In the 1950s, Tony Hancock was undoubtedly the most popular comic actor in Great Britain. His success ran to six BBC radio series of Hancock's Half Hour broadcast between 1954 and 1959 and seven BBC television series broadcast between 1956 and 1961, all of which were written by the comedy partnership of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
The two digitally remastered radio episodes featured here originate from Hancock’s final radio series in 1959. Both episodes also feature Hancock’s long term radio co stars Sid James and Bill Kerr and were not released on record until 1980 when BBC records began the first of a regular run of Hancock’s Half Hour album releases.
Hancock Joins The Poetry Society In Classic Radio Comedy
The Poetry Society finds Hancock hosting an evening of abstract poetry in his home with his new avant-garde friends. True to form, Hancock doesn’t want Sid and Bill involved in case they embarrass him, however not even Hancock can be prepared for a strange turn in events.
Sid James latest money making scheme in Sid’s Mystery Tours sees him persuading Hancock to become director of his guided tour company. The only problem is the company doesn’t possess a coach, which subsequently means trouble for Hancock and Bill.
Galton and Simpson Push Listeners Imagination With Hancock's Half Hour Scripts
Each featured episode on this release is true to the vinyl original and doesn't include the opening and closing theme tune. The comedy genius remains intact however and the release still serves as a fine introduction to "The Lad Himself" - Tony Hancock.
Hancock along with James and Kerr are all in fine form here, their rapport with each other generating laughs at regular intervals as they deliver Galton and Simpson’s entertaining and sometimes caricatured scripts.
Like Spike Milligan with The Goon Show, Galton and Simpson are never afraid to push the boundaries of the listener'simagination with comic strip based action. There are references to Bill climbing in and out of the sideboard in The Poetry Society, while the 1917 stylised coach Hancock and Bill run their business with in Sid’s Mystery Tours chugs along with a series of bangs to great comic effect. “Don’t all crowd at one side of the bus” warns Hancock to his paying passengers, “You’ll have the springs off!”
Fenella Fielding And Warren Mitchell Feature In Hancock's Half Hour
Both episodes on Hancock’s Half Hour: Sid’s Mystery Tours / The Poetry Society feature two supporting actors who would later go on to find greater fame on TV and film.
Fenella Fielding starred alongside Norman Wisdom in the film Follow a Star and would later captivate audiences in Carry On Screaming and can be heard in The Poetry Society as the waspish Greta who regards Bill as a bit of a savage.
Warren Mitchell, who would later star in the Johnny Speight penned television series Till Death Us Do Part as east end bigot Alf Garnett makes two fabulous early performances here. Firstly Mitchell shows up as the lisping intellectual leader of The Poetry Society, Gregory, before turning in an appearance as a representative of London Transport in Sid’s Mystery Tours. In both cases the roles display his versatility as a character actor.
Download Classic Episodes Of Hancock's Half Hour To Your iPod
Hancock’s Half Hour: Sid’s Mystery Tours / The Poetry Society has been reissued with original cover artwork by Michael Lye and a vinyl stylised compact disc by Vintage Beeb. It has a total running time of 50 minutes, and now is also available as an audio download from AudioGO or iTunes.
The release serves as a great introduction to Tony Hancock and would make an ideal gift for any fan of classic comedy or indeed a Hancock connoisseur who purchased the original vinyl version of the album back in 1980.
