Hancock's Half Hour (1956)

The first great British TV comedy, Hancock has proved to be a blueprint for the British sitcom with its hapless central character's refusal to admit defeat despite his catalogue of failure. Tony Hancock's persona delighted the public who identified with 'the lad himself'. The brilliance of Galton and Simpson's scripts established the model for authored comedy in the UK, rather than the US system using teams of writers. The 1961 series shed Sid James and saw a move from East Cheam to Earl's Court but if anything was even funnier, featuring classics like The Blood Donor and The Bedsitter.