Publication date: 2004-01-19
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.00
Review The "Vicar of Dibley": v. 1 (Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Creator: Tony Hancock
Publication date: 2001-03-05
Dewey code: 791
RRP: £24.99
Price: £16.07
Review Hancock's Half Hour: Collector's Edition (Series Two: April 1955 - July 1955) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:When Ray Galton and Alan Simpson created Hancock's Half Hour-their first big hit before Steptoe and Son-they needed a supporting cast, and their choices were inspired. Sid James became the quintessential shifty crook, Bill Kerr played Tony Hancock's best friend while Moira Lister became his girlfriend, and as Kenneth Williams intoned a variety of authority-voices-police, magistrates, etc. -another comic star was born. Out of the 16 original programmes from the period under review, the BBC managed to lose six-culpable carelessness-but among the extant 10 there are outright gems, some of which will be unfamiliar even to fans, and many of which would today be banned as hopelessly un-PC. Viz Hancock's cheery greeting: "Morning Charlie. Working? Oh, of course you don't need to, with 28 children!" Or his observation-of some sluggish British workmen building a house-that he's glad they've been provided with shovels complete with arm-rests. Asked for his own address, he replies "I've just moved. They pulled down my house to build a slum". Relayed cold, such comments may not even raise a smile: Hancock's magic was all in the telling, and in the momentum he built up, as in his Monte Carlo rally programme, in which signposts were turned round and bridges blown up. One of the nicest sketches evolves out of him being left to do the housework like Cinderella, while everyone else troops off to the ball. [+]When he died, a victim of depression, in Australia in 1968, Britain lost something irreplaceable: this five-CD set, with its accompanying booklet, makes a splendid memento. The next batch of releases is eagerly awaited. -Betty Tadman.
Creator: Prunella Scales
Publication date: 2007-09-27
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.24
Review Rumpole and the Reign of Terror / Penguin Books Ltd:
Publication date: 2000-11-30
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.51
Review The Goon Show Classics: Vol 18 (BBC Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Creator: Graham Stark
Publication date: 1999-03-01
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £7.00
Price: £7.48
Review The Goon Show Classics: Goon Show and Guests Vol 16 (BBC Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2008-01-07
RRP: £15.99
Price: £9.24
Review Revolting People: Series 2 (BBC Audio) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2007-04-02
RRP: £12.99
Price: £5.75
Review The "Good Life": Mutiny No. 3 (Radio Collection) / John Esmonde & Bob Larbey:
Publication date: 2005-02-07
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.80
Review Ayres on the Air / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2006-08-07
RRP: £12.99
Price: £4.11
Review Hancock's Half Hour, the Lost Episodes (Radio Collection) / Ray Galton & Alan Simpson:
Publication date: 1998-11
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.34
Review Eddie Izzard: Dress To Kill / Laughing Stock Production Ltd:Following his success as stand-up comic and theatrical performer, Eddie Izzard has turned his attentions to the written word. His first book, Dress to Kill, is a series of conversations with writer/presenter David Quantick that claim to reach "deep inside the most original head in Britain". Presented as a mixture of opinion and autobiography, Dress to Kill is a riveting, witty read that features a number of stunning photographs by Steve Double. These capture Izzard on and off the stage in London, New York, and San Francisco, illustrating the subject's colourful persona, not to mention vast wardrobe and astonishing array of nail varnishes. Izzard employs his unique conversational style to describe his journey from his birth in South Yemen through his itinerant childhood to coming out as a transvestite, and finally becoming a comic, media personality, and film star. Those who have seen Izzard perform will immediately recognise the digressive meandering of his stream-of-consciousness anecdotes and monologues. Using this to great effect while discussing such topics as comedy, popular culture, sexuality, and hairy mammals, he generally succeeds in firing the imagination. However, as anyone who has seen his shows and is later asked to "repeat one of his jokes" will discover, delivery of his material is of the essence. Confessing at the end of the book that he doesn't write his act down, we discover why, as occasionally it fails to transfer to the written page. Although not as incisive as the bold claim on the inlay, Dress to Kill reveals the world of and according to Eddie Izzard, a world fascinating and humorous enough to be enjoyed by a much wider audience than his current fan base. [+]-Robert Brookes.
Publication date: 2003-09-01
RRP: £79.99
Price: £47.99
Review "Round the Horne": Series 3 (Radio Collection) / Round the Horne:
Edition: Abridged
Publication date: 2007-10-09
Dewey code: 818.602
RRP: £13.99
Price: £7.49
Review I Am America (and So Can You!) / Little, Brown Children:
Publication date: 2006-09-02
RRP: £14.99
Price: £7.49
Review The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid / Random House Audiobooks:
Publication date: 2006-03-06
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.68
Review Hancock's Half Hour, the Very Best Episodes: v. 2 (Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2008-02-04
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.26
Review "Navy Lark": Just the Ticket v. 19 (BBC Radio Collection) / The Navy Lark:
Creator: Spike Milligan
Publication date: 1997-04-07
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.50
Review The Goon Show Classics: What Time Is It, Eccles? (Previously Volume 9) (BBC Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2006-11-06
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.51
Review Chris Addison's, the Ape That Got Lucky (BBC Audio) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Creator: Miriam Margolyes
Publication date: 1996-11-04
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £5.00
Price: £3.97
Review Blackadder's Christmas Carol: Includes Comic Relief Blackadder - The Cavalier Years (BBC Radio Collection) / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
Publication date: 2003-09-01
Dewey code: 817
RRP: £12.99
Price: £7.18
Review The Goon Show Classics: Vol 21 (BBC Radio Collection) / The Goon Show:
Publication date: 2008-01-07
RRP: £15.99
Price: £8.99
Review Dave Gorman: Genius: Series 2 / BBC Audiobooks Ltd:
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Models & Brands:
The "Vicar of Dibley": v. 1 (Radio Collection), Hancock's Half Hour: Collector's Edition (Series Two: April 1955 - July 1955), Rumpole and the Reign of Terror, The Goon Show Classics: Vol 18 (BBC Radio Collection), The Goon Show Classics: Goon Show and Guests Vol 16 (BBC Radio Collection), Revolting People: Series 2 (BBC Audio), The "Good Life": Mutiny No. 3 (Radio Collection), Ayres on the Air, Hancock's Half Hour, the Lost Episodes (Radio Collection), Eddie Izzard: Dress To Kill, "Round the Horne": Series 3 (Radio Collection), I Am America (and So Can You!), The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Hancock's Half Hour, the Very Best Episodes: v. 2 (Radio Collection), "Navy Lark": Just the Ticket v. 19 (BBC Radio Collection), The Goon Show Classics: What Time Is It, Eccles? (Previously Volume 9) (BBC Radio Collection), Chris Addison's, the Ape That Got Lucky (BBC Audio), Blackadder's Christmas Carol: Includes Comic Relief Blackadder - The Cavalier Years (BBC Radio Collection), The Goon Show Classics: Vol 21 (BBC Radio Collection), Dave Gorman: Genius: Series 2 |
