Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: James Hurn.

There have been institutions of comedy that have had either the whole country tuning in to watch the latest episode, or which have captured the imagination of the television viewer to the point where upon even hearing their last name said out loud, the programme’s introductory music or just a simple but much loved catchphrase can have them smiling broadly. The memory of these special people is such that even after 50 years since their untimely passing, they still have millions of fans who regularly tune in to any repeat on the television or radio.

The voice, as well as the pearls of comedic wisdom is what arguably captures the attention, especially from the days when radio was king, when people such as Tony Hancock, Kenneth Williams and Sid James could consistently have the nation in stitches with a well-timed pause, the grandiose statement pricked with a small remark or just the voice of ‘Snide’ bringing the conversation to a turn; it is in the voice, the mannerisms of ‘The lad himself’ that James Hurn has mastered, framed with such confident and illustrious air, and which makes the stage show Hancock And Co: One Man, Many Voices, such a tremendously funny and important show.

A flicker in the eyes, so quick that nobody would blame you for missing it, but it is there, a love for the characters and personas that Ray Galton and Alan Simpson created for the B.B.C over 60 years ago, and in three plays, one in which only a substandard recording exists of the original transmission, Sid James’ Dad, what comes across is the absolute dedication needed, to create a memory so vibrant that it cannot be dismissed by the long-term devotee.

Providing all the voices to such an unerring degree of brilliance, of Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Tony Hancock, the three half hour shows, including material Mr. Hurn has devised for the tour, The Metal Detector and The Keep Fit Regime, shows that themselves seize the wonderful writing of Galton and Simpson superbly, were just extraordinary, a vision of what was sadly, heartbreakingly, lost in 1968, and one that could not but helped be grasped wholeheartedly as the evening continued.

Many have taken on the mantle of the comedian from Birmingham, not least the incomparable Kevin McNally but James Hurn does something perhaps thought unimaginable, he brings the whole gang to life single-handedly, and it is a piece of sublime art.

B.B.C Television may well have presented Hancock’s Half Hour –but James Hurn bestows Hancock And Co: One Man, Many Voices upon the nation with style.

Ian D. Hall