Starting life in the 1950's as a radio sitcom, 'Hancock's Half Hour' was the second sitcom to be broadcast on British television, just behind 'Pinwright's Progress'. Alongside Hancock in the radio show were Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Hugh Lloyd, Bill Kerr and Kenneth Williams. When it transferred to television, only James became a regular player, the rest of the cast only appeared sporadically in guest roles. Ray Galton and Alan Simpson once again fleshed out the scripts for Tony. In visual media, 'Hancock's Half Hour' seemed to fare just as well, if not better, as it did on radio.
Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock was a bachelor who lived at Railway Cuttings in East Cheam. He was also a snob who aspired to be social climbing but was let down by his own gullibility and stupidity or the burdening presence of his shady friend Sidney Balmoral James.
I first became acquainted with Tony Hancock in 2001 when my father ( a huge fan of Hancock ) played for me an audiobook of the original radio series. I took to him right away. Re-watching his TV series recently, I found it hard going but admittedly still found much to enjoy.
Hancock very quickly became a household name however he later became dissatisfied with the format of his show and 'Hancock's Half Hour' came to an end in 1960. The show was reformatted in 1961 simply as 'Hancock', Sid James having been cruelly dropped ( not that he had any cause to worry, Galton and Simpson later gave him his own show - 'Citizen James' ). Despite being a success, 'Hancock' only lasted one season as its star became dissatisfied with the material from Galton and Simpson and dropped them also. His career, nor indeed himself, were to be the same again after this.
Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock was a bachelor who lived at Railway Cuttings in East Cheam. He was also a snob who aspired to be social climbing but was let down by his own gullibility and stupidity or the burdening presence of his shady friend Sidney Balmoral James.
I first became acquainted with Tony Hancock in 2001 when my father ( a huge fan of Hancock ) played for me an audiobook of the original radio series. I took to him right away. Re-watching his TV series recently, I found it hard going but admittedly still found much to enjoy.
Hancock very quickly became a household name however he later became dissatisfied with the format of his show and 'Hancock's Half Hour' came to an end in 1960. The show was reformatted in 1961 simply as 'Hancock', Sid James having been cruelly dropped ( not that he had any cause to worry, Galton and Simpson later gave him his own show - 'Citizen James' ). Despite being a success, 'Hancock' only lasted one season as its star became dissatisfied with the material from Galton and Simpson and dropped them also. His career, nor indeed himself, were to be the same again after this.