It's Barton's half hour — playing Tony Hancock

First shown on BBC TV in 1961, Tony Hancock's The Blood Donor, has become a classic. But an episode transmitted a couple of weeks earlier is less well known. Called The Bowmans, the story features Hancock as Old Joshua Merryweather, an actor who is unceremoniously dumped from a radio soap - a soap which sounds suspiciously like The Archers.

The Bowmans is now being revived on stage by the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, and playing Old Joshua is Will Barton, who was educated at Oxford School and the Oxford College of Further Education, as the institutions were then called. When we met up, I suggested to Will that he must have some sympathy with Old Joshua, his fictitious fellow actor.

"I have all the sympathy in the world for him. But he has obviously been very difficult. His character has been ad-libbing where he shouldn't, and he has generally caused problems for the other actors. The writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, actually included jibes aimed at Hancock in the script, and there are amazing parallels between this episode of Hancock and his real life.

"For instance, the producer of The Bowmans accuses Old Joshua of changing his accent all the time, and of going into impersonations of Robert Newton. Apparently, this was something Tony Hancock himself used to do, one of his party pieces was to portray Robert Newton as Long John Silver. So Galton and Simpson wrote this in. Also, Hancock wanted to do things on his own sometimes - he didn't want Sid James included because he thought Sid was getting a bit too popular. So in The Bowmans, the Hancock character says: I'm better than you, you're all a load of amateurs'.

"And there's a part of the script where the fictional character is at home in his bedsit, just after he has got the sack. He says: Acting is a facile life, maybe I should give it up - or just end it all'.

"When Tony Hancock actually did commit suicide, Galton and Simpson said they weren't surprised. At the time, of course, no one thought anything of the line. But when we do the scene in this production, it carries considerable poignancy. Not that we want to dwell on it; we're there to entertain for half an hour!"

Any actor playing another actor has to make a decision: does he listen to tapes, and watch DVDs of the original performer, or does he do his own thing? Hancock's voice, for instance, always carried a trademark undercurrent of resentment.

"As we speak, we've only had two rehearsals, so I am still asking those questions," Will explained. "But I have looked at the DVD of The Bowmans quite a few times and I entirely agree about Hancock's voice. The character plainly feels persecuted. In fact, Hancock changed several lines of the script, and that's been a help - some of the changes are really good.

"On the other hand, there's a moment when Hancock's character auditions for Hamlet, but comes out with Romeo & Juliet. He gets it all completely wrong. Hancock is very funny here, hopping about on one leg. I tried it, but it didn't work for me. So I've worked up my own idea.

"We're trying to have fun with it, but hopefully you will recognise Tony Hancock in what I do, and get an essence of him. But, at the same time, I'll bring some of my own comic things to the part."

Talking to Will Barton, you very quickly discover that he has an infectious love of acting and comedy. In particular, he relishes opportunities to switch voices and accents. One reason, perhaps, why he has landed the Hancock part.

"Hancock does silly accents - he does Scottish, and I've chosen to do Northern Irish. And the original script called for a Birmingham accent, but Hancock never managed it. So I've had a chance to put in my Brummie."

So when did Will Barton first get bitten by the acting bug?

"I wrote and acted in my own shows when I was seven or eight. I used to mime to Beatles records, and did my own Candid Camera: for instance, a tramp says: Give us ten pence for a cup of tea, guv'. So the person gives him ten pence, but also brings out a pot of tea from underneath his jacket. All very silly things. Then I joined the junior dramatic society in Wolvercote. I had a good time there, I played King Rat. I went on to do drama A-level at the Oxford College of Further Education. My mother still has a school report saying that my ambition was to become an actor, have two children, and earn £50 a week. This was when I was about 12. I've done all three!"

Will hasn't yet had a chance to return and work on stage in Oxford itself. Nor has an episode of Morse or Lewis come his way, although he has an extensive list of TV credits - look out for him soon in Heartbeat. But he has been on film location in the city.

"I was one of four students bullying Ralph Fiennes in Oscar and Lucinda. If you look really closely, you can just see my nose in profile. The film company wouldn't let me stay with my mum, who still lives in Oxford, they insisted on me staying in a hotel. They said it was easier to collect me from there in the morning. It was a fine use of the budget."

The Bowmans runs in a double bill with Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy at the Watermill, Bagnor, Newbury, until Saturday, July 5. Tickets: 01635 46044 or online at www.watermill.org.uk