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 this one of the great festive Hancock episodes.   They also look at Snide’s appearance at the almost obligatory 25 minute point in the episode and his hilarious interaction with the children.

In Hancock updates, the team look at the recent Network DVD release of Hancock’s The Blackpool Show and the upcoming Gold documentary Very Nearly an Armful.  They also consider the merits or otherwise of the colourisation of black and white photos and television, debate the origins of Hancock wearing an eye patch and reveal the outcome of a Twitter poll of whether folk prefer the radio or television series.

Don’t forget to rate us and subscribe to the podcast. And, if you haven’t  done so already, why not join the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society - full details of how to join are at Tonyhancock.org.uk.  We’ll be back in 2023 for Series 5 when we will be looking at the television episode The Economy Drive – hope to see you then!  In the meantime, we wish our listeners a merry Christmas and a happy New Year – enjoy your turkey feet and chips!  Now, all together, Good King Wenceslas…!

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 the episode.  They also look at the excellent performances of both Michael and Dorothy and how well they fitted into the cast and debate in detail just how far south the Christmas Pudding was likely to fly!

The gang of four reflect on the BBC’s 100th anniversary documentary How the BBC Began, consider the book Jack Hylton Presents by Pamela Logan and get side-tracked once again, this time by the new Stephen Moffat BBC drama Inside Man.

Don’t forget to rate us and subscribe to the podcast. And, if you haven’t  done so already, why not join the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society - full details of how to join are at Tonyhancock.org.uk.  In the final episode of the series we’ll conclude our review of the fantastic Christmas episode Hancock’s Happy Christmas.  Hope that you’ll be able to join us then.

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 himself.

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.

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.