S6 - E1 -Very Nearly an Armful - Apollo Theatre Tour Review
Very Nearly an Armful - A Tony Hancock PodcastShow Notes
In this episode of Very Nearly an Armful, Tim, James, Jon and Martin discuss the Apollo Theatre Company nationwide tour of their Hancock’s Half Hour show and are delighted to welcome John Hewer and Colin Elmer (who play Tony Hancock and Kenneth Williams respectively) to the podcast. The tour features performances of three lost Hancock’s Half Hour episodes from a selection of The Matador, The New Neighbour, The Winter Holiday and The Red Planet. The team discuss how John and Colin each discovered Hancock, how they approach playing the characters and how Hancock’s Half Hour being so accessible these days is opening Hancock up to a younger generation. John and Colin are also pleased to introduce the rest of the cast: Alice Osmanski (Andree Melly), Ben Craze (Sid James), Callum Hale (Bill Kerr) and Clive Greenwood (Announcer and foley artist). Full details of the tour are available at www.Apollo theatre company.com
Included in the podcast are extracts from original Hancock's Half Hour soundtracks, The Missing Hancocks soundtracks, Hambledon Productions stage performance of The Winter Holiday starring John Hewer as Hancock and The Apollo Theatre Company's performance of Hancock in the Police from their previous tour, starring James Hurn as Hancock.
The Gang of Four get sidetracked as usual, this time into the origin on the term ‘coalboxed’, the latest Vivian Stanshall CD release and the upcoming Punch and Judy Man festival in Bognor. 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 November with a review of the oldest surviving television episode and the only surviving episode to feature Kenneth Williams in his Snide character, The Alpine Holiday. Hope that you’ll be able to join us then.
More from Very Nearly an Armful - A Tony Hancock Podcast
In this podcast, we look at The Publicity Photograph from the fifth radio series. The sepia-tinted triumvirate consider how this is another episode starting round the breakfast table and discuss Kenneth Williams’s brilliant portrayal of Hillary St. Clair.
In this podcast, we look at The Lawyer, from the third television series. 'Rumpole', 'Kavanagh' and 'Perry Mason’ don their wigs and discuss the brilliant supporting cast with a special call out for Bill Fraser in his role as the police sergeant. enjoy the fluffs from the cast that come with this programme being broadcast live and consider how many different ‘jobs’ Hancock had during these early television series. Finally, the team look at Sid’s brilliant reactions to Hancock’s impassioned plea for his innocence and consider, in detail, how Hancock managed to put his car in the car park so quickly.
In this podcast, we look at The Idol, the third episode of the very first radio series. The three Bobby-soxer’s consider the quality of this early script, which is more like a three-act play, discuss the brilliant support provided by both Moira and Bill and reflect on how Hancock’s previous series Star Bill provided the genesis for this episode.
In this first podcast of our Spring series, we look at Sid’s Mystery Tours from the 6th and final radio series. The three amigos discuss the level of realism in this final radio series, look at the brilliant supporting cast, and the added depth that these additional cast members provide. and consider the number of episodes which commence with a scene around the breakfast table. Finally, the team review the superb tortoise sequence and debate, in detail, how to tell the age of a tortoise.
In this podcast, we are delighted to chat with our special guest Ted Kendall. Ted is a sound restorer and a mastering engineer who worked for BBC Transcription services before going freelance and setting up his own mastering studio. Ted was instrumental in the production of the original box sets of the radio Hancock’s Half Hour and in the four volumes of Hancock’s Half Hour Collectibles. Ted also compiled and restored all of the material in the Goon Show Compendia, the series’ box sets of The Navy Lark and much more, in a career spanning over thirty years.