The Bowmans: Difference between revisions

"**The Bowmans**"
"The Bowmans"
Hancock episode
Episode no.	Series 7; Episode 2
Written by	Galton and Simpson
Original air date	2 June 1961
Running time	25 minutes
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Latest revision as of 18:06, 7 September 2024

"The Bowmans" is an episode of the BBC television situation comedy programme Hancock, the final BBC series featuring Tony Hancock, first broadcast on 2 June 1961. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The title is a retronym; the episodes were not originally identified individually.

Outline and background

Hancock plays an actor in a fictional radio serial called The Bowmans, a parody of the real BBC radio programme The Archers. The theme tune to The Bowmans is a close variation by series composer Wally Stott of the real Archers theme tune "Barwick Green". Hancock plays Joshua Merriweather, a character similar to the soap opera's country bumpkin Walter Gabriel. Hancock's behaviour annoys the other actors and producers, so they kill off his character – only to find the audience holds the character in great affection. Hancock has difficulties finding new work, but audience reaction compels the BBC to resurrect his character by discovering a long-lost twin brother, Ben, in a new programme called The Merriweathers, with Hancock's involvement resuming under a lucrative new contract. In the first episode of the new serial, a substantial portion of the village – i.e. the original Bowmans cast – are killed off, falling to their deaths down a disused mine-shaft, and Ben proposes repopulating the village with his other relatives (all to be played by Hancock).

The supporting cast includes Patrick Cargill as the producer, Peter Glaze as an animal impersonator and Brian Oulton as the actor portraying the patriarch of the Bowmans family.

The plot may have been inspired by the death of the character Grace Archer in The Archers in September 1955.

Cast

Tony Hancock as Anthony Hancock
Patrick Cargill as the Producer
Dennis Chinnery as the Reporter
Victor Platt as the Postman
Hugh Lloyd as the Florist
Bruno Barnarbe as a BBC Official
William Sherwood as Julian Court
Brian Oulton as "Dan Bowman"
Constance Chapman as "Gladys Bowman"
Gwenda Ewen as "Diane Bowman"
Alec Bregonzi as "Fred"
Peter Glaze as "Harold"
Ralph Wilson as "The Doctor"

External links

"The Bowmans" at IMDb
Summary of the episode on tv.com

This article related to a BBC television programme is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{other uses|Bowmans (disambiguation)}}
-'''"The Bowmans"''' is an episode of the BBC television situation comedy programme ''[[Hancock's Half Hour|Hancock]]'', the final BBC series featuring [[Tony Hancock]], first broadcast on 2 June 1961. Written by [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton]] and [[Galton and Simpson|Alan Simpson]], the title is a [[retronym]], the episodes were not originally identified separately.
+{{No footnotes|date=January 2024}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
+{{Infobox television episode
+| series         = [[Hancock's Half Hour|Hancock]]
+| image          =
+| image_size     =
+| image_alt      =
+| caption        =
+| series_no      = 7
+| episode        = 2
+| director       =
+| writer         = [[Galton and Simpson]]
+| airdate        = {{Start date|df=y|1961|06|02}}
+| length         = 25 minutes
+| guests         =
+| prev           = The Bedsitter
+| next           = [[The Radio Ham]]
+| season_article =
+| episode_list   =
+}}
+"'''The Bowmans'''" is an episode of the [[BBC]] television situation comedy programme ''[[Hancock's Half Hour|Hancock]]'', the final BBC series featuring [[Tony Hancock]], first broadcast on 2 June 1961. It was written by [[Galton and Simpson|Ray Galton]] and [[Galton and Simpson|Alan Simpson]]. The title is a [[retronym]]; the episodes were not originally identified individually.
 ==Outline and background==
-Hancock plays an actor in a radio serial called ''The Bowmans'', a parody of ''[[The Archers]]''. (The theme tune to ''The Bowmans'' is a parody by series composer [[Wally Stott]] of the real ''Archers'' theme tune "Barwick Green".) Hancock plays Joshua Merriweather, a parody of the soap opera's country bumpkin Walter Gabriel. He annoys the other actors and producers so much they kill off his character, only to find the audience hold the character in greater affection than they had thought. Hancock has difficulties finding new work, but the BBC are forced to resurrect his character in ''The Merriweathers'' by discovering a long-lost twin brother, with Hancock's involvement resuming under his exorbitant terms. In his produced script a substantial portion of the village fall down a disused mine-shaft, and Joshua proposes repopulating the village with his other relatives (all to be played by Hancock).
+Hancock plays an actor in a fictional radio serial called ''The Bowmans'', a [[parody]] of the real BBC radio programme ''[[The Archers]]''. The theme tune to ''The Bowmans'' is a close variation by series composer [[Wally Stott]] of the real ''Archers'' theme tune "[[Barwick Green]]". Hancock plays Joshua Merriweather, a character similar to the soap opera's country bumpkin Walter Gabriel. Hancock's behaviour annoys the other actors and producers, so they kill off his character – only to find the audience holds the character in great affection. Hancock has difficulties finding new work, but audience reaction compels the BBC to resurrect his character by discovering a long-lost twin brother, Ben, in a new programme called ''The Merriweathers'', with Hancock's involvement resuming under a lucrative new contract. In the first episode of the new serial, a substantial portion of the village – i.e. the original ''Bowmans'' cast – are killed off, falling to their deaths down a disused mine-shaft, and Ben proposes repopulating the village with his other relatives (all to be played by Hancock).
 The supporting cast includes [[Patrick Cargill]] as the producer, [[Peter Glaze]] as an animal impersonator and [[Brian Oulton]] as the actor portraying the patriarch of the Bowmans family.
+The plot may have been inspired by the death of the character [[Grace Archer]] in ''The Archers'' in September 1955.
-The programme is clearly a parody of the killing of Grace Archer in September 1955. It bears a few similarities to the play and film ''[[The Killing of Sister George]]'', a better-known [[parody]] of the incident.
+==Cast==
+* [[Tony Hancock]] as Anthony Hancock
+* [[Patrick Cargill]] as the Producer
+* [[Dennis Chinnery]] as the Reporter
+* Victor Platt as the Postman
+* [[Hugh Lloyd]] as the Florist
+* [[Bruno Barnarbe]] as a BBC Official
+* William Sherwood as Julian Court
+* [[Brian Oulton]] as "Dan Bowman"
+* [[Constance Chapman]] as "Gladys Bowman"
+* Gwenda Ewen as "Diane Bowman"
+* [[Alec Bregonzi]] as "Fred"
+* [[Peter Glaze]] as "Harold"
+* [[Ralph Wilson]] as "The Doctor"
 ==External links==
+*{{IMDb episode|0595642|The Bowmans}}
-*[http://www.tv.com/hancocks-half-hour/the-bowmans/episode/71648/summary.html summary of the episode]
+*[http://www.tv.com/hancocks-half-hour/the-bowmans/episode/71648/summary.html Summary of the episode] on [[tv.com]]
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowmans, The}}
+[[Category:1961 British television episodes]]
-[[Category:BBC television programmes]]
-{{UK-tv-prog-stub}}
+{{BBC-tv-prog-stub}}