Hancock's Half Hour television show

Image: Gordon Phillott as the librarian, Tony Hancock and Sid James in the series 6 episode 'The Missing Page' (TX 11 March 1960). 

When Hancock's Half-Hour appeared on BBC television, on 6 July 1956, it was already a successful radio show, and Tony Hancock was a big star. On TV Hancock introduced his audience to a range of facial expressions that helped make him even more popular. Hancock knew that he did not always need to have the funniest lines; he could get laughs from his reaction shot. The programme became the most watched show on television.

Producer Duncan Wood worked with designer Stewart Marshall to bring Hancock's shabby home of 23 Railway Cuttings to life. The only regular cast member to follow Hancock from radio was Sid James. As an experienced film actor James was able to help Hancock master the new medium. Hancock struggled to learn a new Galton and Simpson script for the live broadcast every week, and sometimes resorted to taping his lines to inconspicuous parts of the set.

Hancock's Half Hour continued on the Light Programme at the same time as it was on television. The final television series, simply called Hancock, was made in 1961 without James. Hancock's Half Hour was among the first comedies to transfer successfully from radio to television. This list of transfers includes The League of Gentlemen, Dead Ringers, and The Mighty Boosh.