Tony Hancock - Robert Ross' Comedy Greats

Join Robert Ross, Britain's Comedy Historian, as he celebrates all things comedy.
In this episode Robert joins Gemma to discuss the life of Tony Hancock.
You can listen to episodes here: www.bbc.co.uk/...
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[@hulotati]

Never tire of listening to the radio Hancock. Perfect meeting of writers and performers with those shows.

[@RobertRossComedyHistorian]

Me neither

[@illaveyoubutler3588]

Hancock, Galton and Simpson make such beautiful, rhythmic, musical comedy....’The Rebel’ is a very underrated British film comedy

[@mattprice7540]

I'm re-watching HHH (yet again) I showed my boys aged 8 & 11 Ericson the Viking the other day; they were in hysterics. That's me handing the baton on

[@RobertRossComedyHistorian]

Great to hear! Comedy at its finest.

[@shame69]

A staggering fine h-h-hour. Thanks. A few observations... What struck me when I first saw the 'Face To Face' interview - which *may* have been in 1976 when the BBC were celebrating its existence with a season of landmark shows called 'Festival 40' (which meant I would have been 12 years old) - was when Tony said, "If such a time came that I found I came to the end of what I could develop out of my own ability - however limited it may be - then I wouldn't want to do it any more". This statement, after continually saying that comedy was his entire life, is pretty much a portent of how things ended. Christ, that's so sad. In re: Tony's split with G&S and the BBC. In a way, Tony was ahead of his time for, like Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais some 40 years later, he set up his own production company and wanted to diversify and try new things. Calamitously for Tony, he never found writers or directors of sufficient quality to help him. And the disease of alcoholism blighted and dulled his ambitions and talents. Talking of projects that could have been... There's a G&S-scripted film from 1966 called 'The Spy With A Cold Nose' starring Lionel Jeffries and Laurence Harvey. It's pretty funny. However, G&S wrote it for Jeffries and Peter Sellers - a kind of reunion of 'The Wrong Arm Of The Law'. Typically, Sellers bailed out and Harvey filled his brogues. The thing is, the Jeffries character (an incompetent low-level secret service agent) is absolutely a perfect fit for Tony Hancock. If you ever get to see it, do so, and imagine Hancock (at his 1961 best) and Sellers in the roles. What a lost opportunity. All right, all right, I'm going!

[@antoniod]

Growing up in the US I didn't experience the English class system, but I identify with Hancock's character because he wants to be everything he isn't.

[@goodiespodcast]

Massively enjoyed this Hancock chat, brought back good memories of watching certain episodes. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and love of these comedy greats!

[@RobertRossComedyHistorian]

Thanks for your support. Watch this space for more Comedy Greats

[@TheRecordSleeve]

Thankyou both 👏

[@lexyoutube5146]

Galton and Simpson wrote some wonderful comedy series for radio and TV. When the writers and cast blend together so well the series is extra special standing the test of time. 7.00 - I understand on the series "Steptoe and Son" the order appeared as "Simpson and Galton" until the end of series 4, then at the beginning of series 5 it appeared as "Galton and Simpson". In the end of course we know eight series were eventually made, so it turned out unknowingly at the time that the switch was made half way through!

[@sarahperry7431]

Great comedian

[@antoniod]

UNIQUE HANCOCK is something else I bought in London in 2004.

[@bolshevikproductions]

❤The Lad “ 100 1924/2024❤

[@antoniod]

I'm curious. Hancock was unknown in America in the 60s(well, not just the 60s)so I wonder what Disney employee got the idea to cast him?