S3 - E4 - Very Nearly an Armful - Death of a Duchess

And now for something completely different.  In this episode, James, Tim, Jon and Martin review The Death of a Duchess, the final episode in the 1956 ATV Series The Tony Hancock Show and are delighted to welcome Hancock’s great niece, Lucy Hancock to the podcast as our guest; Lucy gave permission for the entire series of the Tony Hancock Show to be released on DVD and this was made available commercially for the first time earlier this year.The team look at  how the programme showcased the physical side of Hancock’s comedy and consider the brilliant performance by Hattie Jacques and her onscreen chemistry with Hancock which ultimately led to her role in Hancock’s Half Hour. They also consider the similarity of Death of a Duchess with the Morecambe  and Wise ‘play what I wrote’ sketches including how forward looking the series is in that it frequently breaks the fourth wall.  The team reflects on the frenetic pace of the episode and how much fun everyone seems to be having.The gang of four get distracted as usual; this week they revert to their boyhood days and wax lyrical about Thunderbirds, Stingray, UFO, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and all things Gerry Anderson. In Hancock updates, the team reveal the fantastic news that a new Hancock book: Tony Hancock: inside His Life in Words and Pictures, written by Lucy, Tim and Martin, is due for publication in Summer 2022.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 two weeks when we will be looking at The Missing Hanccocks remake of The New Neighbour both on radio and TV with our very special guest, the Lad Himself, Kevin McNally  - hope to see you then.