Alan Clarke
Director
Play for Today (1970)
Season 4
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
S4E1 - 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 friendship begins.
Oct. 18, 1973, midnight
S4E2 - 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 Christmas pantomime, only this year they have lost their star. Mother Bear has escaped. Still, there is some consolation. The new arrival looks a likely Goldilocks. 'There's one or two who'll be after him,' says Woodbine - and he knows all their weaknesses.
Oct. 25, 1973, midnight
S4E3 - Jack Point
An amateur operatic society is preparing a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and someone new is needed for the role of Jack Point - but who will break this to the veteran who's always done it?
Nov. 1, 1973, midnight
S4E4 - 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 past, and Julia now, could do this for him. But where are they now that he is alone in Battersea Park with two suitcases and no memory?
Nov. 8, 1973, midnight
S4E5 - 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 is buying the bungalow. Arthur's full of plans - GCE, garden, beach-not to mention his own "bit of an interesting diversion." But after a year the delight is beginning to tarnish.
Nov. 15, 1973, midnight
S4E6 - Private Practice
Why does Sylvia Payne , with her successful husband and luxurious home, get in such a flap about her daughter's school friend coming to visit?
Nov. 22, 1973, midnight
S4E7 - Shutdown
Bernie gets a temporary job as an electrician during a factory's annual minimal workforce period. But what secrets is Bernie hiding, and is he really all he claims?
Nov. 29, 1973, midnight
S4E8 - 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 able to start living her dream, but what happens next is not at all the paradise she has been looking forward to.
Dec. 6, 1973, midnight
S4E9 - Jingle Bells
Family Christmas, presents, drink, Christmas Eve at the club, Boxing Day football - but, among the celebrations, some hard home-truths.
Dec. 13, 1973, midnight
S4E10 - The Lonely Man's Lover
A young farmgirl begins a romance with an artist
Jan. 17, 1974, midnight
S4E11 - All Good Men
An elderly politician looks back over his career while being interviewed by a TV producer.
Jan. 31, 1974, midnight
S4E12 - Joe's Ark
A pet shop owner forsakes his religious beliefs when his daughter gets cancer
Feb. 14, 1974, midnight
S4E13 - Hot Fat
Sauna baths are supposed to relax you, but it rather depends who you meet in there.
Feb. 21, 1974, midnight
S4E14 - 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 valuable copper boiler floating in the river the two rival factions try to get at it first. The youngsters succeed, but on their way to the totter's yard they are waylaid by the adults, who take the copper off them.
March 7, 1974, midnight
S4E15 - Headmaster
Fisher is good at his job but in new circumstances that isn't enough: he has to face the risks of competition for something bigger.
March 14, 1974, midnight
S4E16 - Penda's Fen
Summer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings.
Penda's Fen is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was transmitted as part of the corporation's Play for Today series.
March 21, 1974, midnight
S4E17 - Pigeon--Hawk or Dove?
At the climax of the School Sports something went drastically wrong. Now, Wallace Pidgeon faces the contradictory demands of the bird-watching headmaster, his pupils, his pork-magnate father-in-law and his "child bride."
March 28, 1974, midnight
S4E18 - Three for the Fancy
Further adventures of three Derbyshire miners
April 11, 1974, midnight
S4E19 - 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
June 6, 1974, midnight
S4E20 - Schmoedipus
A young man persuades a woman that he is her son.
June 20, 1974, midnight
S4E21 - 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 at 17.
June 27, 1974, midnight
S4E22 - A Follower for Emily
The friendship of two residents of a retirement home ends up in marriage
July 4, 1974, midnight
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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