HANCOCK'S Half Hour - The Lost TV Episodes, which marks the 70th anniversary of the trailblazing comedy and the 100th birthday of the show's lead, Tony Hancock, arrives at Skipton Town Hall on November 28.

Actor and playwright John Hewer has re-worked three missing television episodes of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's celebrated BBC series Hancock's Half Hour including The Auction, The Russian Prince and The Bequest and plays the lad himself.

"As a performer, you want to be meticulous," said John. "We cannot bring Tony, Sid, Hattie, Kenneth and Liz back to life, but we can honour their genius, and Ray and Alan's, with these affectionate revivals of these golden, ageless scripts, and, hopefully, extend the legacy to younger audiences and the next generation.

"There will always be a part of any individual performer which you cannot mask, and it would be unwise not to admit and accept that. The audiences are equally savvy. However it's that shared mutual love that makes these revivals such a pleasure to both perform and to witness, and I'm extremely proud to be recreating Hancock, and bringing these particular episodes, lost from the archive, to life, for the very first time since the original broadcasts in 1956 and 1957."

Colin Elmer, Hattie Chapman, Iona Crampton and Luke Adamson are also among the cast of the Hambledon Productions show.

John has also channelled his inner Harold Steptoe, Spike Milligan and Tommy Cooper in hit theatre tributes. Leslie Phillips called the Grimsby-born performer "a comedy genius" while The Stage said "John Hewer captures the Cooper style, from the mumbled speech and loud laughter to the awkward giant body language."

Hancock's Half Hour - The Lost TV Episodes takes place at Skipton Town Hall at 7.30pm on November 28. More details are at hambledonproductions.com; or https://skiptontownhall.co.uk/