Play for Today

Season 141970

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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24 Episodes

E01 The Long Distance Piano Player

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

October 15, 1970

E02 The Right Prospectus

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

October 22, 1970

E03 The Lie

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

October 29, 1970

E04 Angels Are So Few

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

November 5, 1970

E05 The Write-Off

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.

November 12, 1970

E06 I Can't See My Little Willie

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

November 19, 1970

E07 A Distant Thunder

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

November 26, 1970

E08 Hearts and Flowers

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

December 3, 1970

E09 Robin Redbreast

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

December 10, 1970

E10 The Hallelujah Handshake

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

December 17, 1970

E11 Alma Mater

A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school

January 7, 1971

E12 Circle Line

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.

January 14, 1971

E13 Hell's Angel

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

January 21, 1971

E14 The Piano

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

January 28, 1971

E15 Billy's Last Stand

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

February 4, 1971

E16 The Rainbirds

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.

February 11, 1971

E17 Reddick

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

February 18, 1971

E18 The Foxtrot

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

April 29, 1971

E19 When the Bough Breaks

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

May 6, 1971

E20 Orkney

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

May 13, 1971

E21 The Rank and File

The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970

May 20, 1971

E22 The Man in the Sidecar

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

May 27, 1971

E23 Everybody Say Cheese

The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos

June 3, 1971

E24 The Cellar and the Almond Tree

June 10, 1971

Play for Today

E01 The Long Distance Piano Player

E02 The Right Prospectus

E03 The Lie

E04 Angels Are So Few

E05 The Write-Off

E06 I Can't See My Little Willie

E07 A Distant Thunder

E08 Hearts and Flowers

E09 Robin Redbreast

E10 The Hallelujah Handshake

E11 Alma Mater

E12 Circle Line

E13 Hell's Angel

E14 The Piano

E15 Billy's Last Stand

E16 The Rainbirds

E17 Reddick

E18 The Foxtrot

E19 When the Bough Breaks

E20 Orkney

E21 The Rank and File

E22 The Man in the Sidecar

E23 Everybody Say Cheese

E24 The Cellar and the Almond Tree

The Suite Life on Deck

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot

Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II

The Trusted

The Good Doctor

Chicago P.D.

Family Secrets

Loki

Ms. Marvel

To the Lake

Helstrom

10 Things I Hate About You

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

The Underground Railroad

The Resident

Code Black

Danger Force

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Better Together

LoliRock

Dangerous Affairs

E01 The Long Distance Piano Player

E02 The Right Prospectus

E03 The Lie

E04 Angels Are So Few

E05 The Write-Off

E06 I Can't See My Little Willie

E07 A Distant Thunder

E08 Hearts and Flowers

E09 Robin Redbreast

E10 The Hallelujah Handshake

E11 Alma Mater

E12 Circle Line

E13 Hell's Angel

E14 The Piano

E15 Billy's Last Stand

E16 The Rainbirds

E17 Reddick

E18 The Foxtrot

E19 When the Bough Breaks

E20 Orkney

E21 The Rank and File

E22 The Man in the Sidecar

E23 Everybody Say Cheese

E24 The Cellar and the Almond Tree