Tony Hancock fans will be in their element this autumn as his famous radio sitcom, Hancock’s Half Hour, comes to Mansfield Palace Theatre on Sunday 1 October.

In 1954, Tony Hancock burst onto the airwaves of the BBC Light Programme with a comedy show unlike anything the British public had heard before. Playing a less successful version of himself and surrounded by a cast of fellow comedy greats including Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams, Hancock’s Half Hour was one of the first programmes in the genre we now know as sitcom.

Written by young up-and-comers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who later went on to create Steptoe and Son, Hancock’s Half Hour redefined radio comedy and has had people laughing non-stop for the past 70 years.

Now, fans can experience the magic of Hancock and friends live, courtesy of Apollo Theatre Company, who have specialised in bringing classic radio comedies to the stage since 2015, including productions of Round the Horne, The Goon Show and a previous tour of Hancock’s Half Hour in 2019.

Producer and director Tim Astley said: “Hancock’s Half Hour was one of the greatest comedy shows of all time and it is truly an honour to be able to bring it to the stage. We are so used to sitcoms as a part of the comedy landscape these days, that it is hard to imagine a time without them and to appreciate just how ground-breaking the show was when it came along in 1954. Tony Hancock’s genius ‘put-upon’ persona had such an influence on so many great comedy characters from Basil Fawlty to David Brent and it cannot be underestimated quite how much he helped shape comedy as we know it today.”

This production focuses on the ‘lost’ episodes – those for which the original recordings no longer exist. These episodes were recently recreated on BBC Radio 4 as The Missing Hancocks and this new show will see Apollo Theatre Company’s team interpret the scripts in their own exciting way.

The show stars John Hewer (Just Like That: The Tommy Cooper Show) as Tony Hancock with Ben Craze and Colin Elmer reprising their roles from the 2019 production as Sid James and Kenneth Williams respectively. They will be joined by Alice Osmanski (Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em) as Andree Melly, Callum Hale (Tristram Shandy – Gentleman) as Bill Kerr and Clive Greenwood (Up Pompei) as the BBC Announcer.

Tickets are available from mansfieldpalace.co.uk or the Leeming Street venue’s Box Office during office hours, or call them on 01623 463313.