The following shows are from the seven BBCtv series of Hancock's Half Hour & Hancock
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 BBCtv 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 radio series BBC radio series - This way ->
 
The First TV Show
(with Irene Handl)
06 July 1956
1st - live
Hancock's first TV Show is jeopardized by his broken leg, but Sid insists that the show must go on - and arranges a transmission from Hancock's hospital bed.
 
The Artist
(with Irene Handl)
20 July 1956
2nd - live
The East Cheam Repertory Company gives Hancock a small part in 'Moon Over Tahiti' - and then omits to inform him when the play is changed to 'Lady Chatterley's Revenge'.
 
The Dancer
(with Warren Mitchell and Alan Simpson)
03 August 1956
3rd - live
Hancock is offered a part in a film - provided that he can dance. Sid arranges lessons, and Hancock enters for a dancing Championship Contest - with Sid (in drag) as his partner.
 
The Bequest
(with Irene Handl and Alan Simpson)
17 August 1956
4th - live
Hancock is left a fortune by his Uncle Obadiah, on condition that he gets married. With the help of the Sid James Marriage Bureau, he starts looking for a wife. (Based on the radio programme, 3rd of 3rd series)
 
The Radio Show
(with Warren Mitchell, Eric Sykes, Alan Simpson, Ray Galton, Graham Stark and Spike Milligan)
31 August 1956
5th - live
From the National Radio Show at Earl's Court. Several sketches, including the British answer to the Red Army Choir.
 
The Chef that Died of Shame
(with Warren Mitchell)
14 September 1956
6th - live
The story of the pie-stall cook who rises to the heights of haute cuisine and falls again through drink. (Re-make of the radio programme, 6th of 2nd series)
 
The Alpine Holiday
(without Sidney James; with Kenneth Williams, June Whitfield and Alan Simpson)
01 April 1957
1st - live
After an argumentative flight, Hancock has to dispute possession of his hotel room with an attractive French girl; and then finds himself sharing a room with a yodeller and an Alpine Horn player.
 
Lady Chatterley's Revenge
(without Sidney James; with Warren Mitchell, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Alan Simpson)
15 April 1957
2nd - live
The East Cheam Repertory Company gives Hancock a small part in 'Moon Over Tahiti' - and then omits to inform him when the play is changed to 'Lady Chatterley's Revenge'.
 
The Russian Prince
(with Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques)
29 April 1957
3rd - live
Suffering from temporary amnesia after a bump on the head, Hancock is persuaded by Sid that he is Prince Nicolai, the last heir of the Russian Royal Family's fortune. However, he is not the only claimant. . .
 
The New Neighbour
(with Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams)
13 May 1957
4th - live
The new next-door neighbour has Hancock worried - he keeps on 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. . . (Re-make of the radio programme, 4th of 3rd series)
 
The Pianist
(with Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams)
27 May 1957
5th - live
Hancock dreams that his job as a night-club pianist leads him into a romance with a foreign Baroness - and a duel with her fiancee.
 
The Auction
(with Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques)
10 June 1957
6th - live
Sid and Hancock auction off their property in order to go to Monte Carlo to try out Sid's infallible roulette system. Then they discover that their stuffed eagle had been stuffed with banknotes. . .
 
The Continental Holiday
30 September 1957
1st - live
Hancock tells Sid the story of his eventful holiday abroad, in which he foiled an international gang of smugglers.
 
The Great Detective
(with Pat Coombs)
07 October 1957
2nd - live
Hancock dreams of being 'Sexton Hancock', unravelling a complicated murder mystery.
 
The Amusement Arcade
(with Alan Simpson and Dick Emery)
14 October 1957
3rd - live
Hancock leads an Anti-Vice Campaign to close down Sid's amusement arcade. Sid tries to prevent Hancock's election to the Council, and then - when he is closed down - moves his arcade - to Hancock's house.
 
A Holiday in Scotland
(with Raymond Huntley)
21 October 1957
4th - live
Under Doctor's orders to get fit, Hancock drags an unwilling Sid on a hunting holiday in Scotland - where they get snowed in.
 
Air Steward Hancock, The Last of the Many
28 October 1957
5th - live
Hancock's first flight as air steward is nearly his last - his passengers include four policemen looking for a bank robber, and Sid, who has hidden his loot in Hancock's briefcase.
 
The Regimental Reunion
04 November 1957
6th - live
Hancock, permanent junior clerk in a City office for 19 years, is promoted when his Army friends, met at a reunion, place large orders with the firm. Unfortunately, they are all frauds - and Sid has the takings. . .
 
The Adopted Family
(with Hugh Lloyd)
11 November 1957
7th - live
Hancock has to produce a wife and four children to get to the top of the list for a Council House - so he adopts Sid and four of Sid's mates - and then can't get rid of them.
 
The Alpine Holiday
(see here for a brief synopsis of this show)
18 November 1957
see right > > >
Programme postponed and replaced with a telerecording of 1st of 2nd series (The Alpine Holiday). Introduced by Sidney James.
 
The Elocution Teacher
(with Jack Hawkins, as himself; postponed from 18 Nov 1957 - see above)
25 November 1957
8th - live
Under Hancock's tuition, Jack Hawkins sinks from famous actor to the leader of a rock-and-roll group.
 
The Lawyer: The Crown v James S: Hancock QC Defending
(with John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd)
02 December 1957
9th - live
Hancock's impassioned plea for the innocence of an obviously guilty Sidney James results in a verdict of James - innocent; Hancock - guilty.
 
How to Win Money and Influence People
(with Dick Emery and Hugh Lloyd)
09 December 1957
10th - live
Hancock has entered - and won - a number of news paper competitions. However, Sid volunteers to look after the money - and Hancock is foolish enough to let him.
 
There's an Airfield at the Bottom of my Garden
(with Dick Emery)
16 December 1957
11th - live
Sid has sold Hancock a house on the edge of an airfield. Hancock is dissatisfied, and when Sid refuses to refund his money, tries to sell the house - against considerable difficulties (some of them unscripted!).
 
Hancock's 43 Minutes - The East Cheam Repertory Company
(with John Gregson, guest star)
23 December 1957
12th - live
A special show from the Television Theatre, including a dramatic rendering of 'The Three Musketeers'.
 
Ericson the Viking
26 December 1958
1st - live
Hancock is worried about the first show of his new TV series - and with good reason, as Sid has starred him in a tattily made film about the Vikings.
 
Underpaid!, or, Grandad's SOS
(with Rolf Harris and Warren Mitchell)
02 January 1959
2nd - live
Hancock's millionaire grandfather is dangerously ill in Australia. In anticipation of a large bequest, Sid goes to Australia masquerading as Hancock, only to find that the old man has no money left. Meanwhile, Sid's grandfather is dangerously ill in prison. . .
 
The Set that Failed
(with Hugh Lloyd and Patricia Hayes)
09 January 1959
3rd - live
Hancock's TV set has broken down. Appalled at the idea of a TV - less evening, he and Sid try various ruses, including joining a family who are so intent on their TV that they don't notice the intruders.
 
The New Nose
(with John Le Mesurier)
16 January 1959
4th - live
Hancock's success with the girls is hampered by his nose - or so he thinks. Humiliated, he barricades himself in the house - until Sid suggests plastic surgery.
 
The Flight of the Red Shadow
(with Alan Simpson, Ray Galton and Rolf Harris)
23 January 1959
5th - live
With 'The Desert Song' closed prematurely, and the cast after them for money, Hancock and Sid escape with only their theatrical costumes. Disguised as an Indian Maharajah, Hancock is mistaken for a genuine visiting Maharajah, and finds himself addressing a meeting.
 
The Horror Serial
(with John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd)
30 January 1959
6th - live
In a nervous state after watching the last episode of 'Quatermass and the Pit' on TV, Hancock discovers a strange object buried in his garden. Sid calls in the Army Bomb Disposal Squad, but Hancock is convinced that it is a Martian spaceship.
 
The Italian Maid
06 February 1959
7th - live
Hancock hires an Italian maid, who turns out to be such a beauty that an immediate rivalry develops between him and Sid. Hancock finishes up doing all the housework for her - and then her family arrives. . .
 
Matrimony - Almost
(with Alan Simpson)
13 February 1959
8th - live
Hancock meets a girl at a pyjama party arranged by Sid for some upper - class twits. He thinks she has money, and Sid tells her that Hancock has money - and so a marriage is rapidly arranged. . .
 
The Beauty Contest
(with Alan Simpson)
20 February 1959
9th - live
Deterred from holding a beauty contest by the low standard of entrants, the East Cheam Council decides to hold a 'Mr East Cheam' contest instead. Hancock and Sid both see themselves as natural winners.
 
The Set That Failed
(see here for a brief synopsis of this show)
27 February 1959
see right > > >
Programme postponed and replaced with a repeat of no. 3 of this series (The Set That Failed).
 
The Wrong Man
(postponed from 27 Feb 1959 - see above)
06 March 1959
10th - live
Hancock agrees to take part in an identity parade - and is picked out by three witnesses as the man who robbed a tobacconist's. Protesting his innocence, he sets about finding the real thief.
 
The Oak Tree
(with Hugh Lloyd)
13 March 1959
11th - live
Hancock's pride and joy - the oak tree in his garden - is threatened with removal. He organizes a protest march, and then a local demonstration to save it.
 
The Knighthood
20 March 1959
12th - live
Hancock is determined to get a knighthood, and takes up a career as a Shakespearian actor - interpreting all his parts in the style of Long John Silver. His goal - the Old Vic.
 
The Servants
(with John Le Mesurier, Hugh Lloyd and Patricia Hayes)
27 March 1959
13th - live
The TV series is over, and Hancock and Sid need jobs. They dress up as an elderly couple to get a job as servants; but when they start to take it in turns to be the woman, their employers get suspicious. . .
 
The Economy Drive
(with patricia Hayes and Elizabeth Fraser)
25 September 1959
1st - recorded
Returning from holiday to find that Sid has left every electrical appliance in the house running, forgotten to cancel the papers and the milk and left the car ticking over, Hancock embarks on an economy drive that leads him into difficulties in a self-service cafeteria.
 
The Two Murderers
(with Hugh Lloyd and Patricia Hayes)
02 October 1959
2nd - recorded
Hancock refuses to lend Sid the money to open a fish and chip shop. When he sees Sid reading a book about perfect murders he assumes that Sid is out to murder him for his money and manages to give Sid the impression that it is Sid whose life is in danger.
 
Lord Byron Lived Here
(with John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd)
09 October 1959
3rd - recorded
The Council will renovate Hancock's dilapidated house only if somebody famous once lived there - so Sidney scribbles some doggerel on the walls where he has stripped the wallpaper off and convinces Hancock that they were written by Byron. The National Trust are not so easily convinced, so Hancock opens his house to the public.
 
Twelve Angry Men
(with Hugh Lloyd)
16 October 1959
4th - recorded
Hancock stands out against his fellow jurors in believing a petty criminal innocent. Sid, attracted by the daily payment to jurors, joins him, and they set about browbeating the others.
 
The Train Journey
(with Raymond Huntley and Hugh Lloyd)
23 October 1959
5th - recorded
Hancock's fellow passengers on the train to Giggleswick quickly get irritated by his efforts to enliven the long journey.
 
The Cruise
(with Hattie Jacques, John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd)
30 October 1959
6th - recorded
Already fed up with his cruise because the only woman showing any interest in him is large and over-amorous, Hancock wrongly believes the ship is sinking, panics, and has to be locked up by the Captain. Escaping, he and Sid attend the fancy dress ball. So does the amorous lady.
 
The Big Night
(with Patricia Hayes and Hugh Lloyd)
06 November 1959
7th - recorded
Hancock's Saturday night out with Sid is an unmitigated disaster - the launderette tears his shirt to pieces, the barber cuts his face to ribbons, the girls Sid has provided disappear at the sight of Hancock, and they get thrown out of the local cinema.
 
The Tycoon
(with Hugh Lloyd)
13 November 1959
8th - recorded
Hancock's shares have plummeted in value - all except the East Cheam Building Society. Attending their shareholders' meeting, Hancock falls asleep and dreams that he owns half the world; but even in his dreams, Sid twists him.
 
The Spanish Interlude
20 November 1959
9th - recorded
The only work Sid can find for Hancock is standing in national dress outside various foreign restaurants. Deciding to try fresh fields, they go to Spain - where, after an unsuccessful attempt as a night-club comic, Hancock becomes a reluctant bullfighter.
 
The Football Pools
(with Hugh Lloyd)
27 November 1959
10th - recorded
Hancock needs only one more draw for a first dividend and the match is a local one with a late kick-off. He and Sid go to the match - to encourage each side equally.
 
The Cold
(with John Le Mesurier, Hugh Lloyd and Patricia Hayes)
04 March 1960
1st - recorded
In desperation with his sixth cold of the winter, Hancock tries a variety of patent medicines, a local 'witch', a doctor - who has a cold himself - and, at Sid's instigation, a keep-fit course.
 
The Missing Page
(with Hugh Lloyd)
11 March 1960
2nd - recorded
Hancock is reading a murder mystery from the library but the last page is missing. After keeping Sid up all night trying to work out 'who done it', he determines to track down a complete copy. . .
 
The Emigrant
(with Hugh Lloyd)
18 March 1960
3rd - recorded
Hancock wants to emigrate, but no-one will have him. Sid gets him a passage on a disreputable tramp steamer, telling the crew to dump him at the first bit of land they see. (This show is not based on the radio script of the same title)
 
The Reunion Party
(with Hugh Lloyd and Clive Dunn)
25 March 1960
4th - recorded
Hancock has planned a 'fifteen years after' reunion with his wartime Army friends, but times change - and so do people.
 
Sid in Love
(with Hugh Lloyd)
01 April 1960
5th - recorded
Sid has fallen in love with a clippie on the 93 bus route. Hancock's efforts to help cause chaos, and upset both the clippie and the driver - her husband.
 
The Baby Sitters
08 April 1960
6th - recorded
Hancock and Sid are employed as baby sitters in a plush modern house. After raiding the larder, arguing over the television, and failing to soothe the baby, they go to sleep - and so don't notice a visit from two burglars.
 
The Ladies' Man
(with Elizabeth Fraser)
15 April 1960
7th - recorded
Hancock's total lack of success with women leads him to take a charm school course. We see his daydreams of what life will be like when he has completed the course but the reality is somewhat less satisfactory. . .
 
The Photographer
(with Hugh Lloyd)
22 April 1960
8th - recorded
Having broken his ancient camera, Hancock invests in an expensive array of new equipment. His attempts at candid photography get him thrown out of a restaurant; and then Sid talks him into posing for a 'news' photo - on a high ledge. . .
 
The East Cheam Centenary
(with Hugh Lloyd)
29 April 1960
9th - recorded
The Council decides to celebrate the centenary by holding a carnival. Hancock sells exclusive coverage to the BBC - but the Mayor has sold exclusive coverage to ITV. Hancock has to provide his own carnival at short notice.
 
The Poison Pen Letters
(with Patricia Hayes)
06 May 1960
10th - recorded
Hancock is most upset by a succession of unpleasant letters. He calls in the police, but eventually Sid discovers that Hancock is writing the letters himself - in his sleep.
 
The Bedsitter (Hancock Alone)
(with Michael Aspel; All the following shows from this series, this one included, are without Sidney James)
26 May 1961
1st - recorded
Alone in his Earl's Court bed-sittingroom, Hancock tries to read, fails to get the TV working, and almost gets invited to a party.
 
The Bowmans
(with Patrick Cargill, Peter Glaze and Hugh Lloyd)
02 June 1961
2nd - recorded
Hancock plays 'Old Joshua Merryweather' in a radio series which sounds suspiciously like 'The Archers' until his behaviour causes him to be written out of the script. He turns to doing TV commercials - until the listeners demand the return of 'Old Joshua'.
 
The Radio Ham (Mayday)
09 June 1961
3rd - recorded
Hancock exchanges comments on the weather and plays chess with remote parts of the world, but when he intercepts a distress call events conspire to prevent him arranging a rescue.
 
The Lift (Going Down)
(with John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd)
16 June 1961
4th - recorded
Hancock is the ninth passenger in a lift which is designed to carry eight. When the lift sticks between floors, and stays there all night, his attempts to cheer everybody up are not appreciated by the others.
 
The Blood Donor
(with June Whitfield, Patrick Cargill, Hugh Lloyd and Frank Thornton)
23 June 1961
5th - recorded
Hancock's sense of public duty leads him to give blood although he is alarmed when he discovers that he is expected to part with as much as a pint.
 
The Succession - Son and Heir
(with June Whitfield)
30 June 1961
6th - recorded
Deciding that he needs children to carry on his line, Hancock proposes to three girls - and gets three refusals. He is still arguing with the third when the other two return, having changed their minds.

 

On occasion, via e-mail or a message posted on the Guest book (or reachable from the main page on The Cuttings), I get asked what show/s a certain actor, actress appeared in. I sometimes also get asked what shows, if any, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson appeared in. Because of this I have added in (brackets), below the shows title, some, if not all, of the main players I've had questions posed about and some I think may be of general interest. I hope this extra info may be of interest and answer some of the questions you may well have been pondering over. . . Some of those outlined above (in brackets), did not necessarily play a big part in the show/s in which they featured. Indeed, depending on the show and how well established they were at the time as actors or actress, some of them were way down the cast lists. I just thought it worth mentioning because since appearing in Hancock Half Hour many went on to become stars in their own right. Dick Emery and Warren Mitchell being two good examples. Warren Mitchell once commented that Hancock helped him a lot at the beginning of his career and till this day thanks him for that. It's also nice to see the writers themselves, Galton and Simpson appearing in several. If only playing very small parts. (I sense a lot of irony in that last sentence somewhere!
Synopsis and other details taken from the 'Hancock Bible', Tony Hancock 'Artiste' by Roger Wilmut.
The BBC have only thirty-seven of the original sixty-five television shows left in their archives. The others, as can be seen above, were either lost or wiped (or were never recorded in the first place - as I'm sure some of them couldn't have been!).
A while back now, in an addition of The Missing Page (the T.H.A.S. quarterly Newsletter), there was mention that someone (who shall remain nameless) had discovered a copy of The Flight of the Red Shadow, in a Blackpool junk shop. I'm hoping that T.H.A.S. will be offered a copy in the very near future. So I, along with countless others, can have a peak at probably the last remaining and unseen (since first broadcast), TV Hancock's Half-Hour for over 40 years!

These shows are still held by the BBC, in their archives. Indeed, most have been released on video.
These shows are missing, but are available in audio only form, from the T.H.A.S., if you're a member. Join if you're not, 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 (or were never recorded in the first place - as I'm sure some of them couldn't have been!).

 

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