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Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 3
RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £7.82 (subject to change)
Comic genius as Hancock strikes again
Review date: 2007-04-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
Great comedy written by 2 of the greatest comedy writers in my opinion, Galton & Simpson. 10 great half hour eposides beginning with The Economy Drive where he and Sid arrive back from holiday to find Sid hasn't cancelled the milk and papers and not only that he has left every elecrical appliance in the house running, the only thing he has had cut off is the phone, and as Hancock says that's the only thing you can leave on that doesn't cost anything and it costs to have it reconnected. Then there is the superb Twelve Angry Men where Sid wants to drag out the case as he earns more they than on the outside plus the magnificent speech by Hancock, 'The quality of mercy is not strained......what about Magna Carta? Did she die in vain?"..the quality of this comedy stands the passage of time, they don't make them like this anymore.
Similar Products
- Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 4 [1960]
- Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 2 - The Best Of
- Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 1 [1961]
- Hancock: The Best Of Hancock
- Hancock's Half Hour, the Lost Episodes (Radio Collection)
Reviews
If they can do it for Doctor Who....
Review date: 2006-08-05 Rating: 8 out of 10
Im not going to re-state the obvious as Hancock's genius is there for all to see.
My only complaint and hence why im giving it 4/5 is that the picture quality is very poor at points. If Black and White Doctor Who episodes can be given first class clean up treatment then why not Hancock?
Also, why do they use those awful remade 1986 credits?
Otherwise a superb release. Im just hoping Series 7 (Hancock) gets a re-release with this series so completists can have "The Succession - Son and Heir" (his very last BBC episode which has never been released) can be included.
Then its onto the ATV stuff and the hunt for missing episodes!
Brilliant shows, but this package could have been better
Review date: 2006-06-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
The fifth series of Hancock's Half Hour (HHH) was able to take advantage of the arrival at BBC-Tv (in 1958) of the first Ampex Quadruplex videotape recorders. Now the shows would not have to be performed as transmitted live, and could now be recorded in sections with breaks between to allow preparation time for the performers. This meant that scriptwriters Galton and Simpson could dispense with the 'filler' dialogue previously required to allow shows to segue between scenes. The result is that from series five onward, HHH is a much slicker and pacier production, and this clearly gave an edge to the performances that really lifts these ten sitcoms.
The series opener - 'The Economy Drive' - is a minor masterpiece, and Hancock's exchanges with the self-service canteen cashier (Patricia Hayes, for once not cast as Mrs Cravatte) never falls to get me laughing, though I must have seen it 50 times.
Hancock and Sid James form a sterling comedy partnership, and most of their best exchanges here are (IMHO) superior to those that followed in series six. However, the Hancock 'character' goes increasingly erratic as the series progresses - sometimes grandeloquent and reflective, at other times childish and batty.
All but two of the shows on this issue have appeared on VHS, and it is to see these rarities - 'Spanish Interlude' and 'Football Pools' - that most Hancock fans will want to buy these DVDs. The shows are not the best of the bunch, and it's easy to see why they've been kept to the archives until now.
Now for the bad news: as with some episodes on last year's 'Hancock's Half Hour Volume Two' DVD, several shows seem to have been sourced from the video masters made for the 1980s VHS releases. The giveaway is the fact that back then, the original opening and closing credits were replaced by horrid 'modernised' remakes. For my money, this spoils the overall 'period enjoyment' of the shows. It also suggests that by using 20-year-old video recordings (of the original telerecordings), these DVDs are not giving us as good a picture quality as would be possible of all the shows were re-scanned using state-of-the-art digital transfer technology. When you see the wonders gloriously apparent on 'Dad's Army' and 'Dr Who' DVDs where telerecordings have been given the full digital remastering treatment, one wonders why HHH hasn't been deemed worthy of the same treatment.
While one accepts that to apply a complete digital restoration job to all 10 episodes would probably push the retail price up, there is still no real excuse for BBC DVD using these scrappy 1980s transfers with their naff 'modernised' closing credits. But I won't be returning my copy.
The Lad Himself....
Review date: 2006-04-25 Rating: 10 out of 10
At last....the first release from the BBC to feature a COMPLETE series of Hancock's Half Hour (in this case 10 episodes over 2 discs from series five). All these episodes are strong but there are pearls to be found....namely The Economy Drive , Twelve Angry Men (a parody on the film of the same name) , Lord Byron Lived Here , The Big Night & The Two Murderers.
This was truly a golden time for Hancock's Half Hour - brilliant scripts by Galton & Simpson , Sidney (Balmoral) James and a plethora of superb supporting actors for Hancock to antagonize. Sadly , there was only one more series to come before Hancock initiated the split between himself and Sid James. Soon , after one series called 'Hancock' (which featured the episodes 'The Blood Donor' and 'The Radio Ham' amongst others) he would also close the door on Galton & Simpson. Then in June of 1968 he commited suicide and the world lost a most treasured talent.
excellent comedy, inferior quality DVD
Review date: 2006-04-23 Rating: 2 out of 10
In terms of content, Hancock's Half Hour Volume three contains some of the finest television comedy. The BBC have, however, used prints with inferior picture quality and edited content for the first four episodes on disc one. This spoils the release.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Sid James
Tony Hancock
Creators:
Tony Hancock (Primary Contributor)
Sid James (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503185725
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-04-24
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 290 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)