Play for Today — Series 2

01 Traitor

Oct 14, 19711h 15m

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

02 Edna, the Inebriate Woman

Oct 21, 19711h 30m★ 9.0

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.

03 Evelyn

Oct 28, 19711h 15m

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.

04 O Fat White Woman

Nov 4, 19711h 15m

The wife of a headmaster discovers that he has been physically abusing his students

05 Thank You Very Much

Nov 11, 19711h 15m

A social satire in which advertisers realise that having a blind beggar as the public face of charities would help make them seem more appealing to donors.

06 Michael Regan

Nov 18, 19711h 15m

A man gets revenge on a pub owner

07 Skin Deep

Nov 25, 19711h 15m

An awkward relationship develops between the families of a trade unionist and the regional manager when the son of the former wins a university scholarship from their employer.

08 Pal

Dec 2, 19711h 15m

Two sworn enemies, one black and the other white, are forced to confront their prejudices when they are forced together by circumstance.

09 The Pigeon Fancier

Dec 9, 19711h 15m

A retired miner devotes his waking hours to his racing pigeons.

10 Home

Jan 6, 19721h 15m

A story about four elderly "loonies" living in a rest home

11 Still Waters

Jan 13, 19721h 15m

A marriage can be lonely when the children have left home, as Nelson and Maud find out. Maud leaves in the middle of an unloving picnic, and Nelson follows - both sharing their stories with a series of strangers.

12 Stocker's Copper

Jan 20, 19721h 15m

In Cornwall, just before World War I, a striking miner befriends a cop

13 The House on Highbury Hill

Jan 27, 19721h 15m

A married couple move into the house on Highbury Hill and find some eccentric neighbours.

14 In the Beautiful Caribbean

Feb 3, 19721h 15m

A story about unemployment and the Black Movement in Jamaica

15 Ackerman, Dougall and Harker

Feb 10, 19721h 15m

A salesman learns a few lessons from the locals when he goes to Yorkshire for a business course

16 The Villa Maroc

Feb 17, 19721h 15m

A couple and their daughter take a trip to Africa

17 Cows

Feb 24, 19721h 15m

A social worker tries to help a painfully shy young man and takes him for a visit to a country farm.

18 A Time to Keep

Apr 27, 19721h 15m

19 The Fishing Party

Jun 1, 19721h 15m

The adventures of three Derbyshire miners going fishing