The Old Un’s Notes
AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY
In memoriam: Jonathan Cecil (1939-2011) in 1972
How quickly time flies! It is already ten years since the death, on 22nd September 2011, of the much-loved British comic actor Jonathan Cecil (19392011), once described by the Spectator as ‘one of the finest upper-class-twits of his era’. Upper-class he certainly was – the son of the writer Lord David Cecil. His many distinguished relatives included Elizabeth I’s chief minister, Lord Burghley, his son Robert Cecil (her great spymaster after the death of Walsingham) and three-times Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. Jonathan was no twit in real life. After Eton and Oxford – with Dennis Potter, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett – he trained at LAMDA, where fellow students included Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi. He also reviewed books for the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement and others, and took a keen
interest in the history of the theatre and music hall. Though he was praised for his ‘straight’ acting, his looks and accent made him a perfect choice for playing dim-witted toffs such as P G Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster and the hapless Captain Cadbury in a 1973 Dad’s Army episode. He also narrated a number of talking-book versions of Plum’s stories, and was praised for giving ‘his now celebrated impersonation of a semi-detached goldfish’ (Sheridan Morley). The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography described him thus: ‘A colourful character, often seen
in an immaculate Jermyn Street suit set off by a raffish fedora, he was a bon viveur and a brilliant raconteur, and spent much time at the Garrick Club.’ Stone me! Hancock’s back! Or almost … because it’s not quite the lad himself. Seasoned oldie comedy writers (and Galton and Simpson fans) Simon Hardeman and Spike Breakwell have produced a new ‘radio’ series called Hancock’s Half House. Set in the present, it follows the fortunes of one Terry Hancock, who has
Among this month’s contributors Jilly Cooper (p13) is one of Britain’s most popular writers. She is author of Mount!, Polo and Riders. Her new book is Between the Covers: Sex, Socialising and Survival. She was in the first Oldie issue in 1992. Graham Boal QC (p27) was First Senior Prosecuting Counsel and a judge at the Old Bailey. He was involved in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, the last appeal of the Birmingham Six and the Guinness trial. Paul Heiney (p18) is a broadcaster and writer who became a farmer, using carthorses rather than tractors. Having now retired from a life on the land, he has returned to his first love, of ocean sailing. Liz Hodgkinson (p11) began her career on a rabble-rousing mass-circulation tabloid. She progressed to The Lady, where she is now a columnist. She is the mother of The Oldie’s Town Mouse, Tom Hodgkinson.
unexpectedly inherited a property in Railway Cuttings, East Cheam – left to him by his apparently illustrious grandfather. Terry’s problems include a dodgy housemate, Sigmund (‘Call me Sig’) James, and a
23 Railway Cuttings revisited: Anthony Aloysius Hancock
nosy – and nasal – neighbour sounding not unlike Kenneth Williams. Ex-stand-ups Hardeman and Breakwell previously worked for the BBC on Week Ending and The News Huddlines, and for Rory Bremner’s show on Channel 4. Breakwell says, ‘Hancock’s Half Hour is still better than pretty much any other comedy you can hear on radio or podcast, and we have both always loved it.’ Hardeman (who plays Terry) adds, ‘We’ve had fun playing with a new character in the Hancock tradition. He imagines himself to be woke, environmental and on the cultural cusp, while not actually understanding any of that.’ The new six-part series will be available as a podcast The Oldie September 2021 5
