My dad's favourite comedian was Tony Hancock although I'm too young by some years to remember his early 60's popularity or mid 60's eventual decline and fall into alcoholism and an early death. Ironically taking its title no doubt from the Hancock character's defiant assertion midway through this gritty drama that he shared billing with no-one, this in fact is a three-header with a fine understated well-measured performance from Alex Jennings as the cuckolded husband, celebrated English actor John Le Mesurier (best known as Sgt Wilson in BBC's perennial "Dad's Army"). He gets his accent and mannerisms right and conveys tellingly Le Mesurier's weary passion-less effete-ism which effectively drives his passionate wife into the arms and bed of best friend Hancock who he unselfishly invites into his home to boost his spirits (talk about bringing the wolf to your door!). Given that the two leads get to act out a doomed affair, born of lust and fuelled by insecurity, depression and above all alcohol, their performances are naturally the dramatic centre-piece here and their at times heightened but always believable playing contrasts very well with the rest of the cast's down-home (or as Hancock has it, "provincial") playing. Ken Stott, for once not portraying a TV cop, also copes well with Hancock's accent and physical attributes and demonstrates his range with an emotionally charged performance as the hapless, parasitical, tortured yet still just lovable enough egoist in the main title role. The writing requires him to display the full gamut of pathetic emotions a drowning alcoholic must experience until they hit rock bottom and either sink or swim. Maxine Peake is at least as good as the adulterous wife, drawn helplessly but willingly into Hancock's fading orbit. She only just survives even as she combines the separate weaknesses (so we are told) of Hancock's previous two wives into one as she turns drunkard and suicidal to try and shock Hancock back to reality. The two fantasy scenes work very well, both at the death (literally), with firstly Hancock making peace with his typecast comedic past in a dream sequence where he is becalmed by his "Lad from East Cheam" alter-ego before his overdose and especially Joan's stoic external reaction to the news of his death contrasted simultaneously to the passionately emotional outburst she suffers inside which she could never exhibit in front of her passive husband Le Mesurier. This was an engrossing and illuminating insight into the last days of a major British comedic talent and an interesting and imaginative study of the damage that these difficult people inflict, sometimes unwittingly, on those lesser mortals who innocently stray into their extreme lives.

Maxine Peake showed her abilities with a terrifying performance as Myra Hindley. Considering she was opposite Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford and Andy Serkis as Ian Brady, that took some doing.Here, she steals the show with a spellbinding turn as John Le Mesurier's wife Joan. Unfortunately, this drama is out of kilter with the rest of The Curse of Comedy series. All the others cover a timespan during which the subjects were at their peak of success. This covers a two year period several years after Tony Hancock was one of the biggest stars on UK TV with Hancock's Half Hour and Hancock, and also after his unsuccessful film career. The events in this dramatisation bring matters to the conclusion of Hancock's lonely suicide in Austratlia. The death scenes were unsatisfactory, as Hancock sees a ghostly image of Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, the character from East Cheam which brought him fame and fortune.A pity we didn't see Ken Stott saying "A PINT? THAT'S VERY NEARLY AN ARMFUL!"

This was the second of the BBC's 'Curse of Comedy' dramas and perhaps the seediest. Based on the memoirs of Joan Le Mesurier about her self-destructive and selfish affair with Tony Hancock in the final years of his life, this does not do any of the characters any favours and, despite fine performances from Maxine Peake, Ken Stott, and Alex Jennings (as John Le Mesurier), places the story firmly in the tatty seaside setting (where in fact the two mismatched lovers go to live at one point).I'm never quite sure what's achieved by taking the real-life problems of TV icons and putting them so baldly on the screen. 'Hancock and Joan', although engrossing and oddly moving at times, felt like an intrusion into private lives which should have stayed private.

This was a superbly well crafted TV drama with cracking performances form both leads that made your heart go out to both characters even though you could not help but see the banality of their relationship and the selfishness both of them showed to all those who loved them. Stott and Peake are both outstanding and I hope they receive credit and praise for their performances (it is good to see Peake moving on from 'Shameless' and I for one never expected such a quality performance of restraint from her). The depiction of Tony Hancock's affair with Joan is not pleasant viewing as most of us will know the outcome from the start and it is certainly not pleasant watching people fall into a circle of disaster all caused by one man's impending sense of doom thoroughly fuelled by chronic alcoholism, and you do really feel for the people around them, especially Joan's husband John (another excellent performance by Alex Jennings). Hightly effective viewing which achieves all it sets out to do.