Hancock's Half Hour Page 25

It wouldn't stop me from watching if it's in colour.The writing and the acting is still the same.
The Rebel was a good satire about the art world though.

This morning's offering on Radio 4 Extra: The Rail Strike.

Proof, if proof were needed, that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Starting this week for a series (?) of classic TV episodes - Tuesdays at 8.00 pm on BBC 4.

This week "The Blood Donor" and next week "The Cold".

Set your digi-box, or write it on yer calendar, or whatever modern miracle phone you own.

I was looking at the Hancock' Half Hour box set on Amazon. It includes both Hancock and Hancock's Half Hour. I didn't know that there was only 37 surviving episodes.

Sadly, yes

The channel GOLD has 34 episodes available on demand. I've just watched series 2 ep 1 - The Alpine Holiday, which featured a young Kenneth Williams and June Whitfield. This is the first episode that I've ever seen of this sitcom.

Yes, that one is unique, as I think it is the only surviving TV episode to feature Kenneth "Snide" Williams

Correct you are there, sir!

Am I right in that Kenneth Williams was in every episode of Series 2, but apart from Episode 1 the rest of that series is lost to history?

Quote: Deferenz @ 11th June 2023, 2:28 PM

Am I right in that Kenneth Williams was in every episode of Series 2, but apart from Episode 1 the rest of that series is lost to history?

Correct on both points.

Quote: Aaron @ 11th June 2023, 2:06 PM

Correct you are there, sir!

Ta. I should know, being a Hancock aficionado and I like the sir bit, showing respect for yer elders, and you don't get more elderer than what I is 🧐

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 11th June 2023, 8:36 AM

Yes, that one is unique, as I think it is the only surviving TV episode to feature Kenneth "Snide" Williams

Why did Bill Kerr never feature in any episodes?

Quote: lofthouse @ 13th June 2023, 8:23 PM

Why did Bill Kerr never feature in any episodes?

In the book Fifty Years Of Hancock's Half Hour, written by Richard Webber in 2004, Ray Galton is quoted as saying:

We found that we couldn't put Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques into the TV series on a regular basis - it would be too crowded. On radio of course you don't see the artists so they used to sit at the side of the stage when they didn't have any lines and only came up to the microphone when it was their turn. I know one could argue that if they're outside the picture it's the same situation but somehow it wasn't. To us, it seemed impossible to write a show to include them all, every week, on the screen. So we decided to simplify it. We also realised that you didn't need as much happening as on the radio.

I think they accepted it. Hattie had other things going on and Bill - he was always filming or on stage - accepted the fact that life goes on.