Very Nearly an Armful - A Tony Hancock Podcast

In this episode of Very Nearly an Armful,  James, Jon, Tim and Martin review The Student Prince from the third radio series of Hancock’s Half Hour.  They consider how this episode is a riotous ride from start to finish and how unusual it is to see Sid get his comeuppance! The team look at the inspiration for the script, consider the three brilliant roles played by Alan Simpson, decipher the refere...

In this episode of Very Nearly an Armful,  James, Jon, Tim and Martin review Fred’s Pie Stall from the final radio series of Hancock’s Half Hour.  They consider how this episode, probably more than any other, provides a cultural commentary on societal changes in the late 1950s. The team review the contribution of the brilliant guest cast, each of which has to play more than one role, discuss, in d...

In this edition of Very Nearly an Armful, James. Jon, Tim and Martin look at the earliest surviving television episode of Hancock’s Half Hour, The Alpine Holiday, from Series 2.  The team look at the amazing supporting cast, including Richard Wattis in his only Hancock’s Half Hour role, John Vere, June Whitfield and, or course, Kenneth Williams in his only surviving televised appearance as Snide....

In this episode of Very Nearly an Armful, Tim, James, Jon and Martin discuss the Apollo Theatre Company nationwide tour of their Hancock’s Half Hour show and are delighted to welcome John Hewer and Colin Elmer (who play Tony Hancock and Kenneth Williams respectively) to the podcast. The tour features performances of three lost Hancock’s Half Hour episodes from a selection of The Matador, The New N...

In this final episode of the current series, Tim, Jon, James and Martin take a look at the brilliant radio episode Hancock’s Car from the golden fifth radio series. The gang consider how all the cast deliver a masterclass in acting and comic timing and how the opening scene of Hancock, Bill and Sid just cleaning the car is a fantastic example of Galton & Simpson’s uncanny ability to create comedy...

This episode in the trilogy of three so far this Spring is the third one in the series. In this podcast James, Tim, Jon and Martin look at the brilliant fifth series episode The East Cheam Drama Festival and consider how the episode, being a play within a play, was quite revolutionary at the time. The gang consider how the second playlet is quite Pythonesque in its lack of a punchline, review how...

In this episode, the team celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Punch and Judy Man with a detailed look at Hancock’s final film in a starring role. The four consider how the film is deeply biographical not only in its depiction of a failing marriage but also in its link to Tony's childhood days in Bournemouth. They discuss how many of the regular players in Hancock’s Half Hour have roles in the fi...

Welcome back to all our listeners as we start our new series of the podcast with a look at the brilliant fifth television series episode The Economy Drive, which is often quoted as a fan favourite. The team look at the brilliant support played by the East Cheam Repertory Company and consider how the episode provides a brilliant social representation of the period through the self service cafeteria...

In this episode, we continue our festive theme when James, Tom Tim and Martin conclude their review of the radio episode Hancock’s Happy Christmas in the company of a glass of Baileys and a mince pie! This time, the team look at the career of Dorothy Marks, the many cultural references sprinkled throughout the show and, once again, consider the sparkling performances all the cast put in to make th...

In this episode, James, Tom Tim and Martin don Christmas jumpers, put on reindeer antlers and start their review of the great festive radio episode Hancock’s Happy Christmas. The team consider how the performance from Hancock is in the very best traditions of Scrooge and are delighted to share memories of making the show received from Michael Anderson Junior, who played the role of orphan Michael...

In this our longest episode yet, James, Jon, Tim and Martin review the brilliantly surreal radio episode The 13th of the Series and its transcription services remake The 13th of the Month. The team consider how joyous the performances of all the cast are in this episode and how the script sparkles throughout. They also consider Ken’s fantastic performance as Snide (arguably his best appearance in...

In this episode, James, Jon, Tim and Martin review the brilliant television episode Lord Byron Lived Here.  They consider the role the excellent supporting cast play in making this a firm favourite for many Hancock fans, including John Le Mesurier, Hugh Lloyd and Robert Dorning in particular. We catch up again with Julian Dutton and feature a brief extract from an interview with Hugh Lloyd hi...

In this first episode of series 4, Tim, Jon, James and Martin are privileged to be able to review the recently recovered radio episode The Marriage Bureau.   Not heard since first broadcast in 1955, the episode was discovered on a reel to reel tape by Richard Harrison of The Radio Circle and was rebroadcast by Radio 4 on the 18th October 2022. The episode is the only one to feature Peter...

Ahead of the start of the fourth series of Very Nearly An Armful, our intrepid four head to Solihull for the annual Tony Hancock Appreciation Society knees up. There we were delighted to meet Mr. Kevin McNally, hear his wonderful Hancock reminisces and, more importantly, we are able to reveal his exact drink count for the evening.  We were also pleased to hear extracts from Julian Dutton’s br...

In this episode, Tim, Jon, Martin and James continue their review of the brilliant radio episode A Sunday Afternoon at Home.  After discussion on Sykes, outtakes, fluffs and the various Doctors Who. The gang resume the main subject and look at how the cast really brought the words on the page to life with the different vocal styles and tones used throughout the episode and consider the episode to...

In this episode, Tim, Jon, Martin and James start their review of the classic radio episode a Sunday Afternoon at home. At approximately 16 minutes into the podcast, the team kick off with the main subject and consider how revolutionary the episode was in its use of pauses and silence and also in the fact that it is a virtually plotless half hour. The team look at sections of the original script t...

In this episode, Tim, Jon, Martin and Nick (in James’s absence) resume their chat with the brilliant Kevin McNally to review The New Neighbour and The Missing Hancocks more generally. In Part 2 Kevin talks about the wonderful outtakes and adlibs from the radio recordings, some of which made it into the final edits and regales us with the story of taking The Missing Hancocks to the Edinburgh Fringe...

In this episode, Tim, Jon, Martin and Nick (in James’s absence) are delighted to introduce the brilliant Kevin McNally as our guest to review The New Neighbour and The Missing Hancocks more generally.  Kevin was most generous with his time and our chat with Kevin has been split over two editions of this podcast, so there’s more to come! In Part 1 Kevin talks about how he first discovered Hanc...

And now for something completely different.  In this episode, James, Tim, Jon and Martin review The Death of a Duchess, the final episode in the 1956 ATV Series The Tony Hancock Show and are delighted to welcome Hancock’s great niece, Lucy Hancock to the podcast as our guest; Lucy gave permission for the entire series of the Tony Hancock Show to be released on DVD and this was made available comme...

In this episode, James, Tim, Jon and Martin join the beatnik movement to review the brilliant radio episode The Poetry Society, from the final radio series. The team consider the extra dynamic that using guest actors such as Warren Mitchell and Fenella Fielding bring to the episode and how this episode which is a satire on modern art, the coffee bar culture and Hancock’s own passion of philosophy,...

In this episode, James, Tim, Jon and Martin look  at the brilliant radio episode Hancock in the Police. The episode is a frenetic half hour of classic comedy and the team consider the  incredible contribution of Kenneth Williams, who played no less than five parts in this episode, including arguably his best performance in the character of Snide.  They also look at Hattie Jacques’ v...

Very Nearly an Armful returns for a third series; after a well-earned break, the intrepid four start the series by looking at the brilliant TV episode Twelve Angry Men. The episode is a pastiche of the film of the same name and James, Tim, Jon and Martin compare the episode to the film and consider how all the supporting cast really add dramatic depth to the episode.  The episode contains one of t...

In this final episode in the second series, we are pleased to join in with the Christmas festivities and look at the final radio episode to be recorded: The Christmas Club. In James’s absence, Tim, Jon and Martin discuss the realism provided by the supporting cast in this episode and consider how much the final series delivered the realistic settings envisaged by Hancock as well as Galton & Si...

In this episode, Tim, James, Jon and Martin discuss the television episode The Lift from the 1961 BBC Series ‘Hancock’ and consider how quickly this final series had moved The Lad Himself away from East Cheam with this episode set in BBC Television Centre. The team also look at the wonderful supporting cast including the brilliant Hugh Lloyd (as the lift man) and briefly reflect on Jose Reed’s (th...

In this episode, Tim, James, Jon and Martin discuss the radio episode The Rail Strike from the second series of Hancock’s Half Hour. As this is the earliest surviving episode featuring Kenneth Williams’ Snide character, the four fans discuss the origin and the development of this character through to his final appearance at the end of the fourth series.  They also consider how nimble Galton & Simp...