The Tony Hancock Appreciation Society was formed by a small group of fans in the Spring of 1976, in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, in North-East England. Despite numerous media appearances and some immediate success in getting the BBC to repeat a series of "Hancock's Half Hour" radio shows, the membership fell away and the activities of the Society all but ceased.

It was in the Autumn of 1980 that Chris Bumstead answered a telephone call which changed the Society and a good part of his life to boot. Some chap from THAS was asking him to take over the running of the Society and, being of unsound mind, Chris said yes. Thus, at the beginning of 1981, the Society was reborn and boasted about 40 members - many of whom are still with us today.

It is no mean achievement that in the months prior to the announcement of the BBC-TV repeats of the "Hancock" series, the membership of the Society had grown to over 750 and now stands well in excess of that figure. At the end of 1988, Chris had to relinquish control of THAS for personal reasons (much to everyone's regret) and a committee was formed to run the Society : Mike Roberts (Secretary), Steve King (Treasurer) and Dan Peat taking over the mantle of President. During Dan's Presidency, the membership of THAS continued to grow and many more volunteers were found to strengthen the Committee, allowing member services to expand.

In the Summer of 1997, Dan decided to step down as President, making way for Bernard Holland, who had run the Society's Video Library for some time. At this time, contact was established between THAS and the Tony Hancock Society (THS) with a view to joint co-operation in promoting Hancock's memory. Both Societies were agreed that the best way forward would be as a single Society dedicated to Hancock and on 1st January 1999, THAS and THS merged. THS had started life some ten years earlier as the Midlands branch of THAS, but had become a separate organisation in 1980, under its own Chairman and Committee. The merger has borne great benefits in membership growth and increased activity in promoting the aims of the Society.

2001 saw the 25th Anniversary of THAS and this milestone was celebrated at the Society's Annual Reunion in Bournemouth, where Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Paul Merton were the guests of honour. Bernard Holland retired as President at the Reunion Dinner and Dan Peat returned as President of THAS, after three years "resting".