Tonight I was lucky enough to attend another recording of the Radio 4
series 'The Missing Hancocks', thanks to the generosity of the splendid Kevin
Eldon, who snuck me and my wife in under his metaphorical jacket once again.
I've mentioned here before just how impressed I've been by the series,
which manages to capture the tone of the show perfectly, with scary accuracy;
even the banter between the cast as they made the odd slip-up during the
recording felt much like how you'd imagine Tony, Bill and Sid would respond if
they had made the same mistakes first time around. It has just the right amount
of fun to it, and the combination of the excellent writing and Kevin McNally's
spot-on rendition of The Lad Himself still manages to entertain a live audience
despite last being performed sixty-three years ago; proof that good comedy
doesn't date.
They were recording two lost Christmas episodes tonight, which were both
a lot of fun, though the second was my favourite. The energy was excellent,
particularly in the case of McNally, who carried the weight of the script with
alarming zing for a man who's currently doing (presumably) eight shows a week at the Globe as King Lear (not the easiest role for anyone to tackle, let alone to have to drop it for a day to pick up something like this).
I feel very lucky to have been able to see my favourite sitcom live more than once, which
should be an impossibility when most of the cast have been long-dead. It's a
real treat, second only to have been able to be in it; if that were to
"ha-ha-ha-happen" I'd be very "ha-ha-ha-happy" indeed.