Very looking forward to this!
Edit: Hopefully a veeeery nice person can the change the thread title to 'Lost Sitcoms: Hancock's Half Hour'
Lost Sitcoms: Hancock's Half Hour
Well, it was ok but I don't think I'd want to watch more of it.
I thought it was great, and the impressions were very good.
I've already 'heard' this episode on the radio recently
Didn't matter
It was absolutely brilliant
Enjoyed every second of it
"Ohh this bodes dodgy ..!"
Quote: Nil Putters @ 8th September 2016, 9:33 PM...and the impressions were very good.
Yes, but I didn't like this Sid James for some reason.
Looked like a dead ringer to me!
I think it was Jon Culshaw who always looks and sounds like Jon Culshaw to me.
Again I don't think recreations work - just like the Till Death one. And the f**king sets were so pretentious.
There's only one Hancock. I grew up with him, Sid, Bill and Grizzly. I can't accept any substitutes. Sad but there it is.
Nice half hour, the Kenneth Williams was brilliant. But all it really did was make me want to go and watch the real thing, which I suppose was the point.
I thought it was absolutely magnificent. A splendid production and genuinely repeatedly - constantly - laugh out loud. Galton & Simpson's script still sparkles and the performances were as close as can be to spot on. McNally's Hancock in particular, I really felt and saw the real Tony in him.
Very keen to see all the other 25 missing Hancock's Half Hour episodes produced as soon as possible.
Better than watching Hancock's final work? Which has finally been uploaded in full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvyAPs7z5g
I listened to the radio version of this episode when they remade it in 2014. That episode obviously had Bill Kerr in it (played by Kevin Eldon). When they originally made a TV version of it Bill's part was changed - obviously as Bill did not appear in the TV series (which as an aside was a real shame). So it was a bit strange seeing Kevin Eldon playing a different character, but in the same role.
The star of the show was the script. Kevin McNally was a close second. The radio remakes were brilliant with McNally sounding almost exactly like Hancock. It would have been unrealistic to expect him to look as convincing but he Was excellent. Kevin Eldon did a very good Bill Kerr in the radio remakes and gave a good performance. John Culshaw's Sid wasn't as convincing as I thought it was going to be. 'Kenneth Willims' was very close to the original and I felt 'Hattie' was occasionally trying too hard to play Hattie playing the Part.
I absolutely hated the sets. If I had gone to my local theatre to see an amateur production I would have thought, what a clever way of staging it through necessity. The BBC should have recreated the original sets. For diehard fans (and I am one) it was probably more of an irritation but I can imagine some curious viewers taking one look at it and turning over.
That said, did I enjoy it? YES very much
Do I want more? YES.
I really enjoyed this. Obviously it isn't Hancock but it was also much more than just an impression. The stand out performance for me was the Hattie Jacques one, the looks and subtleties of the performance were spooky in their accuracy for the younger Hattie. Kenneth Williams was good but lost its way a little with the snide policeman. The central performance was pitch perfect. The John Vere character, an actor who made many appearances in Hancock, was nicely played by Eldon, with a little less to work with than in the radio series as Kerr. Culshaw's James was surprisingly well judged, although on the whole I thought it the weakest of the cast, I did like that he gave Sid that vague South African twinge that could be detected in Sid's voice, especially in the early days. The sets were awful and gave it a sixth form experimental theatre feel, if any more are made I hope they ditch this. The script was excellent, although they chose one of the few radio related shows, many of these characters would not be regulars, consisting more of Hancock on his own and with Sid alone, this would jettison Williams and Jacques. But overall it was a treat. In a series I think recasting Sid might be considered. maybe get in Arthur Smith, who I think could provide a more natural performance. P.S great care was taken over this show, I liked the Mario Fabrizi lookalike at the end, a key Hancock bit part player, and thought the replacement of Williams with Frazer worked very well, as it worked nicely with the radio show where that kind of exchange was often played out between Williams and James.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ 8th September 2016, 9:39 PMYes, but I didn't like this Sid James for some reason.
Told myself I wouldn't have anything else to do with the forum apart from my Punch cartoons, but this couldn't pass by without some comment............................
Sid wasn't in the original TV prog. but was in the original/original radio show in which there was no Hattie Jacques - likewise Bill Kerr was in the radio version but not the TV, so all in all it was a bit of a mish-mash; which for me was a shame as I would have liked to have seen one or the other as was and not an amalgam.
Just for the record, Bill Fraser played an estate office clerk in the TV version and the "John" character was a neighbour played by John Vere.
Having said that, I enjoyed it and thought Kevin McNally was superb. The set was odd, but didn't bother me as the action was enough to not let it stand in the way what was going on.
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Quote: Will Cam @ 9th September 2016, 8:29 AMI
The star of the show was the script.
Yes
Quote: Muddlecombe @ 9th September 2016, 9:34 AMThe sets were awful and gave it a sixth form experimental theatre feel, if any more are made I hope they ditch this.
The sets were a bit irritating at the beginning because they made the whole thing look like one of Lars von Triers darker movies. I don't know why the makers chose this über-minimalistic approach. I think the early Hancock shows had very cheap sets as well but they didn't have this almost eerie, ghostly quality.