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.
Hancock's Half Hour (Season 4)
Ericsson the Viking 0.0
Air date: 1958-12-26
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Sid has persuaded Hancock to make a dramatic film which the BBC have agreed to broadcast. But Hancock is worried; after all, when shooting started Sid's production company didn't even have a movie camera.
Underpaid! or Grandad's SOS 0.0
Air date: 1959-01-02
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock discovers that his extremely rich grandfather is very ill in hospital in Australia. Sid, expecting a large bequest, hurries to Australia masquerading as Hancock, but the old man has no money left. Meanwhile, back in the UK, Sid's grandfather falls dangerously ill in prison.
The Set That Failed 0.0
Air date: 1959-01-09
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock doesn't know what to do: his television set has broken down. He sets off on a quest to find a working TV and joins a family who are so focused on their TV that they don't notice that they have additional guests.
The New Nose 0.0
Air date: 1959-01-16
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: After a particularly unsuccessful date, Hancock puts his lack of success with the girls down to his nose. After refusing to come out from his home, Sid arranges for a friend who has had plastic surgery to visit Hancock. Hancock has the surgery so success with the ladies is now guaranteed... or is it?
The Flight of the Red Shadow 0.0
Air date: 1959-01-23
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock has been in a production of 'The Desert Song' but when it closes prematurely Hancock and Sid escape with only their costumes. Dressed as an Indian Maharajah, Hancock is mistaken for a genuine visiting Maharajah and ends up addressing a meeting but has to flee again.
The Horror Serial 0.0
Air date: 1959-01-30
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock has been watching the last episode of the horror serial 'Quatermass & The Pit' and is now in a very nervous state. When he discovers an unknown object in his garden, Sid thinks it's an unexploded bomb and calls in the Bomb Squad. But Hancock is convinced it's an extra-terrestrial craft.
The Italian Maid 0.0
Air date: 1959-02-06
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock hires a domestic help who turns out to be an Italian beauty. An immediate rivalry develops between Hancock and Sid for her attentions, with Hancock ending up doing all the housework... but then her family arrives.
Matrimony - Almost 0.0
Air date: 1959-02-13
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock meets a girl at an upper class party. He believes that she has money and Sid tells her that Hancock has money, so a marriage is rapidly arranged. But all is not as it seems.
The Beauty Contest 0.0
Air date: 1959-02-20
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: The local council decide not to hold a Miss East Cheam contest because of the low standard of entrants the previous year. Instead they decide to hold a Mr East Cheam contest - Hancock and Sid enter and both expect to win.
The Wrong Man 0.0
Air date: 1959-03-06
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock agrees to attend an identity parade at the local Police station. But when he is mistakenly picked out by three witnesses he decides to prove his innocence by recreating the crime.
The Oak Tree 0.0
Air date: 1959-03-13
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: The tree in Hancock's garden is threatened with felling to make way for a lamp-post and because it is a danger to passing buses. He is incensed and organises a protest march to Downing Street to try to save it.
The Knighthood 0.0
Air date: 1959-03-20
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Hancock is determined to receive a Knighthood and decides that classical theatre is the only answer. Surely a stint at Stratford interpreting Shakespeare as Long John Silver will be all that's required?
The Servants 0.0
Air date: 1959-03-27
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: The TV series is finally over so Hancock and Sid need to get jobs. They take on the role of servants dressed as an elderly couple, but when they take it in turns to be the woman suspicions are aroused.
Seasons
Episodes 6
Episodes 6
Episodes 12
Episodes 13
Episodes 10
Episodes 10
Episodes 6