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Product Description
Review
... distinctively, hilariously Hancock -- Bournemouth Daily Echo, November 4, 2009
Product Description
This title presents two rediscovered episodes of the classic radio series, plus a duo of bonus programmes from the BBC archive: "The Blackboard Jungle" and "The New Secretary" (original version), "In Conversation With...Galton and Simpson" and "Six Characters in Search of an Answer: Tony Hancock". "The Blackboard Jungle" sees Hancock playing a young English master, attempting to tame a class of unruly pupils. Can he win their respect - or will he be distracted by an attractive female teacher? In "The New Secretary", Hancock decides his life is in a mess, so Sid suggests he get a secretary to organise him: ideally a blonde, Anita Ekberg lookalike. But they are both very surprised by who turns up. The master of misery is supported by a star cast including Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques. Also included is a bonus disc containing: "In Conversation With...Galton and Simpson" from 2001, and "Six Characters in Search of an Answer: Tony Hancock" from 2003, which explores the character of Hancock in detail. '...distinctively, hilariously Hancock' - "Bournemouth Daily Echo".
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When the BBC came to present the complete run of Tony Hancock's epic radio series in six box sets, it transpired that a significant number of the original recordings were absent from the archives. One of these - "The Stolen Petrol", from series four - turned up in time for inclusion out-of-sequence in the Series Six box-set. This CD contains two further, newly-rediscovered episodes ("The Blackboard Jungle" and "The New Secretary") which were recorded at home by a listener.
Naturally, as a keen fan of Hancock, I greatly looked forward to the release of these episodes on CD, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed here. Both are good episodes, and "The New Secretary" is recognised as a pivotal moment, marking the introduction of Hattie Jacques, a development which is widely recognised as transforming Hancock's Half Hour from a good to a truly great series.
This said, a version of this show did already exist in the archives - a revised version recorded for sale overseas by the BBC Transciption Service. These transcription recordings, which are included in the Series Six box set, differed from the originals by removing specifically topical and home-based references. They are often regarded as inferior to the original recordings of the episodes, though the "New Secretary" TS recording is actually quite good.
The existence of the TS version can cause some confusion - hearing 'The New Secretary' on this CD, you might think that you had already heard it, and that it is not really a 'lost' episode at all. In fact, though, this is a genuinely "lost" episode, because the version previously issued (on cassette as well as in the Series Six box set) was actually the TS version, not the original version as presented here. (I hope this clarifies things).
The release of these newly discovered recordings should have been a great moment, so why, then, my sense of disapppontment here? First, the recording quality falls significantly short of the studio recordings contained in the box sets. Whilst not surprising, this does detract from listeners' enjoyment, particularly with "The New Secretary", which suffers from such an annoying background hiss that you might decide to listen to the Transcription Services version instead. Second, the BBC chose to expand this from a single to a double CD set by including, on the second disc, two Hancock retrospectives, neither of which is particularly good.
If, like me, you're a die-hard Hancock fan, you're probably going to buy this anyway, but please be warned that both the recording quality of the lost episodes, and the quality of the second disc retrospective, give significant scope for disappointment.
Naturally, as a keen fan of Hancock, I greatly looked forward to the release of these episodes on CD, but I have to say that I was a little disappointed here. Both are good episodes, and "The New Secretary" is recognised as a pivotal moment, marking the introduction of Hattie Jacques, a development which is widely recognised as transforming Hancock's Half Hour from a good to a truly great series.
This said, a version of this show did already exist in the archives - a revised version recorded for sale overseas by the BBC Transciption Service. These transcription recordings, which are included in the Series Six box set, differed from the originals by removing specifically topical and home-based references. They are often regarded as inferior to the original recordings of the episodes, though the "New Secretary" TS recording is actually quite good.
The existence of the TS version can cause some confusion - hearing 'The New Secretary' on this CD, you might think that you had already heard it, and that it is not really a 'lost' episode at all. In fact, though, this is a genuinely "lost" episode, because the version previously issued (on cassette as well as in the Series Six box set) was actually the TS version, not the original version as presented here. (I hope this clarifies things).
The release of these newly discovered recordings should have been a great moment, so why, then, my sense of disapppontment here? First, the recording quality falls significantly short of the studio recordings contained in the box sets. Whilst not surprising, this does detract from listeners' enjoyment, particularly with "The New Secretary", which suffers from such an annoying background hiss that you might decide to listen to the Transcription Services version instead. Second, the BBC chose to expand this from a single to a double CD set by including, on the second disc, two Hancock retrospectives, neither of which is particularly good.
If, like me, you're a die-hard Hancock fan, you're probably going to buy this anyway, but please be warned that both the recording quality of the lost episodes, and the quality of the second disc retrospective, give significant scope for disappointment.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As a keen Hancock fan, I was especially delighted at finding the lost episode The Blackboard Jungle, which BBC 7 has not (yet) re-broadcast.
14 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
why the new secretary is regarded as lost is something of a mystery as its on vol. 10 of the BBC cassette release but not on the complete box set which appeared some years later... only 3 or 4 years later. i think "misplaced then found again in order to sqeeze a few more quid out of people who shelled out a small fortune on the cd boxed sets" is more accurate, stone me! anyway, 5 stars for this release as its an absolute joy.
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