Jack Dee will front brand-new retrospective documentary Tony Hancock - Very Nearly an Armful, which looks at the life and career of comedy legend Tony Hancock for Gold. Additionally, Gold has commissioned episodes from Hancock's BBC series' to be exclusively colourised and available to view once more.
Jack Dee said: "The life and career of Tony Hancock is truly fascinating. As a fan myself, to view items so personal to him was such an experience. I hope Gold viewers get as much out of this as I did."
With exclusive access to the archives of one of Britain's greatest and most influential comedians, comedy actor and Tony Hancock fan Jack Dee opens up the archive for the first time to discover its priceless, unique contents. A treasure trove of never-before-seen personal items such as photos, ideas, scripts, scrapbooks, production files and extraordinary letters that illustrate his life in vivid detail. This documentary also has exclusive TV access to clips from Hancock's 1963 ATV series, unbroadcast for over 50 years.
Hancock is commissioned for UKTV by Iain Coyle, head of comedy entertainment, and ordered by Gerald Casey, channel director for Gold. Richard Watsham is director of commissioning, and Steve North is genre general manager for comedy and entertainment. Executive producer is Matt Crook, managing director of Studio Crook.
Iain Coyle said: "Two comedy icons in one show. I'm so delighted to be working with Jack. The legend of Hancock still has a huge influence on comedy and sitcom today and the team at Crook have done a fantastic job and unearthed some incredible artifacts. I can't wait to see these two classic episodes in full glorious colour."
Gerald Casey added: "This new commission is one of the biggest comedy archive finds in years. The life and career of Tony Hancock is truly fascinating. Viewers will get a new insight into one of British comedy's most prominent influences. We're thrilled to have this come to Gold."
Matt Crook said: "It's an absolute treat and a pleasure to be working on a programme about one of my comedy idols, Tony Hancock. To get access to such treasures from the Hancock estate and to work with UKTV on such an engaging project has been incredibly exciting. We have loved adding a splash of colour to classic Hancock, it's been an absolute dream project."
Tony Hancock - Very Nearly an Armful and the newly colourised episodes of Hancock will air on Gold on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 8pm.
