Such was Hanna's identification with by-elections that in 1987 he was a guest star in "Blackadder the Third", reporting on S. Baldrick's victory at the rotten borough of Dunny-on-the-Wold in the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" (and credited as "his own great-great-great-grandfather"). By this time, however, Hanna had left the BBC to set up his own freelance production company which specialised in trade union issues and mainly worked for the public service television station Channel 4. He also co-presented "A Week in Politics" for the channel from 1989 until his death. He was an active broadcaster on BBC Radio 5 Live from 1994.