BBC pulls plug with ten episodes still unrecorded

Radio 4 has axed its production of The Missing Hancocks after two series.

Kevin McNally, who plays 'the lad himself' in the remake of the lost episodes, broke the news on Twitter, saying that 'despite good listening figures and healthy CD sales the BBC are abandoning our project half way thru'.

The cancellation comes despite the fact that the BBC are pegging a major celebration of sitcoms later this year to the 60th anniversary of Hancock's Half Hour beginning in 1956.

McNally added that he doubted there would be any more live performances of the script, as there were at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, and was unsure whether further recordings could be crowdfunded.

The missing episodes of Hancock's Half Hour were resurrected thanks to actor Neil Pearson, who unearthed the scripts of shows whose recordings had been lost from the BBC archives.

Of the 103 episodes Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote, 20 recordings were wiped from archives and believed to be lost forever, until they were found by Pearson, who is also an antiquarian book dealer.

The BBC initially re-recorded five Hancock scripts in 2014, with McNally in the lead role alongside Kevin Eldon as Bill Kerr, Simon Greenall as Sid James, Robin Sebastian as Kenneth Williams.

A second series of five has just aired, meaning there are still ten episodes which will remain unrecorded.

The remakes co-starred David Cann, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Susy Kane, who confirmed the news, tweeting: 'So that's the end of #MissingHancocks after 10 eps. So proud to be part of it. All Hail Galton, Simpson, @exkevinmcnally & the lad imself.'

Speaking to Scotland on Sunday before the Edinburgh Fringe performances, Pearson said: 'The BBC thought it was a great idea as long as I could get an absolutely nailed-on piece of casting for Hancock himself, as they felt it just wouldn't work without that.

'Kevin McNally is a great comic actor, a comedy anorak and an absolute Hancock aficionado. He's been carrying around Hancock material on his iPod as long as he's been able to. I sent him a long email and got a one-word response back, which just said yes.'

When the second series was aired the BBC praised the 'extraordinary popularity' of the first.

A Radio 4 spokesperson said: 'We’ve been delighted with the last two series of The Missing Hancocks on Radio 4, but competition for space is fierce and for the moment we are not commissioning further episodes.'

- By Jay Richardson

Published: 11 Jan 2016