The New Elizabethans

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Comedy actor Tony Hancock epitomised the little man's struggle against the world.

James Naughtie on life of the ‘Hancock's Half Hour’ star epitomising the little man's struggle against the world. From 2012.

Tony Hancock was a comedy actor and star of radio, TV and film, best known for Hancock's Half Hour, written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, where he epitomised the little man's struggle against the world. 

He was always fighting against something, quite often himself. With the advent of TV, his battles with officialdom, and his gloomy reflections on the injustices visited on him, were in every living room. 

Sadly, Tony began drinking heavily and his personal life unravelled. 

His vulnerability was exposed in a BBC Face to Face interview with John Freeman in 1960. Although he went to Australia in the hope of a revival, it wasn't a success, and he committed suicide in 1968 aged 44. 

Yet Hancock's Half Hour is still considered one of the most important yardsticks against which British sitcoms are measured, and it could be said that Alan Partridge and David Brent owe much of their success to Tony Hancock's character.

The New Elizabethans is a series where James Naughtie profiles 60 public figures nominated to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

They were chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. 

The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

Producer: Clare Walker

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012.

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