Distributor:
Roadshow Entertainment
(Region 4) Writer: Galton and Simpson CastTony
Hancock Extras: Yes Easter Eggs: No Certificate: PG
By 1961 Tony Hancock, still the most popular comedy star on
the box had tired of his hugely
successful Hancock’s Half Hour
format which saw him partnered
with Sid James in weekly
situations, Hancock actually
felt threatened by the
popularity of James’s cockney
jack-the-lad character.
With this in mind he ordered his writers Ray Galton and
Alan Simpson to refine the
borders of his situation comedy,
in doing so they topped even the
brilliance of Hancock’s Half
Hour, this series is really
where Hancock’s homburg hatted
dour persona comes from. This
awesome new release from
Roadshow brings us five classic
episodes from this series
including probably the most
famous Hancock episode ever The
Blood Doner (a pint?,
that’s nearly an armful, are
you raving mad)
Fantastically
funny and detailing Hancock’s attempts to become a blood doner it’s
still not the best episode on display here , that honour would have to
go to The Bowmans (obviously based on popular radio soap The Archers),
in this Hancock plays old Joshua Merryweather, wise old sage of the
village, Hancock though can’tresist
bumping up his part and adding lines here there and everywhere, much to
the disgust of his fellow cast members, however when the producers
decide to sackHancock and
kill his character off they are unprepared for the public outcry it
invokes and are forced to bring him back as his twin brother. It’s
unfair to single out any one episode though as they really are all
classics, the other three episodes are The Bedsitter (this is the famous
Hancock on his own in his bedsit with only improving books for company
episode),
The Radio Ham (Hancock turns radio enthusiast and discovers
a striken vessel off the coast of Sierra Leone, of course his attempts
to help don’t actually do so.) and The Lift (Hancock trapped in a lift
with 8 other people).
Guest stars are high quality with Patrick Cargill appearing
in a couple as well as June Whitfield as the nurse in the Blood Doner.
Definitely an essential release in the TV Classics pantheon
and one that every collection should include.
Main extra is an
illuminating interview with writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
