half Hour creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

The fourth series of the legendary BBC Radio comedy series starring Tony Hancock. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock's Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane life of "the lad 'imself". Aided and abetted by Sid James, Bill Kerr Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques, Hancock would enter into the spirit of each episode with characteristic dolefulness.

Here are a further four original television soundtracks from the BBC's Hancock series. Once again, Tony Hancock stars as the loveable curmudgeon in four installments written by the character's creators, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The episodes featured here are "The Missing Page" (11.3.60), "Poison Pen Letters" (6.5.60), "Lord Byron Lived Here" (9.10.59), and "The Succession: Son and Heir" (30.6.61).

The complete fifth series of the legendary BBC Radio comedy series starring Tony Hancock. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock's Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane life of 'the lad 'imself'. Aided and abetted by Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques, Hancock would enter into the spirit of each episode with characteristic dolefulness.

Series five & six of the BBC radio sitcom starring Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, adapted from the much-loved TV series. Steptoe and Son ran for eight series on BBC TV and even spawned two feature films. Such was the series' popularity in the mid-1960s that the cast specially recorded several episodes for BBC radio. Here, collected together for the first time, are all episodes from the fifth and sixth radio series, scripted by Hancock's Half Hour creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

The complete final series of the ground-breaking BBC Radio comedy starring Tony Hancock - plus five bonus episodes. Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock's Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. Each week listeners would be admitted to the sometimes fantastical, sometimes mundane life of 'the lad 'imself'.

In this fourth treasury of rare archive material, our irrepressible hero forms an association to save Fred’s Pie Stall in a newly restored 1959 radio episode of Hancock’s Half Hour. From the BBC TV series comes The Italian Maid (1959), in which Tony and Sid are bowled over by the lovely Silvano. Also included in this treasury are interviews with Paul Merton, Roger Wilmut and Freddie Hancock, who all talk about the life and career of Tony Hancock.

A fascinating collection of rare and remastered radio and TV material starring Tony Hancock. This second treasury of rare archive material is spearheaded by four newly restored radio episodes of Hancock's Half Hour, all from 1956: 'The New Secretary', 'Anna and the King of Siam', 'The Stolen Petrol' and 'The Expresso Bar'. Starring alongside Tony Hancock are Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.

Kevin McNally and Andy Secombe star in five more brand-new recordings of original Hancock's Half Hour scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Hancock's Half Hour was an enormously popular radio sitcom in the 1950s, but several of the episodes were not retained in the BBC Sound Archive and are believed to be lost. They've now been recreated by BBC Radio 4.

Kevin McNally stars in five further brand new recordings of original Hancock's Half Hour scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Hancock's Half Hour was an enormously popular radio sitcom in the 1950s, but several of the episodes were not retained in the BBC Sound Archive and are believed to be lost. Following the successful first series, five more episodes have been recreated by BBC Radio 4, with Kevin McNally once more reprising the role made famous by Tony Hancock.

Ray Galton and Alan Simpson present, with personal recollections, a comic feast of Hancock's Half Hour.

"A pint? That's very nearly an armful!" This classic line has echoed through the halls of comedy legend since it was first uttered by Anthony Aloycious Hancock in "The Blood Donor". Now the original soundtrack from that famous episode is collected together with three others from the same series (Hancock's last for BBC TV) featuring a guest cast including Michael Aspel, Patrick Cargill, June Whitfield, Frank Thornton, and Hugh Lloyd.

Long absent from the BBC archives, the classic Hancock's Half Hour radio episodes "The New Secretary" (original version) and "The Blackboard Jungle" were recently rediscovered as "off-air" recordings. They have now been digitally remastered, and are presented here for the very first time, along with two bonus archive features.

An all-star cast celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Galton & Simpson writing partnership in four new recordings of classic Comedy Playhouse scripts, introduced by Paul Merton.

Mitchell & Webb star in "Impasse". A narrow country lane has no room for two vehicles to pass. Two vehicles meet head on. But which one is going to back up?

This third treasury of rare archive material presents another four newly restored radio episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour: ‘The 13th of the Series’ (1957), ‘The Male Suffragettes’ (1958), ‘The Sleepless Night’ (1958) and ‘The Last Bus Home’ (1959). Starring once again alongside Tony Hancock are Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams. Three further editions of the radio hit Calling All Forces, from 1952, feature Hancock as co-compere with Charlie Chester, with a bill featuring Robb Wilton and many other light entertainment stars of the day.