1986-1994

This cassette release was given away by BP petrol and features extracts from the period 1945 to 1985 and includes Winston Churchill’s victory speech, The Boat Race, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, James Bond, the 1966 Cup Final and Billy Connolly. The Tony Hancock contribution is an extract from The Missing Page.

Release Date: 1986
Catalog No:

Released in 1987, this LP and CD was a compilation of tracks from other Ron Goodwin LPs. Alongside Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (which comprises a series of extracts from the various themes throughout the film) were 16 other tracks, all film related, and from diverse films such as Adventures of Black Beauty, The Magnificent Seven and Aces High.

Release Date:  1987
Catalog No:    CD- EMS 1244
               LP  B00008F5PX

This autobiography of Kenneth Williams features extracts from the 10 part Radio 4 series first broadcast 16 to 27 September 1985, which includes Kenneth discussing Hancock’s Half Hour, Beyond Our Ken, Round The Horne, The Carry on Films and his numerous stage appearances.

Release Date: 1988
Catalog No:   ZBBC1046

Following on from the success of the BBC record / cassette releases of many programmes (including the 5 records above), the BBC Radio Collection was born. . Volume 1 featured The Poetry Society, Sid’s Mystery Tours, The Americans Hit Town and The Unexploded Bomb. It represented a re-release of the first 2 volumes of the previous record collection. First editions did not feature incidental music, which was added in 1992. New artwork was created in 2000; both versions are illustrated here.

Release Date: 1988
Catalog No:   ZBBC1046   
              0563225459 (2000 re-issue)

Volume 2 was also released in 1988 and featured The Scandal Magazine, The Last of The McHancocks, The Sleepless Night and Fred’s Pie Stall. This volume represented a re-release of volumes 3 and 4 from the previous record collection. Similarly to Volume 1, the 1988 release did not feature incidental music, which was added in 1992. New artwork was created in 2000; both versions are illustrated here.

Release Date: 1988
Catalog No:   ZBBC1018    
              0563225467(2000 re-issue)

This release on the China Records Label by The Dogs D’Amour (categorised on Wikipedia as ‘Blues Rock’) in 1988 was the band’s second album and featured 3 hit singles in the UK. The Tony Hancock connection is with the final track, ‘Wait Until I’m Dead’, which was not only dedicated to Tony Hancock on the inner sleeve but also featured an edited version of the close out segment from the ‘Pieces of Hancock’ Pye recording when Tony advises the listener ‘thank you for buying the record or if you are listening to it in a record shop, don’t mess about, buy it!’ Illustrated are a copy of both the album cover and the lyrics of the song dedicated to Tony Hancock. The album was also released on CD in 1990.

Release Date: 1988 
Catalog No:   837 368-1

This volume was released in 1989 and featured Hancock’s War, The Christmas Club Handout, The Lift and Twelve Angry Men. This volume represented a re-release of volume 5 from the previous record collection and also a re-release of the 1976 LP entitled Hancock. The Lift and Twelve Angry Men were the only TV shows to be released in this series. In common with the first 2 volumes, there was no incidental music on the 1988 release, which was added in 1992. New artwork was created in 2000. The original 1988 (with and without signature tune versions) plus the 2000 covers are illustrated.

Release Date: 1989
Catalog No:   ZBBC1069 
              056326366 (2000 re-issue)

Released on the Hypertension label, this LP and CD from 1989 featured the Hancock homage Man With The Homburg Hat. The LP version contained 14 tracks with the CD version containing 17 tracks.

Release Date: 1989
Catalog No:   LP - HYLP 200 105  
              CD - HYCD 200 105

Released in 1990, Volume 4 was the last release to feature the episodes without incidental music. The music was added in 1992 and the cover was redesigned in 2000. This releases featured The Diary, the Old School Reunion, Hancock In The Police and The East Cheam Drama Festival.

Release Date: 1990 
Catalog No:   ZBBC1122, 0563410388 (2000 re-issue)

Released in 1990, this was not a reissue of the 1974 Pye LP of the same name but was a reissue of the 1961 Pye LP Hancock, a massive 17 years since the previous version of the release.  Containing the Pye remakes of The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham, this latest version was released on both cassette and CD and was the first appearance of The Blood Donor and Radio Ham on CD.

Release Date: 1990  
Catalog No:   KGHWC155 (cassette) and KGHCD155 (CD)

Released on both vinyl and cassette by Precision Records in 1990, this release featured the Pye studio re-makes of The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham.

Release Date: 1990  
Catalog No:   YL22 (record and PYC22 (cassette)

Long after the demise of the Decca budget range, The World of Tony Hancock was re-released with the same artwork as previously but this time on CD and cassette.  Released in 1990, this CD featured the Decca re-recordings of The Missing Page and The Reunion Party originally released in 1965 on the LP It’s Hancock.

Release Date: 1990  
Catalog No:   820 892 2

The TV version of the board game features 99 TV extracts, including a 30 second extract from The Blood Donor (the very nearly an armful sequence). The questions included ‘Name the programme’ (the answer given was Hancock’s Half Hour instead of Hancock) and ‘What was Hancock’s address in the series’ (which was given as Railway Cuttings instead of Earls Court!). The other questions were ‘Which crumple faced comedy actor often appeared on this programme’ and ‘Name the actor who played the doctor in this episode’.

Release Date: 1992  
Catalog No:   STAC2589

This album was compiled and sequenced by Adrian Juste, the Radio 1 DJ who often used to play short extracts of classic comedy as part of his radio show. The record, released in 1991, was provided exclusively to the licenced trade by Holsen Distributors and is described as a collection of real comedy classics and features a number of modern comedy stars (Ruby Wax, Smith & Jones amongst others) The Hancock tracks are extracts from the Pye recording of The Radio Ham and The Blood Donor. In addition to the actual extracts, little snippets appear between tracks by other artists. For example, immediately following the track ‘Sex Counsellor’ by Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry, Hancock makes an appearance saying ‘he’s a bit of a big head isn’t he’!

Release Date: 1991   
Catalog No:   LP (1991) LIPS101 (Chrysalis Records)

Released in 1992, this release features Cyrano de Hancock, The Threatening Letters, Visiting Day and The Impressionist. Re-issued in 2000 with new artwork.

Release Date: 1992
Catalog No:   ZBBC1128,  0563410647 (2000 re-issue)

This release was given away free with the Radio Times in exchange for a voucher. The single cassette contains 14 extracts, 7 from television (including Blackadder, Yes Minister and Fawlty Towers) and 7 from radio (including Round The Horne, the Men From the Ministry and The Navy lark). The extract from Hancock’s Half Hour, which is introduced by Paul Merton, comes from the Old School reunion. Lasting for just over 3 minutes, the extract is from the beginning of the show where Hancock receives his invitation to the school and tries on his old school uniform.

Release Date:  
Catalog No:   RT1

Released in 1994, this release features Almost a Gentleman, Sunday Afternoon At Home, Childhood Sweetheart and The Elopement. This was the first BBC release to feature a full episode that had previously been available on an earlier Pye release, albeit in edited form.

Release Date: 1994
Catalog No:   ZBBC1610,  0563395052 (2000 re-issue)

This cassette release on the Marble Arch and Castle Communications label features sketches from Benny Hill, Spike Milligan, Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper, Max Miller and June Whitfield. The Tony Hancock contribution was the complete The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham episodes. This is the cassette version of the CD ‘The Laughing Box’, which, interestingly, does not feature the Marble Arch Label.

Release Date: 1994
Catalog No:   MATMC269

820 895 4

Released in 1994, this cassette only release was the last cassette version of The Missing Page and The Reunion Party to be released and featured the same photo as the previous The World of Tony Hancock releases. The Deca recordings of The Missing Page and The Reunion Party enjoyed a well-deserved re-mastered CD appearance in 2007.  The CD release of It’s Hancock features the original artwork from the first CD release.

Release Date: 1994 
Catalog No:   820 895 4

Released in 1994, this single cassette of the Pye recordings of The
Blood Donor and The Radio Ham was released in a double cassette sized
box with a plastic inlay to keep the cassette  in in place. This
release was only available on cassette.

Release Date: 1994 
Catalog No:   LAFFC33