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"Hancock's Half Hour" classic radio sitcom episodes available online

If you're a fan of the British sitcoms that have made their way to American television -- "Fawlty Towers," "One Foot in the Grave," "Keeping Up Appearances," "Yes, Minister," to name a few examples -- you will enjoy the radio show that set the standard for the Britcom genre. "Hancock's Half Hour" has become my favorite British comedy, and a family favorite as well.

Posted by Michael Bates on March 30, 2020 6:59 PM

Christmas Night with the Stars 1958

Sixty years ago tonight, Christmas 1958, the BBC aired an entertainment extravaganza featuring Britain's top entertainers of the day: singer Vera Lynn, comedians Tony Hancock, Ted Ray, Jimmy Edwards, Charlie Drake, and Charlie Chester, the Beverley Sisters, and Billy Cotton and his band. The show closes with a sentimental scene...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 25, 2018 1:36 PM

"Missing Hancocks" returning for second series

In 2014, the British Broadcasting Corporation re-created five missing episodes of the groundbreaking and ever-popular radio sitcom Hancock's Half Hour, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the show. Of the 102 episodes broadcast over six series from 1954 to 1959, 20 episodes are missing from the archives. In...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 18, 2015 9:05 PM

Hancock's Half Hour: The Photographer

Just for fun, an episode of the 1950s British sitcom: Tony goes overboard buying new photographic equipment after his ancient camera blows up, and the situation becomes desperate when the first payment is due. Sid is exasperated. "And your exposures are too long. Five minutes! You had to wait for...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 10, 2015 1:40 AM

"Hancock's Half Hour" recreated episodes on BBC Radio 4

BBC photo. Tony Hancock and Kevin McNally, who plays Hancock in the recreated episodes. On November 2, 1954, the BBC radio sitcom "Hancock's Half Hour" made its debut. Starring comedian Tony Hancock and written by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton, the show quickly became appointment radio across the UK....

Posted by Michael Bates on November 14, 2014 11:59 PM

Sid Caesar, RIP

I'm struck by one detail in the obituaries for comedic actor Sid Caesar. He got married in 1943 to Florence Levy, and he stayed married to her until her death in 2010 -- 67 years on their way to together forever, as Paul Harvey used to say. Not a whiff...

Posted by Michael Bates on February 13, 2014 5:06 PM

Tony Hancock: The Blood Donor

Comedian Tony Hancock and writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were pioneers of the situation comedy on British radio and TV in the 1950s and 1960s. At a time when comedy shows usually relied on short sketches with one gag after another, catchphrases and silly voices, Hancock's Half-Hour featured a...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 2, 2012 11:04 PM