Tony Hancock, The Final Series, Australia 1968,Customs Scene

[No1RebelRebel]

What happened to Hancock?

always funny in the wrong ways

[GERAINT17]

@No1RebelRebel He killed himself, probably on the basis of the guff inthis clip. Jesus I hope your comment was a wind up, and not the result of the lack of general knowledge and awareness of social history of the X-factor generation.

[No1RebelRebel]

@GERAINT17

OK whatever, no body is a bigger fan of Hancock than me, i meant no disrespect but what was he doing this rubbish for? He killed himself probably 'cause he was sad, that's the usual reason, not 'cause of a TV show, no one can be that shallow

I am not part of the x - factor generation, I take offence at that 'cause I have to put with shit, people saying I am weird 'cause I love Elvis, Tony Hancock, you know stuff that wasn't around about 5 minutes ago, so whatever

[LQUID8R]

Interesting to finally see this - when you see him in the cynical grumpy Hancock persona , he looks like he is enjoying himself - even though this has its moments he really looks like he is struggling to get through it.

[Mr3sheds]

I've been a fan of the Hancock radio programmes for decades, but in front of the cameras he was a poor performer indeed. Had he not been fortunate to meet up with Galton and Simpson when they were just starting out, I suspect he would not have got a look in. Kenneth Williams was spot -on in his diaries.

[haybee12]

sad decline 

[tescocadaver]

Things just seemed to go wrong too many times

[destructivedandy]

@tescocadaver Such a tragic and beautiful, honest line from his suicide note. I was only a young child when I discovered Hancock, c/o BBC repeats in the 80s. I became a huge fan and read everything about him (I was an advanced reader for my age) I remember reading that as a child and bursting into tears. It still makes me a little teary now

[tescocadaver]

Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times

[p717]

Funny thing is, regardless of how bad the script is, it's still more intelligent and sophisticated than any situation comedy being written today in any English speaking country.

[innit27]

@p717 bollocks

[ProjectFlashlight612]

@p717 That is so incredibly untrue, it is almost funny in itself.

[evajom1]

I'd read that this series was dire, but on the evidence of these clips Hancock is still a very technically accomplished comedian, and there are some funny moments. It would be interesting to see more.

Still, knowing what we know, you can see that he's a deeply troubled man, and evidently physically ravaged by drink compared with the Hancock even of circa 1960/61.

[Calypso47]

That's Geoffrey Rush as the customs agent, isn't it??

[antoniod]

The writers were obviously trying to write in G&S' style.

[wonderfulcat]

Very interesting to watch and thanks for posting it. It's no where near as bad as I thought it might be. Just been reading a new autobiography by John Fisher and he paints a very bleak backdrop for this episode of Tonys life. Amazing to think he's only 43 years old in this clip.

[mashamorgan]

Its so eery this. He actually left for Oz to film this rubbish, had an awful problem with alcohol and until recently I didnt know his divorce came through only days before his suicide. Genius but such a tragically lonely man. RIP Tone love you always !!

[bobbystormont]

It's not too bad, would have been better without the canned laughter.

[siarung]

terrible....who wrote this rubbish? not Galton and Simpson,somebody pleeeeese tell me not Galton and Simpson

[egapnala65]

No, he had thrown them away years before this. Although there was a show they wrote called "The Emigrant" which also features a stuffed bird through customs routine.

[catandpiddle]

thank you so much.

[thirdfloorit]

This is very interesting to see!

[kaufman22]

This is the best thing he ever done !!!! Hilarious !!!

[marksoutof10]

Are you serious?/? Have you not seen anything Hancock did with Galton & Simpson?

[mikemosocw]

no wonder he killed him self.

[mrjohnavery]

what do you know you twat

[mikemosocw]

i know that you are a twat!

[haldenver]

Alcohol kills talent : but never under-estimate the desire.This shows all the difference.

[EdWood2006]

What a sad sad end. What happened to him? This is awful. Rest in Peace.

[RTFishall]

I first visited Oz in 1972. In those days this really was the typical welcome! After they had sprayed you with disinfectant on the aircraft on landing ! Honest... Then they discovered the revenue from tourists and now the welcome is a little less begrudged.

[DiverUK]

What a great actor

[GERAINT17]

@DiverUK WTF?