Alan Clarke
Director
Play for Today (1970)
Specials
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.
Released Oct. 15, 1970
Episode 75 min
None+
Keywords: tmdb.anthology, tmdb.based-on-play-or-musical, imdb.low-budget-tv-series, imdb.play-today, imdb.fun, imdb.live-for-today, imdb.rhyme-in-title + 7 more, imdb.three-word-title, imdb.anthology, imdb.play, imdb.theater, imdb.anthology-series, imdb.satire-comedy, imdb.1970s
Network: BBC One
Country: United Kingdom
Languages:
English
S0E1 - Brimstone and Treacle
The Bates sadly care for their severely disabled daughter Pattie. Martin arrives at their door claiming to be her college friend. He charms them into accepting him as a lodger and carer for Pattie. But Martin is not all he seems.
Aug. 25, 1987, midnight
S0E2 - Scum
Roy Minton's play deals with the subject of youth imprisonment and its lack of actual rehabilitation practised during the 1970s in young offenders' institutions. The film also deals with racism, authority, gang rape and suicide. Hardened Trainee 4737 Carlin (Ray Winstone) arrives at a new borstal after allegedly brutally attacking a prison officer at his previous borstal. On arrival he is subject to abuse from the prison officers and Pongo (the Daddy) because of his previous reputation. Using the hostile environment to his advantage, Carlin decides to become “The Daddy” of his wing. One of the young inmates, Davis, is gang-raped by two other inmates and subsequently commits suicide in his cell, using a razor blade.
July 27, 1991, midnight
S0E3 - The Evacuees
The Evacuees is a 1975 episode of the BBC's Play for Today series written by Jack Rosenthal and directed by Alan Parker. It was broadcast by the BBC on 5 March 1975. Starring Rosenthal's wife, Maureen Lipman, the filmed play is set during the blitz and, loosely based on Rosenthal's personal experiences, centres on the lives of two Jewish boys Neville and Danny, who are evacuated from Manchester to Blackpool.
March 5, 1975, midnight
S0E4 - The Black Stuff
Writer Alan Bleasedale's hard hitting black comedy, set against the harsh backdrop of struggle and hopelessly bleak unemployment in the Liverpool of Thatcher's Britain, chronicled the lives of a group of tarmac layers as they sought to find work, whilst suffering the despair and indignity of life on the scrapheap.
Jan. 2, 1980, midnight
S0E5 - Drama Out Of A Crisis - A Celebration Of Play For Today
Marking the 50th anniversary of the first Play for Today in October 1970, this film is a celebration of the series, told by a number of its producers, directors and writers. It explores the origins of the series, its achievements and its controversies. Presenting a rich range of often surprising extracts from the archive, the film features interviews with, among others, producers Kenith Trodd, Margaret Matheson and Richard Eyre, film-makers Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, and writer and director David Hare.
Oct. 12, 2020, midnight
S0E6 - Kenneth Branagh Remembers... Billy Plays
Kenneth Branagh looks back on his experiences working on the first major production of his career: Graham Reid’s Billy Plays trilogy. The three Play for Today dramas won great praise for the way they captured ordinary working class lives in Belfast, set against the backdrop of The Troubles. The acclaim Branagh received for his portrayal of big-hearted, hot-headed Billy got his career off to a perfect start. He gives his perspective on why the drama was so well-received, recalls working with his fellow cast, and casts an experienced, critical eye over his own youthful performance.
Oct. 5, 2022, midnight
S0E7 - Pillion
The play is set in the shed belonging to an enthusiastic motorcycle mechanic, Fenton. He and his group of like-minded friends meet regularly – all are engaged in rebuilding an ageing Triumph motorcycle. Recorded in 1979 but never transmitted.
Network: BBC One
Episode Runtime: 75 min.
Season Runtime: 23550 min.
Released: Oct. 15, 1970
Last Air Date: Feb. 5, 1985, midnight
Status: Ended
Certification: NR
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