Hancock's Half Hour
- TV sitcom
- BBC One
- 1956 - 1961
- 63 episodes (7 series)
Tony Hancock stars in Galton & Simpson's comic masterpiece, with his delusions of grandeur and acquaintances at the root of his every downfall. Also features Sid James, Kenneth Williams, James Bulloch, Johnny Vyvyan, Alec Bregonzi and more.
- Series 2, Episode 1 repeated Sunday at 2am on BBC4
Streaming rank this week: 4,286
Key details
- Genre
- Sitcom
- Broadcast
- 1956 - 1961
- Channel
- BBC One
- Episodes
- 63 (7 series)
- Stars
- Tony Hancock, Sid James, Kenneth Williams, James Bulloch, Johnny Vyvyan, Alec Bregonzi, John Vere, Hugh Lloyd and Mario Fabrizi
- Writers
- Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
- Director
- Duncan Wood
- Producer
- Duncan Wood
- Company
Welcome to 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam, residence of Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock - a down-at-heel comedian whose life never goes to plan.
Tony Hancock plays a fictionalised version of himself in this sitcom: a loser whose plans and aspirations are continually ruined by bad luck, the scheming and devious Sidney Balmoral James (played by Sid James) or, more often than not, by his own pomposity and ambition.
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The final series of this show, which saw Hancock alone in an Earl's Court bedsit, was broadcast under the shortened title Hancock.
Following these seven series, in 1963 Hancock moved to ITV to star in series with a similar premise called Hancock, but this new show was not written by Galton & Simpson. The star returned to ITV in 1967 for Hancock's, a series in which his character played the manager of a nightclub. This turned out to be his final British TV series, as he committed suicide the following year.
Additional details
- Also known as
-
- Hancock (Series 7)
- Hancock's Forty-Three Minutes
- Production
- Studio
- Camera set-up
- Multi-camera
- Picture
- Black and white
- Soundtrack
- Music by Angela Morley.
Website links
- BBC Comedy Guide
A guide to the series from the BBC. - Railway Cuttings
Fan site dedicated to the Lad 'imself. - BFI Screenonline
A further guide to the show from BFI. - Treasure Hunt
A list of the missing radio and television episodes. - British Comedy And Drama Website
Another guide to the world of Tony H-H-Hancock. - IMDb
- Wikipedia
Broadcast details
- First broadcast
- Friday 6th July 1956 at 8:45pm on BBC One
- Next repeats
-
- Series 2, Episode 1: Sunday at 2am on BBC4
- Series 6, Episode 8: Tuesday at 8:30pm on BBC4
- Series 6, Episode 8: Saturday 26th October at 11:40pm on BBC4
- Series 3, Episode 9: Tuesday 29th October at 8:30pm on BBC4
- Most recent repeats
-
- Tuesday 15th October 2024 at 8:30pm on BBC4 - Series 2, Episode 1
- Sunday 13th October 2024 at 12:15am on BBC4 - Series 6, Episode 1
- Tuesday 8th October 2024 at 8:30pm on BBC4 - Series 6, Episode 1
Recording details
- BBC Lime Grove - Series 1 and some of Series 3, all broadcast live.
- Riverside Studios - Series 2 and some of Series 3, broadcast live. Series 4 part live and part recorded. Series 5 and 6 pre-recorded.
- BBC Television Theatre - Hancock's Forty-Three Minutes special.
- BBC Television Centre - Series 7, pre-recorded.