HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR: SELECTED TV SOUNDTRACKS & MORE

GALTON AND SIMPSON: THE COLLECTION

Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were Britain's best-loved and most successful comedy writing partners. Together, they created two of the greatest sitcoms of all time, Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. This compilation brings together some of the finest programmes from their 60-year career, as well as interviews with them both.

HANCOCK'S HALF HOUR: THE MARRIAGE BUREAU

The first ever publication of a long-lost episode of Hancock's Half Hour, featuring Peter Sellers - plus bonus material Legendary sitcom Hancock's Half Hour ran for 102 episodes on BBC Radio between 1954 and 1959. Over 20 shows were subsequently lost - but now one of the funniest and most sought-after, 'The Marriage Bureau', has been rediscovered. The penultimate episode of Series 1, it features a unique appearance from Peter Sellers, standing in for Kenneth Williams. Available for the first time since its original broadcast in 1955, it sees Hancock looking for a job - and a wife... Alongside it is a fascinating documentary, Raiders of the Lost Archive, in which Keith Wickham - the Indiana Jones of archiving - and fellow treasure-hunters discuss the thrilling, complex work of locating and restoring missing radio classics. Plus, there's a surviving extract from the lost Hancock's Half Hour episode, 'The New Year Resolutions', and a previously unreleased documentary, H-H-H-Happy Birthday Hancock, in which Andrew Sachs presents an affectionate tribute to The Lad Himself with contributions from Denis Norden, Ray Galton, Alan Simpson, John Freeman and Sid James.

THE MISSING HANCOCKS: THE COMPLETE BBC RADIO SERIES

Between 1954 and 1959, BBC Radio recorded 102 episodes of the hugely popular comedy classic, Hancock's Half Hour. The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. Sadly, 22 episodes of the show went missing from the BBC archives, and have not been heard since their original transmission nearly 60 years ago - until Radio 4 lovingly recreated them over four highly-acclaimed series between 2014 and 2020. In a special treat for Hancock fans, Series 4 also premiered one episode - The Counterfeiter - that was never recorded by the original team. Complete with the classic score performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, these hilarious episodes were recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in front of a live audience. Kevin McNally stars as The Lad Himself, with Andy Secombe playing the role of his father Harry and a stellar cast including Simon Greenall, Kevin Eldon, Robin Sebastian, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Susy Kane. Also featured is a bonus Director's Commentary for The Matador, in which Andy Hamilton chats to Kevin McNally and co-producer Neil Pearson about the joys, and challenges, of recreating a 1950s sitcom. In addition, we hear Kevin McNally and Robin Sebastian's riotous performance of 'The Test Pilot' sketch at the 2018 RAF centenary gala at the Royal Albert Hall, and the interview they gave afterwards.