Tag Archives: Alan Simpson

Hancock’s Half Hour (Revisited): The First Night Party. Audio Comedy Review. 60th Anniversary.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tony Hancock, Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Moira Lister, Alan Simpson, Gerald Campion, Kenneth Williams.

The first night of any new venture can be a daunting one, for the arts it sows the seeds of excitement and despair, of hope in a long running show or the gloomy realisation that months of preparation had all come crashing down before the first sentence uttered. How do you get round this, how to win over those who would write about you and the programme and get them to give you at least a passing golden smile within the column inches afforded them? For Tony Hancock the answer is simple, throw a first night party, invite all the big names from the B.B.C. and newspapers and watch as the reviews come glowingly in.

Hancock’s Half Hour (Revisited): The First Night Party. Audio Comedy Review. 60th Anniversary. full post

(540 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes. Channel 4. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When Frankie Howerd died in April 1992, the British public lost one of its dearest television and stage stars. Along with Tony Hancock, Sid James, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Frankie Howerd was a real superstar of his age and in three separate eras he managed to woo a different generation and grab them by both their funny bones.

Frankie Howerd: The Lost Tapes. Channel 4. Television Review. full post

(483 words, 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Steptoe And Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Photograph by Steve Tanner. Dean Nolan, Mike Shepherd as Steptoe and Son.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mike Shepherd, Dean Nolan, Kirsty Woodward.

Albert and Harold Steptoe, national comedy legends that were bought to B.B.C. television by the incredible writing of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, two men bound to each other through blood, despair, apathy and a small measure of distant attachment. No one could have predicted how much the two men would change the television viewing habits of the nation as they settled down each week to watch the Steptoe and Son.

Steptoe And Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(427 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)