Over 30 brilliant BBC recordings, including TV shows, radio highlights and a wealth of previously unreleased material

Tony Hancock was one of Britain's best-loved and most influential postwar comedians. Collected here are some of the very best radio and TV episodes from Hancock's Half Hour, plus celebrations, compilations, interviews, original dramas and documentaries - many of which have never before been available on audio.

There's the debut show from the radio series, The First Night Party, introduced by writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson; and the last ever BBC television show, The Succession - Son and Heir. Also included are four new-to-audio TV episodes - The Oak Tree, The Train Journey, The Tycoon and The Lift - as well as many other television favourites: The Flight of the Red Shadow, The Wrong Man, The Economy Drive, Lord Byron Lived Here, The Cold, The Emigrant, The Baby Sitters, The Poison Pen Letters, The Bedsitter, The Bowmans, The Radio Ham and The Blood Donor.

Two programmes introduced by Galton and Simpson, The Best of Hancock's Half Hour (Radio) and The Best of Hancock's Half Hour (TV) showcase the show's finest moments, and more classic clips can be found in Unique Hancock, an extended version of the vintage 1973 vinyl LP complete with commentary and linking narration. And in Steve Punt's Hancock Cuttings, included here for the first time on audio, the comedian and Tony Hancock fan presents a host of oddities and rarities featuring the lad himself.

The life and wonderful work of Hancock, his writers, and fellow radio actor Kenneth Williams are commemorated in three never-before-released documentaries - The New Elizabethans: Tony Hancock, Celebration: Galton & Simpson and Great Lives: Kenneth Williams. Also making their audio debut are two poignant radio dramas, Hancock's Last Half Hour (starring Richard Briers as Hancock) and Hancock's Ashes (starring Ewan Bailey as Willie Rushton).

Finally, we go behind-the scenes with Galton and Simpson in a trio of insightful interviews - a fascinating 30-minute discussion, specially recorded for BBC Audio in 2003, and the radio programmes In Conversation with Galton and Simpson and The Complete and Utter History of Hancock's Half Hour, in which the duo chat to Paul Jackson and Paul Merton respectively.

Please note: due to the age of these recordings, the sound quality may vary.

Production credits

Hancock's Half Hour written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson

Produced by Dennis Main Wilson (radio) and Duncan Wood (TV)

Theme and incidental music composed by, and orchestra conducted by, Wally Stott

Collection compiled by Martin Gibbons

With thanks to the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society

Contents

The First Night Party

The Best of Hancock's Half Hour (Radio)

The Best of Hancock's Half Hour (TV)

The Succession: Son and Heir

The Flight of the Red Shadow

The Wrong Man

The Oak Tree

The Economy Drive

Lord Byron Lived Here

The Train Journey

The Tycoon

The Cold

The Emigrant

The Baby Sitters

The Poison Pen Letters

The Bedsitter

The Bowmans

The Radio Ham

The Lift

The Blood Donor

Celebration: Galton and Simpson

Unique Hancock

Hancock's Last Half Hour

In Conversation with... Galton and Simpson

Interview with Galton and Simpson

The Complete and Utter History of Hancock's Half Hour

The New Elizabethans: Tony Hancock

Steve Punt's Hancock Cuttings

Hancock's Ashes

Great Lives: Kenneth Williams