REGULAR PERFORMERS

Tony Hancock
Sid James

SUPPORTING PERFORMERS

Irene Handl
Warren Mitchell
Kenneth Williams
Hattie Jacques
Hugh Lloyd
Arthur Mullard
John Le Mesurier
Mario Fabrizi
Johnny Vyvyan
Frank Thornton
Patricia Hayes
June Whitfield
Patrick Cargill
Pat Coombes
Terence Alexander
Dick Emery

PRODUCERS Duncan Wood, BBC; Tony Hancock, Alan Tarrant, ATV

PROGRAMMING HISTORY

BBC
July 1956-September 1956                        6 Episodes April 1957-June 1957                                6 Episodes September 1957-December 1957             12 Episodes December 1958-March 1959                    13 Episodes September 1959-November 1959             10 Episodes March 1960-May 1960                            10 Episodes May 1961-June 1961                                6 Episodes

ATV
January 1963-April 1963                          13 Episodes

Tony Hancock became the premier radio and TV comic of his generation, due mainly to the long running radio and TV series that both bore the name, Hancock's Half Hour. Hancock's career as a comedian began when with performances when he was 16 and continued on radio the following year, before he joined the Royal Air Force in 1942. Following the war he returned to the stage and eventually worked as resident comedian at The Windmill, a famous London comedy and striptease club in which many of Britain's favourite comedians of the period worked. He reappeared on radio in 1950 in a famous variety series Variety Bandbox, but it was the following year when he joined the cast of radio's Educating Archie that he really came to the public eye. His success on the show eventually led to him being offered his own starring series on radio, from 1954, on Hancock's Half Hour.

For Hancock's Half Hour, Hancock was paired with script-writing team Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and together with the comedian they created one of Britain's best loved and enduring comic characters. The Tony Hancock of the series was a slightly snobbish type with delusions of grandeur and a talent for self deception. The sharp scripts were complemented by the contribution of the supporting cast (Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams, Bill Kerr and Sid James) and immeasurably from Hancock himself. Hancock proved himself a master of comic timing, instinctively knowing how long to hold a pause for maximum effect (similar to Jack Benny in the United States). In 1956, the show transferred to BBC Television and Hancock went on to even greater success.

The television Hancock's Half Hour was a landmark in British television and became the yardstick by which all subsequent sitcoms were measured. On TV, many of the episodes were virtual double handers between Tony Hancock and co-star Sid James, who appeared as a down-to-earth type but still a shady character always with an eye on the main chance. Their partnership proved enormously popular with viewers and critics alike. On TV, Hancock displayed a marvelous talent for facial comedy; by rolling his eyes, creasing his brow in deep concentration, sucking on his lips or puffing out his cheeks he could suggest any number of internal wranglings. When these expressions were combined with his superb timing he managed to wring big laughs from the thinnest of lines. But the lines were rarely thin; Galton and Simpson's writing was constantly improving and the series, unlike many in the genre, continued to grow from strength to strength. After making 57 TV episodes of the series from 6 July 1956 to 6 May 1960, Hancock decided he wanted a change in the format. Always convinced he could do better, Hancock was rarely happy with the work he was doing. Against the advice of his writers and producer (Duncan Wood) he insisted that James be written out of the series because he thought they had fully explored the double-act potential. Finally it was agreed and the series returned, now simply called Hancock, for six more episodes. To emphasise the change in format the first episode featured Hancock alone in his room delivering a desperate rambling monologue as he struggles to pass the time.

Against all the odds Hancock was a roaring success and those six episodes stand out as the highlight of Hancock's career. One episode in particular, "The Blood Donor", is unquestionably the best remembered episode of any British sitcom. Tony Hancock, however remained unimpressed and finally split with his writers Galton and Simpson, complaining they were writing him too poor, too hopeless. (Intriguingly for their next major project the writers went even further "down market" with the rag-and-bone man sitcom Steptoe And Son).

Hancock never found the perfection he was seeking, and often sought solace in alcohol. After struggling to make his mark in films and other TV series his bouts of depression deepened and eventually he committed suicide in Australia on 25 June 1968.

-Dick Fiddy