THE MARRIAGE BUREAU

Hancock's Half Hour (Radio) First Series - Programme 15

Hancock has the chance of a job - but he has to be married before they will employ him. So he goes to Sid James's Marriage Bureau - and finishes up being left in charge.

Cast
Tony Hancock
Bill Kerr
Moira Lister
Sidney James
Alan Simpson
Peter Sellers *

* his only appearance in "Hancock's Half Hour"

Programme Guide

Having been promised a job, providing he's married, Hancock misguidedly seeks out Sid James, who is running a marriage bureau. Rather unexpectedly, though, Hancock finds himself left in charge of the place - a situation which produces some interesting results.

The most notable feature of this show is that we have a unique opportunity to listen to the meeting of two great radio comedy talents: Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers. Kenneth Williams was absent, so Peter Sellers was brought in to help out on this one occasion only, on the strength of the many voices he was providing for "The Goons" and "Ray's a Laugh".

Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers early careers were very similar. Both entertained troops in the Second World War, both worked on Ralph Reader's shows, worked together at an RAF depot in the U.K. before being demobbed and gained their first major breakthroughs on radio. Then, of course, Hancock went on to greater fame on television, while Peter Sellers found his niche in films.

They also had a mutual friendship with the scriptwriter Larry Stephens - an often overlooked and under-rated talent. Larry Stephens, in the early days, wrote pieces for Hancock and later, with Spike Milligan, he wrote arguably some of the better "Goon Show" scripts. His early death was a loss to British comedy in general and the "Goon Show" in particular.

Through his film career, Peter Sellers achieved the international fame so much desired by Hancock. Although he was acclaimed for his roles in "I'm Alright Jack", "Dr Strangelove" and "Being There", he seems destined to be forever linked with the exploding 'berms' and pratfalls of the bumbling 'lerwa' enforcer, Inspector Clouseau, in the "Pink Panther" series of films.

Unfortunately, in praising those efforts, the critics seem to have largely ignored many of his other fine performances in such films as "The Ladykillers", "The Party", "The Smallest Show on Earth" and "The Optimists of Nine Elms".

In this show, then, we have Sellers and Hancock on the path to the top. What a pity the BBC never repeated this particular "Hancock's Half Hour", even if only for its curiosity value. Unfortunately, now it is lost from the BBC Radio Archives.