Radio 4 to broadcast long-lost episode of Hancock’s Half Hour featuring Peter Sellers
‘The Marriage Bureau’ has not been heard since 1955
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A long-lost episode of Tony Hancock’s 1950s radio show, Hancock’s Half Hour, has been found and restored and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 next month.
The penultimate episode from the show’s first radio series features the actor and comedian Peter Sellers – who was standing in for Hancock’s regular collaborator Kenneth Williams.
The episode, named “The Marriage Bureau” aired just once, on 8 February 1955, attracting an audience of 6.22 million listeners, according to the British Comedy Guide.
The news was announced by the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society on Twitter, who wrote: “We’re absolutely thrilled that a lost episode of Hancock’s Half Hour has been found, restored, and will be broadcast on Radio 4 on 18 October.
“‘The Marriage Bureau’ was never repeated and has not been heard since 1955. Only episode to feature Peter Sellers,” they continued.
“Sellers plays the parts given in the scripts to Kenneth Williams who couldn’t make it that week. How did he play them? Tune in to find out! This is a brilliant find!”
The society added that a documentary about finding the lost episode, called Raiders of the Lost Archive, will be broadcast on Radio 4 on 13 and 17 October.
Hancock took his own life in Australia on 25 June 1968, in a rented apartment in Sydney, aged 44.
Hancock's Half Hour was first broadcast on radio in 1954, then on television from 1956, drawing an audience of millions every week.
Hancock played an unsuccessful music hall performer and minor stage personality, frequently ripped-off by Cockney conman Sid James and beset by the idiocies of an array of supporting characters, all voiced by Williams.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments