The following shows are from the six BBC radio series of Hancock's Half Hour (plus xmas & radio specials)
Railway Cuttings is the first Web site to contain this information in detail and with brief synopsis for every show. The most comprehensive list of Hancock related BBC radio shows on the Web, so far - Credit for this must go to Roger Wilmut's great book Tony Hancock 'Artiste'

On to the ATV series ATV tv series - This way ->
On to the BBC tv series BBC tv series - This way ->
 
The First Night Party
(with Gerald Campion and Kenneth Williams)
06 November 1954
1st - recorded
Hancock rents a posh flat from Sid James in order to hold an impressive party launching his new radio series. Unfortunately Sid has omitted to get permission from the owner.
 
The Diamond Ring
(with Kenneth Williams)
09 November 1954
2nd - recorded
Hancock, begging 'a penny for the guy', finds a diamond ring in his takings. He wants to take it to the police and claim a reward, but Moira assumes it is for her - so Hancock asks Sid to make a copy.
 
The Idol
(with Kenneth Williams and Paul Carpenter)
16 November 1954
3rd - recorded
In an attempt to cure Hancock of an attack of bigheadedness brought on by one fan letter, Moira and Bill hire the girls from a local factory to mob him. The trouble is stopping them. . .
 
The Boxing Champion
23 November 1954
4th - recorded
Under doctor's orders to lose weight, Hancock goes to Syd's Gym and gets involved in a boxing bout. He defeats Sid's champion by accident, and finds himself in a full-scale championship match.
 
The Hancock Festival
30 November 1954
5th - recorded
Three short plays, adapted for radio from the pen of 'A. Somerset Hancock'.
 
The New Car
(without Alan Simpson; with Kenneth Williams)
07 December 1954
6th - recorded
Hancock buys a car from Sid, little realizing that not only is it stolen, but that it is a police car.
 
The Department Store Santa
(with Kenneth Williams)
14 December 1954
7th - recorded
Forced by the Ministry of Labour to stop drawing unemployment benefit and take a job, Hancock reluctantly becomes a Santa in Sid's department store.
 
Christmas At Aldershot
(with Kenneth Williams)
21 December 1954
8th - recorded
Hancock's plans for a luxurious Christmas are upset by the arrival of his and Bill's Z-reservist call-up papers. They face the prospect of an Army Christmas under Sergeant James.
 
The Christmas Eve Party
(with Kenneth Williams)
28 December 1954
9th - recorded
Hancock's party was so noisy that he has been brought to court by the entire district. In flashback we hear both their and his versions of what happened.
 
Cinderella Hancock
(with Dora Bryan, Kenneth Williams and Paul Carpenter)
04 January 1955
10th - recorded
Hancock, forced to do the house-work by Bill, and forbidden to go to the National Film Ball, manages to go in disguise - as Sheikh Aly Aga Khancock - in a costume rented only until midnight.
 
A Trip To France
(with Kenneth Williams)
11 January 1955
11th - recorded
Hancock gets a touch of sea fever, and sets sail for France with Sid - who has a little smuggling planned.
 
The Monte Carlo Rally
(with Bryan Johnston and Raymond Baxter (both prerecorded) and Kenneth Williams)
18 January 1955
12th - recorded
Hancock takes part in the Monte Carlo Rally, in an 1896 car supplied by Sid.
 
A House On The Cliff
25 January 1955
13th - recorded
Hancock wants to build a house - but Sid takes a hand, and he finishes up building three.
 
The Sheikh
(with Kenneth Williams)
01 February 1955
14th - recorded
Hancock is signed up by Sid's film studio to appear as a dramatic actor - in films shot with a box camera.
 
The Marriage Bureau
(with Peter Sellers, replacing Williams)
08 February 1955
15th - recorded
Hancock has the chance of a job - but he has to be married before they will employ him. So he goes to Sid James's Marriage Bureau - and finishes up being left in charge.
 
The End Of The Series
(with Kenneth Williams)
15 February 1955
16th - recorded
After the end of the final programme of the series, Hancock, Bill, Sid and Moira reminisce on how they first met.
 
A Holiday In France
(without Hancock; with Harry Secombe)
19 April 1955
1st - recorded
Hancock/Secombe and Bill mean to go to Southend - but their aim is bad and they finish up in Paris - where they first meet Andrée.
 
The Crown Jewels
(without Hancock; with Harry Secombe)
26 April 1955
2nd - recorded
In Hancock's absence, Bill is staying with Harry Secombe. They show Andrée round London - and get involved in Sid James's plot to steal the Crown Jewels.
 
The Racehorse
(without Hancock; with Harry Secombe)
03 May 1955
3rd - recorded
Bill has bought a racehorse with Harry's last ten bob. The fact that it has three legs doesn't deter Sid from entering it in the Britannia Steeplechase.
 
A Visit To Swansea
(Hancock returns; guest appearance by Secombe)
10 May 1955
4th - recorded
Hancock returns to find Bill and Andrée in his flat. They persuade him that he ought to thank Harry Secombe for standing in for him, so they set out for Swansea, eventually finding Secombe down a coalmine.
 
The Holiday Camp
(with Dennis Wilson - piano)
17 May 1955
5th - recorded
Hancock is hired by Sid to run a holiday camp - a converted Army Camp on an artillery practise range.
 
The Chef That Died Of Shame
24 May 1955
6th - recorded
The cast depart from their usual characters to tell the story of 'Iggins, the pie-stall cook who rises to the heights of haute cuisine and falls again through drink.
 
Prime Minister Hancock
31 May 1955
7th - recorded
Hancock stands for Parliament - and dreams that he has been elected, and has become Prime Minister.
 
The Rail Strike
07 June 1955
8th - recorded
With no trains running due to a national rail strike, Sid and Hancock run their own train - pulled by the original 'Rocket', stolen from the Science Museum.
 
The Television Set
14 June 1955
9th - recorded
Unable to afford a television set, Hancock buys a home construction kit from Sid - and, surprisingly, manages to make it work. All goes well until a neighbour calls. . .
 
The Three Sons
(without Alan Simpson)
21 June 1955
10th - not repeated
The story of old Ebadiah Hancock and the respective careers of his three sons - Rodney, in the Navy; Gideon, a gangster; and Anthony, a doctor (all played by Hancock).
 
The Marrow Contest
28 June 1955
11th - recorded
Hancock's marrow, lovingly grown for the vegetable competition, is threatened by Mayor James's roadwidening scheme.
 
The Matador
05 July 1955
12th - recorded
In search of a cheap holiday, Hancock approaches Sid, who suggests a holiday in Spain. Little does Hancock know that Sid is looking for a bullfighter. . .
 
The Pet Dog
19 October 1955
1st - recorded
Hancock buys Andrée a puppy for her birthday. To his alarm the puppy grows rapidly until it is two inches taller than he is.
 
The Jewel Robbery
26 October 1955
2nd - recorded
Sid uses Hancock's new Rolls-Royce as the getaway car in a smash-and-grab robbery - with Hancock and the others still inside it.
 
The Bequest
02 November 1955
3rd - recorded
Hancock's rich Uncle Ebadiah dies, leaving him £40,000 on condition he gets married. The trouble is, no-one will have him; then, a later will turns up. . .
 
The New Neighbour
09 November 1955
4th - recorded
The new next-door neighbour has Hancock worried - he keeps bringing in bodies and dumping them in the incinerator. In fact, he melts down old wax-works to make new ones; but Hancock is determined to investigate. . .
 
The Winter Holiday
16 November 1955
5th - recorded
Hancock is given a fortnight off from his job as a lift attendant. Accompanied by Bill and Andrée, he spends it on Brighton beach - in November!
 
The Blackboard Jungle
23 November 1955
6th - recorded
The cast present the story of a young schoolmaster in a school full of juvenile delinquents. (A skit on the 1955 film of the same name.)
 
The Red Planet
30 November 1955
7th - recorded
Hancock's interest in astronomy turns to panic when he thinks he sees a red planet approaching the Earth. Anticipating a cataclysm, he makes arrangements with Sid for a rapid departure - to Mars.
 
The Diet
07 December 1955
8th - recorded
Hancock is too fat for the part he is playing in a film, so he goes on a diet - and to the Turkish Baths.
 
A Visit To Russia
14 December 1955
9th - recorded
As a gesture of East-West goodwill, Hancock decides to do his next broadcast of 'Hancock's Half-Hour' from the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.
 
The Trial Of Father Christmas
(with Graham Stark and Ray Galton)
21 December 1955
10th - recorded
Hancock dreams that he is Father Christmas, on trial in the Celestial Court - and being posecuted by Mephistopheles (Sid).
 
Cinderella Hancock
(A new production of the 10th of the 1st series)
28 December 1955
11th - recorded
Hancock, forced to do the house-work by Bill, and forbidden to go to the National Film Ball, manages to go in disguise - as Sheikh Aly Aga Khancock - in a costume rented only until midnight.
 
The New Years Resolutions
04 January 1956
12th - recorded
Hancock's New Year's resolutions are undermined one by one as he has to borrow money, tell lies, and when he visits Sid James's night club. The T.H.A.S. have an extract of this show in their audio archives
 
Hancock's Hair
11 January 1956
13th - recorded
Imagining that he is going bald, Hancock goes to Sid for treatment, with the result that his hair turns green.
 
The Student Prince
18 January 1956
14th - recorded
Hancock is lured to Moravia under the impression that he is playing in 'The Student Prince'; in fact he is impersonating the Crown Prince, who is in danger of assassination.
 
The Breakfast Cereal
25 January 1956
15th - recorded
Hancock takes the claims made in a 'Crunchyflakes' cornflakes advertisement seriously, and sues the firm when the results don't come up to his expectation.
 
How Hancock Won The War
01 February 1956
16th - recorded
Andrée sees a scar on Hancock's chest, and he invents a story of how he got it in the war, as a Commando in Africa and Japan.
 
The Newspaper
08 February 1956
17th - recorded
Hancock takes over the running of the family newspaper 'The Sentinel', with Sid as the crime reporterreporting the crimes before they happen.
 
The Greyhound Track
15 February 1956
18th - recorded
Hancock's country mansion, newly decorated, is imperilled when Mayor Sid James decides to build a greyhound track on the site. In an attempt to evict Hancock, Sid discovers that a public footpath runs right through the house.
 
The Conjurer
22 February 1956
19th - recorded
Hancock takes up conjuring, and is hired by Sid to give a performance at Dartmoor Prison - little suspecting that he is part of an escape plan.
 
The Test Match
(with John Arlott, Godfrey Evans, Colin Cowdrey, and Frank Tyson)
29 February 1956
20th - recorded
Sid James, now Chairman of MCC, makes Hancock Captain of the English team - and bets on Australia to win.
 
Back From Holiday
(with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
14 October 1956
1st - recorded
Hancock and Bill return from a Continental holiday to find that Sid has rented their house to a tenant who won't move. They repair to the doss-house. . .
 
The Bolshoi Ballet
(with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
21 October 1956
2nd - recorded
Hancock's desire to see the Bolshoi Ballet is frustrated by a long queue, Sid James's black market tickets, and an incompetent policeman.
 
Sid James's Dad
(with Alan Simpson)
28 October 1956
3rd - recorded
Sid is expecting a visit from his father, and, being ashamed to admit his true profession, has explained his appearances in court by telling the old man he is a judge.
 
The Income Tax Demand
(with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
04 November 1956
4th - recorded
Rather than pay an income tax demand for £14 12s 3d, Hancock takes the advice of Sid James, chartered accountant - with expensive results.
 
The New Secretary
(with Alan Simpson; Hattie Jacques joins)
11 November 1956
5th - recorded
Hancock decides to hire a secretary - and gets lumbered with the outsized, incompetent, aggressive Grizelda Pugh - who starts work by muddling up his mail.
 
Michelangelo 'Ancock
(with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
18 November 1956
6th - recorded
Hancock enters a sculpture competition, with Miss Pugh as the model, and Sid supplying the stone.
 
Anna And The King Of Siam
(with Alan Simpson, Ray Galton and Max Harrispiano)
25 November 1956
7th - recorded
The release of the film 'The King and I', based on 'Anna and the King of Siam', inspires the cast to present this unmusical and argumentative version of the story.
 
Cyrano De Hancock
02 December 1956
8th - recorded
Sid has fallen in love with Miss Pugh. Hancock, showing him how to propose, finds he has proposed to Miss Pugh. She insists on a wedding. . .
 
The Stolen Petrol
(with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
09 December 1956
9th - recorded
Sid throws a party to celebrate the return of petrol rationing - and sets Hancock up as a garage proprietor selling siphoned petrol. Recently discovered, via the BBCs Treasure Hunt appeal - this show will shortly be appearing on a forthcoming BBC deluxe CD boxed collection!
 
The Expresso Bar
(with Ray Galton)
16 December 1956
10th - recorded
Hancock rents a cellar from Sid and opens a coffee bar. All goes well until Sid realizes that the cellar is next door to the cells in the local nick - and four of Sid's lads are inside. . .
 
Hancock's Happy Christmas
(with Michael Anderson, Dorothy Marks, Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
23 December 1956
11th - recorded
Hancock, approaching Christmas with all the enthusiasm of Scrooge, finds himself entertaining two children from the local orphanage.
 
The Diary
30 December 1956
12th - recorded
Browsing in his diary for 1956, Hancock imagines himself as a surgeon, a lion-tamer, and a test pilot whose flight is disastrously upset by the unexpected presence of Kenneth Williams.
 
The 13th Of The Series
06 January 1957
13th - recorded
Sub-Druid Hancock superstitiously refuses to do his 13th radio programme. When he is threatened with action for breach of contract, the 'Head Druid' (Sid) arranges a ceremony at Stonehenge.
 
Almost A Gentleman
13 January 1957
14th - recorded
Annoyed by his omission from the New Year's Honours list - again - Hancock takes lessons from Sid on how to become a gentleman.
 
The Old School Reunion
20 January 1957
15th - recorded
Returning to his old school with Sid and Bill, Hancock regales them with stories of his successes as a scholar and athlete.
 
The Wild Man Of The Woods
27 January 1957
16th - recorded
Hancock's desire to 'get away from it all' leads him to camp in a bus shelter on Clapham Common, and then in a bit of forest rented from Sid.
 
Agricultural 'Ancock
03 February 1957
17th - recorded
Needing to prove that he is an agricultural labourer in order to maintain his low rent, Hancock buys Lords Cricket Ground from Sid and starts farming it.
 
Hancock In The Police
10 February 1957
18th - recorded
As a policeman on the beat in Bond Street, Hancock unwittingly causes a series of robberies by conversationally leaking security information to Sid. A trap is set - with Hancock disguised as a woman.
 
The Emigrant
17 February 1957
19th - recorded
Wishing to emigrate, Hancock is met by refusals from Australia, Canada, South Africa, India, and even Baffin Land. With Sid's help, he leaves the country - on Harold Macmillan's passport. (This show is not based on the TV script of the same title)
 
The Last Of The McHancocks
(with James Robertson Justice)
24 February 1957
20th - recorded
Left a castle in Scotland by an uncle, Hancock is forced to defend his claim to it in a Highland Games contest against Seamus McNasty and Bonnie Prince Sidney.
 
The New Radio Series
21 January 1958
1st - recorded
Big-headed from the success of his television series, Hancock decides to retire - until he discovers that the BBC intend to replace him with 'Kerr's Half-Hour'.
 
The Scandal Magazine
(with John Vere)
28 January 1958
2nd - recorded
'Blabbermouth', a scandal magazine run by Sid James, features an expose of Hancock's supposed carryings on with a cigarette girl. Hancock sues.
 
The Male Suffragettes
04 February 1958
3rd - recorded
Hancock and Sid take a sudden dislike to women, and start a movement intended to re-establish male dominance.
 
The Insurance Policy
11 February 1958
4th - recorded
Sid persuades Hancock to take out a comprehensive insurance policy - at a premium greater than Hancock's income.
 
The Publicity Photograph
18 February 1958
5th - recorded
Persuaded to have a new - and heavily re-touched publicity photograph made, Hancock's pleasure at the good looks of the result turns to horror when he has to undergo plastic surgery and gruelling training to make him match the picture.
 
The Unexploded Bomb
(with Alan Simpson)
25 February 1958
6th - recorded
An unexploded bomb is discovered in Hancock's cellar - to the delight of Sid, who wants the site for a used car lot.
 
Hancock's School
04 March 1958
7th - recorded
Sid escalates Hancock's attempts to teach Bill to read into an expensive private school - with the pupils packed into the house, and Hancock, Sid, Miss Pugh, and even Bill as teachers.
 
Around the World In Eighty Days
11 March 1958
8th - recorded
Hancock is bet £2,000 that he cannot emulate Phineas Fogg and get round the world in eighty days. Bedevilled by cancelled planes and refused visas, he eventually books on a world cruise. . .
 
The Americans Hit Town
(with Jerry Stovin)
18 March 1958
9th - recorded
When the US Air Force sets up a base in Cheam, Hancock joins the rush to rent them rooms at exorbitant prices; but the sudden appearance of a Council Inspector forces them to masquerade as unexploited Yanks. . .
 
The Election Candidate
(with Alan Simpson)
25 March 1958
10th - recorded
Hancock's preoccupation with collecting a complete set of plastic guardsmen given away with cornflakes is interrupted by his local Liberal Party, who want him to stand as their candidate in the East Cheam by-election.
 
Hancock's Car
(with Alan Simpson)
01 April 1958
11th - recorded
Hancock's car has been parked outside his house for ten years - to the annoyance of the Council, who haven't been able to resurface the road in that time.
 
The East Cheam Drama Festival
(with Kathleen O'Hagan - piano)
08 April 1958
12th - recorded
The cast perform three short plays - 'Jack's Return Home', 'Look Back in Hunger', and 'The Life of Ludwig Van Beethoven and the Songs that Made him Famous'. This was a missing show several years ago, but was returned to the BBC by the T.H.A.S., they themselves having acquired it from a member. It has since been released twice on BBC Radio Collection as ZBBC 1122 and ISBN 0563 40630 5 - Volume 4. It will soon be re-released on the forthcoming 5th BBC deluxe CD boxed collection!
 
The Foreign Legion
15 April 1958
13th - recorded
Hancock is booked to entertain the troops in Malta, but is diverted by Sid, and unwittingly joins the French Foreign Legion.
 
Sunday Afternoon at Home
22 April 1958
14th - recorded
23 Railway Cuttings is a scene of boredom and inactivity as the occupants try to while away a British Sunday.
 
The Grappling Game
29 April 1958
15th - recorded
Sid is now promoting all-in wrestling, and discovers a new champion - Miss Pugh.
 
The Junk Man
06 May 1958
16th - recorded
While having a tidy-up, Miss Pugh sells rag-and-boneman Sid James some of Hancock's treasured heirlooms. Hancock is determined to get them back. . .
 
Hancock's War
13 May 1958

17th - recorded
Hancock impresses the Vicar with tales of his exploits in Military Intelligence - including his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp and his arrival in Berlin just before the Russians.
 
The Prize Money
(with Alan Simpson, Patricia Hayes and Christina Horniman)
20 May 1958
18th - recorded
Hancock wins £4,000 in a television quiz. Sid immediately makes plans to relieve him of it - with the aid of two 'deserted wives'.
 
The Threatening Letters
(with Alan Simpson)
27 May 1958
19th - recorded
Hancock receives several anonymous letters threatening his life; failing to get any help from the police, he barricades himself in his house. . .
 
The Sleepless Night
03 June 1958
20th - recorded
Hancock intends to get a good night's sleep, but events and the other occupants of the house - keep him awake all night.
 
The Smugglers
(with Kenneth Williams, Patricia Hayes and Noel Dryden)
29 September 1959
1st - recorded
Returning on the cross-Channel ferry from a Continental holiday, Sid inveigles Hancock and Bill into attempting to smuggle some watches into the country for him.
 
The Childhood Sweetheart
(with Kenneth Williams and Patricia Hayes)
06 October 1959
2nd - recorded
Twenty-five years ago Hancock made a pact with his childhood sweetheart to meet at the cafe where they parted. Sid and Bill accompany him as he waits for his Olive. . .
 
The Last Bus Home
(with Warren Mitchell and Hugh Morton)
13 October 1959
3rd - recorded
Hancock, Sid and Bill have been to the cinema. They are unable to get on the last bus home, and are faced with a walk of several miles - just as it starts to rain.
 
The Picnic
(with Wilfred Babbage, Patricia Hayes, Anne Lancaster and Elizabeth Fraser)
20 October 1959
4th - recorded
The three go out for a picnic with three birds they have picked up the previous evening at the local Palais.
 
The Gourmet
(with Warren Mitchell, Hugh Morton and Raymond Glendenning)
27 October 1959
5th - recorded
Hancock fancies himself as a gourmet - so Sid enters him for an eating competition.
 
The Elopement
(with Lillian Grasson, Wilfred Babbage, Fraser Kerr and Leigh Crutchley)
03 November 1959
6th - recorded
Bill has fallen in love with a rich girl whose father won't allow him to marry her. Hancock and Sid arrange an elopement.
 
Fred's Pie Stall
(with Wilfred Babbage, Hugh Morton and Harry Towb)
10 November 1959
7th - recorded
Fred's Pie Stall, which has stood in Cheam square for sixty years, is threatened with closure by the counciluntil Hancock sets out to save it. . .
 
The Waxwork
(with Warren Mitchell)
17 November 1959
8th - recorded
Madame Tussaud's want to make a waxwork of Hancock, but Sid has a better idea - to make one themselves.
 
Sid's Mystery Tours
(with Warren Mitchell, Errol McKinnon and Mavis Villers)
24 November 1959
9th - recorded
Sid talks Hancock into becoming the director of his guided tours company - which doesn't even own a coach.
 
The Fête
(with Wilfred Babbage, Jack Watson and Hugh Morton)
01 December 1959
10th - recorded
As a member of the Council, Hancock rashly agrees to persuade Sir Laurence Olivier to open the East Cheam Garden Fete.
 
The Poetry Society
(with Fenella Fielding, Fraser Kerr and Warren Mitchell)
08 December 1959
11th - recorded
A poetry evening with a group of Hancock's new avantgarde friends produces gems of abstract poetry, not only from the group but from Sid and Bill. Read or hear the poems from this classic radio Half Hour!
 
Hancock in Hospital
(with Patricia Hayes and Joan Frank)
15 December 1959
12th - recorded
In hospital with a broken leg, Hancock is visited by Sid and Bill - and wishes he'd been left alone.
 
The Christmas Club
(without Bill Kerr; with Hugh Morton, Wilfred Babbage and Frank Partington)
22 December 1959
13th - recorded
When Sid accidentally gives the slate club money to the Police Benevolent Fund, he and Hancock face a Christmas of starvation.
 
The Impersonator
(with Anne Lancaster, Peter Goodwright, Ronald Wilson, Jerry Stovin, Wilfred Babbage and Jack Watson)
29 December 1959
14th - recorded
Hancock's pretensions as a serious actor are undermined by a TV commercial for cornflakes which uses an imitation of his voice - so he takes the impersonator to court.
 
Bill And Father Christmas
(with Hattie Jacques and Warren Mitchell)
25 December 1958
Christmas Special
Bill's belief in Father Christmas is shattered when he discovers Hancock dressing up on Christmas Eve. He is so upset that, on a doctor's instructions, the others have to recreate his childhood Christmases in Australia.
 
The 13th of the Month
(see here for a breif synopsis of the original show this one's based on)
04 January 1959
1st - re-make
(re-make of 'The 13th of the Series', 13th of 4th series. The script is re-written so that the plot does not hinge round the show being number 13 of a series as broadcast.)
 
The New Secretary
(see here for a breif synopsis of the original show this one's based on)
11 January 1959
2nd - re-make
(re-make of the 5th of the 4th series; Hattie Jacques's arrival is presented in flashback, again so that the show can be placed anywhere in a series.)
 
The Ballet Visit
(see here for a breif synopsis of the original show this one's based on)
18 January 1959
3rd - re-make
(re-make of 'The Bolshoi Ballet', 2nd of the 4th series; the ballet company in question is changed to the Covent Garden Ballet, in order to avoid the topical references to the Bolshoi's 1956 visit, and the script goes into less detail as to where in central London the queue extends to.)
 
The Election Candidate
(see here for a breif synopsis of the original show this one's based on)
25 January 1959
4th - re-make
(re-make of the 10th of the 5th series; instead of standing for the East Cheam Liberal Party Hancock stands for the local Independent Party.)

 

Synopsis and other details taken from the 'Hancock Bible', Tony Hancock 'Artiste' by Roger Wilmut.
The BBC have only seventy-four of the original one-hundred-seven radio shows left in their archives. The others, as can be seen above, were either lost or wiped.
I received an e-mail a little while ago (Sept 2002), notifying me of a missing radio Half Hour that had been found. The show in question was The Blackboard Jungle. The person that had the show was at the time trying to contact the BBC, via their Treasure Hunt appeal to notify them of this discovery. The last I heard he/she seemed to be having difficulties. He/she said they had little faith in the BBC to show/broadcast some of the material that had (already) been returned to them via their Treasure Hunt appeal. He/she seems to have a general interest in all old material, not just Hancock, and also mentioned they may well have other Hancock related material, but so far hadn't had a chance to check through, what appears to be, a vast inherited collection of audio material (which I got the impression may have been acquired quite recently), as of yet. He/she feels that if the BBC can't be bothered to show/broadcast some, if not all, of the material that turns up from time to time, or let the general public at large have a look (he/she believes it belongs to us, the public, as we pay the licence fee, which, in turn, pays for the material, actors & actresses' wages, in the first place), then why should he/she be willing to give up this recently discovered, previously missing, material (Hancock's Half Hour show) and gain nothing in return. And so the story goes on... If I hear any more on this then I shall let you all know. I hope he/she decides to let them have it! We'll have to wait and see... It could all turn out to be a lot of hot air yet. It does happen, as indeed it has in the past, with these types of situations often coming to nothing. I certainly hope this won't prove to be the case this time...

These shows are still held by the BBC, in their archives. Indeed, many have been released on audio tape, by way of the BBC Radio Collection. As most will already know, all the remaining radio shows, in series order, that the BBC hold in their archives are currently being released, periodically, as luxury CD boxed collections. About time too - and it's proving to have been well worth the wait! Now... let's all hope they follow this up with a similar release of all the TV shows, in series order - that they still hold in their archives, on DVD and/or video very soon...
These shows are missing, but are available from the T.H.A.S., if you're a member. They are generally of a poorish quality though, but well worth a listen anyway. Join if you're not already a member, to get access. They have a great archive. Bigger even then the BBCs own!

These shows are missing. It's said, they've been either lost or wiped from the BBC archives.

 

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