Episodes: 1977-84


1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984

Two plays were pulled from transmission shortly before broadcast due to concerns over their content, and were not broadcast until many years later: see list.

A number of plays originally broadcast in other strands were repeated under the Play for Today banner: see list.

Three seasons of plays, while not broadcast under the Play for Today banner, could be considered an ‘unofficial’ part of the canon: see list.

Click on the links to find an essay on this play or person.

1977

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Love on a Gunboat	Malcolm Bradbury	Robert Knights	04 Jan 1977
The Kiss of Death	Mike Leigh	Mike Leigh	11 Jan 1977
Our Flesh and Blood	Mike Stott	Peter James	18 Jan 1977
Do As I Say	Charles Wood	Barry Davis	25 Jan 1977
Spend, Spend, Spend	Jack Rosenthal	John Goldschmidt	15 Mar 1977
A Photograph	John Bowen	John Glenister	22 Mar 1977
Gotcha [Double bill with Campion's Interview]	Barrie Keefe	Barry Davis	12 Apr 1977
Campion's Interview [Double bill with Gotcha]	Brian Clark	Barry Davis	12 Apr 1977
A Choice of Evils	Jim Allen	Jane Howell	19 Apr 1977
The Country Party	Brian Clark	Barry Davis	26 Apr 1977
Stronger Than The Sun	Stephen Poliakoff	Michael Apted	18 Oct 1977
Come the Revolution	Robin Chapman	Michael Darlow	25 Oct 1977
Abigail's Party	Mike Leigh	Mike Leigh	01 Nov 1977
Scum [Not transmitted until 27 Jul 1991]	Roy Minton	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	~~w/c 05 Nov 1977~~
Oy Vay Maria	Mary O' Malley	Richard Loncrain	08 Nov 1977
Nipper	Barrie Keefe	Brian Farnham	15 Nov 1977
One Day at a Time	Dennis Cannan	Ronald Wilson	22 Nov 1977
The Mayor's Charity	Henry Livings	Mike Newell	29 Nov 1977
Catchpenny Twist	Stewart Parker	Robert Knights	05 Dec 1977
Charades	Antonia Fraser	Roderick Graham	13 Dec 1977
The Thin End of the Wedge	Sean McCarthy	John Black	20 Dec 1977

1978

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Scully's New Year's Eve	Alan Bleasdale	Michael Simpson	03 Jan 1978
Licking Hitler	David Hare	David Hare	10 Jan 1978
Red Shift	Alan Garner	John Mackenzie	17 Jan 1978
The Spongers Screenonline piece by Dave Rolinson	Jim Allen	Roland Joffe	24 Jan 1978
Destiny	David Edgar	Mike Newell	31 Jan 1978
The After Dinner Joke	Caryl Churchill	Colin Bucks	14 Feb 1978
The Legion Hall Bombing Screenonline piece by Dave Rolinson	Caryl Churchill	Roland Joffe	22 Aug 1978
Nina	Jehane Markham	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	17 Oct 1978
Victims of Apartheid	Tom Clarke	Stuart Burge	24 Oct 1978
A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts	John Esmonde Bob Larbey	James Cellan Jones	31 Oct 1978
Dinner at the Sporting Club	Leon Griffiths	Brian Gibson	07 Nov 1978
Donal and Sally	James Duthie	Brian Parker	14 Nov 1978
Sorry... (Private View and Audience)	Vaclav Havel	Claude Whatham	21 Nov 1978
Butterflies Don't Count	Wally K Daly	Kenneth Ives	28 Nov 1978
Soldiers Talking, Cleanly	Mike Stott	Alan Dossor	05 Dec 1978
One Bummer News Day	Andy McSmith	Michael Darlow	12 Dec 1978

1979

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
The Out of Town Boys	Ron Hutchinson	Robert Knights	02 Jan 1979
Vampires	Dixie Williams	John Goldschmidt	09 Jan 1979
The Chief Mourner	John Elliott	Ben Rea	16 Jan 1979
Waterloo Sunset	Barrie Keefe	Richard Eyre	23 Jan 1979
Blue Remembered Hills	Dennis Potter	Brian Gibson	30 Jan 1979
Who's Who?	Mike Leigh	Mike Leigh	05 Feb 1979
The Last Window Cleaner	Ron Hutchinson	Bill Craske	13 Feb 1979
The Ploughman's Share	Douglas Dunn	Fiona Cumming	27 Feb 1979
Degree of Uncertainty	Alma Cullen	Paul Annett	06 Mar 1979
Light	Tony Perrin	Jane Howell	13 Mar 1979
Coming Out	James Andrew Hall	Carol Wiseman	10 Apr 1979
Don't Be Silly	Rachel Billington	Kenneth Ives	24 Jul 1979
Long Distance Information	Neville Smith	Stephen Frears	11 Oct 1979
Don't Be Silly	Rachel Billington	Kenneth Ives	24 Jul 1979
Cries From A Watchtower	Stephen Lowe	Giles Foster	18 Oct 1979
Comedians Screenonline piece by John Williams	Trevor Griffiths Screenonline biography by John Williams	Richard Eyre	25 Oct 1979
Even Solomon	Andrew Taylor	Roger Bamford	01 Nov 1979
Just A Boy's Game	Peter McDougall	John Mackenzie	08 Nov 1979
Billy	G F Newman	Charles Stewart	15 Nov 1979
A Hole in Babylon	Jim Hawkins Horace Ové	Horace Ové	29 Nov 1979
The Slab Boys	John Byrne	Bob Hird	06 Dec 1979
Katie	Ian Cullen John Norton	Barry Davis	13 Dec 1979
The Network	Stephen Fagan	Derek Lister	20 Dec 1979

1980

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Chance of a Lifetime	Robert Holman	Giles Foster	03 Jan 1980
Keep Smiling	Paul Joyce	Paul Joyce	10 Jan 1980
Dreams of Leaving	David Hare	David Hare	17 Jan 1980
Thicker Than Water	Brian Glover	Alan Grint	24 Jan 1980
Murder Rap	Michael Hastings	Peter Duffell	31 Jan 1980
Thicker Than Water	Brian Glover	Alan Grint	24 Jan 1980
Instant Enlightenment Including VAT [Postponed from 22 Nov 1979]	Andrew Carr	John Bruce	07 Feb 1980
No Defence	Chris Kewbank	Clive Halls	14 Feb 1980
That Crazy Woman	David Hopkins	Bill Craske	21 Feb 1980
A Gift from Nessus	Bill Craig	James Ormerod	28 Feb 1980
Kate, the Good Neighbour	Peter Ransley	John Bruce	06 Mar 1980
Buses	Geoffrey Case	Tim King	13 Mar 1980
Shadows on Our Skin	Derek Mahon	Jim O' Brien	20 Mar 1980
Ladies	Carol Bunyan	Diarmuid Lawrence	27 Mar 1980
Not For the Likes of Us	Gilly Fraser	Tim King	10 Apr 1980
The Executioner	Lionel Goldstein	Kenneth Ives	17 Apr 1980
The Imitation Game	Ian McEwan	Richard Eyre	24 Apr 1980
A Walk in the Forest	Jeremy Paul	Jack Gold	14 May 1980
Pasmore	Richard Eyre	Richard Eyre	21 Oct 1980
C₂H₅OH	David Turner	James Cellan Jones	28 Oct 1980
The Adventures of Frank 1: Everybody's Fiddling Something	John McGrath	John McGrath	04 Nov 1980
The Adventures of Frank 2: Seeds of Ice	Mark Brown	John McGrath	11 Nov 1980
Minor Complications	Peter Ransley	Moira Armstrong	18 Nov 1980
Jude	Lesley Bruce	Bill Craske	02 Dec 1980
The Flipside of Dominick Hide	Jeremy Paul Alan Gibson	Alan Gibson	09 Dec 1980
Name for the Day	Colin Haydn Evans	Bill Bain	16 Dec 1980
Jessie	Bryan Forbes	Bryan Forbes	23 Dec 1980

1981

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Beyond the Pale	Les Blair	Les Blair	06 Jan 1981
The Muscle Market	Alan Bleasdale	Alan Dossor	13 Jan 1981
A Brush With Mr Porter on the Road to Eldorado	Baz Taylor	Les Blair	20 Jan 1981
The Cause	Derek Lister	Barry Davis	03 Feb 1981
Beloved Enemy	David Leland	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	10 Feb 1981
The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner	Stewart Parker	Baz Taylor	17 Feb 1981
The Union	Tony Perrin	Ronald Wilson	24 Feb 1981
Sorry	Carol Bunyan	Alistair Clark	03 Mar 1981
The Garland	H O Nazarath Horace Ové	Horace Ové	10 Mar 1981
The Sin Bin	Tony Parker	John Gorrie	17 Mar 1981
Before Water Lillies	Robert Marshall	Alan Charlesworth	24 Mar 1981
Bavarian Night	Andrew Davies	Jack Gold	31 Mar 1981
The Good Time Girls	Alan Clews	Gareth Davies	07 Apr 1981
Baby Talk	Nigel Williams	Derek Lister	14 Apr 1981
A Turn for the Worse	John Bill	Bill Hays	21 Apr 1981
Psy-Warriors	David Leland	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	12 May 1981
Country Screenonline piece by John Williams	Trevor Griffiths Screenonline biography by John Williams	Richard Eyre	20 Oct 1981
London is Drowning	Graham Williams	Martyn Friend	27 Oct 1981
A Room in the Winter	Rose Tremain	Jim Goddard	03 Nov 1981
No Visible Scar	Rosemary Davies	Moira Armstrong	17 Nov 1981
Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain	Stewart Parker	John Bruce	24 Nov 1981
Protest	Vaclav Havel	Alistair Clark	01 Dec 1981
United Kingdom	Jim Allen	Roland Joffe	08 Dec 1981
PQ17	Roger Milner	Frank Cox	15 Dec 1981
The Factory	David Hopkins	Gerald Blake	22 Dec 1981

1982

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
England's Green and Pleasant Land	Rita May	Jim Hill	05 Jan 1982
A Cotswold Death	Tony Bicat	Tony Bicat	12 Jan 1982
Under the Skin	Janey Praeger	Tony Smith	19 Jan 1982
Commitments	Dusty Hughes	Richard Wilson	26 Jan 1982
Life After Death	Rachel Billington	Anthony Simmons	02 Feb 1982
The Silly Season	Stephen Mulvine	Alex Marshall	09 Feb 1982
Too Late to Talk to Billy	J Graham Reid	Paul Seed	16 Feb 1982
Willie's Last Stand	Jim Allen	Brian Parker	23 Feb 1982
Tishoo	Brian Thompson	Gerald Blake	09 Mar 1982
Home Sweet Home	Mike Leigh	Mike Leigh	16 Mar 1982
A Sudden Wrench	Paula Milne	Jon Amiel	23 Mar 1982
Eve Set the Balls of Corruption Rolling	Marcella Evaristi	David Maloney	30 Mar 1982
Whistling Wally	Wally K Daly	Gerald Blake	06 Apr 1982
Soft Targets	Stephen Poliakoff	Charles Sturridge	19 Oct 1982
3 Minute Heroes	Leslie Stewart	Michael Custance	26 Oct 1982
The Remainder Man	Philip Martin	Richard Wilson	02 Nov 1982
Intensive Care	Alan Bennett	Gavin Millar	09 Nov 1982
A Mother Like Him	Frances Galleymore	Baz Taylor	16 Nov 1982
John David	Paula Milne	Rodney Bennett	23 Nov 1982
Aliens	Alan Clews	David Maloney	30 Nov 1982
Another Flip for Dominick	Jeremy Paul Alan Gibson	Alan Gibson	14 Dec 1982

1983

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Last Love	Reg Gadney	Nicholas Renton	01 Mar 1983
Gates of Gold	Maurice Leitch	Jon Amiel	08 Mar 1983
Wayne and Albert	David Hopkins	Sarah Pia Anderson	15 Mar 1983
Atlantis	Peter Terson	Les Chatfield	05 Apr 1983
The Last Term	Raymond Hitchcock	Philip Bonham-Carter	12 Apr 1983
Reluctant Chickens	David Creggan	Gareth Davies	19 Apr 1983
Shall I Be Mother?	Peter Ransley	Ronald Wilson	19 Apr 1983
The Falklands Factor Essay by Oliver Wake	Don Shaw	Colin Bucksey	26 Apr 1983
A Matter of Choice for Billy	Graham Reid	Paul Seed	10 May 1983

1984

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Young Shoulders	Robert Smith John Wain	Silvio Narizzano	14 Feb 1984
A Coming to Terms with Billy	J Graham Reid	Paul Seed	21 Feb 1984
Z for Zachariah	Anthony Garner	Anthony Garner	28 Feb 1984
Moving on the Edge	Rose Tremain	Anthony Garner	06 Mar 1984
Desert of Lies	Howard Brenton	Piers Haggard	13 Mar 1984
Hard Feelings	Doug Lucie	Michael Bradwell	20 Mar 1984
Under the Hammer	Stephen Fagan	Richard Wilson	27 Mar 1984
King	Barrie Keefe	Tony Smith	03 Apr 1984
Rainy Day Women	David Pirie	Ben Bolt	10 Apr 1984
Dog Ends	Richard Harris	Carol Wiseman	17 Jul 1984
The Cry	Derek Mahon Chris Menaul	Chris Menaul	24 Jul 1984
It Could Happen to Anybody	Hugh McManus	Lawrence Moody	14 Aug 1984
Only Children	Judy Forrest	Michael Rolfe	21 Aug 1984
The Amazing Miss Stella Estelle	Leslie Stewart	John Davis	28 Aug 1984

Postscript: 1987, 1991

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Brimstone and Treacle [Banned between 1976 and 1987] Essay by Cat McKiernan	Dennis Potter	Barry Davis	25 Aug 1987
Scum [Banned between 1978 and 1991]	Roy Minton	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	27 Jul 1991

The following three seasons of plays were not broadcast under the Play for Today banner, but could be considered an ‘unofficial’ part of the canon

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Being Normal	Brian Phelan	Peter Smith	27 Jul 1983
Gunfight at the Joe Kay Corral	Alan Shinwell	Ken Grieve	03 Aug 1983
Ring of Keys	Frank Ash	Baz Taylor	10 Aug 1983
Bazaar and Rummage	Sue Townsend	Richard Stroud	17 Aug 1983
Floating Off	Stephen Davis	Nick Renton	24 Aug 1983
Stan's Last Game	Willis Hall	Gavin Millar	25 Oct 1983
Submanners	Tom McLenaghan	Paul Seed	01 Nov 1983
Martin Luther - Heretic	William Nicholson	Norman Stone	08 Nov 1983
One of Ourselves	William Trevor	Pat O' Connor	22 Nov 1983
An Englishman Abroad	Alan Bennett	John Schlesinger	29 Nov 1983
The Aerodrome	Rex Warner	Giles Foster	13 Dec 1983
Orwell on Jura	Alan Plater	John Glenister	20 Dec 1983
Terra Nova	John Bruce	John Bruce	13 Nov 1984
The Long March	Anne Devlin	Chris Parr	20 Nov 1984
Punters	Stephen Wakeham	Chris Menaul	27 Nov 1984
Stars of the Roller State Disco	Michael Hastings	Alan Clarke Essay by Dave Rolinson	04 Dec 1984
Talk To Me	William Humble	Tony Smith	11 Dec 1984
More Lives Than One	John Peacock	Michael Darlow	18 Dec 1984
The Last Evensong	Trevor Baxter	Jon Amiel	08 Jan 1985
Bird Fancier	Mal Middleton	Bill Hays	15 Jan 1985
The Exercise	Tim Rose Price	Gareth Davies	22 Jan 1985
Four Days in July	Mike Leigh	Mike Leigh	29 Jan 1985
Brigadista	Terence Hodkinson	Chris Lovett	05 Feb 1985

The following plays from other strands were repeated under the Play for Today banner

Title	Writer	Director	Broadcast
Our Day Out [1st tx: Play of the Week, 28 Dec 1977]	Willy Russell	Pedr James	07 Feb 1978
The Vanishing Army [1st tx: Play of the Week, 29 Nov 1978]	Robert Holles	Richard Loncraine	03 Apr 1980

About this site

This mini-site belongs to the British Television Drama website. It starts with an episode guide listing every play and its writer and director. Click on underlined plays or people for essays on them. Over the years, the site will grow with material on more plays, crew members, and supporting material: interviews, wider topics, classroom tasks and other features. You can help us to mirror the eclecticism of the strand by bringing your own voice to some of these plays: some essays will be academic, some serious, some lighter, some will focus on the writer, others on the director, others on actors, and so on, forming a wide variety of approaches to a wide variety of plays.