Play of the Month
Genre
Drama Anthology/Classic adaptations
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Original language
English (some translations)
No. of series
16
No. of episodes
128 (inc. 11 repeats under this title; 40 missing)
Production
Producers
Peter Luke (1965-66),
Cedric Messina (1966-77),
others
Camera setup
multi-camera/film inserts
Production company
BBC
Original release
Network
Release
19 October 1965 (1965-10-19) –
12 September 1983 (1983-09-12)
Related
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted regularly from October 1965 to May 1979, before returning for the summer seasons of 1982 and 1983. The producer most associated with the Play of the Month series was Cedric Messina. Thirteen productions were also shown previously or subsequently on BBC2 in the period 1971-73 under Stage 2. Productions were broadcast in colour from November 1969.
Of the 128 productions, 40 are missing from the archives (except for short sequences in several cases), having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. One colour production exists only as a black & white telerecording.
4/9 episodes from series one are archived, only the first episode from series two is archived, 2/11 from series three are archived, with one lost transmission surviving in partial footage, 4/9 from series four are archived, 4/8 from series five are fully archived, with one lost broadcast having partial footage, 5/9 from series six are archived, 8/11 from series seven are archived, with one episode ("The Cherry Orchard"), originally transmitted on 19 December 1971 and filmed in colour only surviving as a black and white recording, 7/10 from series eight are archived, and one lost episode having partial footage, 7/9 exist from series nine, with one lost episode having partial footage, 8/9 from series ten are archived, and every episode made from series eleven onwards is archived.
The earliest episode not in the BBC archives is series one episode three, "The Joel Brand Story", originally transmitted on 14 December 1965, and the most latest episode not available in the archives is series ten episode eight "The Shadow of a Gunman", originally transmitted on 20 April 1975.
Sourced according to the BBC Genome archive of Radio Times magazines, with archival status from TV Brain.[1][2]
Legend: AS/A = Archive status/Availability
Abbreviations: tr =Telerecording; seq = sequence(s)
UK
Transmission
date
Title
Author
Producer
Director
Performers
(non-exhaustive)
Notes
AS/A
Series One
19 Oct 1965
Luther
Alan Cooke
Alec McCowen,
Patrick Magee,
Geoffrey Bayldon,
Ray Barrett,
Jerold Wells,
Philip Stone,
Fulton Mackay,
James Cairncross,
Douglas Ditta,
Peter Purves,
Rex Robinson
Adapted from the play.
Survives
16 Nov 1965
A Passage to India
E. M. Forster (novel);
Santha Rama Rau (play);
John Maynard (adaptation)
Sybil Thorndike,
Virginia McKenna,
Zia Mohyeddin,
Cyril Cusack
Ishaq Bux,
Saeed Jaffrey,
John Bryans,
Doreen Mantle
Adapted from the play of the novel.[3] Repeated on BBC2 29 Jun 1992.
Survives
14 Dec 1965
The Joel Brand Story
Heinar Kipphardt, based on the book by Alex Weissberg; adapted from German by Rudolph Cartier
Cyril Shaps,
Zia Mohyeddin,
Anton Diffring,
Martin Benson,
Michael Godfrey,
Harold Goldblatt,
Pat Gorman,
Gertan Klauber,
Tutte Lemkow,
Peter Howell
Adapted from the book.
Lost
18 Jan 1966
Gordon of Khartoum
Robin Maugham (play);
David Benedictus (adaptation)
Alan Badel,
Charles Carson,
John Franklyn-Robbins,
Gladys Spencer,
Cyril Shaps,
Roy Stewart
Adapted from the play The Last Hero.
Lost
15 Feb 1966
Where Angels Fear to Tread
E. M. Forster (novel);
Elizabeth Hart (adaptation)
Anna Massey,
Wendy Hiller,
Alec McCowen,
Nora Swinburne,
André Lawrence
Adapted from the novel.
Lost
15 Mar 1966
Lee Oswald - Assassin
Felix Lützkendorf (play);
Rudolph Cartier &
Reed De Rouen
(adaptation)
Tony Bill,
Dora Reisser,
Robert Ayres,
John Alderson,
Donald Sutherland,
Callen Angelo,
David Bauer,
Glenn Beck,
Reed De Rouen,
Harold Goldblatt,
David Graham,
David Healy,
Paul Maxwell,
Warren Mitchell,
Shane Rimmer,
Tony Sibbald
Adapted from the play.[4]
Survives
12 Apr 1966
Make Me an Offer
Wolf Mankowitz (book);
David Heneker & Monty Norman (m/ly)
Diana Coupland,
Peter Gilmore,
Judith Bruce,
Meier Tzelniker,
James Grout,
Ivor Salter,
Patrick O'Connell,
Timothy Bateson
Lost
24 May 1966
Alan Cooke
Rod Steiger,
Betsy Blair,
Joss Ackland,
Tony Bill,
Kenneth J. Warren,
David Healy
Adapted from the play.
lost
28 Jun 1966
The Devil's Eggshell
David Weir, based on an idea by Alex Comfort.
Leonard Rossiter,
Keith Barron,
David Langton,
John Phillips,
Nicholas Pennell,
Bernard Hepton,
Burt Kwouk,
Michael Culver,
Stephanie Bidmead,
Anthony Jacobs,
Basil Moss,
Peter Copley,
Godfrey James
Survives
Series Two
27 Sep 1966
Defection! The Case of Colonel Petrov
Donald Bull, based on the book by Michael Bialoguski.
Nigel Stock,
Lee Montague,
Charles Tingwell,
Jerome Willis,
Colin Jeavons,
James Bree,
Willoughby Gray,
George Roubicek,
George Pastell,
Walter Sparrow,
Peter van Dissel
Based on the book The Petrov Story.
Survives
25 Oct 1966
Days to Come
H. G. Wells (story);
Ken Taylor (adaptation)
Dinsdale Landen,
Judi Dench,
Bernard Archard,
John Quentin,
Michael Gough,
Alan Rowe,
Michael Brennan,
Norman Mitchell,
Richard Coe,
Peter Birrel,
Yvonne Antrobus,
John Caesar,
Geoffrey Cheshire,
Martin King,
Rex Robinson
Adapted from the novella.
Lost
22 Nov 1966
Corridors of Power
C. P. Snow (novel); adapted by John Elliot
Patrick Allen,
Alec Clunes,
William Mervyn,
Sarah Lawson
Joseph Fürst,
Tenniel Evans,
John Tate,
Martin Friend,
Donald Pickering,
Kenneth Waller,
Michael Guest,
Morris Perry,
Andrew Lodge,
Eric Elliott,
Peter Thompson
Adapted from the novel.
Lost
20 Dec 1966
The Making of Jericho
John Thaw,
Neville Smith,
Pauline Collins,
Peter Jeffrey,
Wendy Richard,
Donald Gee,
John Scott Martin,
Reg Lever,
Geoffrey Hughes
Lost
14 Mar 1967
The Cabinet Papers
Maurice Edelman (book);
Anthony Steven (adaptation)
Maxine Audley,
Griffith Jones,
Richard Leech,
Gerald Sim,
Richard Vernon,
Llewellyn Rees,
David Garth,
John Bryans,
Iréna Mayeska,
Alan Haywood,
John Baker
Adapted from the book.
Lost
Series Three
15 Oct 1967
Girls in Uniform
Christa Winsloe (play);
Barbara Burnham (translation);
Derek Ingrey (adaptation)
Virginia McKenna,
Sonia Dresdel,
Rachel Kempson,
Francesca Annis,
Anna Calder-Marshall,
Petra Markham,
Jan Chappell,
Sally Faulkner,
Stephanie Bidmead
Adapted from the play/film. Repeated 6 Jul 1969.
Lost
12 Nov 1967
The Moon and Sixpence
W. Somerset Maugham (novel);
Clive Exton (adaptation)
Charles Gray,
Ronald Hines,
Barry Justice,
Sylvia Kay,
Elisabeth Welch
Adapted from the novel.
Lost
3 Dec 1967
Romeo and Juliet
Alan Cooke
Hywel Bennett,
Kika Markham,
John Gielgud,
Thora Hird,
Michael Gambon,
Ronald Pickup,
Charles Kay,
Edward Burnham,
Stephanie Bidmead,
Brian Badcoe,
David Griffin,
Michael Godfrey,
Derrick Gilbert
Adapted from the play.
Survives
21 Jan 1968
The Parachute
Alan Badel,
Jill Bennett,
John Osborne,
Isabel Dean,
Esmond Knight,
Barry Jackson,
Norman Jones,
Royston Farrell,
Stephen Whittaker,
Drewe Henley,
John J. Carney
Repeated as The Wednesday Play 6 Aug 1969, on BBC2 1 Sep 1976 and 29 Nov 1980, and on BBC1 23 Jun 1988.
Survives
11 Feb 1968
Cyrano de Bergerac
Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker
Eric Porter,
Peter Jeffrey,
Suzanne Neve,
Simon Brent,
Jerome Willis,
Harold Innocent,
Michael Godfrey,
Gertan Klauber,
Joseph Greig,
Steve Peters
Adapted from the play.
Lost[7]
17 Mar 1968
Ghosts
Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer
Celia Johnson,
Tom Courtenay,
Donald Wolfit,
Fulton Mackay,
Vickery Turner
Adapted from the play.
Lost
14 Apr 1968
The Corn Is Green
Emlyn Williams (play);
Harry Green (adaptation)
Philip Dudley
Wendy Hiller,
Ronald Fraser,
Stephanie Bidmead,
Glyn Houston
John Ogwen,
Glyn Owen,
Mona Bruce
Adapted from the play
Lost
12 May 1968
The Tempest
Michael Redgrave,
Keith Michell,
Jonathan Dennis,
Ronald Pickup,
Tessa Wyatt,
John Woodvine,
Donald Eccles,
James Cairncross,
Llewellyn Rees
Adapted from the play.
Lost
9 Jun 1968
The Old Ladies
Rodney Ackland (play);
Hugh Walpole (source novel)
William Slater
Flora Robson,
Athene Seyler,
Katina Paxinou
Adapted from the play of the novel.
Lost
7 Jul 1968
Man and Superman
Eric Porter,
Maggie Smith,
Adrienne Corri,
Rachel Kempson,
Cyril Luckham,
Angharad Rees,
Tony Selby,
Godfrey Quigley
Adapted from the play.
seq
exist
4 Aug 1968
Hay Fever
Celia Johnson,
Anna Massey,
Richard Briers,
Dennis Price,
Charles Gray,
Hazel Hughes,
Ian McKellen,
Vickery Turner,
Lucy Fleming
Adapted from the play. Repeated 3 Aug 1969.
Lost
Series Four
1 Sep 1968
St. Joan
Janet Suzman,
Hugh Walters,
Glyn Owen,
Richard Hampton,
Murray Melvin,
John Bryans,
Michael Craig,
Maurice Denham,
Glyn Owen,
Ronald Pickup,
Jack Watson,
Philip Bond,
Jerold Wells
Adapted from the play. Repeated 8 Jun 1969.
Lost
13 Oct 1968
The Male Animal
James Thurber and Elliott Nugent.
Lee Montague,
Anthony Perkins,
Toby Robins,
Alan Gifford,
Jumoke Debayo,
Christopher Benjamin
Adapted from the play.
Lost
17 Nov 1968
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov, translated by George Calderon
Alan Cooke
Pamela Brown,
Robert Stephens,
Gemma Jones,
Robin Phillips,
Niall MacGinnis,
Michael Gambon
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Theatre 625, 27 Mar 1966.
Survives
24 Dec 1968
Waters of the Moon
Athene Seyler,
Vivien Merchant,
Kathleen Harrison,
Michael Gwynn,
Roland Culver,
Margaret Leighton
Adapted from the play.
Lost
12 Jan 1969
Mary, Queen of Scots
Friedrich Schiller, translated by Stephen Spender
Virginia McKenna,
Pamela Brown,
Derek Godfrey,
Peter Cellier,
Fanny Rowe,
Walter Fitzgerald,
John Harvey,
Bernard Hepton,
Tony Steedman
Adapted from the play Mary Stuart.
Lost
9 Feb 1969
Maigret at Bay
Georges Simenon (novel);
Donald Bull (adaptation)
William Slater
Rupert Davies,
Helen Shingler,
Neville Jason,
Gillian Hills,
Yootha Joyce,
Clive Cazes,
Tony Harwood,
Geoffrey Morris,
Martin Miller,
Hans De Vries,
Donald Pickering,
Murray Evans,
Kenneth Benda,
Ann Tirard,
Geoffrey Cheshire,
Robin Scott
Adapted from the novel Maigret se défend.
Survives
2 Mar 1969
Relatively Speaking
Celia Johnson,
Donald Sinden,
John Stride,
Judy Cornwell,
Adapted from the play.
Lost
13 Apr 1969
Julius Caesar
Robert Stephens,
Frank Finlay,
Maurice Denham,
Edward Woodward,
Anthony Bate,
Alan Rowe,
Jon Rollason,
John Alderton,
John Abineri,
Terence De Marney,
Christopher Guard,
Christopher Timothy,
Trevor Martin,
Brian Vaughan,
Christopher Benjamin,
Richard Coe,
Christopher Denham,
Christopher Timothy,
Stuart Wilson,
Andrew Johns,
Duncan Preston
Adapted from the play. Repeated 5 Jul 1970.
Survives
11 May 1969
An Ideal Husband
Jeremy Brett,
Keith Michell,
Margaret Leighton,
Dinah Sheridan,
Susan Hampshire,
Penelope Lee,
Erik Chitty
Adapted from the play. Repeated 26 Jul 1970.
Survives[8]
Series Five
12 Oct 1969
The Heiress
Ruth and Augustus Goetz, from a novel by Henry James
Vincent Price,
Eileen Atkins,
John Stride,
Lally Bowers,
Shirley Dixon,
David Allister
Adapted from the novel Washington Square.
Lost
23 Nov 1969
Charley's Aunt
Brandon Thomas (play);
Richard Waring (adaptation)
Danny La Rue,
Ronnie Barker,
Coral Browne,
Dinsdale Landen,
John Standing,
Robert Coote,
Royce Mills,
Reginald Barratt,
George Giles
Adapted from the play. Co-production between the BBC and Keep Films. Repeated 30 Aug 1970.
Survives
14 Dec 1969
The Marquise
Celia Johnson,
Philip Latham,
Richard Vernon,
David Griffin,
Ciaran Madden,
Nigel Terry,
Wensley Pithey
Adapted from the play.
Lost
18 Jan 1970
Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen
Eileen Atkins,
Janet Suzman,
Michele Dotrice,
Anthony Hopkins,
Sarah Badel,
Ronald Hines,
Joss Ackland,
Donald Pickering,
Michael Bryant,
Jill Bennett,
Erik Chitty,
Christopher Timothy
Adapted from the play. Repeated 22 Aug 1971.
Survives[9]
15 Feb 1970
In Good King Charles's Golden Days
John Gielgud,
Michael Craig,
Maurice Denham,
Derek Godfrey,
Joan Greenwood,
Felicity Hain,
Barbara Jefford,
Corin Redgrave,
Joyce Redman,
Athene Seyler,
Elisabeth Bergner
Adapted from the play. Repeated 25 Jul 1971.
Lost
15 Mar 1970
Separate Tables
Terence Rattigan (play);
Hugh Whitemore (adaptation)
Alan Cooke
Eric Porter,
Annette Crosbie,
Geraldine McEwan,
Robert Harris,
Cathleen Nesbitt,
Hazel Hughes
Adapted from the plays.
Survives[10]
19 Apr 1970
Howards End
E. M. Forster, adapted by Pauline MacAulay
Leo Genn,
Rachel Kempson,
Glenda Jackson,
Andrew Ray,
Geraldine Sherman,
Christopher Gable,
Tessa Shaw,
Daphne Heard,
Mary Healey,
John Tordoff,
Caroline Hunt
Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 2 Dec 1970.
seq
exist
17 May 1970
The Rivals
Andrew Cruickshank,
Beryl Reid,
Jeremy Brett,
Jennie Linden,
John Alderton,
T. P. McKenna,
Susan Penhaligon,
Lynn Farleigh
Adapted from the play.
Survives
Series Six
20 Sep 1970
Macbeth
Eric Porter,
Janet Suzman,
John Thaw,
John Woodvine,
John Alderton,
Michael Goodliffe,
Tony Caunter,
Sylvia Coleridge,
Daphne Heard,
Hilary Mason,
Geoffrey Palmer,
Wolfe Morris,
Alan Rowe,
Donald Douglas,
John Bailey,
David Spenser,
Leon Eagles,
Christopher Guard
Paul Greenhalgh
Adapted from the play. Repeated 20 Jun 1971.
Survives
18 Oct 1970
Ross
Terence Rattigan (play);
William Emms (adaptation)
Ian McKellen,
Charles Gray,
Barrie Ingham,
John Bennett,
Martin Jarvis,
Edward Fox,
Brian Rawlinson,
Michael Robbins,
David Spenser,
Kim Fortune,
Hugh Walters,
Simon Lack,
Robert Luckham,
Victor Pemberton,
David Griffin,
Richard Hampton
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 28 Jul 1971.
Lost
8 Nov 1970
Uncle Vanya
Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen
Freddie Jones,
Anthony Hopkins,
Ann Bell,
Roland Culver,
Jenifer Armitage,
John Baskcomb,
Richard Beale,
Stacey Tendeter
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 11 Aug 1971.
Survives[9]
24 Dec 1970
Five Finger Exercise
Margaret Lockwood,
Paul Rogers,
Gary Bond,
Sally Thomsett,
Timothy Dalton
Adapted from the play.
Lost
3 Jan 1971
Act of Betrayal
William Slater
Zena Walker,
Mary Wimbush,
Michael Gwynn,
Stanley Meadows,
Deborah Lavin,
Alan MacNaughtan,
Gertan Klauber,
Nicholas Smith,
Jay Neill
Repeated 23 Mar 1972.
Survives
21 Feb 1971
Candida
Alan Cooke
George Baker,
Jeremy Bulloch,
Timothy Dalton,
Geraldine McEwan,
Clive Revill
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 14 Jul 1971.
Lost
21 Mar 1971
The Wild Duck
Henrik Ibsen (play);
Max Faber (adaptation)
Denholm Elliott,
Derek Godfrey,
Mark Dignam,
Rosemary Leach,
John Robinson,
Jenny Agutter,
Stephanie Bidmead,
Christopher Benjamin,
Brian Vaughan
Adapted from the play. Repeated 19 Mar 1972.
Survives[11]
25 Apr 1971
Don Juan in Hell
Michael Hordern,
Christopher Plummer,
Michael Redgrave,
Vivien Merchant
Adapted from the play.
Lost
23 May 1971
Platonov
Anton Chekhov, translated by Dmitri Makaroff, adapted by John Elliot
Rex Harrison,
Patsy Byrne,
Siân Phillips,
Clive Revill,
Donald Eccles,
Geoffrey Bayldon,
Willoughby Goddard,
Stacey Tendeter,
John Gill,
Kevin Stoney,
Neil McCarthy
Adapted from the play. Repeated 8 Mar 1973.
Survives[9]
Series Seven
26 Sep 1971
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Eileen Atkins,
Robert Stephens,
Lynn Redgrave,
Amanda Barrie,
Jeremy Clyde,
Edward Fox,
Michael Gambon,
Eleanor Bron,
Ronnie Barker,
Paul Henry,
John Laurie,
Clifford Rose,
John Glyn-Jones,
Pam Ferris,
Ken Parry
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 7 Aug 1973.
Survives
24 Oct 1971
Rasputin
Alan Cooke
Robert Stephens,
Peter Barkworth,
Isabel Dean,
Jonathan Moore,
Lally Bowers,
T. P. McKenna,
Andrew Robertson,
Reg Lye,
Leonard Trolley,
Derrick Gilbert,
John Savident,
James Bree,
Harry Waters
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 17 Oct 1972.
Survives
28 Nov 1971
Tartuffe
Molière (play)
Richard Wilbur (translator/adaption)
Michael Hordern,
Michael Craig,
John Standing,
David Nettheim,
Mary Morris,
Patricia Routledge
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 9 Oct 1973.
Lost
19 Dec 1971
The Cherry Orchard
Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen
Celia Johnson,
Edward Woodward,
Jenny Agutter,
Ray Brooks,
Christopher Gable,
Gemma Jones,
Cyril Shaps,
David Spenser,
Mary Wimbush
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 24 Oct 1972.
bw 16mm
tr only
23 Jan 1972
Summer and Smoke
Lee Remick,
David Hedison,
Barry Morse,
Betsy Blair,
Wendy Miller,
Bruce Clark
Adapted from the play.
Lost
20 Feb 1972
Stephen D
James Joyce, adapted by Hugh Leonard
Donal McCann,
James Aspinall,
Pamela Duncan,
Martin Dempsey,
Pauline Delaney,
David Kelly,
Aidan Murphy,
Brendan Price,
Brenda Fricker
Adapted from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Stephen Hero.[12] Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 31 Oct 1972.
Survives
16 Apr 1972
The Merchant of Venice
Maggie Smith,
Frank Finlay,
Charles Gray,
Christopher Gable,
Robert Harris,
Malcolm Stoddard,
Nerys Hughes,
David Spenser,
John Moffatt,
Alan Tucker,
Ken Parry
Adapted from the play.
Survives[13]
14 May 1972
Lady Windermere's Fan
Coral Browne,
Judy Geeson,
Liza Goddard,
Derek Godfrey,
Charles Gray,
James Villiers,
Judy Geeson,
Siân Phillips
Adapted from the play.
Lost
11 Jun 1972
The Playboy of the Western World
John Hurt,
Sinéad Cusack,
Pauline Delany,
Joe Lynch,
Kevin Flood,
Gerard Murphy
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 21 Jul 1971.
Survives
23 Jul 1972
She Stoops to Conquer
Tom Courtenay,
Thora Hird,
Juliet Mills,
Ralph Richardson,
Elaine Taylor,
Terry Bale,
Esmond Knight,
Geoffrey Bateman
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 4 Aug 1971.
Survives
13 Aug 1972
Trelawny of the 'Wells'
John Alderton,
Graham Crowden,
Lally Bowers,
Roland Culver,
Ian Ogilvy,
Anthony Ainley,
Lila Kaye,
John Dearth,
John Cater,
Godfrey James,
Stephanie Turner,
Henry Woolf
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 7 Jul 1971.
Survives
Series Eight
15 Sep 1972
The Millionairess
William Slater
Maggie Smith,
James Villiers,
Peter Barkworth,
Charles Gray,
Tom Baker,
Priscilla Morgan,
Avril Angers,
John Garrie,
Donald Pickering
Adapted from the play. Repeated 13 Jun 1973.
20 Oct 1972
Hedda Gabler
Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer
Janet Suzman,
Ian McKellen,
Jane Asher,
Brendan Barry,
Dorothy Reynolds,
Tom Bell
Adapted from the play. Repeated 14 Jul 1974 and on BBC2 5 Nov 1986.
Survives[15]
24 Nov 1972
King Oedipus
Sophocles, translated by E. F. Watling
Ian Holm,
Sheila Allen,
Alan Webb,
Anthony Bate,
Sydney Tafler,
George Coulouris,
Edward Kelsey,
Alan Rowe,
Ahmed Khalil,
Philip Ryan,
Sidney Kean
Adapted from the play Oedipus Rex. Repeated on BBC2 2 Jul 1974.
Survives
20 Dec 1972
The Magistrate
Michael Hordern,
Geraldine McEwan,
Peter Firth,
Leonard Rossiter,
Anna Calder-Marshall,
Barrie Ingham,
Jan Francis,
Dudley Jones
Adapted from the play. Repeated 9 Jun 1974.
Lost
7 Jan 1973
The Adventures of Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes (novel);
Hugh Whitemore (adaptation)
Rex Harrison,
Frank Finlay,
Rosemary Leach,
Bernard Hepton,
Ronald Lacey,
Roger Delgado,
Robert Eddison,
Paul Whitsun-Jones,
John Hollis,
Walter Sparrow
Adapted from the novel. Co-production between the BBC and Universal Pictures Television.
Survives
16 Feb 1973
Candide
Voltaire, translated and adapted by James MacTaggart
Frank Finlay,
Ian Ogilvy,
Emrys James,
Clifton Jones,
Angela Richards,
Kathleen Helme,
Leonard Maguire,
Jerome Willis,
John Woodnutt,
Johnnie Wade
Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 19 Mar 1974.
Survives
15 Apr 1973
A Room with a View
E. M. Forster (novel);
Pauline MacAulay (adaptation)
Judy Geeson,
Charles Gray,
Tom Chadbon,
John Sharp,
Robert Coote,
Lally Bowers,
Michael Guest
Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 16 Jul 1974.
seq
exist
16 May 1973
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Bertolt Brecht, translated by Eric Bentley
Leo McKern,
Sara Kestelman,
Fanny Carby,
Donald Gee,
Peter Halliday,
Terrence Hardiman,
Bernard Hepton,
Peter Jeffrey,
Patrick Magee,
Declan Mulholland,
James Mellor,
Edmund Pegge,
Robert Powell,
John Thaw,
Linda Thorson
Adapted from the play.
Lost
18 Jul 1973
The Duchess of Malfi
Eileen Atkins,
Michael Bryant,
Charles Kay,
T. P. McKenna,
Gary Bond,
Jerome Willis,
Michael Godfrey,
Robert James,
Roy Evans,
Michael Lynch,
Talfryn Thomas,
Tim Curry,
Nick Brimble,
Jack Galloway,
Dallas Cavell,
Peter Spraggon
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 10 Oct 1972.
Survives
22 Aug 1973
Peer Gynt
Henrik Ibsen, English version by Norman Ginsbury
Alan Cooke
Colin Blakely,
Wendy Hiller,
Francesca Annis,
Ray Barrett,
Aubrey Morris,
Lois Baxter,
Dudley Foster,
John Franklyn-Robbins,
Terence Bayler,
Helen Blatch,
Claire Davenport,
Elroy Josephs,
Andrew Lane,
Mark McManus
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 26 Sep 1972.
Survives
Series Nine
16 Sep 1973
The Love-Girl and the Innocent
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by Nicholas Bethell and David Burg
David Leland,
Gabrielle Lloyd,
Richard Durden,
Patrick Stewart,
Allan Surtees,
Barry Jackson,
John Kane,
Alan Gerrard,
Forbes Collins,
Reg Pritchard,
Eric Mason,
Edwin Finn,
John Herrington,
George Cormack,
Trevor Lawrence,
Carl Forgione,
Brian Grellis
Adapted from the play. Repeated 11 Aug 1974.
Survives
21 Oct 1973
The Common
Vivien Merchant,
Peter Jeffrey,
Dennis Waterman,
Gwen Taylor,
Shelagh Fraser,
Trevor Baxter,
Tony Sibbald
Repeated 8 Jun 1975.
Survives
18 Nov 1973
The Recruiting Officer
Ian McKellen,
Prunella Ransome,
Jane Asher,
Brian Blessed,
Bryan Marshall,
John Moffatt,
John Welsh,
John Flint,
Charles Gray,
Eileen Helsby,
Mitzi McKenzie,
Graham Weston
Adapted from the play.
seq
exist
16 Dec 1973
Pygmalion
James Villiers,
Lynn Redgrave,
Ronald Fraser,
Emrys James,
Lally Bowers,
Angela Baddeley,
Jon Rollason,
Sheila Grant,
John Cannon
Adapted from the play.
Survives[14]
20 Jan 1974
Thomas Middleton &
William Rowley
Stanley Baker,
Helen Mirren,
Brian Cox,
Alan Webb,
T.P. McKenna,
Frances Tomelty,
Tony Selby,
Susan Penhaligon,
Christopher Saul
Adapted from the play.
Survives[16]
17 Feb 1974
The Importance of Being Earnest
Michael Jayston,
Julian Holloway,
Gemma Jones,
Celia Bannerman,
Coral Browne,
Lally Bowers,
Richard Pearson,
Arthur Hewlett
Adapted from the play.
Survives[17]
17 Mar 1974
The Deep Blue Sea
Virginia McKenna,
Peter Egan,
Stephen Murray,
Vladek Sheybal,
Joseph Blatchley,
John Moffatt,
Jon Croft
Adapted from the play. Repeated 27 Jul 1975.
Lost
21 Apr 1974
Mrs Warren's Profession
Coral Browne,
Penelope Wilton,
Robert Powell,
James Grout,
Richard Pearson
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 3 Oct 1972.
Survives[14]
19 May 1974
The Skin Game
William Slater
Paul Rogers,
Barbara Jefford,
Bernard Lee,
Judy Geeson,
John Collin,
Kate Nicholls,
Simon MacCorkindale,
David Garfield,
Edward Evans
Adapted from the play.
Survives
Series Ten
8 Sep 1974
The Linden Tree
Andrew Cruikshank,
Margaret Tyzack,
Gary Bond,
Joanna Van Gyseghem,
Marilyn Taylerson,
Simon Lack,
Michael Craze
Adapted from the play. Repeated 15 Aug 1976.
Survives
24 Oct 1974
Electra
Sophocles, translated by E. F. Watling
Eileen Atkins,
Rosalie Crutchley,
Julian Glover,
Derek Godfrey,
Georgina Hale,
Susan Richards,
Martin Shaw
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 15 Sep 1976.
Survives
17 Nov 1974
The Wood Demon
Anton Chekhov, translated by Ronald Hingley
Ian Holm,
Francesca Annis
Ronald Hines,
Ronald Fraser,
Donal McCann,
Angela Pleasence,
Cyril Luckham,
Geoffrey Bayldon,
Vickery Turner,
Daphne Heard,
Jay Neill
Adapted from the play.
Survives[9]
27 Nov 1974
Daniel Defoe (novel);
James MacTaggart (adaptation)
Stanley Baker,
Ram John Holder,
Jerome Willis
Survives
19 Jan 1975
The Apple Cart
Nigel Davenport,
Helen Mirren,
Peter Barkworth,
Bill Fraser,
Trevor Baxter,
Beryl Reid,
Reg Pritchard,
Simon Lack
Adapted from the play.
16 Feb 1975
The School for Scandal
Jeremy Brett,
Pauline Collins,
Edward Fox,
Bernard Lee,
Arthur Lowe,
Andrew Robertson,
Colin Jeavons,
Russell Hunter,
John Rhys-Davies,
Richard Kane,
David Kincaid,
Willie Shearer
Adapted from the play.
Survives
23 Mar 1975
King Lear
Michael Hordern,
Sarah Badel,
Angela Down,
Donald Gee,
Michael Jayston,
Frank Middlemass,
Anthony Nicholls,
Ronald Pickup,
Penelope Wilton,
Benjamin Whitrow,
Glen Murphy,
David Neal,
Alec Sabin,
David Kincaid,
Terry Wright
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 9 Mar 1977.
Survives
20 Apr 1975
The Shadow of a Gunman
Hilary Minster,
Mark Moss,
Phyllis McMahon,
Isolde Cazelet,
Michael O'Donoughue,
Keith Steven
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 25 Sep 1973.
Lost
18 May 1975
Strife
Colin Blakely,
Clifford Evans,
Angela Down,
Nerys Hughes,
Trevor Cooper,
John Bennett,
Mostyn Evans,
Hayden Jones,
John Ogwen,
Aubrey Richards,
Clifford Rose,
Hugh Walters,
George Waring
Adapted from the play.
Survives
Series Eleven
28 Sep 1975
Chips with Everything
David Daker,
Lloyd McGuire,
Terence Budd,
Tim Woodward,
Karl Johnson,
Donald Hewlett,
David Troughton,
Terry Bale,
Leslie Schofield
Adapted from the play.
Survives
2 Nov 1975
The Little Minister
Ian Ogilvy,
Helen Mirren,
Peter Barkworth,
Bill Simpson,
Anne Kristen,
Nicholas Jones,
David Bailie,
John Moffatt,
Simon Lack,
Robert James
Adapted from the play.
Survives[16]
14 Dec 1975
Love's Labour's Lost
Martin Shaw,
David Gwillim,
Martin C. Thurley,
Jeremy Brett,
James Berwick,
Terence Budd,
Maurice Denham,
Andrew Harding,
Victoria Plucknett,
Lorna Heilbron,
Clifford Rose,
Jan Francis,
Tony Haygarth,
Hugh Ross,
David Bailie
Adapted from the play.
Survives
29 Dec 1975
When We Are Married
Stuart Wilson,
John Stratton,
Beryl Reid,
Eric Porter,
Patricia Routledge,
Richard Pearson,
Thora Hird,
Mel Martin,
Kenneth Waller,
Ronnie Barker,
Sheila Reid
Adapted from the play.
Survives
25 Jan 1976
Trilby
George du Maurier (novel);
Hugh Whitemore (adaptation)
Alan Badel,
Sinéad Cusack,
Stuart Fox,
Michael Anthony,
Rosalie Crutchley,
Bruce Purchase,
Chris Gannon
Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 14 Sep 1977.
Survives
29 Feb 1976
Loyalties
Edward Fox,
Charles Gray,
Polly Adams,
John Carson,
Peter Dyneley,
Dinah Sheridan,
Erik Chitty,
Roger Hammond,
Pat Gorman,
Andrew Lane,
Steve Plytas,
Geoffrey Palmer
Adapted from the play.
Survives
18 Apr 1976
The Chester Mystery Plays
Maurice Hussey (adaptation)
Tom Courtenay,
Michael Hordern,
Alun Armstrong,
Hilda Braid,
Keith Chegwin,
Kenneth Colley,
Paul Copley,
Christopher Guard,
Brian Glover,
Tony Haygarth,
David Jackson,
Kevin McNally,
John Normington,
Terry Scully,
Nina Thomas,
Raymond Westwell
Adapted from the cycle of Chester Mystery Plays. Repeated 7 Aug - 11 Sep 1977.
Survives
16 May 1976
French Without Tears
Nigel Havers,
David Robb,
Anthony Andrews,
Barbara Kellerman
Vernon Dobtcheff,
Michael Gambon,
Nicola Pagett
Adapted from the play.
Survives[10]
Series Twelve
19 Sep 1976
Oscar Wilde
John Osborne (play adaptation)
John Gielgud,
Peter Firth,
Mark Dignam,
Jeremy Brett,
Nan Munro,
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies,
Michael Barrington,
Judi Bowker,
Nicholas Ball,
Lawrence Davidson,
Reginald Barratt,
Paul Greenhalgh
Adapted from the novel.
Survives[8]
10 Oct 1976
London Assurance
Dion Boucicault (play)
Gerald Savory (adaptation)
Ronald Wilson
Anthony Andrews,
Judy Cornwell,
Jan Francis,
Charles Gray,
Dinsdale Landen,
Clifford Rose,
Nigel Stock,
James Bree,
George Raistrick,
Nat Pearn
Adapted from the play.
Survives
21 Nov 1976
Look Back in Anger
James Hazeldine,
Ciaran Madden,
Neil Daglish,
Chrissy Iddon,
Thorley Walters
Adapted from the play.
Survives
16 Jan 1977
The Winslow Boy
Jonathan Scott-Taylor,
Simon Chandler,
Ann Beach,
Eric Porter,
Diana Fairfax
Michele Dotrice,
Kenneth Waller
Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 10 May 1978.
Survives[10]
13 Feb 1977
The Country Wife
Helen Mirren,
Bernard Cribbins,
Anthony Andrews,
Amanda Barrie,
Adrienne Corri,
Ciaran Madden,
John Nettleton,
Michael Cochrane,
Phil Daniels
Adapted from the play.
Survives[16]
13 Mar 1977
The Ambassadors
Henry James, dramatised by Denis Constanduros
Paul Scofield,
Lee Remick,
Delphine Seyrig,
David Huffman,
Gayle Hunnicutt,
Don Fellows,
William Hootkins
Adapted from the novel.
Survives
19 May 1977
Heartbreak House
John Gielgud,
Siân Phillips,
Barbara Murray,
Daniel Massey,
Lesley-Anne Down,
David Waller,
Donald Pickering,
Barry Jackson
Adapted from the play.
Survives[14]
Series Thirteen
30 Oct 1977
You Never Can Tell
Robert Powell,
Kika Markham,
Ernest Clark,
Warren Clarke,
Cyril Cusack,
Patrick Magee,
Judy Parfitt,
Kate Nicholls
Adapted from the play.
Survives[14]
4 Dec 1977
Waste
Paul Daneman,
Hannah Gordon,
Joyce Carey,
Heather Chasen,
Annette Crosbie,
Robert Lang,
André Morell,
Stephen Murray,
Donald Pickering,
Alan Rowe,
Michael Cashman
Adapted from the play.
Survives
15 Jan 1978
Flint
John Le Mesurier,
Julie Covington,
Peter Bowles,
Dandy Nichols,
Beryl Reid,
Philip Stone,
John Bailey
Adapted from the play.
Survives
5 Feb 1978
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov, translated by Ronald Hingley
Anthony Bate,
Zoe Caldwell,
Michael Gambon,
Georgina Hale,
Stephen Rea,
Julia Schofield,
Alan Webb,
John Kane,
Allan Surtees
Adapted from the play.
Survives[9]
5 Mar 1978
The Sea
Judy Campbell,
Mark Dignam,
Victor Spinetti
Adapted from the play.
Survives
2 Apr 1978
The Beaux' Stratagem
Brenda Bruce,
Tom Conti,
Estelle Kohler,
Ian Ogilvy,
David Waller,
Julie Peasgood,
Jay Neill,
Zoë Wanamaker,
Malcolm Terris,
Tony Haygarth,
Freddie Jones,
Souad Faress,
Norman Rodway,
Ray Callaghan
Adapted from the play.
Survives
23 Apr 1978
Danton's Death
Georg Büchner (play)
Alan Clarke &
Stuart Griffiths (adaptation)
Norman Rodway,
Ian Richardson,
Peter Gordon,
Katherine Fahey,
Felicity Gibson,
Don Henderson,
Michael Bilton,
Nigel Lambert,
Michael Pennington,
John Woodnutt,
Zoë Wanamaker
Adapted from the play.
Survives
Series Fourteen
26 Nov 1978
Kean
Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Frank Hauser.
Anthony Hopkins,
Neville Phillips
Sara Kestelman,
Adrienne Corri,
Barrie Ingham,
Robert Stephens,
Frank Middlemass,
Cherie Lunghi,
Hugh Walters,
George Tovey,
Harry Fielder
Adapted from Sartre's play about Edmund Kean.
Survives
14 Jan 1979
Marya
Isaac Babel, translated by Michael Glenny and Harold Shckman, adapted by Christopher Hampton
Trevor Peacock,
Paddy Joyce,
Clive Revill,
Niall Padden,
Michael Byrne,
Lisa Harrow,
Paul Rogers,
Susan Tracy,
Paul Freeman
Adapted from the play.
Survives
4 Feb 1979
The Voysey Inheritance
Jeremy Irons,
Brewster Mason,
Jeremy Child,
Julie Covington,
Dulcie Gray,
Barbara Leigh-Hunt
Adapted from the play.
Survives
4 Mar 1979
Hello and Goodbye
Adapted from the play.
Survives
8 Apr 1979
The Wings of the Dove
Henry James (novel);
Denis Constanduros (adaptation)
Elizabeth Spriggs,
Betsy Blair,
John Castle,
Suzanne Bertish,
Lisa Eichhorn,
Rupert Frazer,
Alan Rowe,
Gino Melvazzi
Adapted from the novel.
Survives
6 May 1979
Design for Living
Rula Lenska,
Clive Arrindell,
John Steiner,
John Bluthal,
Dandy Nichols
Adapted from the play.
Survives[19]
1 Jul 1979
The Kitchen
Ann Kirch
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Play of the Week, 2 Nov 1977.
Survives
Series Fifteen
24 May 1982
I Have Been Here Before
James Ormerod
Herbert Lom,
Anthony Valentine,
Lorna Heilbron,
Leslie Sands,
James Griffiths
Adapted from the play.
Survives
21 Jun 1982
On Approval
Penelope Keith,
Jeremy Brett,
Lindsay Duncan,
Benjamin Whitrow
Adapted from the play. First shown 27 Dec 1980.
Survives
19 Jul 1982
Little Eyolf
Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer
Anthony Hopkins,
Diana Rigg,
Peggy Ashcroft,
Emma Piper,
Charles Dance,
Timothy Stark
Adapted from the play.
23 Aug 1982
The Critic
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (play);
Don Taylor (additional dialogue)
John Gielgud,
Hywel Bennett,
Nigel Hawthorne,
Rosemary Leach,
Norman Rodway,
Alan Badel,
Anna Massey,
Rodney Bewes,
Christopher Biggins
Adapted from the play.
Survives
20 Sep 1982
The White Guard
Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Michael Glenny
Michael Pennington,
Laura Davenport,
Nigel Havers,
Charles Keating,
John Shrapnel,
Charles Kay,
Gordon Gostelow,
Michael Graham Cox,
Michael N. Harbour,
Martin Clunes,
Glen Murphy,
John Ringham,
Oliver Smith,
Walter Sparrow,
John Abineri,
Andrew Burt,
Geoffrey Beevers
Adapted from the novel.
Survives
Series Sixteen
22 May 1983
Dangerous Corner
James Ormerod
Anthony Valentine,
Sarah Badel,
David Robb,
Judi Bowker,
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Elvi Hale,
Susan Fleetwood
Adapted from the play.
Survives
13 Jun 1983
The Gay Lord Quex
Hannah Gordon,
Evelyn Laye,
Rosalind Ayres,
Julian Holloway,
Lucy Gutteridge,
Anton Rodgers,
Geraldine Alexander
Adapted from the play.
Survives
11 Jul 1983
The Misanthrope
Michael Simpson
Ian Holm,
Cherie Lunghi,
Nigel Hawthorne,
Annette Crosbie,
Michael Kitchen
Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC1 under Festival, 27 Jan 1980.
Survives
12 Sep 1983
Infidelities
Pierre de Marivaux, translated by David Cohen
Charlotte Rampling,
Robin Askwith,
Victor Spinetti,
James Aubrey,
Leonie Mellinger
Adapted from the play Double Inconstancy
Survives
Other BBC drama anthology series include:
