Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th October 2020 Beginning on BBC1 on Thursday 15 October 1970, and continuing until 1984, Play for Today was one of the most important series ever of British television drama. Running to over 300 individual plays and regularly commanding audiences of several millions, the series won a reputation for artistic experiment […]
By Simon Farquhar Written by Alan Sharp, produced by Irene Shubik and directed by Philip Saville. Broadcast on BBC1 at 9.20pm on 15th October 1970. ‘Men with Something to Say,’ was the fanfare Radio Times headline in the week that BBC 1 launched Play for Today. Alan Sharp, John Osborne, Dennis Potter, Clive Exton and […]
By Simon Farquhar Written by Douglas Livingstone, directed by Alan Clarke and produced by Irene Shubik. Broadcast on BBC1 at 9.20 pm on 19th November 1970. The stately BBC1 continuity announcer Peter Bolgar fell shy of introducing the play by name. However, despite its knavish title, I Can’t See My Little Willie proved to be […]
By Simon Farquhar Written by John Osborne, directed by Alan Cooke and produced by Irene Shubik. Broadcast on BBC1 at 9.20pm on 22 October 1970. The Long Distance Piano Player, broadcast on 15 October 1970, was the first of the new season of television plays broadcast under the title of Play for Today. However, it […]
Forgotten Television Drama