Hancock's Half Hour: The Very Best Episodes Volume 1

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Created by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1954, Hancock's Half Hour was the radio vehicle that made Tony Hancock a household name. To "Ericsson the Viking" in which Sid tries to persuade him to ditch comedy and take up historical dramas. For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare--poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. This particular CD contains four of the best episodes from the series – 2 on each CD, making up two hours listening in total (easy maths, even for me). In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money.

Most memorable is a scene in which Tony finds a young boy, who he usually despises for disrupting his Punch and Judy performances, standing bedraggled, having been caught in a terrible downpour on the seafront. The first, that iconic radio series, running from 1954 to 59 for a phenomenal 103 episodes, always began with those famous low tuba rumblings, while Hancock stepped up to the mic to stutter 'Hhhhhhancock's Half Hour', perhaps in a nod to his nervousness.

What makes for really good, classic comedy is often the insights into human nature and its frailties that underlie it. However, if you had to pinpoint the first well-known British sitcom, the one that broke the mould, the one that still holds relevance to this day, it would surely be Hancock's Half Hour. Tony Hancock has been unfairly criticised for his decisions, to leave out members of the radio series for the television show.

Imagine having three life-coaches who had been through the toughest mental and physical challenges; a crack team of problem-solvers who knew in their day job that one mistake could be the difference between life - and death.Chaperoning him to shelter in an ice cream parlour, Hancock has something of a silent Chaplin-esque stand-off with the ice cream man as he is served a 'Piltdown Glory'. The first show, “The Last of the McHancocks” is a good opener, although most of the humour relies on some sense of Scotland and the Scottish ‘character’ (filled with rather funny stereotypes of course so not for the sensitive Scot). However, a lot of the problems that plagued the series stemmed from the fact that the episodes were pre-recorded and then shown to an audience on monitors. Hancock was blessed with a wonderfully expressive face for television comedy which complimented his terrific voice. This section contains a synopsis of all epsiodes of Hancock's Half Hour, Hancock and the ITV Series.