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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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Episodes
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- E1 The Long Distance Piano PlayerNext upOct 15, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing
Guest stars: Norman Rossington (Jack Burnshaw), Bert Palmer (Old Man), Ken Hutchison (Macey)
- E2 The Right ProspectusOct 22, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.
Guest stars: George Cole (Mr. Newbold), Brian Pettifer (Boy in Grounds)
- E3 The LieOct 29, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
""The Lie"" refers to the 8-year marriage of a couple who are constantly hurting each other.
Guest stars: Jennifer Daniel, Terence Bayler, Frank Finlay, John Carson, John Nettleton, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Gemma Jones (Anna Firth), Joss Ackland (Albert)
- E4 Angels Are So FewNov 5, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.
Guest stars: Tom Bell (Michael Biddle), Erik Chitty (Mr. Cawser), Gilly Flower (Non-speaking extra (uncredited))
- E5 The Write-OffNov 12, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
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.
- E6 I Can't See My Little WillieNov 19, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A man has a mid-life crisis in his brother's pub where sees life as a game show
Guest stars: Patsy Smart (The Cleaner), John Scott Martin, Jo Rowbottom, Nigel Stock (Arthur Palmer), Avril Elgar (Christine Reynolds), Frank Gatliff (Phillips), Michael Graham Cox (David Pond), George A. Cooper (Frank Palmer)
- E7 A Distant ThunderNov 26, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A newly-appointed knight finds his celebrations cut short by someone who was witness to his treachery during the war.
Guest stars: Adrienne Corri (Elinor Barkham), Vladek Sheybal (Hans Weider), Tony Steedman (Sir Henry Barkham), Clive Morton (Sir Andrew Manton QC)
- E8 Hearts and FlowersDec 3, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A TV host and his architect brother attend their father's funeral
Guest stars: Anthony Hopkins (Bob Goodliffe), Freda Bamford (Vera Lambert), Constance Chapman (Marie Goodliffe), Donald Churchill (Tony Goodliffe), Priscilla Morgan (Jean Goodliffe)
- E9 Robin RedbreastDec 10, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A woman living in a country cottage thinks that someone is trying to get her.
Guest stars: Freda Bamford (Mrs. Vigo), Anna Cropper (Norah Palmer), Amanda Walker (Madge), Julian Holloway (Jake Summers), Bernard Hepton (Fisher), Andy Bradford (Rob), Cyril Cross (Peter), Robin Wentworth (Wellbeloved)
- E10 The Hallelujah HandshakeDec 17, 1970 · 75 min
Synopsis
A petty thief and social misfit finagles his way into a church congregation
- E11 Alma MaterJan 7, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school
Guest stars: Dinah Sheridan, Hilda Braid, Max Adrian, John Woodvine (Penitent), Nigel Hawthorne (Graham)
- E12 Circle LineJan 14, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
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.
Guest stars: Michael Feast (Tim), Margo Andrew (Isabella), Kiffer Weisselberg (Miles)
- E13 Hell's AngelJan 21, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
A couple are distressed by the changes in their adopted teenage son when he joins a biker gang.
Guest stars: André Morell (Sir Geoffrey Wolf), Michael Kitchen (Dick Foster), Katharine Blake (Cynthia McKenna), Richard Morant (Conrad McKenna), Angharad Rees (April Cotton)
- E14 The PianoJan 28, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
An old couple refuse to move when they find out that they can't take their piano with them
Guest stars: Janet Munro, Brian Wilde (Tod)
- E15 Billy's Last StandFeb 4, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
Billy, a self-employed coal-shoveller, gains a seedy business partner and competition in the form of a rival coal-shoveller.
Guest stars: John Barrett (Billy), Dudley Foster (Darkly)
- E16 The RainbirdsFeb 11, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
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.
Guest stars: Wendy Hamilton (Nurse)
- E17 ReddickFeb 18, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
Charges that the Rev 'Red' Reddick is exploiting his youth club members leads to an explosive confrontation.
- E18 The FoxtrotApr 29, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband
- E19 When the Bough BreaksMay 6, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
When an injured baby arrives at the hospital, a social worker looks for the parents
- E20 OrkneyMay 13, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
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
Guest stars: Maurice Roëves (Bill - A Time to Keep), Fulton Mackay (Thomas - Celia), Robert James (Spence - Celia), Donald Douglas (Ronald - Celia)
- E21 The Rank and FileMay 20, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970
Guest stars: Peter Kerrigan (Eddie), Bill Dean (Billy)
- E22 The Man in the SidecarMay 27, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
A succesful novelist Edith lives with her husband and his friend, but she decides to ask the friend to leave.
- E23 Everybody Say CheeseJun 3, 1971 · 75 min
Synopsis
The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos
- E24 The Cellar and the Almond TreeJun 10, 1971
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