Lost Sitcoms

Unlike the recently rebooted Porridge and Are You Being Served?, this rejuvenated BBC sitcom actually has a point to it: it's a loving and spot-on recreation of a missing Hancock radio episode from 1956, in which the Lad Himself (Kevin McNally) and co convince themselves their new neighbour is a serial killer. There's a real potency to it, too - it was originally broadcast only three years after the grisly, real-life discoveries at 10 Rillington Place.

Hancock's Half Hour: a triumphant remake of comedy gold

"So should you watch it? Yes. Yes, you should, and then you should write letters to the BBC demanding that they reassemble this cast and crew post-haste," says Tom Cole.

Tony Hancock is the Picasso of moaning

The BBC's Hancock revival is so good it sparked an epiphany. I've not laughed that much at a British sitcom in years. Nothing on TV is actually that funny anymore. It's not that there aren't shows I like and enjoy, it's just that I now realise I wasn't really laughing at them. I was only smiling wistfully. Or going "Ha."

TV Review: Lost Sitcoms - Hancock's Half Hour

The script - by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, of course - is so good you are not even bothered by the basic scenery - there are literally no walls. In fact it would be just as funny if you closed your eyes and imagined you were listening to the radiio. The only thing you would miss would be McNally's gloriously unforgettable face.

Lost Sitcoms: Hancock's Half Hour preview

It holds up so well that some lines seem to have been injected just for wry 21st-century nostalgia: Hancock being impressed by the size of the newcomers' TV screen: 'It must be all of eight inches,' he says enviously.

TV preview: Lost Sitcoms - Hancock's Half Hour, BBC4

Stone me this is good. I was a little bit worried about this TV recreation of a lost Hancock episode because last week's Alf Garnett reboot was so disappointing. But there is no problem here. A combination of excellent casting and excellent writing makes this easily as funny as most contemporary sitcoms.

'Lost Sitcoms' review: 'Hancock's Half Hour'

Entirely studio-bound with only three sets and no special effects or flashy camera tricks, director Ben Gosling Fuller is free to concentrate on the actors and the vintage material they're performing.