S6 - E2 - Very Nearly an Armful - The Alpine Holiday

In this edition of Very Nearly an Armful, James. Jon, Tim and Martin look at the earliest surviving television episode of Hancock’s Half Hour, The Alpine Holiday, from Series 2. The team look at the amazing supporting cast, including Richard Wattis in his only Hancock’s Half Hour role, John Vere, June Whitfield and, or course, Kenneth Williams in his only surviving televised appearance as Snide. They also consider how different this episode is without Sid James. The four examine the technicalities of how the show was recorded, consider how easily Hancock switches from pomposity to sheer panic in a matter of seconds and debate, in detail, which of the gang is most suited to enter the yodelling championship of East Dulwich.The team, of course, gets distracted, this time by the recent Punch and Judy Festival in Bournemouth and by the guest appearance of Diane Morgan at the Society’s annual dinner.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 have an event planned to celebrate what would have Hancock’s 100th birthday in May 2024 and our annual reunion dinner in September; we’d love to welcome you as a member and see you at our events. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with, guess what, a review of the brilliant radio episode, Fred’s Pie Stall from the final radio series. Hope that you’ll be able to join us then.