Hancock’s Half Hour was one of the great BBC staples of the 1950s and early 1960s, initially on radio and then on television as The Lad Himself became one of the most popular comedy stars in the country.
What is often forgotten though is that he did eventually leave the BBC – and his writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and regular supporting star Sid James – to try his luck on ITV.
The TV Times understandably got behind this seismic move, giving Tony a number of front covers, including this striking picture from a March 1963 episode of Hancock, ‘The Writer’. Supporting players were Francis Matthews, John Junkin and DJ Pete Murray, with the script written by Terry Nation, who was about to find fame back on the Beeb as the inventor of the Daleks…
Take a closer look at Hancock on ITV here.
