Tony Hancock: 20 great quotes

"I don't want any publicity - you get too many begging letters. If they're anything like the ones I send out I don't want to know!"

Galton & Simpson - Our favourite Hancock: Part 1

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Hancock's Half Hour on BBC Radio, comedy scriptwriting legends Ray Galton and Alan Simpson are presenting a very special series of posts, in which they share their personal favourite episodes from their work on TV and Radio with Tony Hancock.

I had a real treat this week, meeting Kenneth Williams, or rather Robin Sebastian the man who plays him so superbly in the new Hancock's half Hours. Can any comic actor have given his audiences so much pleasure while obtaining so little for himself? I suppose I could be talking about either Kenneth Williams or Tony Hancock. They both suffered from deep depression and both died alone, having taken overdoses. Thank heaven many of their recordings have survived, and that where they haven't many of the scripts have. You can hear my interview with Robin Sebastian and the rest of the programme here.

Most of us are here today, gone tomorrow, but not Williams and Hancock. They are truly immortal, at least on radio.

Sid James - in profile

Perhaps best known for his many appearances in the successful Carry On series and as long suffering Father in Bless This House. James initially made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in the radio series Hancock's Half Hour it would be the spring board to a hugely successful career spanning over twenty years until his untimely death aged just 62 in 1976.

You can never recapture the genius of Hancock

The Missing Hancocks was a valiant effort but failed to capture Tony Hancock's original magic.

Tony Hancock, profiled

Continuing our 60th anniversary celebrations of Hancock's Half Hour, this week we look at some of those involved in Britain's first sitcom. Regarded by many as perhaps the greatest post war comedian of his generation, here we take a look at the life and career of Tony Hancock.

Radio Times review

I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who died a little at the thought of this programme. While the discovery of lost episodes is intriguing, the thought of another actor stepping into a hero's shoes usually fills fans with dread -- especially when that hero is the still very much-loved Tony Hancock.

That said, Kevin McNally is quite wonderful here as The Lad himself in this first of five episodes re-recorded to mark the 60th anniversary of Hancock's Half-Hour. Producers Ed Morrish and Neil Pearson have resisted the urge to tinker even slightly with the script and it's testament to the genius of writers Galton and Simpson that the words still sparkle.

Battle of the first sitcom

On the 2nd November 1954 on the BBC Home Service Tony Hancock made his debut in a radio show called Hancock's Half Hour, written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson it became a huge hit with audiences and is widely regarded as Britain's first sitcom. Six years earlier tom other well known writers Frank Muir and Denis Nordan had written a radio comedy series Take It From Here.

Tony Hancock is still influencing comedy 60 years later

On the 2 November 1954, a 30-year-old comedian named Tony Hancock embarked on his first starring vehicle for BBC radio, Hancock's Half Hour, scripted by two writers aged only in their twenties, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Opinion: why is comedy hooked on misery?

Comedy loves misery. That's the theory. That's why grumpy Tony Hancock was so funny. That's why Les Dawson made a hit out of rarely cracking a smile. And more recently Jack Dee's perma-scowl has been part of the secret of his success.