Play for Today — Series 4
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01 Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
Oct 18, 19731h 15m
Mrs Palfrey tries hard to be accepted by the other residents at the Claremont. But then she meets Ludo and a real friendship begins.
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02 Her Majesty's Pleasure
Oct 25, 19731h 15m
They are all 'in' for life so the pleasures are sparse, and strictly of their own making. Their really big event is the Christmas pantomime, only this year they have lost their star. Mother Bear has escaped. Still, there is some consolation. The new arrival looks a likely Goldilocks. 'There's one or two who'll be after him,' says Woodbine - and he knows all their weaknesses.
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03 Jack Point
Nov 1, 19731h 15m
An amateur operatic society is preparing a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and someone new is needed for the role of Jack Point - but who will break this to the veteran who's always done it?
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04 The Emergency Channel
Nov 8, 19731h 15m
Dean has a rare talent. He can be made happy. He exudes happiness and confidence like a rare blossom. Both Sarah in the past, and Julia now, could do this for him. But where are they now that he is alone in Battersea Park with two suitcases and no memory?
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05 Mummy and Daddy
Nov 15, 19731h 15m
An early retirement and a seaside bungalow-for Arthur and Marion it's not a chance to miss, especially since their son is buying the bungalow. Arthur's full of plans - GCE, garden, beach-not to mention his own "bit of an interesting diversion." But after a year the delight is beginning to tarnish.
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06 Private Practice
Nov 22, 19731h 15m
Why does Sylvia Payne , with her successful husband and luxurious home, get in such a flap about her daughter's school friend coming to visit?
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07 Shutdown
Nov 29, 19731h 15m
Bernie gets a temporary job as an electrician during a factory's annual minimal workforce period. But what secrets is Bernie hiding, and is he really all he claims?
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08 Baby Blues
Dec 6, 19731h 15m
After ten years of trying, Lavinia, and a large team of medics, finally manage to produce a live baby. She should now be able to start living her dream, but what happens next is not at all the paradise she has been looking forward to.
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09 Jingle Bells
Dec 13, 19731h 15m
Family Christmas, presents, drink, Christmas Eve at the club, Boxing Day football - but, among the celebrations, some hard home-truths.
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10 The Lonely Man's Lover
Jan 17, 19741h 15m
A young farmgirl begins a romance with an artist
11 All Good Men
Jan 31, 19741h 15m
An elderly politician looks back over his career while being interviewed by a TV producer.
12 Joe's Ark
Feb 14, 19741h 15m
A pet shop owner forsakes his religious beliefs when his daughter gets cancer
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13 Hot Fat
Feb 21, 19741h 15m
Sauna baths are supposed to relax you, but it rather depends who you meet in there.
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14 Easy Go
Mar 7, 19741h 15m
A group of Deptford youngsters hang about by the River Thames on a hot day. When they and some nearby dockers spot a valuable copper boiler floating in the river the two rival factions try to get at it first. The youngsters succeed, but on their way to the totter's yard they are waylaid by the adults, who take the copper off them.
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15 Headmaster
Mar 14, 19741h 15m
Fisher is good at his job but in new circumstances that isn't enough: he has to face the risks of competition for something bigger.
16 Penda's Fen
Mar 21, 19741h 15m★ 8.0
Summer 1955, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings. Penda's Fen is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was transmitted as part of the corporation's Play for Today series.
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17 Pigeon--Hawk or Dove?
Mar 28, 19741h 15m
At the climax of the School Sports something went drastically wrong. Now, Wallace Pidgeon faces the contradictory demands of the bird-watching headmaster, his pupils, his pork-magnate father-in-law and his "child bride."
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18 Three for the Fancy
Apr 11, 19741h 15m
Further adventures of three Derbyshire miners
19 The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
Jun 6, 19741h 15m
The exploitation of the Scottish land and its people from the 18th century to the present
20 Schmoedipus
Jun 20, 19741h 15m
A young man persuades a woman that he is her son.
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21 The Childhood Friend
Jun 27, 19741h 15m
On holiday, with his family, nothing to do and his wife ill, Sasha is only too pleased to meet again the girl he loved at 17.
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22 A Follower for Emily
Jul 4, 19741h 15m
The friendship of two residents of a retirement home ends up in marriage