First performance in more than 60 years

A classic Tony Hancock sketch is to be recreated for the first time in more than 60 years, as part of celebrations to mark the Royal Air Force’s Centenary.

Tony Hancock joined the RAF in 1943, not long after his older brother, Colin, died in action in September 1942 aged only 24. 

His wartime experiences would form the basis of some of the comedy in Hancock’s Half Hour, including an episode called The Diary, which aired on BBC radio on December 30, 1956.

A  parody of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, it was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson and  featured what is now known as The Test Pilot sketch – with Hancock as an RAF test pilot and Kenneth Williams as his hapless mechanic.

The sketch will be performed at a gala evening at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, March 31 with actors Kevin McNally and Robin Sebastian reprising the roles of the late  comedy greats  theyplayed  on Radio 4’s The Missing Hancocks.

Tristan Brittain-Dissont, archivist of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society, said the Test Pilot sketch has not been professionally performed since it was first broadcast. 

He explained that  in 1966 Hancock attempted to recreate the sketch as part of a one-off performance at the Royal Festival Hall and called Williams to ask if he would participate.

‘They had not spoken for four years,’ Brittain-Dissont said. ‘There had been a degree of bad blood when Ken had left Hancock’s Half Hour in 1959, dissatisfied with his revised role in the show. Ken ignored Tony's calls and the reunion never happened.’’

Of the continuing interest in reviving scrips from Hancock's Half Hour, Brittain-Dissont  said: ‘Given the hard test of the passage of time, the scripts for Hancock's Half Hour are now being more formally recognised as classics of British literature, and not just 1950s’ comedy. 

‘As such, they do not rely purely on Tony's performance, in the same way that a John Osborne play of the same period does not now rest upon it being performed by Burton or Olivier.’

The RAF Centenary Gala will be  hosted by Dan Snow and Carol Vorderman and  also features the bands of the Royal Air Force, as well as performances by performances by Mick Hucknall, Alexandra Burke and male harmony group Blake.

Here is the Test Pilot sketch as originally broadcast:

Published: 22 Mar 2018