Lady Don't Fall Backwards

Dedicated to Tony Hancock and John Le Mesurier

by Joan Le Mesurier

This book is a remarkable portrait of two relationships. The intense one with Tony and the quietly enduring one with John who took her back after Hancock's death.

for this books Prologue

Those that may not get a chance to read this out-of-print publication can instead peruse the pages of Joan's new book Dear John, which is should be available to buy, from all good book shops now - and catch up on some of what was said in this earlier book. Indeed, my first insight into the 'real' Tony Hancock

Comedy Greats

A Celebration of Comic Genius Past and Present

by Barry Took

In this highly entertaining collection of affectionate and closely observed pen portraits Barry Took celebrates the priceless talent to amuse - from the silent screen antics of Charlie Chaplin to the anarchic brilliance of the Monty Python team, from Jack Benny and George Burns to Victoria Wood and Bill Cosby . . . Drawing on interviews, the recollections of friends and fellow-performers, and on his own inside knowledge of the comedy game, Barry presents his personal choice of comic heroes and heroines, past and present: the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Bob Hope, W. C. Fields, Tony Hancock, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Jacques Tan, Barry Humphries, John Cleese - and many more.

Silver Grey boards / Silver inscribed spine

Box of Delights

The Golden Years of Television

by Hilary Kingsley & Geoff Tibballs

...From the Coronation, when most people saw television for the first time, to the present day and a new era of satellite television, here are the stories of hundreds of TV programmes and commercials - how they began, who they starred, their triumphs and disasters - recalling long-lost favourites like Quatermass, It's a Square World, Mogul, and the cigarette you were never alone with. Set in context with each year's major news events, Box of Delights is both a modern social history and an invaluable guide for everyone who has enjoyed the golden years of television.

Red boards / Gold inscribed spine

Box of Delights

The Golden Years of Television

by Hilary Kingsley & Geoff Tibballs

...From the Coronation, when most people saw television for the first time, to the present day and a new era of satellite television, here are the stories of hundreds of TV programmes and commercials - how they began, who they starred, their triumphs and disasters - recalling long-lost favourites like Quatermass, It's a Square World, Mogul, and the cigarette you were never alone with. Set in context with each year's major news events, Box of Delights is both a modern social history and an invaluable guide for everyone who has enjoyed the golden years of television.

'A sharp and comprehensive survey of the broadcasting age - a book which could become a standard work.' Sunday Times

A Funny Old Life

by Teresa Jennings with Patricia Hayes

A Funny Old Life portrays both the public and private Patricia, and in its pages we meet many of the people and stars who have been part of her colourful life. They include the young James Mason, just down from Cambridge, Warren Mitchell with whom she 'sparred' in Till Death Us Do Part, Katharine Hepburn who sewed up her hem, and the then unknown Peter Sellers who appeared with her in the radio classic Ray's A Laugh (he was so unsure of himself that he asked her for acting lessons). Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Ken Dodd, The Beatles, Glenda Jackson, Joan Plowright, Frank Finlay and John Cleese are just a few of the many others recalled here. In A Funny Old Life Patricia Hayes' daughter Teresa has collaborated with her mother - now a sprightly eighty - to produce a book which is as entertaining as the subject herself. It is, Patricia Hayes says, as near to an autobiography as she will ever get.

Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine

Popular Television In Britain - Studies in Cultural History

Edited by John Corner

Television is now the most important agency in our society for the production and consumption of popular culture. Television programmes help shape our national identity and local allegiance, influence our choice of heroes, our sense of humour, how we feel about the police or pop music.
This specially commissioned collection of essays looks back at the time when television first began to dominate popular consciousness. In the 1950s and early 60s programmes and personalities of unprecedented popularity brought television to a peak of influence. What was their appeal? And what do they reveal about the way popular culture developed in the postwar era?
The major changes now occurring in the structure of British broadcasting mean that television will never be the same again. What better time, then, to look back at some of its earlier and formative moments? Among the programmes described are Quatermass, Z Cars, Hancock, Six-Five Special and That Was the Week that Was. Other essays enquire into such topics as the changes which television made in domestic life, the relation between TV drama, film and theatre and the rise of the TV 'personality'.

Pictorial laminated boards / No dust jacket

Dave Allen - God's Own Comedian

by Gus Smith

Irreverent, outspoken, intelligent, an exasperated observer of life's absurdities - was Dave Allen really the first alternative comedian? In this penetrating biography, Gus Smith explores the many faces of Dave Allen, and his influential role in the development of modern British comedy.
In 1991, Dave Allen made an enormously successful comeback to the West End stage with a highly acclaimed one-man show. Earlier, Dave Allen at Large, his popular television series, had made him a household name, especially since his sketches had the power to anger the clergy and even upset the Vatican. But it was in Australia in the sixties that Dave Allen first discovered his voice as an Irishman of outrageous language and even more outrageous ideas.
Today Dave Allen remains outspoken about wars, nuclear power, religion, and the joint tyrannies of time and those adolescent hulks who regard the fridge as 'self-filling'. Gus Smith reveals the man behind the comic mask whose acuteness is beyond doubt, whose understanding of the human condition is unique.

Blue boards / Silver inscribed spine

The Radio Companion

The A-Z Guide to Radio - From its Inception to the Present Day

by Paul Donovan

Hancock's Half-Hour, Round the Horne, The Goon Show, Saturday Club, Listen with Mother - each one of us has a fondest memory, a favourite programme from the 'golden age' of the BBC. For the radio is a part of our heritage. This book is destined to become a standard, an invaluable guide for lovers and listeners of radio world-wide. Paul Donovan has done for radio what Leslie Halliwell did for film. There can be no higher accolade than that.

Black boards / Gold inscribed spine

Funny Business

The Greatest Names In Comedy

by David Housham & John Frank-Keyes

Funny Business is BBC television's major new documentary series delving into the business of how comedians go about their work and discussing why we find them funny. The six films in the series span the history and techniques of visual comedy, TV sit-coms, the rat race of standup comedy, the secrets of film comedy, the notions of taste and taboos in comedy and the strange relationships within comedy double acts.

This book provides essential background information on the lives and work of the all-time great stars featured in Funny Business and also on many of the other key performers in film, TV and radio who have kept audiences in stitches over the years.

TV Unforgettables

Over 250 Legends of the Small Screen

by Anthony and Deborah Haywood

From classic comedians, including Tony Hancock, Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper, Ronnie Barker and Benny Hill, to much-loved presenters, such as Hughie Green, Eamonn Andrews, Reginald Bosanquet and Malcolm Muggeridge. TV UNFORGETTABLES contains in-depth profiles offering an irresistible insight into the lives and works of over 250 legends of the small screen.

This book charts Hancock's life story, all be it very briefly, over almost a page and a half. Many other great names also featured, as the title suggests. Hancock featured on pages 108 & 109