TONY'S TELEVISON SHOWS

The Australian Series

The three episodes that had been completed by the time of Hancock's death were combined into a 90-minute TV special. This was transmitted on Channel HSV-7, Melbourne, on January 25th 1972, 2030-2200. This special has also been released on Videocassette in Australia and the U.K.

Cast List:

Character Name		Actor
Mrs. Gilroy		Gloria Dawn
Mervyn		Don Crosby
Miss Bancroft		Georgie Sterling
Milkman		Lex Mitchell
Captain		Kenneth Laird
Bandsman		Brian Barrie
Entertainments Officer		Don Philps
Bikini Bancroft		Mimi Dixon
Boy		Marshall Crosby
Colonel		Edward Howell
Customs Officer		Don Reid
Hotel Clerk		Max Phipps
Landlord		Nat Levison
Man In Pub		James Elliott
Maid		Doreen Warburton
Herbie		Kevin Leslie
Ken		Graham Rouse
Pete		Roger Ward
Chips		Brian Nyland
Barmaid		Maxine Wyatt

also featuring:-

Bettie Crosby, Christina Daniel, Patsy Flanagan, Ron Golding, John Hilton, John Hopkins,
Maudie Jacques, Bob Karl, Joanne Neville, Stan Nicholls, John Quinlan, and Roy Waterson.

Programme Guide

The story begins on board the ship on which Hancock is emigrating to Australia. He has with him an Australian valet, Mervyn (Don Crosby), whom he met in England. Crosby's performance is very odd throughout the film; he seems to be sleepwalking, and reads his lines in a monotone - perhaps he was trying to emulate Bill Kerr at his most slow-witted. After arriving in Australia, Hancock is told by the Customs Officer (Don Reid) that a stuffed owl in his baggage must be put into quarantine for six months. Following some shots, filmed later, of a 'double' arriving at the Hotel Dumont, Hancock is seen in the hotel foyer. He has an altercation with a bored hotel clerk (Max Phipps), and goes to his room. In flashback we see his last night in England - he goes to a pub where he is obviously well known as a bore, but when he announces that he is leaving for Australia, he immediately has to buy a round of drinks. Back in the hotel room, the maid (Doreen Warburton) advises him that the hotel overcharges migrants and recommends him to a flat owned by a Mrs Gilroy. Mrs Gilroy (Gloria Dawn) proves only too willing to have Hancock as a tenant - she becomes rather over-amorous and Hancock has some difficulty persuading her to leave.

All through these sequences Hancock is obviously trying hard, but apart from occasional flashes of the old Hancock, he gives a very muted performance, his voice sounding almost as if it had been slowed down. He is not reading his lines, but can be seen making the effort to remember them most of the time, with the result that his reactions to other people tend to be spoilt. There was, of course, no audience at the time of filming; after the film was assembled it was shown to an audience and their reactions added to the soundtrack. This was the system which Hancock always approved of, but the result demonstrates only too clearly the accuracy of Duncan Wood's comments - in the absence of an audience, Hancock's timing has disappeared completely and he is failing to leave pauses for laughter. As a consequence, lines which deserve, and in fact get, a good laugh are followed immediately by another line, so that the sound mixer has had to hold the laughter down.

The technical side also tends to sabotage Hancock; he is obviously never too sure where to look, partly because he cannot know which camera is on him as he would in television, and he does at least one important monologue sideways on. The soundtrack has been put through a compressor (a rapid-acting automatic volume control) which has the effect of making the background noises sound far too loud - and in fact in one sequence they almost smother the dialogue.

The show comes rather more to life with the next sequence. Hancock, now alone in his new flat, investigates the automated kitchen, which has rows of control knobs on the walls. The first makes the telephone slide about; the second causes the broom-cupboard door to open, whereupon a broom falls out. He gets radio programmes out of the rings on the electric cooker; one of the programmes is muffled until he takes the kettle off the ring which the music is coming from. Yet another knob opens the door of a cupboard high up behind him and a plate falls out; the cupboard door shuts immediately. Some toast pops out of the electric toaster, which he drops into a foot-operated pedal-bin; he then takes to dropping unbreakable cups onto the bin, sending them flying with the lid. Hancock's reactions in this sequence are much better than in the earlier parts of the film, and though the sequence never really takes off, it works quite well.

Mervyn arrives, and the standard of the show drops again, with Hancock all too obviously concentrating on his dialogue and Crosby giving his strange somnambulistic performance. They discuss the state of Australia. Hancock: 'This country has broken away from Mother England and is now standing on its own four feet.' Later, Hancock is seen preparing his breakfast. He investigates the cereal packet and finds a plastic toy in it: 'Oh no, I've got the giraffe again, I've got three of these, why can't I get the packet with the hippopotamus?'

The whole sequence, although it contains some good lines, fails to work as it should, because Hancock is not leaving pauses between his lines; and he is not helped by some irritating and unnecessary background music.

The milkman (Lex Mitchell) arrives, and immediately takes it upon himself to improve Hancock's physical fitness. He invites Hancock to join him at the local sporting club, but it turns out that the only exercise that the lads there get is lifting glasses of beer. Later, when everybody is well-oiled, a fight almost develops between Hancock and a cocky Australian, which is only stopped by the barmaid pointing out that nobody has paid her for the drinks. At this point, which would have been the end of the third episode, the film ends.

Everyone concerned with the shooting seems to have been over-optimistic about the quality of the series, partly because Hancock was showing up fairly well in comparison with the supporting cast, who were professionals but not in his class. Hugh Stuckey was commissioned to write another series, and Hancock himself watched the rushes and felt that he was getting back on form. Rehearsals went ahead for the fourth episode, and there were definite signs of improvement. Then, on the morning of June 25th 1968, Hancock was found dead. He had taken a large overdose of barbiturate tablets and a bottle of vodka.