Play for Today

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.

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.

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.

A rebellious woman moves to a retirement village, butting heads with quirky residents and strict rules. When her old flame resurfaces, her plan to get evicted evolves into confronting past secrets and finding new beginnings.

It's a story about Edith and Arthur Thistle – for fifty-three years, they have managed to get by—never rich, never extravagant, but always together. That all changes in an instant when they win fourteen million pounds in the lottery. Arthur dreams of spending big, finally tasting the high life. But before the celebrations can begin, Edith drops a bombshell: she wants a divorce.

A famous comedian is drawn into a nightmare when a bloodied young man collapses at his doorstep. An act of compassion twists into psychological terror.

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

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.

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.

Two provincial newspaper reporters - one a young idealist starting out on his career, the other an embittered man who previously wrote for a failed national daily - swap views.

The story of a man serving a 30-year prison sentence for killing a cop

A story about the origin of the Stormont state

Mrs Palfrey tries hard to be accepted by the other residents at the Claremont. But then she meets Ludo and a real friendship begins.

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.

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?

About a strike in a textile factory, based on a true story

After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is with the occasional shopkeeper and young Rachel, who delivers her papers. For Rachel, her visits to Olwen are half adventure, half honest friendship. But they also mean a time to 'put aside childish things.'

A married barrister's life begins to unravel when it seems that his high-strung mistress may reveal all.

An author tells an old school chum that he is about to publish a novel revealing their old relationship.

Moss is a miser whose only love is his grandson. Then tragedy strikes, and Moss is "reborn."

A story exploring the emotions of a boy undrgoing the traditional Jewish ceremony

Like alcoholism, gambling is a disease. Ches, a compulsive gambler, is sent for medical help. A wonder drug perhaps? Or hypnosis maybe? Ches finds that his psychiatrist has other ideas.

Harry Marcus is a former welterweight champion mourning the loss of the past and dreaming of a return to the glory years of boxing. When a squatter moves in next door, does he have what it takes to fulfil Harry's dreams?

A worker discovers a radioactive leak at the nuclear power plant where she works and tries to make it public knowledge.

Mike and his commune have a performance of their musical theatre "Diver" at the local pub, and ITV's Beth Bailey is coming along to see it. But will Beth's visions for the play as an incitement to revolution please everyone?

Comedy of manners focusing on the bourgeois affectation and sexual frustration of a young married couple. Abigail's mother Sue is invited to take refuge from her teenage daughter's party with a neighbouring couple, Beverly and Laurence. They have also invited Angela and Tony, new arrivals in the street. Beverly plies her guests with alcohol as Sue becomes increasingly withdrawn and embarrassed by the pretentious goings-on. Slowly, marital tensions emerge and the evening is breaking up in disarray.

The story of two Soviet dissidents living in London and slowly coming apart under the strain of his drinking and her enforced separation from her child

George, a black South African, finds it hard to settle down in London after his experiences in South Africa.

A young man is declared a hero when he catches a burglar until it's discovered that the burglar is a dwarf.

A fanatical Elvis Presley fan is working as a disc jockey when his idol dies

A watchmaker finds his livelihood is threatened by cheaply imported digital watches.

Budding comedians take an evening class taught by a retired performer and, for their final exam, must perform for an impresario in a nightclub.

Colin Pasmore tests his strength against his family ties but finds them stronger than he ever imagined.

"In heaven there is no drama - drama depends on failure and conflict. My trade is a scrutiny of hell. For any proud dramatist his style is his prejudice."

Writer-director John McGrath deliberately shies away from naturalism in an experiment that mixes blue screen, songs, and characters realising they're acting within a play. This first of two parts sees Frank travel to a hostile London.

The story of the disintegration of an aristocratic country estate after World War II

A docudrama about what would happen if London was hit by severe flooding

James, an expatriate South African anti-apartheid fighter, deals with his nightmares and his complaining landlady in a run-down area of London, while dreaming of his lover Stephen, left behind.

A story about a homesick Russian journalist in London at the end of the cold war

Out on the streets, young people looking for fun. They come together at nights to listen to their music. For as long as the song lasts, they're heroes. Three minute heroes.

Jack's obsession with the possibility of nuclear war sees him usher his family down into his home made fall out shelter after a nuclear strike hits the country. Will their time in confinement draw them together or push them apart?

James Grout and Bert Parnaby are rival chairmen of a northern football club in the run-up to an important cup match. As tempers fray, retiring president Charles Lamb provides a calming voice of sanity.

Cynical teenager Andrew Groves re-evaluates his attitude to life and his parents after his sister dies in a plane crash.

When his father comes home to Belfast after more than 2 years in England, conflicts arise with Billy