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Series · 1970–1985Ended

Play for Today

6.6·14 seasons·314 episodes·75 min avg.

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.

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01
The Long Distance Piano PlayerUp next
Oct 15, 1970

A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing

02
The Right Prospectus
Oct 22, 1970

A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.

03
The Lie
Oct 29, 1970

""The Lie"" refers to the 8-year marriage of a couple who are constantly hurting each other.

04
Angels Are So Few
Nov 5, 1970

A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.

05
The Write-Off
The Write-Off
Nov 12, 1970

A man is made redundant but can't bring himself to let anyone know, plunging into a web of deceit as he keeps up the charade he is still in work.

06
I Can't See My Little Willie
I Can't See My Little Willie
Nov 19, 1970

A man has a mid-life crisis in his brother's pub where sees life as a game show

07
A Distant Thunder
A Distant Thunder
Nov 26, 1970

A newly-appointed knight finds his celebrations cut short by someone who was witness to his treachery during the war.

08
Hearts and Flowers
Hearts and Flowers
Dec 3, 1970

A TV host and his architect brother attend their father's funeral

09
Robin Redbreast
Dec 10, 1970

A woman living in a country cottage thinks that someone is trying to get her.

10
The Hallelujah Handshake
The Hallelujah Handshake
Dec 17, 1970

A petty thief and social misfit finagles his way into a church congregation

11
Alma Mater
Alma Mater
Jan 7, 1971

A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school

12
Circle Line
Circle Line
Jan 14, 1971

A cynical student has a radically different view of life from his landlady, leading to conflict. Matters come to a head when he sleeps with her fourteen-year-old brother.

13
Hell's Angel
Hell's Angel
Jan 21, 1971

A couple are distressed by the changes in their adopted teenage son when he joins a biker gang.

14
The Piano
The Piano
Jan 28, 1971

An old couple refuse to move when they find out that they can't take their piano with them

15
Billy's Last Stand
Billy's Last Stand
Feb 4, 1971

Billy, a self-employed coal-shoveller, gains a seedy business partner and competition in the form of a rival coal-shoveller.

16
The Rainbirds
The Rainbirds
Feb 11, 1971

A man who attempted suicide by jumping out a window is saved only to live in a coma, in which he has fantasies about his relatives and nightmare creatures.

17
Reddick
Reddick
Feb 18, 1971

Charges that the Rev 'Red' Reddick is exploiting his youth club members leads to an explosive confrontation.

18
The Foxtrot
The Foxtrot
Apr 29, 1971

An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband

19
When the Bough Breaks
When the Bough Breaks
May 6, 1971

When an injured baby arrives at the hospital, a social worker looks for the parents

20
Orkney
Orkney
May 13, 1971

A trilogy of plays--A Time to Keep, The Whaler's Return, and Celia--exploring the life of the islanders in the past and present

21
The Rank and File
The Rank and File
May 20, 1971

The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970

22
The Man in the Sidecar
The Man in the Sidecar
May 27, 1971

A succesful novelist Edith lives with her husband and his friend, but she decides to ask the friend to leave.

23
Everybody Say Cheese
Everybody Say Cheese
Jun 3, 1971

The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos

24
The Cellar and the Almond Tree
The Cellar and the Almond Tree
Jun 10, 1971

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