Hancock's Half Hour
Hancock's Half Hour is a BBC television comedy series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock with Sid James. The final 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.
Details
First Aired: 7/6/1956
Languages: English
Created by: Ray Galton, Alan Simpson
Type: Scripted
Production
BBC OneCompanies: BBC
Seasons
Season 1
Broadcast between 6th July 1956 and 14th September 1956, this series comprised 6 episodes all of which were broadcast live with no recordings of the transmissions being made by the BBC. Consequently, none of these episodes survive. The series was broadcast fortnightly on Fridays at 2130 (except no. 1 at 2045). There were no repeats.
Season 2
Broadcast between 1st April 1957 and 10th June 1957, this series comprised 6 episodes all of which were broadcast live. The BBC did record the first episode of this series for training purposes and this is the only episode of this series that survives. The series was broadcast fortnightly on Mondays at 2000. There were no repeats.
Season 3
Broadcast between 30th September 1957 and 23rd December 1957 this series comprised 12 episodes all of which were broadcast live of which episodes 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 survive in the BBC Archives. The series was broadcast weekly on Mondays at 2002. There were no repeats during the run.
