Hancock's Half Hour
Encyclopedia
Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC
radio comedy
, and later television comedy
, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
. The series starred Tony Hancock
, with Sid James
; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister
, Andrée Melly
, Hattie Jacques
, Bill Kerr
and Kenneth Williams
. The final television series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone.
Comedian Tony Hancock starred in the show, playing an exaggerated and much poorer version of his own character and lifestyle, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, a down-at-heel comedian living at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings in East Cheam
.
The series was influential in the development of the situation comedy, with its move away from radio variety towards a focus on character development.
The radio version was produced by Dennis Main Wilson
for most of its run. After Main Wilson departed for his television career, his role was taken by Tom Ronald. The television series was produced by Duncan Wood
. The distinctive tuba-based theme tune was composed by Wally Stott
.
tradition which was then dominant in British radio comedy
, highlighting a new genre: the sitcom or situation comedy
. Instead of the traditional variety mix of sketches, guest stars and musical interludes, the show's humour derived from characters and situations developed in a half-hour storyline. This then relatively novel format, of what was in effect a single sketch each week lasting the entire half-hour (though in the radio version James and the others sometimes played different roles), was reflected in the show's title, which aptly described the series as Hancock's "half-hour".
Roger Wilmut
, whose 1978 biography of Tony Hancock as a performer, credits two British radio comedy shows, already running in 1954, with establishing an uninterrupted 30-minute sitcom format: A Life of Bliss, written by Godfrey Harrison and starring George Cole, and Life with the Lyons
, a programme heavily based on the US tradition of sitcoms; he therefore dismisses the notion that Galton and Simpson invented the genre.
The comedy gradually shifted to observation, with a less strong emphasis on a narrative. The playlet "Look Back in Hunger" (spoofing John Osborne
's Look Back in Anger
) in the episode "The East Cheam Drama Festival" from the fifth series, showed that writers Galton and Simpson were in touch with developments in the British theatre, in the use of sighs and silent pauses, something Osborne's style had in common with the plays of Harold Pinter
, whose work began to emerge towards the end of the series' run. In addition, the measured pacing of the episodes was unusual in an era of fast-talking radio comedians, such as Ted Ray
, who typically used a machine-gun style of delivery to fill every single second of airtime.
The house changed to accommodate the cast: in some episodes it appeared to be a two-bedroom terraced house, with Kerr as Hancock's lodger; but in series four and five it had at least three bedrooms, as Miss Pugh was also resident in some episodes. In others she 'came round' each day, presumably from her own domicile. Railway Cuttings and East Cheam were fictitious, but Cheam is a real town in Surrey, located to the west of Sutton
. The whole area is smart and expensive, and by creating 'Railway Cuttings, East Cheam' Galton and Simpson created an address for a snob who wanted to live in a 'posh' area, but could only afford the 'cheap end' (which in reality does not exist). In those days recordings of the radio shows were not commercially available, so the audience had to rely entirely on memory for details of who lived where or who did what in the show.
Commissioning of series in the UK were then closer to the American practice with extensive runs not unknown, but in this case, with only two writers. Continuity in the idiom was yet to develop, and details changed to suit each episode. The domestic situation varied, but Hancock usually portrayed a 'resting' or hopeless down-at-heel actor and/or comedian (though some episodes showed him having runs of success, while some episodes depict him pursuing professional careers as fantasies), James was always on-the-fiddle in some way, Kerr gradually became dim and virtually unemployable (although he had started out as a fast-talking American-style Australian), and Hancock's 'secretary', Miss Pugh, had such a loose job description that in one celebrated episode she had cooked the Sunday lunch. At times the scripts would reflect topical realities of British life, such as rationing (during the Suez Crisis
) and a specific railway strike. With the notable exception of Drop the Dead Donkey
decades later, sitcoms rarely contained such topical references.
appeared in the first series, before being replaced by Andrée Melly
for the next two; both women played love interest for Hancock's character, in essentially 'straight' roles. In the fourth and fifth series a comedienne, Hattie Jacques, provided comedy in the female role as the harridan Griselda Pugh, who was Hancock's secretary and Sid's occasional girlfriend. By this time, Hancock's difficulties with women had become part of the characterisation.
Among the well-known actors who appeared in the series were Hugh Lloyd
, Dick Emery
, John Le Mesurier
and Richard Wattis
. Also appearing were Pat Coombs
, Rolf Harris
, Burt Kwouk
, credited as 'Burd Kwouk', and Anne Reid
.
Episodes of the radio series were included in 20 underground radio stations of the BBC's Wartime Broadcasting Service
(WTBS), designed to provide information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack
.
version appeared in 1956 under the same name and with the same writers, produced for the BBC by Duncan Wood
. The television and radio versions alternated until 1959, when the final radio series and the fifth television series were both broadcast during the autumn season. Only Sid James transferred from the radio series, although Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques each made a couple of appearances. The television version drew on a stock company of actors, who played different supporting characters in each episode. Semi-regulars included Liz Fraser
, John Le Mesurier
, Hugh Lloyd
, Arthur Mullard
and John Vyvyan.
The final television series, broadcast in 1961, was retitled Hancock, as it was shortened from a half-hour to 25 minutes. For this final series Sid James was dropped from the cast, as Hancock feared they were coming to be seen as a double act. Some of the most celebrated episodes of the TV series were produced in this final series, including "The Blood Donor
", "The Radio Ham", "The Bedsitter" and "The Bowmans
". Hancock relocated to Earl's Court for the last series.
Some episodes of the radio series were wiped
, and telerecordings of some episodes from the third and fourth television series were destroyed. No episodes survive from the first season of the TV series. The surviving radio episodes, which sometimes exist only in edited versions that have been cut for overseas sale to commercial radio stations, were released as CD box sets between 2000 and 2003 (see below).
In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes
drawn up by the British Film Institute
in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Hancock's Half Hour was placed 24th. In 1962, the show became the first imported programme to win a Jacob's Award following its transmission on Telefís Éireann
, the Republic of Ireland
's national TV station.
In 1956 and 1957 Hancock had starred in two series of a sketch show made by Associated-Rediffusion
for ITV television
, which were broadcast either side of his first television series on the BBC.
In 1972 a Norwegian TV show called Fleksnes Fataliteter
aired for the first time. It was based on scripts from Hancock's Half Hour. The show became trilingual, as it usually starred both Swedish and Danish actors, and was broadcast in Sweden and Denmark as well as Norway.
Galton and Simpson never gave any of their Hancock scripts, for radio or television, titles; this was usually left to the girl who filed the scripts at their office, who gave them names that were a reminder of what the script was about. So when Roger Wilmut came to write his book 'Tony Hancock - Artiste' (first published 1978) he took the liberty of inventing titles where necessary and these titles, a combination of the file names and Wilmut's own, have become the accepted ones ever since, with the approval of Galton and Simpson and the BBC.
The regular cast members generally played "themselves", in that the characters were called by the actor's real name. However, there were exceptions:
Two wiped episodes of the radio series—"The Blackboard Jungle" (series 3) and "The New Secretary" (series 4)—were recovered in 2002 from off-air home recordings made by listener Vic Rogers.
Episodes 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 15 no longer exist.
Episodes 5 and 15 feature the only Hancock guest appearances by Spike Milligan
and Peter Sellers
respectively.
Three of Hancock's co-stars in the first series were born in South Africa.
Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10 and 12 (more than half the series, including all four of Harry Secombe's guest appearances) no longer exist.
Shortly before the series was due to be recorded Hancock walked out on a theatre performance suffering from "nervous exhaustion" and flew to Rome. Harry Secombe was brought in at short notice to replace Hancock and starred in the first three episodes, and made a guest appearance in the fourth. Hancock himself returned for the fourth episode and completed the series as scheduled.
The original script for episode 12 of the series, 'The Counterfeit', which was about a political crisis, was rejected because of the events occurring in Suez at that time. (The script has been published in Richard Webbers' book '50 Years of Hancock's Half Hour' in 2004.)
Episodes 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 17 no longer exist. Only a short extract from episode 12 survives; this plus episodes 8 and 16 only survive in poor sound quality.
All episodes still exist.
All episodes still exist.
This episode still exists.
These episodes are remakes for overseas sales, rewritten to remove any topical or UK-specific references.
All episodes still exist, for many years the TS version of 'The New Secretary' was the only version known to exist until an off-air audio recording of the original version was found in 2002.
All episodes still exist.
No recordings exist.
Episode 1 exists on a telerecording.
Episodes 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 exist on telerecordings.
The entire series exists on telerecordings.
The entire series exists as telerecordings. Also a trailer made for Australian TX of this series exists.
The entire series exists on telerecordings.
One script for Hancock's Half Hour/Hancock was not used 'The Diplomat'. (published in Richard Webbers' book '50 years of Hancock's Half Hour' in 2004)
Information on series dates taken from the book Tony Hancock: Artiste (1978) by Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen ISBN 0-413-38680-5 (subsequent reprints in 1983 and 1986 contain additional details) Information on wiped
radio episodes taken from the CD box sets (BBC Worldwide, 2000–2003).
format, two by Pye
on the 1961 album Hancock ("The Blood Donor" and "The Radio Ham") and two by Decca Records
on the 1965 album It's Hancock ("The Missing Page" and "The Reunion Party"), which was reissued as The World of Tony Hancock in 1975. BBC Records released an LP titled Hancock featuring the original TV soundtracks of two episodes, "The Lift" and "Twelve Angry Men." The episode "The Lift" was taken from the separate magnetic soundtrack of the telerecording, with the opening non-dialogue sequence omitted and one extra line of dialogue added: "Watch that door button... Oh my God!" as recorded by Hugh Lloyd on 24/08/76 and edited in. "Twelve Angry Men" was from the optical soundtrack of the telerecording, with theme and incidental music omitted, a few lines of dialogue edited out and pauses shortened.
There have been six LPs released of substantially complete radio episodes. The first was by Pye Records in 1960 entitled This is Hancock containing "The Wild Man of The Woods" and "Sunday Afternoon At Home." The other five were by BBC Records, released as Hancock's Half Hour: "The Poetry Society" and "Sid's Mystery Tours", released in 1980; "The Americans Hit Town" and "The Unexploded Bomb" in 1981; "The Scandal Magazine" and "The Last of the McHancocks" in 1982; "The Sleepless Night" and "Fred's Pie Stall" in 1983; and finally "Hancocks War" and "The Christmas Club" in 1984. These five LPs were also released on audio cassette at the same time. Also, a number of comedy themed LPs, EPs and 7-inch singles have been released over the years which have featured short extracts from various radio episodes.
The radio series of Hancock's Half Hour was first released on cassette by the BBC as part of their Radio Collection series of audio cassettes in the late 1980s. The first three volumes were re-issues of the five LPs from the 1980s plus the LP of television soundtracks from 1976. Because only 10 volumes were made with four episodes each, and because a number of episodes were later returned from homemade off-air recordings by listeners, a release of the radio series was never completed on cassette. In 2000, the episodes still remaining from Series 1 of the radio series were released as a box set on CD. Series 2–6 followed throughout the next three years. The series has also been given three compilation CDs.
The television series of Hancock's Half Hour was first released on VHS/Betamax in 1985 under BBC Enterprises (now Worldwide) in an incomplete form. A Laserdisc
of Volume One was also issued under catalogue number BBCL 7004. Six videos were released, each containing three episodes and were mainly drawn from the last three series. The next video release was not to be for another nine years, and that was "The Very Best of Hancock," a compilation including all episodes from the final series but excluding the last, "The Succession: Son and Heir." In 1996, a video was released containing the first three remaining episodes. Two later videos were released in 1997, and another featuring "The Train Journey" was released in 1999. In 1992 "Hancock: The Australian TV Series in Colour" was released, compiled from the three or so episodes of the 1968 Australian series completed before Hancock's death. This was released on VHS in the both UK and Australia.
The first DVD to be released was in 2001, which was a re-release of "The Very Best of Hancock" video. The next DVD was to be released in 2004, containing the first five episodes and the rarely seen "Hancock's Forty-Three Minutes." However, 2entertain released a box set in 2007 called The Tony Hancock Collection, containing every existing episode and new bonus features, including the Hancock interview from the Face to Face in 1960.
In June and August 2009, six off-air audio recordings of wiped/lost TV episodes from Series 4 were unearthed, though they had been knocking around the bootleg market for some time; however, two of them are very poor quality. The six episodes were: "Underpaid or Grandad's S.O.S.", "The Flight of the Red Shadow", "The Horror Serial", "Matrimony - Almost", "The Beauty Contest" and "The Wrong Man".
In 2009, the surviving radio episodes were repeated weekly on the digital network BBC Radio 7
, chronologically sequenced.
BBC DVD planned re-release all of the surviving television episodes in a DVD box set called "The Hancock's Half Hour TV Collection," containing all 45 sole surviving television episodes including the six found audio recordings From Series 4 episodes in a descending chronological order. This is due for release in 2011.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio comedy
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
, and later television comedy
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Galton and Simpson
Ray Galton OBE , and Alan Simpson OBE , are British scriptwriters who met in 1948 at a tuberculosis sanatorium, the Surrey county sanatorium near Godalming, on which the sitcom Get Well Soon was based...
. The series starred Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
, with Sid James
Sid James
Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister
Moira Lister
Moira Lister de Gachassin-Lafite, Vicomtesse d’Orthez was an Anglo-South African film, stage and television actress, and writer.-Early life:...
, Andrée Melly
Andrée Melly
Andrée Melly is an English actress.She appeared in many British films, including the 1954 comedy The Belles of St Trinian's and the 1960 Hammer Horror film The Brides of Dracula...
, Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
, Bill Kerr
Bill Kerr
William 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
and Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
. The final television series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone.
Comedian Tony Hancock starred in the show, playing an exaggerated and much poorer version of his own character and lifestyle, Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, a down-at-heel comedian living at the dilapidated 23 Railway Cuttings in East Cheam
Cheam
Cheam is a large suburban village close to Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England, and is located close to the southern boundary between Greater London and Surrey. It is divided into two main areas: North Cheam and Cheam Village. North Cheam includes more retail shops and supermarkets,...
.
The series was influential in the development of the situation comedy, with its move away from radio variety towards a focus on character development.
The radio version was produced by Dennis Main Wilson
Dennis Main Wilson
Dennis Main Wilson was a British producer of radio and television programmes, mainly for the BBC.-Biography:...
for most of its run. After Main Wilson departed for his television career, his role was taken by Tom Ronald. The television series was produced by Duncan Wood
Duncan Wood
Duncan Wood was a British comedy producer, director and writer. His best known achievements were to produce all of Tony Hancock's Half Hours for BBC TV during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and later, also with Hancock's former writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the classic British sitcom...
. The distinctive tuba-based theme tune was composed by Wally Stott
Angela Morley
Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
.
Development
The radio series series broke with the varietyVariety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
tradition which was then dominant in British radio comedy
Radio comedy
Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
, highlighting a new genre: the sitcom or situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
. Instead of the traditional variety mix of sketches, guest stars and musical interludes, the show's humour derived from characters and situations developed in a half-hour storyline. This then relatively novel format, of what was in effect a single sketch each week lasting the entire half-hour (though in the radio version James and the others sometimes played different roles), was reflected in the show's title, which aptly described the series as Hancock's "half-hour".
Roger Wilmut
Roger Wilmut
Roger Wilmut is a British writer and compiler of books on British comedy. Wilmut attended Warwick School, and began his 'day job' as studio technician for the BBC on leaving school in 1961...
, whose 1978 biography of Tony Hancock as a performer, credits two British radio comedy shows, already running in 1954, with establishing an uninterrupted 30-minute sitcom format: A Life of Bliss, written by Godfrey Harrison and starring George Cole, and Life with the Lyons
Life With The Lyons
Life with The Lyons was a British radio and television domestic sitcom dating from the 1950s .-Overview:Life with The Lyons was unusual in that it featured a real-life American family...
, a programme heavily based on the US tradition of sitcoms; he therefore dismisses the notion that Galton and Simpson invented the genre.
The comedy gradually shifted to observation, with a less strong emphasis on a narrative. The playlet "Look Back in Hunger" (spoofing John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
's Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
) in the episode "The East Cheam Drama Festival" from the fifth series, showed that writers Galton and Simpson were in touch with developments in the British theatre, in the use of sighs and silent pauses, something Osborne's style had in common with the plays of Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, whose work began to emerge towards the end of the series' run. In addition, the measured pacing of the episodes was unusual in an era of fast-talking radio comedians, such as Ted Ray
Ted Ray (comedian)
Ted Ray was a popular English comedian of the 1940s, 50s and 60s....
, who typically used a machine-gun style of delivery to fill every single second of airtime.
Setting
Hancock's character had various addresses, but by the third radio series he had arrived at 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam. Sometimes this was portrayed as a council house, but occasionally there was a private landlord. In a few early episodes Hancock owned the house, and later this became the norm.The house changed to accommodate the cast: in some episodes it appeared to be a two-bedroom terraced house, with Kerr as Hancock's lodger; but in series four and five it had at least three bedrooms, as Miss Pugh was also resident in some episodes. In others she 'came round' each day, presumably from her own domicile. Railway Cuttings and East Cheam were fictitious, but Cheam is a real town in Surrey, located to the west of Sutton
Sutton, London
Sutton is a large suburban town in southwest London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Sutton. It is located south-southwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. The town was connected to central London by...
. The whole area is smart and expensive, and by creating 'Railway Cuttings, East Cheam' Galton and Simpson created an address for a snob who wanted to live in a 'posh' area, but could only afford the 'cheap end' (which in reality does not exist). In those days recordings of the radio shows were not commercially available, so the audience had to rely entirely on memory for details of who lived where or who did what in the show.
Commissioning of series in the UK were then closer to the American practice with extensive runs not unknown, but in this case, with only two writers. Continuity in the idiom was yet to develop, and details changed to suit each episode. The domestic situation varied, but Hancock usually portrayed a 'resting' or hopeless down-at-heel actor and/or comedian (though some episodes showed him having runs of success, while some episodes depict him pursuing professional careers as fantasies), James was always on-the-fiddle in some way, Kerr gradually became dim and virtually unemployable (although he had started out as a fast-talking American-style Australian), and Hancock's 'secretary', Miss Pugh, had such a loose job description that in one celebrated episode she had cooked the Sunday lunch. At times the scripts would reflect topical realities of British life, such as rationing (during the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
) and a specific railway strike. With the notable exception of Drop the Dead Donkey
Drop the Dead Donkey
- Major characters :* Gus Hedges — The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, and yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel...
decades later, sitcoms rarely contained such topical references.
Cast
The comedy actor Sidney James, as he was then billed, played Sid, a criminally-inclined confidant of Hancock, who usually succeeded in conning him each week; Bill Kerr appeared as Hancock's Australian lodger, a character who became noticeably dim-witted in the later shows. A young Kenneth Williams, taking his first job in comedy, provided the funny voices for all the minor characters in the show each week. Moira ListerMoira Lister
Moira Lister de Gachassin-Lafite, Vicomtesse d’Orthez was an Anglo-South African film, stage and television actress, and writer.-Early life:...
appeared in the first series, before being replaced by Andrée Melly
Andrée Melly
Andrée Melly is an English actress.She appeared in many British films, including the 1954 comedy The Belles of St Trinian's and the 1960 Hammer Horror film The Brides of Dracula...
for the next two; both women played love interest for Hancock's character, in essentially 'straight' roles. In the fourth and fifth series a comedienne, Hattie Jacques, provided comedy in the female role as the harridan Griselda Pugh, who was Hancock's secretary and Sid's occasional girlfriend. By this time, Hancock's difficulties with women had become part of the characterisation.
Among the well-known actors who appeared in the series were Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lewis Lloyd, MBE was an English actor who made his name in television and film comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in Hugh and I and other sitcoms of the 1960s.-Life:...
, Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
, John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
and Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
. Also appearing were Pat Coombs
Pat Coombs
Pat Coombs was an English actress. Coombs was considered one of Britain's great character actresses, specialising in the portrayal of the eternal downtrodden female — comically under the thumb of stronger personalities. She was known for many roles on radio, film and television sitcoms...
, Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
, Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk OBE , born Herbert Kwouk, is an English actor of Chinese descent, known for many television appearances and for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films.-Career:...
, credited as 'Burd Kwouk', and Anne Reid
Anne Reid
Anne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
.
Episodes of the radio series were included in 20 underground radio stations of the BBC's Wartime Broadcasting Service
Wartime Broadcasting Service
The Wartime Broadcasting Service was a service of the BBC that was intended to broadcast in the United Kingdom either after a nuclear attack or if conventional bombing destroyed regular BBC facilities in a conventional war ....
(WTBS), designed to provide information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
.
Television version
The televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
version appeared in 1956 under the same name and with the same writers, produced for the BBC by Duncan Wood
Duncan Wood
Duncan Wood was a British comedy producer, director and writer. His best known achievements were to produce all of Tony Hancock's Half Hours for BBC TV during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and later, also with Hancock's former writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the classic British sitcom...
. The television and radio versions alternated until 1959, when the final radio series and the fifth television series were both broadcast during the autumn season. Only Sid James transferred from the radio series, although Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques each made a couple of appearances. The television version drew on a stock company of actors, who played different supporting characters in each episode. Semi-regulars included Liz Fraser
Liz Fraser
Liz Fraser is an English actress, mainly in comedy roles.- Life and career :Her birthdate is usually attributed as 1933, the year she gave when auditioning for her role in I'm All Right Jack, as the Boulting Brothers wanted someone younger for the part...
, John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...
, Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lewis Lloyd, MBE was an English actor who made his name in television and film comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in Hugh and I and other sitcoms of the 1960s.-Life:...
, Arthur Mullard
Arthur Mullard
Arthur Ernest Mullard, original surname Mullord was an English comedy actor.- Early life :...
and John Vyvyan.
The final television series, broadcast in 1961, was retitled Hancock, as it was shortened from a half-hour to 25 minutes. For this final series Sid James was dropped from the cast, as Hancock feared they were coming to be seen as a double act. Some of the most celebrated episodes of the TV series were produced in this final series, including "The Blood Donor
The Blood Donor
"The Blood Donor" is an episode from comedy series Hancock, the final BBC series featuring British comedian Tony Hancock. First transmitted on 23 June 1961, the show was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and was produced by Duncan Wood. Supporting Hancock were Patrick Cargill, Hugh Lloyd,...
", "The Radio Ham", "The Bedsitter" and "The Bowmans
The Bowmans (Hancock)
"The Bowmans" is an episode of the BBC television situation comedy programme Hancock, the final BBC series featuring Tony Hancock, first broadcast on 2 June 1961...
". Hancock relocated to Earl's Court for the last series.
Some episodes of the radio series were wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
, and telerecordings of some episodes from the third and fourth television series were destroyed. No episodes survive from the first season of the TV series. The surviving radio episodes, which sometimes exist only in edited versions that have been cut for overseas sale to commercial radio stations, were released as CD box sets between 2000 and 2003 (see below).
In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes
100 Greatest British Television Programmes
The BFI TV 100 is a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute , chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened....
drawn up by the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Hancock's Half Hour was placed 24th. In 1962, the show became the first imported programme to win a Jacob's Award following its transmission on Telefís Éireann
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
's national TV station.
In 1956 and 1957 Hancock had starred in two series of a sketch show made by Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
for ITV television
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, which were broadcast either side of his first television series on the BBC.
In 1972 a Norwegian TV show called Fleksnes Fataliteter
Fleksnes Fataliteter
Fleksnes Fataliteter, better known by its shortened title Fleksnes, was a Norwegian television comedy series produced between 1972 and 2002, based on Galton and Simpson's scripts for the British series Hancock's Half Hour.-History:...
aired for the first time. It was based on scripts from Hancock's Half Hour. The show became trilingual, as it usually starred both Swedish and Danish actors, and was broadcast in Sweden and Denmark as well as Norway.
Radio series episodes
Most of the radio episodes were recorded between one day and three weeks in advance of broadcast, except for Series 6 which was mostly recorded during a three-week period in June 1959 in order to avoid clashing with the recording of Series 5 of the television show.Galton and Simpson never gave any of their Hancock scripts, for radio or television, titles; this was usually left to the girl who filed the scripts at their office, who gave them names that were a reminder of what the script was about. So when Roger Wilmut came to write his book 'Tony Hancock - Artiste' (first published 1978) he took the liberty of inventing titles where necessary and these titles, a combination of the file names and Wilmut's own, have become the accepted ones ever since, with the approval of Galton and Simpson and the BBC.
The regular cast members generally played "themselves", in that the characters were called by the actor's real name. However, there were exceptions:
- Kenneth Williams played a series of unnamed characters referred to in the scripts—but not on air—as "Snide". He also played the very occasional roles of Edwardian Fred (a criminal associate of Sid's) and Hancock's Vicar, as well as various other characters.
- Alan Simpson played an unnamed man who listened patiently to Hancock's long-winded stories in early episodes. His lines would frequently be restricted to simply "Yes", "Really?", "Mm-hmm", or "I see".
- Hattie Jacques played Griselda Pugh, Hancock's secretary.
Two wiped episodes of the radio series—"The Blackboard Jungle" (series 3) and "The New Secretary" (series 4)—were recovered in 2002 from off-air home recordings made by listener Vic Rogers.
Series 1
- 16 episodes, 2 November 1954–15 February 1955
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr, Moira Lister, Sid James, Alan Simpson (uncredited)
- The First Night Party
- The Diamond Ring
- The Idol
- The Boxing Champion
- The Hancock Festival
- The New Car
- The Department Store Santa
- Christmas at Aldershot
- The Christmas Eve Party
- Cinderella Hancock
- A Trip To France
- The Monte Carlo Rally
- A House on the Cliff
- The Sheikh
- The Marriage Bureau
- The End of the Series
Episodes 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 15 no longer exist.
Episodes 5 and 15 feature the only Hancock guest appearances by Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
and Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
respectively.
Three of Hancock's co-stars in the first series were born in South Africa.
Series 2
- 12 episodes, 17 April–2 July 1955
- Regular cast: Harry SecombeHarry SecombeSir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
(Episodes 1–4), Tony Hancock (Episodes 4–12), Bill KerrBill KerrWilliam 'Bill' Kerr is an Australian film and television actor. He was born into a performing arts family in Cape Town, South Africa, but grew up in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia....
, Sid JamesSid JamesSid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
, Andrée MellyAndrée MellyAndrée Melly is an English actress.She appeared in many British films, including the 1954 comedy The Belles of St Trinian's and the 1960 Hammer Horror film The Brides of Dracula...
, Kenneth WilliamsKenneth WilliamsKenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
, Alan Simpson (uncredited)
- A Holiday in France
- The Crown Jewels
- The Racecourse
- A Visit To Swansea
- The Holiday Camp
- The Chef That Died of Shame
- Prime Minister Hancock
- The Rail Strike
- The Television Set
- The Three Sons
- The Marrow Contest
- The Matador
Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10 and 12 (more than half the series, including all four of Harry Secombe's guest appearances) no longer exist.
Shortly before the series was due to be recorded Hancock walked out on a theatre performance suffering from "nervous exhaustion" and flew to Rome. Harry Secombe was brought in at short notice to replace Hancock and starred in the first three episodes, and made a guest appearance in the fourth. Hancock himself returned for the fourth episode and completed the series as scheduled.
The original script for episode 12 of the series, 'The Counterfeit', which was about a political crisis, was rejected because of the events occurring in Suez at that time. (The script has been published in Richard Webbers' book '50 Years of Hancock's Half Hour' in 2004.)
Series 3
- 20 episodes, 10 October 1955–29 February 1956
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr, Sid James, Andrée Melly, Kenneth Williams, Alan Simpson (uncredited).
- The Pet Dog
- The Jewel Robbery
- The Bequest
- The New Neighbour
- The Winter Holiday
- The Blackboard Jungle
- The Red Planet
- The Diet
- A Visit To Russia
- The Trial of Father Christmas
- Cinderella Hancock (a new production of the 10th of the 1st series)
- The New Year Resolutions
- Hancock's Hair
- The Student Prince
- The Breakfast Serial
- How Hancock Won The War
- The Newspaper
- The Greyhound Track
- The Conjurer
- The Test Match
Episodes 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15 and 17 no longer exist. Only a short extract from episode 12 survives; this plus episodes 8 and 16 only survive in poor sound quality.
Series 4
- 20 episodes, 14 October 1956–24 February 1957
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Sid James, Hattie Jacques (debut in Episode 5), Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams.
- Back From Holiday
- The Bolshoi Ballet
- Sid James's Dad
- The Income Tax Demand
- The New Secretary
- Michelangelo 'Ancock
- Anna and the King of Siam
- Cyrano De Hancock
- The Stolen Petrol
- The Expresso Bar
- Hancock's Happy Christmas
- The Diary
- The 13th of the Series
- Almost A Gentleman
- The Old School Reunion
- The Wild Man of the Woods
- Agricultural 'Ancock
- Hancock in the Police
- The Emigrant
- The Last of the McHancocks
All episodes still exist.
Series 5
- 20 episodes, 1 January–3 June 1958
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams.
- The New Radio Series
- The Scandal Magazine
- The Male Suffragettes
- The Insurance Policy
- The Publicity Photograph
- The Unexploded Bomb
- Hancock's School
- Around the World in Eighty Days
- The Americans Hit Town
- The Election Candidate
- Hancock's Car
- The East Cheam Drama Festival
- The Foreign Legion
- Sunday Afternoon at Home
- The Grappling Game
- The Junkman
- Hancock's War
- The Prize Money
- The Threatening Letters
- The Sleepless Night
All episodes still exist.
Christmas Special
"Bill and Father Christmas"- Cast: Tony Hancock, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr, Warren MitchellWarren MitchellWarren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
This episode still exists.
Special remake series for BBC Transcription Services
- 4 episodes, recorded 23 November–30 November 1958
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams.
- The 13th of the Month (remake of 'The 13th of the series', 13th of 4th series) The script was re-written so that the plot did not hinge on it being the 13th of a series as broadcast.
- The New Secretary (remake of 5th of 4th series) Hattie Jacques's arrival is presented in flashback, so the show can be placed anywhere in a series.
- The Ballet Visit (remake of 'The Bolshoi Ballet' 2nd of 4th series) Ballet company changed to The Covent Garden Ballet, to avoid topical reference to 1956 visit to London by the Bolshoi Ballet.
- The Election Candidate (remake of 10th of 5th series) Hancock now stands for the local Independent party instead of the East Cheam Liberal party as he did in the original.
These episodes are remakes for overseas sales, rewritten to remove any topical or UK-specific references.
All episodes still exist, for many years the TS version of 'The New Secretary' was the only version known to exist until an off-air audio recording of the original version was found in 2002.
Series 6
- 14 episodes, 29 September–29 December 1959
- Regular cast: Tony Hancock, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams (episodes 1 and 2 only)
- The Smugglers
- The Childhood Sweetheart
- The Last Bus Home
- The Picnic
- The Gourmet
- The Elopement
- Fred's Pie Stall
- The Waxwork
- Sid's Mystery Tours
- The Fete
- The Poetry Society
- Hancock in Hospital (a.k.a. Visiting Day)
- The Christmas Club
- The Impersonator (a.k.a.The Impressionist)
All episodes still exist.
Television series episodes
- Sidney JamesSidney JamesSidney James was a former professional footballer, who played for Huddersfield Town and Hartlepool United. He died in April 1917, when he was killed in action during World War I.-References:...
was a regular in series 1–6. (He does not appear in episodes 1 and 2 of series 2.) - Kenneth WilliamsKenneth WilliamsKenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
appeared in every episode of series 2, playing a variety of characters. - Hattie JacquesHattie JacquesJosephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
appeared throughout series 2, in all episodes except the first, playing a variety of characters. - Patricia HayesPatricia HayesPatricia Lawlor Hayes, OBE was an English comedy actress.Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child Hayes attended Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth....
appeared very occasionally in series 4–6 as Mrs Cravatte, Hancock's maid.
Series 1
- 6 episodes, broadcast live, every 2 weeks, 7 July–14 September 1956
- The First TV Show
- The Artist
- The Dancer
- The Bequest (based on radio programme, 3rd of 3rd series)
- The Radio Show
- The Chef That Died of Shame (a re-make of radio programme, 6th of 2nd series)
No recordings exist.
Series 2
- 6 episodes, broadcast live, every 2 weeks, 1 April–10 June 1957
- The Alpine Holiday
- Lady Chattereley's Revenge
- The Russian Prince
- The New Neighbour (a re-make of radio programme, 4th of 3rd series)
- The Pianist
- The Auction
Episode 1 exists on a telerecording.
Series 3
- 12 regular episodes, broadcast live, 9 September–23 December 1957
- The Continental Holiday
- The Great Detective
- The Amusement Arcade
- A Holiday in Scotland
- Air Steward Hancock, The Last of the Many
- The Regimental Reunion
- The Adopted Family
- The Elocution Teacher (postponed from 18/11/57 when telerecording of The Alpine Holiday was shown instead)
- The Lawyer: The Crown v James S: Hancock QC Defending
- Competitions:How to Win Money and Influence People
- There's an Airfield at the Bottom of My Garden
- Hancock's 43 Minutes - The East Cheam Repertory Company (A Special show from the Television Theatre)
Episodes 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 exist on telerecordings.
Series 4
- 13 episodes; episodes 1–4 pre-recorded as telerecordings, 5–13 live, broadcast 26 December 1958–27 March 1959 (skipping 27 February)
- Ericson the Viking
- Underpaid!, Or, Grandad's S.O.S.
- The Set That Failed
- The New Nose
- The Flight of the Red Shadow
- The Horror Serial
- The Italian Maid
- Matrimony - Almost
- The Beauty Contest
- The Wrong Man
- The Oak Tree
- The Knighthood
- The Servants
- Episodes 1, 3, 4, 11 and 12 exist as telerecordings.
- Episodes 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 exist as off-air audio recordings of variable quality.
- Episodes 7 and 13 remain completely missing.
Series 5
- 10 episodes, pre-recorded on videotape, broadcast 25 September – 27 November 1959
- The Economy Drive
- The Two Murderers
- Lord Byron Lived Here
- Twelve Angry Men
- The Train Journey
- The Cruise (features Hattie Jacques)
- The Big Night
- The Tycoon
- Spanish Interlude
- Football Pools
The entire series exists on telerecordings.
Series 6
- 10 episodes, pre-recorded on videotape, broadcast 19 February–6 May 1960
- The Cold
- The Missing Page
- The Emigrant (based on radio show of same name)
- The Reunion Party
- Sid in Love
- The Baby Sitters
- The Ladies Man
- The Photographer
- The East Cheam Centenary
- The Poison Pen Letters
The entire series exists as telerecordings. Also a trailer made for Australian TX of this series exists.
Series 7
- Shortened to 25 minutes per episode and retitled Hancock.
- 6 episodes, pre-recorded on videotape, broadcast 26 May–30 June 1961
- The Bedsitter (a.k.a. Hancock Alone)
- The Bowmans
- The Radio Ham (a.k.a, Mayday)
- The Lift (a.k.a. Going Down)
- The Blood DonorThe Blood Donor"The Blood Donor" is an episode from comedy series Hancock, the final BBC series featuring British comedian Tony Hancock. First transmitted on 23 June 1961, the show was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and was produced by Duncan Wood. Supporting Hancock were Patrick Cargill, Hugh Lloyd,...
- The Succession - Son and Heir
The entire series exists on telerecordings.
One script for Hancock's Half Hour/Hancock was not used 'The Diplomat'. (published in Richard Webbers' book '50 years of Hancock's Half Hour' in 2004)
Chronological listing of Hancock's radio and television broadcasts, 1954–1961
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 1: 2 November 1954–15 February 1955
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 2: 17 April–2 July 1955
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 3: 10 October 1955–29 February 1956
- The Tony Hancock Show, Series 1 (Associated-RediffusionAssociated-RediffusionAssociated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
for ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
): 4 April–1 June 1956 - Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 1: 7 July–14 September 1956
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 4: 14 October 1956–24 February 1957
- The Tony Hancock Show, Series 2: 16 November 1956 – 25 January 1957
- Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 2: 1 April–10 June 1957
- Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 3: 9 September–23 December 1957
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 5: 1 January–3 June 1958
- Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 4: 26 December 1958–27 March 1959
- Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 5: 25 September–27 November 1959
- Hancock's Half Hour, radio Series 6: 29 September–29 December 1959
- Hancock's Half Hour, television Series 6: 19 February–6 May 1960
- Hancock, television Series 7: 26 May–30 June 1961
Information on series dates taken from the book Tony Hancock: Artiste (1978) by Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen ISBN 0-413-38680-5 (subsequent reprints in 1983 and 1986 contain additional details) Information on wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
radio episodes taken from the CD box sets (BBC Worldwide, 2000–2003).
Commercial releases
Four episodes of the TV series were re-recorded and released on LPLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
format, two by Pye
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
on the 1961 album Hancock ("The Blood Donor" and "The Radio Ham") and two by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
on the 1965 album It's Hancock ("The Missing Page" and "The Reunion Party"), which was reissued as The World of Tony Hancock in 1975. BBC Records released an LP titled Hancock featuring the original TV soundtracks of two episodes, "The Lift" and "Twelve Angry Men." The episode "The Lift" was taken from the separate magnetic soundtrack of the telerecording, with the opening non-dialogue sequence omitted and one extra line of dialogue added: "Watch that door button... Oh my God!" as recorded by Hugh Lloyd on 24/08/76 and edited in. "Twelve Angry Men" was from the optical soundtrack of the telerecording, with theme and incidental music omitted, a few lines of dialogue edited out and pauses shortened.
There have been six LPs released of substantially complete radio episodes. The first was by Pye Records in 1960 entitled This is Hancock containing "The Wild Man of The Woods" and "Sunday Afternoon At Home." The other five were by BBC Records, released as Hancock's Half Hour: "The Poetry Society" and "Sid's Mystery Tours", released in 1980; "The Americans Hit Town" and "The Unexploded Bomb" in 1981; "The Scandal Magazine" and "The Last of the McHancocks" in 1982; "The Sleepless Night" and "Fred's Pie Stall" in 1983; and finally "Hancocks War" and "The Christmas Club" in 1984. These five LPs were also released on audio cassette at the same time. Also, a number of comedy themed LPs, EPs and 7-inch singles have been released over the years which have featured short extracts from various radio episodes.
The radio series of Hancock's Half Hour was first released on cassette by the BBC as part of their Radio Collection series of audio cassettes in the late 1980s. The first three volumes were re-issues of the five LPs from the 1980s plus the LP of television soundtracks from 1976. Because only 10 volumes were made with four episodes each, and because a number of episodes were later returned from homemade off-air recordings by listeners, a release of the radio series was never completed on cassette. In 2000, the episodes still remaining from Series 1 of the radio series were released as a box set on CD. Series 2–6 followed throughout the next three years. The series has also been given three compilation CDs.
The television series of Hancock's Half Hour was first released on VHS/Betamax in 1985 under BBC Enterprises (now Worldwide) in an incomplete form. A Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
of Volume One was also issued under catalogue number BBCL 7004. Six videos were released, each containing three episodes and were mainly drawn from the last three series. The next video release was not to be for another nine years, and that was "The Very Best of Hancock," a compilation including all episodes from the final series but excluding the last, "The Succession: Son and Heir." In 1996, a video was released containing the first three remaining episodes. Two later videos were released in 1997, and another featuring "The Train Journey" was released in 1999. In 1992 "Hancock: The Australian TV Series in Colour" was released, compiled from the three or so episodes of the 1968 Australian series completed before Hancock's death. This was released on VHS in the both UK and Australia.
The first DVD to be released was in 2001, which was a re-release of "The Very Best of Hancock" video. The next DVD was to be released in 2004, containing the first five episodes and the rarely seen "Hancock's Forty-Three Minutes." However, 2entertain released a box set in 2007 called The Tony Hancock Collection, containing every existing episode and new bonus features, including the Hancock interview from the Face to Face in 1960.
In June and August 2009, six off-air audio recordings of wiped/lost TV episodes from Series 4 were unearthed, though they had been knocking around the bootleg market for some time; however, two of them are very poor quality. The six episodes were: "Underpaid or Grandad's S.O.S.", "The Flight of the Red Shadow", "The Horror Serial", "Matrimony - Almost", "The Beauty Contest" and "The Wrong Man".
In 2009, the surviving radio episodes were repeated weekly on the digital network BBC Radio 7
BBC 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra, formerly known as BBC 7 and BBC Radio 7, is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's archive of spoken-word entertainment...
, chronologically sequenced.
BBC DVD planned re-release all of the surviving television episodes in a DVD box set called "The Hancock's Half Hour TV Collection," containing all 45 sole surviving television episodes including the six found audio recordings From Series 4 episodes in a descending chronological order. This is due for release in 2011.