Hancock's Half Hour (1956)
Hancock's Half Hour is 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.
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Episode 1 - The Alpine Holiday
Release Date: 1957-04-01Hancock upsets his fellow passengers on a flight to Switzerland and then discovers that he has to share his room at the hotel. Initially he thinks that he is sharing with an attractive French girl only to discover that it is really a yodeller and Alpine Horn player!
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Episode 2 - Lady Chatterley's Revenge
Release Date: 1957-04-15Hancock is given a small part in the East Cheam Repertory Company's production of 'Moon Over Tahiti' but then they forget to tell him when the play is changed to 'Lady Chatterley's Revenge'!
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Episode 3 - The Russian Prince
Release Date: 1957-04-29Hancock bumps his head and suffers from temporary amnesia. Whilst he is unable to remember who he is Sid persuades Hancock that he is Prince Nicolai, the last heir to the Russian Royal Family's fortune... but there are others making the same claim!
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Episode 4 - The New Neighbour
Release Date: 1957-05-13This episode was based on the 4th episode of the 3rd Radio series. Hancock is worried by his new neighbour who seems to keep bringing in bodies and dumping them in an incinerator in the back garden. Hancock decides to investigate...
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Episode 5 - The Pianist
Release Date: 1957-05-27Hancock dreams that he has a job as a night club pianist and he falls in love with a foreign baroness. But she is engaged and Hancock is challenged to a duel with her fiancé!
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Episode 6 - The Auction
Release Date: 1957-06-10Sid and Hancock decide to auction off their property to pay for a trip to Monte Carlo to try out Sid's infallible roulette system. But they discover that Hancock's stuffed eagle had been stuffed with banknotes!