Play for Today
Play for Today

Play for Today

1970 14 Seasons 314 Episodes ⭐ 6.6 Drama

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

Seasons & Episodes

EP 1

The Long Distance Piano Player

A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing

EP 2

The Right Prospectus

A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.

EP 3

The Lie

""The Lie"" refers to the 8-year marriage of a couple who are constantly hurting each other.

EP 4

Angels Are So Few

A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.

EP 5

The Write-Off

A man is made redundant but can't bring himself to let anyone know, plunging into a web of deceit as he keeps up the cha

EP 6

I Can't See My Little Willie

A man has a mid-life crisis in his brother's pub where sees life as a game show

EP 7

A Distant Thunder

A newly-appointed knight finds his celebrations cut short by someone who was witness to his treachery during the war.

EP 8

Hearts and Flowers

A TV host and his architect brother attend their father's funeral

EP 9

Robin Redbreast

A woman living in a country cottage thinks that someone is trying to get her.

EP 10

The Hallelujah Handshake

A petty thief and social misfit finagles his way into a church congregation

EP 11

Alma Mater

A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school

EP 12

Circle Line

A cynical student has a radically different view of life from his landlady, leading to conflict. Matters come to a head

EP 13

Hell's Angel

A couple are distressed by the changes in their adopted teenage son when he joins a biker gang.

EP 14

The Piano

An old couple refuse to move when they find out that they can't take their piano with them

EP 15

Billy's Last Stand

Billy, a self-employed coal-shoveller, gains a seedy business partner and competition in the form of a rival coal-shovel

EP 16

The Rainbirds

A man who attempted suicide by jumping out a window is saved only to live in a coma, in which he has fantasies about his

EP 17

Reddick

Charges that the Rev 'Red' Reddick is exploiting his youth club members leads to an explosive confrontation.

EP 18

The Foxtrot

An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband

EP 19

When the Bough Breaks

When an injured baby arrives at the hospital, a social worker looks for the parents

EP 20

Orkney

A trilogy of plays--A Time to Keep, The Whaler's Return, and Celia--exploring the life of the islanders in the past and

EP 21

The Rank and File

The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970

EP 22

The Man in the Sidecar

A succesful novelist Edith lives with her husband and his friend, but she decides to ask the friend to leave.

EP 23

Everybody Say Cheese

The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos

EP 24

The Cellar and the Almond Tree

EP 1

Traitor

A British aristocrat turned Russian spy is visited in Moscow by Western journalists

EP 2

Edna, the Inebriate Woman

Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as p

EP 3

Evelyn

Frank is worried that he's over the hill when he reaches his 38th birthday. Conversations with his wife, lover and best

EP 4

O Fat White Woman

The wife of a headmaster discovers that he has been physically abusing his students

EP 5

Thank You Very Much

A social satire in which advertisers realise that having a blind beggar as the public face of charities would help make

EP 6

Michael Regan

A man gets revenge on a pub owner

EP 7

Skin Deep

An awkward relationship develops between the families of a trade unionist and the regional manager when the son of the f

EP 8

Pal

Two sworn enemies, one black and the other white, are forced to confront their prejudices when they are forced together

EP 9

The Pigeon Fancier

A retired miner devotes his waking hours to his racing pigeons.

EP 10

Home

A story about four elderly "loonies" living in a rest home

EP 11

Still Waters

A marriage can be lonely when the children have left home, as Nelson and Maud find out. Maud leaves in the middle of an

EP 12

Stocker's Copper

In Cornwall, just before World War I, a striking miner befriends a cop

EP 13

The House on Highbury Hill

A married couple move into the house on Highbury Hill and find some eccentric neighbours.

EP 14

In the Beautiful Caribbean

A story about unemployment and the Black Movement in Jamaica

EP 15

Ackerman, Dougall and Harker

A salesman learns a few lessons from the locals when he goes to Yorkshire for a business course

EP 16

The Villa Maroc

A couple and their daughter take a trip to Africa

EP 17

Cows

A social worker tries to help a painfully shy young man and takes him for a visit to a country farm.

EP 18

A Time to Keep

EP 19

The Fishing Party

The adventures of three Derbyshire miners going fishing

EP 1

The Reporters

Two provincial newspaper reporters - one a young idealist starting out on his career, the other an embittered man who pr

EP 2

A Life Is for Ever

The story of a man serving a 30-year prison sentence for killing a cop

EP 3

Carson Country

A story about the origin of the Stormont state

EP 4

Man Friday

The story of Robinson Crusoe from Man Friday's viewpoint

EP 5

Triple Exposure

A hippie breaks into the house of a middle-aged couple and forms a relationship with them

EP 6

Better than the Movies

A man celebrating his birthday comes to appreciate the difference between media fantasy and mundane reality.

EP 7

The General's Day

An elderly general woos a shy school teacher.

EP 8

The Bankrupt

A washed-up executive is on the verge of bankruptcy.

EP 9

Just Your Luck

A pregnant teenager sets about wooing a sailor in a sectarian council estate in Greenock.

EP 10

The Bouncing Boy

A young couple have a baby boy. However, the new father doesn't take to his new position quite as well as expected.

EP 11

Shakespeare or Bust

The adventures of three Derbyshire miners going to Stratford-upon-Avon on a barge

EP 12

Land of Green Ginger

Faced with the prospect of being sent to work abroad, Sally Brown returns home from London to Hull, to see if she still

EP 13

Kisses at Fifty

A long-married husband leaves his family for a barmaid.

EP 14

Highway Robbery

A man fights council plans to demolish his home to make way for a new bypass.

EP 15

Song at Twilight

The story of a defiant football manager in terminal decline

EP 16

Only Make Believe

As a playwright dictates notes about his newest play to his secretary, scenes from the play are acted out.

EP 17

For Sylvia or The Air Show

Was this the finest hour? Sifting the truth and fiction about the Battle of Britain, Burrows and Harding give their own

EP 18

The Operation

David Adler is an operator. He strips assets, other men's wives, and his oldest friend's soul - anything for a cool mill

EP 19

Access to the Children

Malcolmson spends every Sunday taking his children to the zoo, reflecting on the breakdown of his marriage and the event

EP 20

Hard Labour

The trials of an overworked and underappreciated housecleaner

EP 21

Man Above Men

"I'm the judge's daughter - I think he's a monstrous old man. I think all men who say 'I'm only doing my job' are monstr

EP 22

Speech Day

Three underachievers have fun at a school speech day

EP 23

Steps Back

"Fifteen years since I was forced t' leave, forced t' leave me roots, the territory of me heart." When Gerry takes his f

EP 24

Three's One

Are Maggie and Tony using each other as a means of communicating with Dr Leafer? Or are they using Dr Leafer as a means

EP 25

Edward G.--Like the Film Star

Edward G. is nothing like a film star; his life has been ordinary - until now. But he's just had a shattering experience

EP 26

Blooming Youth

The problems of four people sharing an apartment

EP 27

The Stretch

Everyone always looked after Maureen. But her husband comes home after two years in prison and finds she has grown up an

EP 28

Making the Play

They no longer live together because, after 11 years, the marriage is over. So why is she always turning up to see him a

EP 1

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

Mrs Palfrey tries hard to be accepted by the other residents at the Claremont. But then she meets Ludo and a real friend

EP 2

Her Majesty's Pleasure

They are all 'in' for life so the pleasures are sparse, and strictly of their own making. Their really big event is the

EP 3

Jack Point

An amateur operatic society is preparing a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and someone new is needed for the role of Ja

EP 4

The Emergency Channel

Dean has a rare talent. He can be made happy. He exudes happiness and confidence like a rare blossom. Both Sarah in the

EP 5

Mummy and Daddy

An early retirement and a seaside bungalow-for Arthur and Marion it's not a chance to miss, especially since their son i

EP 6

Private Practice

Why does Sylvia Payne , with her successful husband and luxurious home, get in such a flap about her daughter's school f

EP 7

Shutdown

Bernie gets a temporary job as an electrician during a factory's annual minimal workforce period. But what secrets is Be

EP 8

Baby Blues

After ten years of trying, Lavinia, and a large team of medics, finally manage to produce a live baby. She should now be

EP 9

Jingle Bells

Family Christmas, presents, drink, Christmas Eve at the club, Boxing Day football - but, among the celebrations, some ha

EP 10

The Lonely Man's Lover

A young farmgirl begins a romance with an artist

EP 11

All Good Men

An elderly politician looks back over his career while being interviewed by a TV producer.

EP 12

Joe's Ark

A pet shop owner forsakes his religious beliefs when his daughter gets cancer

EP 13

Hot Fat

Sauna baths are supposed to relax you, but it rather depends who you meet in there.

EP 14

Easy Go

A group of Deptford youngsters hang about by the River Thames on a hot day. When they and some nearby dockers spot a val

EP 15

Headmaster

Fisher is good at his job but in new circumstances that isn't enough: he has to face the risks of competition for someth

EP 16

Penda's Fen

Summer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt a

EP 17

Pigeon--Hawk or Dove?

At the climax of the School Sports something went drastically wrong. Now, Wallace Pidgeon faces the contradictory demand

EP 18

Three for the Fancy

Further adventures of three Derbyshire miners

EP 19

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

The exploitation of the Scottish land and its people from the 18th century to the present

EP 20

Schmoedipus

A young man persuades a woman that he is her son.

EP 21

The Childhood Friend

On holiday, with his family, nothing to do and his wife ill, Sasha is only too pleased to meet again the girl he loved a

EP 22

A Follower for Emily

The friendship of two residents of a retirement home ends up in marriage

EP 1

Leeds--United!

About a strike in a textile factory, based on a true story

EP 2

Baby Love

After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to 9 months in prison.

EP 3

Back of Beyond

Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is wi

EP 4

The Bevellers

The first (and last) day at work of a young apprentice in a bevelling shop at a Glasgow glass factory

EP 5

Taking Leave

"Well, I hope I won'be seeing you come home in that uniform much more. Six years - that's long enough out of any man's l

EP 6

Fugitive

After 18 years as a friar, Peter is no longer sure of his vocation. It is a happy life, maybe too much so, and now he ha

EP 7

Eleanor

Eleanor is unable to communicate her inner thoughts as she's bullied at school and virtually ignored by her parents. Wit

EP 8

Gangsters

A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

EP 9

The After Dinner Game

Vice-Chancellor Bartley Humbolt has problems. His young university is almost bankrupt, his wife is threatening to leave

EP 10

Breath

A story about an asthma sufferer

EP 11

The Death of a Young, Young Man

Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

EP 12

Sunset Across the Bay

A elderly couple become disillusioned when they retire to their favorite holiday resort.

EP 13

Funny Farm

One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

EP 14

Goodbye

"All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zo

EP 15

Just Another Saturday

A young man participating in the Orange Parade in Glasgow becomes disillusioned with the pageant when he discovers its u

EP 16

A Child of Hope

Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles

EP 17

The Saturday Party

When a stockbroker loses his job, he decides to throw a party.

EP 18

Wednesday Love

Two women, looking for amusement on their afternoons off, visit a drinking club.

EP 19

The Dandelion Clock

In Belfast, a girl awaits the return of her missing father.

EP 20

Brassneck

England, 1945-75: Builder Alfred Bagley makes a fortune, with a little help from his friends.

EP 21

The Floater

A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing wh

EP 22

By Common Consent

Political fantasy about a fascist regime

EP 1

Plaintiffs and Defendants

A married barrister's life begins to unravel when it seems that his high-strung mistress may reveal all.

EP 2

Two Sundays

An author tells an old school chum that he is about to publish a novel revealing their old relationship.

EP 3

Moss

Moss is a miser whose only love is his grandson. Then tragedy strikes, and Moss is "reborn."

EP 4

84 Charing Cross Road

An American woman corresponds with a London bookshop owner over a period of 20 years

EP 5

Keep an Eye on Albert

Terry has begun to neglect his wife for a life of drinking, weight lifting, pigeon racing and other women. But when his

EP 6

Children of the Sun

"You expect to face a bit of danger when you travel. Half the fun of it. But you keep cool and bluff your way out. After

EP 7

After the Solo

A boy enjoys success in the choir until his voice breaks at puberty.

EP 8

Through the Night

A woman goes into hospital to receive treatment for breast cancer.

EP 9

A Passage to England

A group of Asians plans to sneak into England using a fishing boat

EP 10

Rumpole of the Bailey

Rumpole defends a young West Indian boy accused of attempted murder.

EP 11

The Other Woman

An aggressive lesbian disrupts the lives of those around her.

EP 12

Nuts in May

Smug married couple Keith and Candice Marie “keen exponents of their belief in organic health food, exercise and the e

EP 13

Doran's Box

A long-distance lorry driver; a spaceman; a volunteer under reduced environmental conditions; a man in solitary confinem

EP 14

Packman's Barn

John Barrett returns to his remote hill farm after 20 years to deal with some unfinished business, and finds himself onc

EP 15

A Story to Frighten the Children

A woman encounters trouble when she arrives home late at night, but her neighbors on a nearby estate claim to have seen

EP 16

The Happy Hunting Ground

The fish quay is a happy hunting ground for an ambitious young rogue like Bob, who has an eye on the boss's business - a

EP 17

The Jumping Bean Bag

An end-of-term play with a difference as Ozzie and the boys break into a hard rock number. But even though they make the

EP 18

Clay, Smeddum and Greenden

A play based on three short stories about the Scottish people and their relationship with the land: ""Clay"" concerns a

EP 19

Love Letters on Blue Paper

Why has Sonia taken to writing letters to her husband, posted to him in the letter-box just outside their house - love l

EP 20

Willie Rough

A story depicting life in a shipyard

EP 21

Tiptoe through the Tulips

A divorced woman is introduced to a separated man at an awkward dinner party.

EP 22

The Peddler

One pill, and you're floating on air. A different one, and you're full of lead. Married, mortgaged, broke, a love-affair

EP 23

Early Struggles

A story about a father's attempts at single parenthood

EP 24

Double Dare

A playwright spends an afternoon in a hotel room with an actress who takes on the role of call girl for research purpose

EP 25

The House of Bernarda Alba

The eldest daughter of a domineering, overprotective mother becomes engaged to an unprincipled young man who has money.

EP 1

The Bar Mitzvah Boy

A story exploring the emotions of a boy undrgoing the traditional Jewish ceremony

EP 2

Bet Your Life

Like alcoholism, gambling is a disease. Ches, a compulsive gambler, is sent for medical help. A wonder drug perhaps? Or

EP 3

Rocky Marciano Is Dead

Harry Marcus is a former welterweight champion mourning the loss of the past and dreaming of a return to the glory years

EP 4

The Elephants' Graveyard

Bunny’s wife thinks he is a postman, but in reality he spends his days in the Scottish hills. One day he meets Jody, a

EP 5

Housewives' Choice

When Joyce appears on the door-step she looks like the perfect 'kindly, respectable lady whom Marcia needs to look after

EP 6

Your Man from Six Counties

A young man from Belfast is sent south to stay with relatives in an attempt to keep him out of trouble.

EP 7

Buffet

Freddie is going through an existential crisis as everyone around him seems to doubt their own identity and the entire p

EP 8

Love on a Gunboat

In 1956 Britain staggers through crises in Suez and Cyprus while Leslie Potter pursues and marries Monica Dobbs. Twenty

EP 9

The Kiss of Death

A young man's chances at romance are thwarted by his own shyness.

EP 10

Our Flesh and Blood

How Mums and Dads feel when they have one.

EP 11

Do As I Say

A quietly unhappy housewife finds a stranger in her house and is raped at knife-point by him. But when she turns to frie

EP 12

Spend, Spend, Spend

The rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a 1960s football pools winner, based on a true story

EP 13

A Photograph

A couple receives a photograph in the mail of two girls sitting in front of a caravan and neither can identify the peopl

EP 14

The Price of Coal: Meet The People

A pair of plays, broadcast over two weeks, about mining life: ""Meet the People,"" about a coal mining community prepar

EP 15

The Price of Coal: Back To Reality

A pair of plays, broadcast over two weeks, about mining life: ""Meet the People,"" about a coal mining community prepar

EP 16

Gotcha

A student holds his teacher hostage in the classroom on the last day of school.

EP 17

Campion's Interview

A story about school.

EP 18

A Choice of Evils

The story of Father Borelli who in Rome during World War II must choose between freedom and his principles

EP 19

The Country Party

Richard Elkinson, the former stockbroker, is now running a country restaurant. His daughter decides to spring a surprise

EP 1

Stronger than the Sun

A worker discovers a radioactive leak at the nuclear power plant where she works and tries to make it public knowledge.

EP 2

Come the Revolution

Mike and his commune have a performance of their musical theatre "Diver" at the local pub, and ITV's Beth Bailey is comi

EP 3

Abigail's Party

Comedy of manners focusing on the bourgeois affectation and sexual frustration of a young married couple. Abigail's moth

EP 4

Oy Vay Maria

The story of the romance between a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl

EP 5

Nipper

Teenager Jimmy's life begins to unravel after the death of his father. With his mother promiscuous and his new stepfathe

EP 6

One Day at a Time

"People coming to their first AA meeting, prosperous people, sometimes, accustomed to the best. They look round the plac

EP 7

The Mayor's Charity

Olive Major is determined that her year of office as Mayor will be a happy and successful one. But her appointment of Ex

EP 8

Catchpenny Twist

Three schoolteachers in Belfast give up teaching to become singers/songwriters.

EP 9

Charades

"We've just got to get it right. It'll be our little secret. When all the other servants have gone out, we'll play this

EP 10

The Thin End of the Wedge

"Five days of darkness then. Unless you get it together we will have five days of darkness. And on the sixth day you wil

EP 11

Scully's New Year's Eve

A Liverpool teenager has a hectic night out on New Year's Eve.

EP 12

Licking Hitler

During World War II, a young woman joins the propaganda department and makes radio broadcasts to Germany from a British

EP 13

Red Shift

A stone axehead links three couples living at different times in the same place in Wales.

EP 14

The Spongers

The story of a single mother of four living on welfare

EP 15

Destiny

A story dealing with racial tensions and fascism during a by-election in a West Midlands town

EP 16

Our Day Out

When a teacher takes a group of troubled school children on a school trip to Conwy in Wales, the children understand lif

EP 17

The After-Dinner Joke

The story of a well-meaning charity worker

EP 18

The Legion Hall Bombing

The story of the trial of Willie Gallagher, convicted of bombing the Strabane British Legion Hall in 1976.

EP 1

Nina

The story of two Soviet dissidents living in London and slowly coming apart under the strain of his drinking and her enf

EP 2

Victims of Apartheid

George, a black South African, finds it hard to settle down in London after his experiences in South Africa.

EP 3

A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts

A young man is declared a hero when he catches a burglar until it's discovered that the burglar is a dwarf.

EP 4

Dinner at the Sporting Club

A story about young boxers whose fighting provides entertainment for diners at a sporting club

EP 5

Donal and Sally

Adolescent love can be difficult at the best of times, but Donal and Sally have special problems - problems which alarm

EP 6

Sorry

Consists of two plays ""Audience"" and ""Private View"" about a brewery worker and writer who incurs the wrath of the au

EP 7

Butterflies Don't Count

"Whether priest or thespian, never once let yourself doubt that the role you're playing is real. Lead your little flock

EP 8

Soldiers Talking Cleanly

A freelance TV presenter has been hired by the BBC to film a documentary about the British army stationed in Germany. Un

EP 9

One Bummer Newsday

What happens to provincial journalists when there's nothing in the news and they have a paper to fill?

EP 10

The Out of Town Boys

"This could be a bit special, Maggie. This could be the first case of an office block falling down during the topping-ou

EP 11

Vampires

Three boys watch horror films on late night TV and see a man in a local cemetery whom they believe to be a vampire.

EP 12

The Chief Mourner

For a successful man with public responsibilities Alan Berry is strangely reluctant to help the police when his wife is

EP 13

Waterloo Sunset

A young man and an old woman try to fit in when their neighborhood goes West Indian

EP 14

Blue Remembered Hills

The play activities of seven children living in the countryside during the summer of 1943 end in tragedy; the children w

EP 15

Who's Who

A story about a dinner party given by the managers and employees of a brokerage house

EP 16

The Last Window Cleaner

The Irish troubles as seen by residents of a boarding house called ""The Crumlin View""

EP 17

Ploughman's Share

"Ploughman. Nobody calls you that. You're a has-been. Your head and heart went into a museum wi' that lot you keep in th

EP 18

Degree of Uncertainty

"I'm 37 years old, remember? I'm not a dead-pan, genned-up, discreetly nymphomaniac ex-head-girl like the majority of yo

EP 19

Light

A village in Cheshire. A deserted cinema. A poet murdered by Stalin. A blown fuse. Victor Silvester. Pickets on trial. T

EP 20

Coming Out

A closeted homosexual writer is content to lead a double life

EP 21

Don't Be Silly

A young wife tries to cope with her abusive husband.

EP 1

Long Distance Information

A fanatical Elvis Presley fan is working as a disc jockey when his idol dies

EP 2

Cries from a Watchtower

A watchmaker finds his livelihood is threatened by cheaply imported digital watches.

EP 3

Comedians

Budding comedians take an evening class taught by a retired performer and, for their final exam, must perform for an imp

EP 4

Even Solomon

Stephen Piper is a quiet young man. A virgin, he shows no interest in sex, and is cruelly scorned by an aggressive femal

EP 5

Just a Boy's Game

In Glasgow, a young man's sole aim is to be as tough as his dying grandfather once was

EP 6

Billy

A 4-year-old boy is abused by his father

EP 7

A Hole in Babylon

Exploration of the events leading up to 1975 Spaghetti House siege in London and the motivation of its three protagonist

EP 8

The Slab-Boys

The story of a young man who works in a carpet factory

EP 9

Katie: The Year of a Child

A teenage girl from a family of Irish Travellers is left to look after her brothers and sisters while her father is away

EP 10

The Network

What do Rose from Devon and Christina from Stuttgart have in common? And in what way is their fate linked to that of wea

EP 11

Chance of a Lifetime

A young man quits school and joins the army.

EP 12

Keep Smiling

Family picnics should not be like this: bugging devices, men with X-ray eyes. Mary doesn't understand what terrifies Sim

EP 13

Dreams of Leaving

A journalist moves to London and gets caught up in the big city and his romance with a rich debutante.

EP 14

Thicker Than Water

Various characters have adventures on the way to a black pudding festival in Normandy.

EP 15

Murder Rap

An Englishman's home is his castle, and Wally aims to prove it.

EP 16

Instant Enlightenment Including VAT

Weekend enlightenment seminars serve as a form of brainwashing.

EP 17

No Defence

Mr. Germanou arrives from Cyprus with his family to settle in England. But on his arrival he's arrested for an historica

EP 18

That Crazy Woman

Twenty years ago, at the age of 56, this extraordinary woman became a national hero by walking from John O'Groats to Lan

EP 19

A Gift from Nessus

The marital and career problems of a middle-aged, middle-class man in Glasgow in the 1960s

EP 20

Kate, the Good Neighbour

A compassionate elderly woman comes to the realization that she can no longer care for herself or others.

EP 21

Buses

A story about the regulation of the bus industry in 1930

EP 22

Shadows on Our Skin

The problems of an 11-year-old boy living in the Catholic part of Londonderry

EP 23

Ladies

The A Shift at the MHS department store are organising a wedding gift presentation for Elaine. But what's on Miriam's mi

EP 24

The Vanishing Army

A story about the highs and lows of peacetime army life

EP 25

Not for the Likes of Us

"I dunno, years of putting up with it, waiting on you all, for what? Eh? To become a 14-stone invisible woman?"

EP 26

The Executioner

Jan and Meg Citron are on holiday in Germany. Their car is stopped by the police. A simple traffic offence? But their se

EP 27

The Imitation Game

During World War II, an idealistic young woman joins the Army Transport Service

EP 28

A Walk in the Forest

A writer gets involved with a Soviet dissident

EP 1

Pasmore

Colin Pasmore tests his strength against his family ties but finds them stronger than he ever imagined.

EP 2

C2H5OH

"In heaven there is no drama - drama depends on failure and conflict. My trade is a scrutiny of hell. For any proud dram

EP 3

The Adventures of Frank: Everybody's Fiddling Something

Writer-director John McGrath deliberately shies away from naturalism in an experiment that mixes blue screen, songs, and

EP 4

The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice

EP 5

Minor Complications

Kay Gilbert goes into hospital for a minor operation which goes badly wrong. This play tells the story of her fight for

EP 6

Number on End

What could Steve Jackson's documentary film expose that must be concealed from the African leaders meeting in Brussels?

EP 7

Jude

Twelve-year-old Jude has never met Dick, his father. One Sunday afternoon Dick impulsively engineers a meeting, which ha

EP 8

The Flipside of Dominick Hide

Dominick Hide, a time traveller from London in the year 2130, is studying the city's transport system of 1980. Breaking

EP 9

Name for the Day

Clive admits himself to a psychiatric hospital after undergoing a breakdown. His wife wants him back home, but in order

EP 10

Jessie

In Victorian times, a nanny cares for a mute boy, who becomes overly attached to her.

EP 11

Beyond the Pale

A vacation at a seaside hotel in Ireland changes the lives of four friends.

EP 12

The Muscle Market

The problems of an owner of a building contractor company in Liverpool

EP 13

A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado

"They're nice affable gobblers and we're in the nice affable gobbling business." Tom and Gwen soon find that their gastr

EP 14

Dear Brutus

"They say that in the wood you get what nearly everybody here is longing for - a second chance." J. M. Barrie's fantasy

EP 15

The Cause

A confused industrial dispute at a London hospital triggers off in trade unionist George Harley's mind memories of his d

EP 16

Beloved Enemy

The head of a multinational corporation wants to do business with the Soviets

EP 17

The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner

A group of men hold a reunion dinner in Tokyo

EP 18

The Union

You know the nuts and bolts of our policy? To penetrate the unions. To use all sorts of stratagems, manoeuvres, illegal

EP 19

Sorry

Two very different women share an office, a common enemy, and a sense of humour.

EP 20

Shai Mãlã Khani: The Garland

When her 17-year-old son Roy falls in love with a Muslim girl, and a Bangladeshi butcher seeks help from her husband Raj

EP 21

The Sin Bin

Six lifers living in an experimental self-rehabilitation unit attached to an ordinary prison participate in a group ther

EP 22

Before Water Lillies

An evening with the Parent-Teacher Association gets out of hand.

EP 23

Bavarian Night

When the dynamic young head-master of St Peter's Primary School decides to liven up a parents' fund-raising social by hi

EP 24

The Good Time Girls

Nancy and Ella are two bored housewives starved of affection when their husbands are away on the oil rigs. The rules are

EP 25

Baby Talk

It's such a simple, natural thing to have a baby, thinks Mary. But she and husband Paul are preoccupied with their caree

EP 26

A Turn for the Worse

Soldiers are subjected to a brutal and sadistic kind of psychological training exercise

EP 27

Psy-Warriors

Soldiers are captured and interrogated by terrorists: but is it real or only a sadistic form of psychological training e

EP 1

Country

The story of the disintegration of an aristocratic country estate after World War II

EP 2

London Is Drowning

A docudrama about what would happen if London was hit by severe flooding

EP 3

A Room for the Winter

James, an expatriate South African anti-apartheid fighter, deals with his nightmares and his complaining landlady in a r

EP 4

No Visible Scar

A nurse is subjected to an interrogation after giving medical treatment to a terrorist leader.

EP 5

Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain

In Belfast, Ruby has a cold and is caught in the rain while Iris is looking for work and gets caught in traffic

EP 6

Protest

In an adaptation of Václav Havel's play, a dissident, newly released from prison for political reasons, attempts to get

EP 7

United Kingdom

Two men on a local council fight the system when forced with massive spending cuts.

EP 8

PQ17

During World War II, a British officer is ordered to abandon a Russian convoy.

EP 9

The Factory

A manager, a foreman, and two workers are all that remains of a factory yet labor relations stay the same

EP 10

England's Green and Pleasant Land

A planning decision must be made, and the motorway extension must go through on either the Golf Course or the Allotments

EP 11

A Cotswold Death

A police inspector investigates the murder of an Arab sheik who had become a village's Lord of the Manor.

EP 12

Under the Skin

Three women involved in different ways in the women's movement.

EP 13

Commitments

Politics and relationships during the last years of the Heath government

EP 14

Life After Death

Meg: We were so close, we loved each other, we made a whole together. I feel cut in half.

EP 15

The Silly Season

Malcolm goes through life hating the mundanity of his existence as a factory worker and an unloved husband. But when stu

EP 16

Too Late to Talk to Billy

A family in Belfast deals with life after the death of the mother from cancer

EP 17

Willie's Last Stand

Willie and his friends notice the passage of time around them, and how society is changing as their marriages stagnate.

EP 18

Tishoo

Frank has dedicated 19 years to researching a cure for the common cold, and is almost ready to publish a paper. Yet budg

EP 19

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home is a 1982 television film devised and directed by Mike Leigh, for BBC TV, 'about postmen, parenthood, so

EP 20

A Sudden Wrench

"My life is over - and I just didn't notice it passing." A call to a radio helpline leads to depressed housewife Christi

EP 21

Eve Set the Balls of Corruption Going

Adolescents will always be obsessed by the same old subject, even when they are educated by nuns. Six ex-Classmates meet

EP 22

Whistling Wally

While Wally was happy there wasn't much wrong with the world, and pints seemed a small price to pay for what he gave us.

EP 1

Soft Targets

A story about a homesick Russian journalist in London at the end of the cold war

EP 2

Three Minute Heroes

Out on the streets, young people looking for fun. They come together at nights to listen to their music. For as long as

EP 3

The Remainder Man

Jack's obsession with the possibility of nuclear war sees him usher his family down into his home made fall out shelter

EP 4

Intensive Care

A man holds a lonely vigil at the bedside of his dying father.

EP 5

A Mother Like Him

A family of five orphaned children are going to be split up into different homes. What will happen if the eldest is offi

EP 6

John David

After giving birth to a Down's Syndrome baby, Judith decides she doesn't want to keep him. Obliged to register the birth

EP 7

Aliens

In June 1940 Italy entered the war. With Britain threatened by a German invasion thousands of Italians were seized and t

EP 8

Another Flip for Dominick

Two years after his journey to the past, Dominick Hide has been promoted to instructor and is no longer a time traveller

EP 9

Last Love

Annabel, an upper-middle-class widow, falls in love with Jack, a self-made man of humble origins. Her grown-up children

EP 10

Gates of Gold

In 1959 County Antrim, two traveling evangelists help a mentally retarded teenager

EP 11

Wayne and Albert

Wayne goes to live with his grandfather Albert. Initial generation gap hostilities between them are eventually overcome

EP 12

Atlantis

Goff and Lytton have a dream - a canal boat of their own on which to cruise the inland waterways: The reality is the boa

EP 13

The Last Term

Devon 1940. The boys of the local public school are alerted after a German parachute drop and as members of the Local De

EP 14

Reluctant Chickens

Malcolm is a GP wrestling with ideas of retirement, while his wife Jo is a frustrated, would-be novelist. Together they

EP 15

Shall I Be Mother?

Susan and Jenny are aged 13 and 14 and in care. Jenny's mother has died, Susan hasn't seen hers for years Both influence

EP 16

The Falklands Factor

The 18th century writer Samuel Johnson writes a political pamphlet protesting the British going to war with Spain after

EP 17

A Matter of Choice for Billy

When his father leaves Belfast to seek work in England, a young man looks after his sister

EP 18

Floating Off

A businessman tries to keep his son from finding out about an unconventional deal he and his secretary are making with a

EP 1

Stan's Last Game

James Grout and Bert Parnaby are rival chairmen of a northern football club in the run-up to an important cup match. As

EP 2

Young Shoulders

Cynical teenager Andrew Groves re-evaluates his attitude to life and his parents after his sister dies in a plane crash.

EP 3

A Coming to Terms for Billy

When his father comes home to Belfast after more than 2 years in England, conflicts arise with Billy

EP 4

Z for Zachariah

After a nuclear holocaust, only a man and a woman survive in a Welsh valley.

EP 5

Moving on the Edge

A woman in a state of personal crisis finds it hard to communicate with her husband and family.

EP 6

Desert of Lies

An expedition tracing the path of long-lost missionaries meets with tragedy in the Kalahari Desert.

EP 7

Hard Feelings

A group of unemployed Oxford drop-outs living in a Brixton commune get their come-uppance by one of them.

EP 8

Under the Hammer

Concerning the life of the artist Vincent Van Gogh

EP 9

King

A man who has had a good life in England wants to retire to Jamaica, but the celebration with his daughters doesn't go a

EP 10

Rainy Day Women

In 1940, during World War II, an officer is sent to investigate rumors of German spies in a sleepy village where various

EP 11

Dog Ends

In a future society where euthansia is common, a man signs papers to have his father put down

EP 12

The Groundling and the Kite

Peter is a songwriter, while his old friend Jimmy is an A and R (Artists and Repertoire) man. But when Jimmy tries to se

EP 13

The Cry

In 1959 Ulster, a journalist witnesses the beating of a youth

EP 14

It Could Happen to Anybody

A long-suffering Glasgow housewife puts up with years of her husband's violence and drunkenness - and then something hap

EP 15

Only Children

A young woman's comfortable life is turned upside down when she has a baby.

EP 16

The Amazing Miss Stella Estelle

Miss Stella Estelle is a cabaret singer in working men's clubs, and she sings songs from the 1960s to support a large an

EP 17

The Long March

A woman returns to Belfast after ten years in England and becomes involved in the Maze prison protest.

EP 18

Punters

What is the secret of Joey and Spansky's success at the races?

EP 19

Talk To Me

Matthew and his wife are deeply suspicious of psychoanalysis. It's not their sort of thing at all.

EP 20

Bird Fancier

EP 21

Brigadista

When best-selling author James Fuller Hayes comes to Glasgow to publicise his personal account of the Spanish Civil War,

Popular Cast