S1 E5 - Very Nearly an Armful - The Lost Episodes - The Horror Serial/The Italian Maid

In this episode Martin, Tim and Jon talk about how the audio soundtracks from two lost television episodes of Hancock’s Half Hour were discovered on reel to reel tape in 2016. Neither of the episodes had been broadcast since they were repeated in 1959 so this was a brilliant discovery. The four fans talk about The Horror Serial, which was a pastiche of Quatermass and the Pit, and consider in detail whether a Martian has a bracket that can be punched up; and in The Italian Maid they discover why making tea out of Best Navy Shag tobacco has never caught on! They also attempt to answer questions sent in by listeners on the changing character of Bill Kerr, how none of the original episodes were named and the difficulty this poses when trying to identify episodes on archive reel to reel tapes where episode names have been invented. As always, our intrepid four get side-tracked, this time into the brilliant One Foot in the Grave Podcast and they briefly consider the film The Ladykillers and how this reflects 1950s Britain. 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 on how to join are at tonyhancock.org.uk