Newtony Newtony.


Today, I listened to the audio of a lost episode of the TV version of Hancock’s Half Hour that I haven’t heard before (the 'Horror Serial') and it’s testament to how good Galton & Simpson’s writing was and how well the cast brought the dialogue to life that it held up brilliantly without pictures and was just as funny as much of their best work.

The episode is included as part of volume one of the BBC’s Hancock Collectibles series, which I bought the other day (using a voucher given to me for my birthday no less) and was a treat to hear. I must have seen and heard pretty much all of their surviving work from this period countless times - not to mention a fair few of the lost episodes that were remade for BBC Radio 4’s excellent ‘The Missing Hancocks’ series (which I attended two recordings of, thanks to the kindness of Kevin Eldon) - so it was a definite treat to be confronted with an episode I’d never experienced. It was a bit like dreaming you were listening to an unreleased album by your favourite band as a kid (too specific?) in that it’s something you’d love to happen, yet it seldom does.

It's striking how well the series has stood the test of time, despite often being cited as the first ever sitcom, with this particular episode originally airing fifty-nine years ago. It goes to show how good the work was that it still sounds as fresh and is no less funny with all those passing years; it reveals just how many creative choices they got right, which is very inspiring. It makes me wish someone would stumble across audio / video of all the other lost episodes, as it’s such a crime they no longer exist. Perhaps I should offer an award for their capture?

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