2020-

The fourth series of The Missing Hancocks comprised 8 episodes but the series was broadcast over a period of four years, starting on 6 December 2018 with, what was expected to be the final episode broadcast on 31 December 2020.  However, the broadcast of one episode (The Christmas Eve Party) was postponed by the BBC due to Coronavirus sensitivities and was finally first broadcast on 21st December 2021.  Despite this delay to the broadcast of one episode, agreement was reached with the BBC that the proposed commercial release of all of the un-released episodes could take place on 4th March 2021.  So this download only set contains all 23 episodes of The Missing Hancocks plus the Director’s Commentary of The Matador.  A fantastic release and huge thanks to Neil Pearson, the entire cast and the BBC for recreating all lost radio episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour.

The release contains the following episodes: The Matador, The Newspaper, The Hancock Festival, The Breakfast Cereal, The New Neighbour, How Hancock Won the War, The Red Planet, The Marriage Bureau, A Visit to Russia, The Trial of Father Christmas, A Holiday in France, The Crown Jewels, The Racehorse, A Visit to Swansea, The Three Sons, The Winter Holiday, The Department Store Santa, The Diamond Ring, Prime Minister Hancock, Christmas at Aldershot, The Counterfeiter, The Christmas Eve Party and The New Year Resolutions.  In addition, the release features Kevin McNally and Robin Sebastian’s recreation of ‘The Test Pilot’ sketch from The Diary at the 2018 RAF centenary gala at the Royal Albert Hall and the interview they gave afterwards.

Release Date: 4th March 2021
Catalog No:   ASIN B08Q1WKPZD

As a companion to the above mentioned release, BBC Audio also released Series 4 as a CD release.  Series 1 – 3 remain available as CD sets as at December 2020.

This release contains the following episodes: The Winter Holiday, The Department Store Santa, The Diamond Ring, Prime Minister Hancock, Christmas at Aldershot, The Counterfeiter, The Christmas Eve Party and The New Year Resolutions.

Release Date: 4th March 2021 
Catalog No:   ISBN: 978-1529138511

Calling All Forces was a variety programme aimed at military personnel based around the UK and Germany.

Described as ‘the biggest show of the day’, it featured a wide range of guest stars, including comedians and film stars of the day.

This release features seven complete programmes (including one starring Tony Hancock) plus programmes featuring Moira Lister and Bill Kerr (including a The Forces Show and Fletcher’s Fare with Bill Kerr as bonus items.)

In addition, there’s shows starring Peter Sellers, Jon Pertwee, Kenneth Horne, Max Bygraves, Al Read, Max Wall and many more. This download only release is available from Amazon here and is recommended for all fans of vinatge comedy.

The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society has been pleased to partner with BBC Audio in compiling this release.

Release Date: 4th November 2021
Catalog No:   ASIN B09H3JH1JH Download Only

This brilliant release includes all of the content of the individual Hancock’s Half Hour TV episode CDs available to purchase at the time of release plus Hancock: A Celebration, the Lost TV Episodes CD and the part of Hancock: A Comedy Genius not included in the Hancock’s Half Hour Collectibles release.  All of the individual CD releases are no longer available to purchase following this release.

In addition, the release includes four new to audio television soundtracks (The Oak Tree, The Train Journey, The Tycoon and The Lift), Celebration: Galton and Simpson, Unique Hancock (the radio broadcast including additional commentary and link material), Hancock’s Last Half Hour (with Richard Briers), The New Elizabethans: Tony Hancock, Hancock’s Ashes, Great Lives: Kenneth Williams and Steve Punt’s Hancock Cuttings.  The release comes in at 18 hours and 42 minutes.  and means that everying of significance in the BBC audio archive has now been released.

The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society has been pleased to partner with BBC Audio in compiling this release.

Release Date: 20th January 2022
Catalog No:   ASIN: B09M4CT7MG Download Only

This brilliant release includes all four episodes of The Galton & Simpson Half Hour and the four episodes of The Galton & Simpson Playhouse; these include remakes of The Blood Donor and The Offer and other Comedy Playhouse classics inlcuding Impasse and Naught for Thy Comfort.

The release also includes the three hour Radio 4 Extra ‘I Did It My Way’ and ‘Very Nearly an Armful: The Galton & Simpson Story’.

The release comes in at around 7 1/2 hours and features hours of previously unreleased material from the BBC audio archive.

The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society has been pleased to partner with BBC Audio in compiling this fantastic release

Release Date: 17th February 2022 
Catalog No:   ASIN Number B09QLCMW54 Download Only

The long lost Hancock’s Half Hour episode The Marriage Bureau was released on CD on the 1st June 2023, accompanied by three additional archive items that have never been released before.

The Marriage Bureau is a particularly significant find because it is the only Hancock’s Half Hour episode to feature Peter Sellers instead of Kenneth Williams who was unable to attend the recording at short notice.   Peter brilliantly takes on three characters in the episode: the managing director of the company interviewing Hancock for a job, one of the complainants of the marriage bureau and finally the role of ‘Granny’.

Raiders of The Lost Archive; first broadcast on the 13^th October 2022: Presented by Keith Wickham and written and edited by Keith Wickham and James Peak, this documentary tells the story of the Radio Circle, a group of like-minded audio archivists and hobbyists and details their search for lost and missing radio programmes.  It’s a brilliant documentary which concludes with the recovery of The Marriage Bureau. Since the documentary, the Radio Circle has discovered the only missing The Navy Lark episode, so their success is continuing.  Let’s hope for even more discoveries!

Next up is a seven minute extract from The New Year Resolutions; first broadcast on 4^th January 1956.  This extract has been in the THAS archives for many years and it’s great that it is finally getting a commercial release.  The recording has been restored by the Society’s Jon Street, who has done a great job in tidying up the extract.

Finally, the documentary H.H.H.Happy Birthday Hancock, which was first broadcast 11^th May 1999, is getting its first commercial release!  The programme, which is narrated by Andrew Sachs, is a tribute to Hancock on the occasion of what would have been his 75^th birthday.  Telling his life story through interviews and extracts, the programme features interviews with Dennis Norden, George Fairweather, Alan Simpson, Ray Galton, Dennis Main Wilson, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Duncan Wood and John Freeman.  There are also extracts from interviews with Hancock, including, of course, Face to Face, plus extracts from many radio and television episodes too many to list here.

The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society has been pleased to partner with BBC Audio in compiling this fantastic release

Release Date: 1st June 2023
Catalog No:   ASIN 9781529900620

The long lost Hancock’s Half Hour episode A Visit to Swansea was released on CD on the 3rd October 2024, accompanied by two additional archive items that have never been released before. Huge thanks to Richard Harrison of the Radio Circle who discovered the episode and to Keith Wickham who has restored the episode.  It’s a great quality recording.

This episode and the ones just starring Harry Secombe have long been sought after by fans, keen to hear how Secombe took on the role.  The fact that this is the only episode in which both Harry Secombe and Tony Hancock appeared makes this a very special find. And what a joy to have this episode available for purchase!

The first additional programme is an extract from the Colin Murray Show first broadcast 28^th November 2022.  featuring an interview with Harry Secombe’s son, Andy. Andy talks about his memories of meeting Hancock with his dad, discusses how Secombe met Hancock and how Secombe came to be in Hancock’s Half Hour in the first place. His memory is that Harry ‘had a ball’ and loved doing the episodes.

Finally, the release will include Steve Punt’s From Bournemouth to East Cheam which was first broadcast on BBC Radio Solent on 27^th May 2013.  In it, Steve Punt tells Hancock’s life story; it is an affectionate look at Hancock’s story which is liberally peppered with clips from his shows.

Release Date: 3rd October 2024
Catalog No:   ISBN 978-1529941449

This brilliant limted edition release includes seventeen TV soundtracks plus Hancock: A Celebration and the part of Hancock: A Comedy Genius not included in the Hancock’s Half Hour Collectibles release.

In addition, the release includes Celebration: Galton and Simpson, Unique Hancock (the radio broadcast including additional commentary and link material), Hancock’s Last Half Hour (with Richard Briers), The New Elizabethans: Tony Hancock, Hancock’s Ashes, Great Lives: Kenneth Williams and Steve Punt’s Hancock Cuttings.  The release comes in at 17 1/2 hours.  and means that everying of significance in the BBC audio archive has now been released.

This title was previously released as a download only and this limited edition release is produced for libraries and was only available for the public to purchase via The Reading House website.

Release Date: 2026
Catalog No:   2 xMP3 discs: ISBN 9-788-1-789614-927-5
              CDs: ISBN 9-781-78614-926-8

This limited edition release contains all 23 episodes of The Missing Hancocks plus the Director’s Commentary of The Matador and Kevin McNally and Robin Sebastian’s recreation of ‘The Test Pilot’ sketch from The Diary at the 2018 RAF centenary gala at the Royal Albert Hall and the interview they gave afterwards.

The release contains the following episodes: The Matador, The Newspaper, The Hancock Festival, The Breakfast Cereal, The New Neighbour, How Hancock Won the War, The Red Planet, The Marriage Bureau, A Visit to Russia, The Trial of Father Christmas, A Holiday in France, The Crown Jewels, The Racehorse, A Visit to Swansea, The Three Sons, The Winter Holiday, The Department Store Santa, The Diamond Ring, Prime Minister Hancock, Christmas at Aldershot, The Counterfeiter, The Christmas Eve Party, The New Year Resolutions, The Matador Director’s Commentary and The Test Pilot Sketch.

This title was previously released as a download only and this limited edition release is produced for libraries and was only available for the public to purchase via The Reading House website.

Release Date: 2026 
Catalog No:  2 xMP3 discs: ISBN 978-1-5299-1293-7 
             CDs: ISBN 978-1-5299-1292-0

The long lost Hancock’s Half Hour episode The Marriage Bureau was released on this limited edition CD or MP3 disc 2026.  Previously commercially released on CD in 2023, this release includes the same additional items as the original release:

The Marriage Bureau is a particularly significant find because it is the only Hancock’s Half Hour episode to feature Peter Sellers instead of Kenneth Williams who was unable to attend the recording at short notice.   Peter brilliantly takes on three characters in the episode: the managing director of the company interviewing Hancock for a job, one of the complainants of the marriage bureau and finally the role of ‘Granny’.

Raiders of The Lost Archive; first broadcast on the 13^th October 2022: Presented by Keith Wickham and written and edited by Keith Wickham and James Peak, this documentary tells the story of the Radio Circle, a group of like-minded audio archivists and hobbyists and details their search for lost and missing radio programmes.  It’s a brilliant documentary which concludes with the recovery of The Marriage Bureau. Since the documentary, the Radio Circle has discovered the only missing The Navy Lark episode, so their success is continuing.  Let’s hope for even more discoveries!

Next up is a seven minute extract from The New Year Resolutions; first broadcast on 4^th January 1956.  This extract has been in the THAS archives for many years and it’s great that it is finally getting a commercial release.  The recording has been restored by the Society’s Jon Street, who has done a great job in tidying up the extract.

Finally, the documentary H.H.H.Happy Birthday Hancock, which was first broadcast 11^th May 1999, is getting its first commercial release!  The programme, which is narrated by Andrew Sachs, is a tribute to Hancock on the occasion of what would have been his 75^th birthday.  Telling his life story through interviews and extracts, the programme features interviews with Dennis Norden, George Fairweather, Alan Simpson, Ray Galton, Dennis Main Wilson, Sid James, Bill Kerr, Duncan Wood and John Freeman.  There are also extracts from interviews with Hancock, including, of course, Face to Face, plus extracts from many radio and television episodes too many to list here.

This limited edition release is produced for libraries and was only available for the public to purchase via The Reading House website.

Release Date: 2026 
Catalog No:   1 x MP3 disc: ISBN 978-1-5299-6605-3
              CDs: 978-1-5299-6604-6