Very Nearly an Armful - A Tony Hancock Podcast

In this podcast, we are delighted to chat with our special guest Ted Kendall.  Ted is a sound restorer and a mastering engineer who worked for BBC Transcription services before going freelance and setting up his own mastering studio.  Ted was instrumental in the production of the original box sets of the radio Hancock’s Half Hour and in the four volumes of Hancock’s Half Hour Collectibles.  Ted also compiled and restored all of the material in the Goon Show Compendia, the series’ box sets of The Navy Lark and much more, in a career spanning over thirty years.
 
Ted talks about how he got into audio restoration, the work that he undertook on the episodes in the Hancock’s Half Hour CDs and answers questions sent by listeners including the most difficult restoration that he has undertaken and many more.
 
Don’t forget to rate 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 www.tonyhancock.org.uk. We are holding an event in London in May where we will be talking to Richard Harrison who discovered two lost Hancock’s Half Hour episodes and our annual dinner will be held in Solihull in September; we’d love to see you at one of events as a member. In addition, screenings of Hancock’s TV episodes on the big screen continue at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith and we expect to be back there in June when we’ll be showing three more episodes. We’ll be back in a few weeks with our next series when we’ll be looking at the sixth series episode Sid’s Mystery Tours as requested by Mark McGuigan. We hope to see you then.

In this podcast, we look at Hancock’s first television Christmas special from the third series, Hancock’s 43 Minutes.
 
The three musketeers discuss this unusual variety style episode and consider the similarity between the show and much of Hancock’s stage act, look at how Hancock has the audience in stitches whilst doing nothing other than reacting to everything going on around him and consider whether this episode may have proved an inspiration for the Morecambe & Wise shows of the 1970s.  Finally, the gang compete to see who shows the most promise for a career dancing on plate glass.
 
Don’t forget to rate 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 www.tonyhancock.org.uk. We are already planning events for 2026, and we’d love to welcome you as a member and see you at our events. In addition, screenings of Hancock’s TV episodes on the big screen continue at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, with the next event to be held on January 31st. We’ll be back with a Winter special. We hope to see you then.

In this third podcast of our series, we look at The Scandal Magazine from the 5th radio series.
 
The three amigos consider this to be one of the finest of the radio half hours, discuss the unusual appearance of guest star John Vere in this fifth series episode and consider the brilliant voices provided by Hattie Jacques who is in top form in this episode as both Miss Pugh and ‘Mabel under the table’. The trio also look at the roles of Kenneth Williams, and his excellent portrayal of both the taxi driver and the judge and consider how risqué this episode must have been in the 1950s.  Finally, the team consider, in detail, which edition of Blabbermouth publications they will be in if they visit the Bag of Nuts after recording the episode. 
 
Don’t forget to rate 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 www.tonyhancock.org.uk.
We are already planning events for 2026, and we’d love to welcome you as a member and see you at our events. In addition, screenings of Hancock’s TV episodes on the big screen continue at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, with the next event expected to be held in January. In our next festive podcast we look at the TV episode Hancock’s 43 Minutes or The East Cheam Repertory Company.  We hope to see you then.

In this episode, we look at the brilliant parody episode The Blackboard Jungle from the third radio series.
 
Lost for decades and only recovered as recently as 2005, the triumvirate of Hancock fans consider how fortunate we are to be able to review an original recording of this episode.  The team review how closely the episode follows the plotline of the film on which it is based, look at the brilliant roles played by both Bill Kerr and Andree Melly and debate, in detail, whether Hancock is wearing a light mac or a brown overcoat.
 
Don’t forget to rate 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 www.tonyhancock.org.uk. We are already planning events for 2026, and we’d love to welcome you as a member and see you at our events. In addition, screenings of Hancock’s TV episodes on the big screen continue at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, with the next event due to be held on 31st January 2026.
 
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a look at the radio episode, The Scandal Magazine.   We hope to see you then.

In this episode, we look at the brilliant parody episode The Blackboard Jungle from the third radio series.
 
Lost for decades and only recovered as recently as 2005, the triumvirate of Hancock fans consider how fortunate we are to be able to review an original recording of this episode.  The team review how closely the episode follows the plotline of the film on which it is based, look at the brilliant roles played by both Bill Kerr and Andree Melly and debate, in detail, whether Hancock is wearing a light mac or a brown overcoat.
 
Don’t forget to rate 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 www.tonyhancock.org.uk. We are already planning events for 2026, and we’d love to welcome you as a member and see you at our events. In addition, screenings of Hancock’s TV episodes on the big screen continue at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, with the next event due to be held on 31st January 2026.
 
We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a look at the radio episode, The Scandal Magazine.   We hope to see you then.