TONY HANCOCK
An extensive collection of material relating to ATN 7 Australia's The Tony Hancock Show, Hancock's final television appearance.
Acquired by Birmingham University. Not yet browsable, but details available HERE.
AN EXTENSIVE AND UNIQUE TONY HANCOCK COLLECTION
[HANCOCK, Tony]
The Tony Hancock Show: A Collection
Sydney: N.p. [ATN 7], 1968
AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF UNIQUE MATERIAL RELATING TO THE TONY HANCOCK SHOW, HANCOCK'S FINAL TELEVISION APPEARANCE.
In March 1968 Tony Hancock travelled to Australia to make a television series with the working title Hancock Down Under, a project he hoped would revive his career. He had recently been divorced, his alcoholism was out of control, and his prospects in the UK had sunk to nothing.
But the Australian series had serious problems quite apart from Hancock's own. The scripts were terrible: feebly structured, hopelessly unfunny, and with no understanding of what made Hancock Hancock. Their star would have struggled to make anything of them even in his pomp.
As if this wasn't enough, the decision was then taken to shoot without a studio audience -- a decision that was certainly the death of the show and which could only have intensified the depression of its star. Hancock's onscreen persona -- hapless, loveless, forever on the receiving end -- had always been kept afloat by the presence of supportive laughter from an audience willing their hero to dust himself down and try again. And Tony Hancock himself, Hancock the performer, had always been buoyed by the instant approval their presence provided. But in this last footage, Hancock seems to have been deserted by his audience just when he needed them most. He cuts a lonely, tragic and desperately unfunny figure. Unable to remember his lines, his eyes are constantly looking for his cue cards. But he seems to be searching for his friends.
Only three episodes of Hancock Down Under had been completed when Hancock took his own life with an overdose of barbiturates. The show was cancelled. But in 1972 footage from the first three episodes was edited together to produce The Tony Hancock Show, a 90-minute 'special' which was anything but, a show so upsettingly bad it feels intrusive to watch it. Hancock wanders through it: ill, lost, and a lifetime away from his Galton and Simpson heyday.
We offer here a comprehensive and poignant collection of material relating to the last professional chapter of Hancock's life. The collection comprises:
-- A COMPLETE RUN OF ALL EIGHT EPISODES OF THE SERIES, PLUS THE POST PRODUCTION SCRIPT OF THE 'SPECIAL'. (Series production was abandoned halfway through the filming of Episode 4): Episode 4 with extensive notes, deletions and corrections in pencil, all other episodes unmarked. Episodes 4, 5 and 8 lacking the staple to top left, Episode 8 lacking the title page. Edgewear and toning consistent with their age, but very good copies. ALL SCRIPTS FROM THIS SERIES ARE EXTREMELY SCARCE; THOSE FOR UNFILMED EPISODES ARE TRULY RARE.
-- THE DIRECTOR'S POST-PRODUCTION MASTER SCRIPT OF THE TONY HANCOCK SPECIAL, WITH EXTENSIVE ANNOTATIONS, DELETIONS AND CORRECTIONS THROUGHOUT. Very well preserved in its original black binder, paper labels to front: 'TONY HANCOCK SPECIAL' and 'POST PRODUCTION MASTERSCRIPT E.D.JOFFE'.
-- ORIGINAL ARTWORK AND 13 -FRAME STORYBOARD FOR THE SHOW'S TITLE SEQUENCE, INCLUDING AN ORIGINAL PORTRAIT OF HANCOCK HIMSELF. Slight water damage to storyboard, which is signed 'R. Judd'.
-- LARGE PRESENTATION FOLDER CONTAINING ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND DESIGN DRAWINGS FOR THE SHOW, COVERING A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SETS. Many of the design drawings are signed 'Bill Wells', and dated. The folder also contains many photographs of Hancock taken on set.
-- A SECOND LARGE PRESENTATION FOLDER, CONTAINING: An original cartoon cel from the show's title sequence, depicting Hancock peering through binoculars, his name superimposed beneath, with a further eight original cels from the sequence; a number of colour photographic prints of Hancock on set; an annotated working copy of the opening titles, incorporating timings; several b&w photographic prints taken during additional filming after Hancock's death. (Filming continued with a body double standing in for Hancock, in an attempt to complete unfinished scenes).
-- A BINDER OF MISCELLANEOUS STILLS, OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL, ALL TAKEN ON SET, including: two original colour photographs of Hancock on location, dressed as a jockey; sheet of 12 contact prints, faded, taken on set during filming after Hancock's death; four original b&w continuity stills of a French café set, two of which feature Hancock in a stripey jersey and beret, smoking a cigarette; two original colour photographs of Hancock on set in discussion with the show's director, Eddie Joffe; several production stills -- some original, some card-mounted reproductions -- of Hancock and fellow cast members on set.
-- RING BINDER OF 94 COLOUR TRANSPARENCIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON A VARIETY OF SETS AND LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE SHOOT.
-- FOOLSCAP FOLDER OF MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION-RELATED DOCUMENTS, including rehearsal and filming schedules, and production meeting minutes. -- A quantity of press cuttings relating to Hancock's presence in Australia, and his death during filming.
A unique collection.
