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Hancock's widow's fury as his affair is made into TV drama
Last updated at 22:07pm on 15.09.07A drama about the affair between Tony Hancock and the wife of Dad's Army star John Le Mesurier is being planned by the BBC – to the dismay of Hancock's widow.
The 90-minute film will centre on the love triangle that developed when BBC legend Hancock and Joan Le Mesurier fell for each other after the comic stayed with the Le Mesuriers following his marriage break-up.
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Hancock in a familiar TV pose
But the plans, which are based on Joan's 1989 memoirs Lady Don't Fall Backwards, have sparked a bitter feud with Hancock's widow Freddie.
Hancock's widow Freddie is furious over plans to make the comedian's affair into a TV drama
Cold Feet actor John Thomson or Stephen Mangan, star of Channel 4 comedy Green Wing, are likely to be approached to play Hancock, an alcoholic who committed suicide in Sydney in 1968.
Filming of the drama, called Hancock And Joan, is due to start in November.
It is expected to be broadcast on BBC4 next year.
Freddie, the comic's second wife, hit out at Joan, 75, for her part in the making of the film, saying she felt "sorry" for her.
She said: "Why doesn't she do a book and a film about her life with John Le Mesurier? She lived with him a lot longer than with Tony.
"You almost have to feel sorry for her. She has nothing else in her life but this project. I assume she has got no other form of income.
"I don't really remember much about her, but Tony told me I met her once when she was a barmaid.
Joan Le Mesurier with husband John
"He met her after we had parted so he was free to do what he wanted.
"But a film about his affair with Mrs Le Mesurier is hardly representative of Tony's life."
She added: "The BBC are milking a cow that's got nothing left. This all happened 40 years ago and most of Tony's fans are probably dead by now."
Freddie clashed with the BBC last year over a documentary that delved into the two-year affair which ended with Hancock's overdose.
Hancock was a major star of the Fifties and Sixties and revolutionised TV comedy with his sitcom Hancock's Half Hour.
In the months before his death, his career had been suffering due to his drinking.
Joan became John Le Mesurier's third wife just a year before her affair with Hancock began in 1966.
She remained married to him until his death in 1983 aged 71.
Hancock and Freddie also married in 1965, but their relationship was highly abusive.
Once, as she tried to stop him grabbing a bottle, the comic hit her with a karate chop, breaking her nose. Freddie attempted suicide four times.
Reader views (7)
Well I watched this great drama again last night, and still thought it was superb maybe its because iv always loved Hancock (im 40ish my dad got me into him) what a tormented soul he was, and so clever and I just wish he had known that at the time, god, he'd be 84 now and I bet if he just realised just what a genius he was, he would have been still giving us loads of pleasure now, you only have to look at Bruce Forsyth, and how he has lasted, I know he's not in the same legue as him but if he had the help some of these 'stars' get today, I am sure he'd still be with us....
Thankyou Tony, you were fantastic
- Debra C, M'Side, UK
I "enjoyed" this episode in Hancocks life as portrayed admirably well by the actors. I found it moving and touching. Thank you for being able to say my piece.
- Mary Bithell, Torquay, Devon
Once again, we see the heartache and misery behind comic genius. Like so many others, Hancock had one persona for the public and another for his private life. Stott gave an admirable performance as the pompous chap from Railway Cuttings, East Cheam and Maxine Peake shone as his lover, Joan. Praise too for Alex Jennings as Le Mesurier.
I can just about recall the original Hancock Half Hours - they were funny then and still are today. This Curse of Comedy series is proving to be fascinating and in depth and whilst it could not possibly cover all the intricacies of a man like Tony Hancock it briefly portrays the failings as well as the triumphs in a very transfixing way.
- Geoff Salt, Harrow, United Kingdom
I was a young teenager when Hancock's Half Hour became required viewing for my family, as for so many hundreds of thousands of others. I remember almost every episode with a broad smile, particularly the early days when Sid James played the perfect foil to Hancock's equally perfectly portrayed pretentious angst-ridden anti-hero. No doubt the Galton and Simpson scripts were inspired and carried Tony's career to the dizzy heights it reached. We all feel this is proved by his rapid descent to mediocrity and oblivion following his split from the team, but, who else could you ever have imagined playing that role? The man's sad and abusive private life may be a matter of record, his betrayal of trust in seducing his loyal friend's wife regrettable, but, as Joan freely admits, it was a mutual decision. What remains for most of us, I am happy to guess, is the meory of a classic clown doing what he did best and giving us all so much pleasure, then and now. I so admired the portrayals of the major characters in last night's TV drama, but the experience has heightened rather than diminished my respect for the man's talent. Goodye and thank you Tony.
- Ken Tully, Lysos, Cyprus
I was 15 years old and delivering newspapers on my round when I noticed the front page headline on the Daily Sketch that Hancock was dead. I am still here and still laughing my socks off at the pompous behaviour of the old buffoon! Long live his memory.
- Peter Harley, Worthing, England
Indeed there was a lot more to the man than can be discovered from a re-enactment of a brief affair, his interviews and his work speak volumes.
I was 20 when he died, yet as Fee says there are many generations of Hancock fans out there and Freddie's comment is perhaps a little naive - genius is genius regardless of age and thankfully Tony's material has not been lost to the ravages of time.
Nearly 40 years after his death he is still making people smile. 
- Danny C, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
I agree with Freddie. Tony was so much more than his final year with John Le Mesurier's wife. But Freddie is wrong when she says that most of his fans are dead - there are plenty of us still around. I was 11 when he died. I discovered him in 1974 & love him still.
- Fee Warner, Hove, England, UK
