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Audio Archive > Old Time Radio > Hancock's Half Hour

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Hancock's Half Hour

English old time radio.

"Hancock's Half Hour" stars comedian Tony Hancock, with Sidney James (series 1 to 6), Bill Kerr (series 1 to 6), and Kenneth Williams (series 1 to 5). The female support is provided variously by Moira Lister (series 1), Andree Melly (series 2 and 3), and Hattie Jacques (series 4 and 5).

This is a BBC radio comedy from the 1950s, written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The comedy derives from the characters and situations, the situation being the (fictionalised) life of an English radio and variety (i.e. vaudeville) comedian, called Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock; who is known to Sid James as 'Hancock', to Bill as 'Tub' (short for Tubby), and to everyone else as 'Tony'.

The character played by Hancock is an exaggerated and fictionalised version of his real-life self, in the same way as Jack Benny played an exaggerated version of himself on radio in the United States. In fact the two characters have much in common: both are portrayed as being misers, with few redeeming qualities, and the comedy derives mainly from the (fictional) shortcomings of the central character. In Hancock's case these are his supposed vanity, pomposity, cowardliness, and meanness; yet the character nevertheless manages to remain likeable and sympathetic.


The files listed in the column VBR MP3 are not in fact variable bit rate files. This is a column for files which do not fall into any of the Archive's standard bitrate categories. Most of these on this page are 80 Kbps at a sample rate of 48 kHz.


This audio is part of the collection: Old Time Radio

Keywords: Old Time Radio; OTR; Comedy; Hancock; Hancock's Half Hour


Individual Files

Audio FilesVBR MP3
Hancock's Half Hour - s01e01 1954-11-02 - The First Night Party16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e03 1955-11-02 - The Bequest16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e06 1955-11-23 - The Blackboard Jungle16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e13 1956-01-11 - Hancock's Hair16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e14 1956-01-18 - The Student Prince16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e18 1956-02-15 - The Greyhound Track16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e19 1956-02-22 - The Conjuror16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s03e20 1956-02-29 - The Test Match17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e01 1956-10-14 - Back from Holiday17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e02 1956-10-21 - The Bolshoi Ballet16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e04 1956-11-04 - The Income Tax Demand17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e05 1956-11-11 - The New Secretary17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e06 1956-11-18 - Michelangelo 'Ancock16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e07 1956-11-25 - Anna and the King of Siam16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e08 1956-12-02 - Cyrano de Hancock16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e09 1956-12-09 - The Stolen Petrol16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e10 1956-12-16 - The Expresso Bar16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e11 1956-12-23 - Hancock's Happy Christmas17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e12 1956-12-30 - The Diary17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e13 1957-01-06 - The 13th of the Series17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e14 1957-01-13 - Almost a Gentleman17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e15 1957-01-20 - The Old School Reunion17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e16 1957-01-27 - The Wild Man of the Woods16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e17 1957-02-03 - Agricultural 'Ancock16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e18 1957-02-10 - Hancock in the Police16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e19 1957-02-17 - The Emigrant17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s04e20 1957-02-24 - The Last of the McHancocks17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e01 1958-01-21 - The New Radio Series17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e02 1958-01-28 - The Scandal Magazine17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e03 1958-02-04 - The Male Suffragettes17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e04 1958-02-11 - The Insurance Policy17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e05 1958-02-18 - The Publicity Photograph16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e06 1958-02-25 - The Unexploded Bomb14 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e07 1958-03-04 - Hancock's School14 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e08 1958-03-11 - Around the World in 80 Days17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e09 1958-03-18 - The Americans Hit Town17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e10 1958-03-25 - The Election Candidate16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e11 1958-04-01 - Hancock's Car15 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e12 1958-04-08 - The East Cheam Drama Festival16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e13 1958-04-15 - The Foreign Legion15 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e14 1958-04-22 - Sunday Afternoon At Home17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e15 1958-04-29 - The Grappling Game17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e16 1958-05-06 - The Junk Man16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e17 1958-05-13 - Hancock's War16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e18 1958-05-20 - The Prize Money16 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e19 1958-05-27 - The Threatening Letters17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05e20 1958-06-03 - The Sleepless Night17 MB
Hancock's Half Hour - s05eSP 1958-12-25 - Bill and Father Christmas17 MB
InformationFormatSize
HancocksHalfHour_481_files.xmlMetadata14 KB
HancocksHalfHour_481_meta.xmlMetadata2.61 KB
HancocksHalfHour_481_reviews.xmlMetadata1.50 KB
Other FilesUnknown
HancocksHalfHour_481_rules.conf7 B

Write a review
Downloaded 13,074 timesReviews
Average Rating: [5.0 out of 5 stars]

Reviewer: Nambourite - [5.0 out of 5 stars] - September 14, 2009
Subject: Hancock's Half Hour
A thought occurs. Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr and Sid James' characters all used their real names.
But Hattie Jacques was given 'Grizelda Pugh'. I wonder why. Only the producers would know.
I wonder if Hattie ever felt uncomfortable with the 'fat' jokes and references. Like when she had the lead role in Moby Dick "and captured all our hearts in the famous scene where she overturned the boat"(The East Cheam Drama Festival).I suspect as a true professional she laughed as loudly as everybody else.

Reviewer: dymajet - [5.0 out of 5 stars] - March 30, 2009
Subject: 5,739 downloads and not a single Review!
Tony Hancock was a comic genius. A master of timing with a wonderful expressive voice. Mix in brilliant supporting character players like Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques and you have the ingredients for what was, and still is in my opinion, the greatest UK radio comedy shows of all time.

Terms of Use (10 Mar 2001)