Hancock's Half Hour: A Visit To Swansea

[Robert Clark (rcgreybeard)]

Stone me! Hancock is like buses, nothing for ages then two lost programmes shown up one after another.



Richard Harrison announced this morning that another lost edition of Hancock, this time from the second series, has turned up from the same batch of reels that contained The Marriage Bureau and, oddly, it also has a Goon Show connection.



The edition, A Visit To Swansea, was the last of four editions to feature Harry Secombe. Hancock had gone AWOL at the beginning of the second series and Secombe stepped into the role. This edition is the one where the Lad Himself thanks Harry.



It is early days and Radio Cirlce will process the reel again to maximise the signal quality, and it is known that some restoration will be required. With the centenary of Hancock's birth next May, this is a timely recovery.



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[John Green]

Lovely news. I was wondering, "Why Swansea"?!

[darrenlee]

Oct 11, 2023 16:15:18 GMT John Green said:

Lovely news. I was wondering, "Why Swansea"?!

Swansea is Harry Secombe's home town.

If that's not adequate explanation, there's the synopsis of the 'Missing Hancocks' episode, here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08kv5f8
As a final resort, there's even listening to the programme.

Ultimately this will be a second chance to compare a remake with the real thing.

[John Green]

Ah. I meant I had been previously been wondering why Hancock was a-Swanseaing. (But hadn't bothered to look it up).

[G D Peck]

Just curious, is there any update when we might hear this?

[Richard Harrison]

As the chap that found it, I pushed for it to be broadcast at Christmas (it would have been ready) but was ignored.
I'm 100% sure that it'll be broadcast in May, as that's Hancock's centenary!

[Stuart Monk]

Good to hear from the voice of authority, Richard!

[darrenlee]

Has anyone given time of day to the reviewer of 'The Missing Hancocks' on Amazon, www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R2J32Y1DQUFUSG/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08Q1WKPZDg, who claims to have the 'lost' episodes 'How Hancock Won the War'*, 'A Holiday in France' and 'The Winter Holiday'?

I don't even know how one would do so now that comments are not allowed.



*Exists in poor quality.

[G D Peck]

Feb 9, 2024 19:11:53 GMT Richard Harrison said:

As the chap that found it, I pushed for it to be broadcast at Christmas (it would have been ready) but was ignored.
I'm 100% sure that it'll be broadcast in May, as that's Hancock's centenary!

Hopefully it will be broadcast in May, I’m looking forward to it.

And thank you Richard for all the great work you do in going through all those old tapes. I believe you were also involved in the finding of Hancock’s The Marriage Bureau and The Navy Lark - The Cornish Exercise, i throughly enjoyed both of them. Hopefully a few more gems can be found.

[G D Peck]

Feb 15, 2024 20:30:32 GMT darrenlee said:

Has anyone given time of day to the reviewer of 'The Missing Hancocks' on Amazon, www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R2J32Y1DQUFUSG/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08Q1WKPZDg, who claims to have the 'lost' episodes 'How Hancock Won the War'*, 'A Holiday in France' and 'The Winter Holiday'?

I don't even know how one would do so now that comments are not allowed.

*Exists in poor quality.

Would be amazing if this person does indeed have these episodes.

[Richard Harrison]

Many thanks G.D. Peck for your kind words.
I was astounded to see the comment on Amazon!

'How Hancock Won The War' - I have this too, and the sound is truly appalling.

'A Holiday In France' - I suppose this could be confused with 'A Trip to France' (which does exist).

'The Winter Holiday' - this could be 'The Alpine Holiday' (TV soundtrack).

But, I'd love to be wrong and for this person's information to be true. It's sometimes only when someone says 'this is missing' that people realise!