Play for Today

Series 2

19 episodes · Oct 13, 1971

0/19 watched

Swipe a row to mark watched · long-press to mark up to there

  • Traitor
    S2E1

    Traitor

    Oct 14, 197175m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E2

    Edna, the Inebriate Woman

    Oct 21, 197175m

    Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series on 21 October 1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, Irene Shubik produced it. The play deals with an elderly woman, Edna, who wanders through life in an alcoholic haze without a home, a job or any money. A rambling, pathetic yet defiant woman, Edna sleeps rough and begs for food and shelter and the drama follows her progress as she moves from hostel to hostel, going to a psychiatric ward and then prison along the way. Jeremy Sandford, who had previously written Cathy Come Home, researched the play by living rough himself for two weeks. A great deal of the dialogue and the incidents in the play come from the book, 'Down and Out in Britain' published by Jeremy Sandford in 1971; although the majority of the speakers in the book are male, Jeremy Sandford puts much of their speech into the mouth of the female character. The film features the only notable acting role of British actor Vivian MacKerrell, the real-life inspiration for the character Withnail in Withnail and I. At the 1972 British Academy Television Awards, the play won the Best Drama Production category, with Patricia Hayes receiving the award for Best Actress.

    Reviews
  • S2E3

    Evelyn

    Oct 28, 197175m

    Frank is worried that he's over the hill when he reaches his 38th birthday. Conversations with his wife, lover and best friend do nothing to allay his concerns.

    Reviews
  • S2E4

    O Fat White Woman

    Nov 4, 197175m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E5

    Thank You Very Much

    Nov 11, 197175m

    A social satire in which advertisers realise that having a blind beggar as the public face of charities would help make them seem more appealing to donors.

    Reviews
  • S2E6

    Michael Regan

    Nov 18, 197175m

    A man gets revenge on a pub owner

    Reviews
  • S2E7

    Skin Deep

    Nov 25, 197175m

    An awkward relationship develops between the families of a trade unionist and the regional manager when the son of the former wins a university scholarship from their employer.

    Reviews
  • S2E8

    Pal

    Dec 2, 197175m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E9

    The Pigeon Fancier

    Dec 9, 197175m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E10

    Home

    Jan 6, 197275m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E11

    Still Waters

    Jan 13, 197275m

    A marriage can be lonely when the children have left home, as Nelson and Maud find out. Maud leaves in the middle of an unloving picnic, and Nelson follows - both sharing their stories with a series of strangers.

    Reviews
  • S2E12

    Stocker's Copper

    Jan 20, 197275m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E13

    The House on Highbury Hill

    Jan 27, 197275m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E14

    In the Beautiful Caribbean

    Feb 3, 197275m

    A story about unemployment and the Black Movement in Jamaica

    Reviews
  • S2E15

    Ackerman, Dougall and Harker

    Feb 10, 197275m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E16

    The Villa Maroc

    Feb 17, 197275m

    A couple and their daughter take a trip to Africa

    Reviews
  • S2E17

    Cows

    Feb 24, 197275m

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

    Reviews
  • S2E18

    A Time to Keep

    Apr 27, 197275m
    Reviews
  • S2E19

    The Fishing Party

    Jun 1, 197275m

    The adventures of three Derbyshire miners going fishing

    Reviews