Play for Today

Play for Today is a British television strand, 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 (with a few exceptions noted below) between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration. A handful of these plays, including Rumpole of the Bailey, subsequently became television series in their own right.

In 2025, Channel 5 announced they would revive the series, which began broadcasting on 13 November, 2025.

History

The strand was a successor to The Wednesday Play, the 1960s anthology series, the title being changed when the day of transmission moved to Thursday to make way for a sport programme. Some works, screened in anthology series on BBC2, like Willy Russell's Our Day Out (1977), were repeated on BBC1 in the series. The producers of The Wednesday Play, Graeme MacDonald and Irene Shubik, transferred to the new series. Shubik continued with the series until 1973 while MacDonald remained with the series until 1977 when he was promoted. Later producers included Kenith Trodd (1973–1982), David Rose (1972–1980), Innes Lloyd (1975–1982), Margaret Matheson (1977–1979), Richard Eyre (1978–1980), and Pharic MacLaren (1974–1982).

Plays covered all genres. In its time, Play for Today featured contemporary social realist dramas, historical pieces, fantasies, biopics and occasionally science-fiction (The Flipside of Dominick Hide, 1980). Most pieces were written directly for television, but there were also occasional adaptations from other narrative forms, such as novels and stage plays.

Writers who contributed plays to the series included Ian McEwan, John Osborne, Dennis Potter, Stephen Poliakoff, Sir David Hare, Willy Russell, Alan Bleasdale, Arthur Hopcraft, Alan Plater, Graham Reid, David Storey, Andrew Davies, Rhys Adrian and John Hopkins.

Several prominent directors also featured, including Stephen Frears, Alan Clarke, Michael Apted, Mike Newell, Roland Joffé, Ken Loach, Lindsay Anderson, and Mike Leigh. Some of the best remembered plays broadcast in the strand include Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971), The Foxtrot (1971), Home (1972), The Fishing Party (1972), Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976), The Other Woman (1976), Abigail's Party (1977), Blue Remembered Hills (1979) and Just a Boys' Game (1979). Certain other plays, including Penda's Fen (1974) and Nuts in May (1976), were commissioned by David Rose of the BBC's English Regions Drama department based in Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham.

Some installments in the series were spun off into full-blown series, including Rumpole of the Bailey, which was produced as a one-off in the Play for Today strand in 1975 and three years later became a series for Thames Television, again with Leo McKern. Alan Bleasdale's The Black Stuff, was a single play broadcast on BBC2 in January 1980, which was developed into Boys from the Blackstuff. It was never part of the Play For Today strand, although it was repeated on BBC1 later that year as a single play.

Other offshoots were Gangsters, Headmaster, and a single series of science fiction-based plays styled as Play for Tomorrow. Towards the end of the run, three plays set in Northern Ireland were written by Graham Reid. Known as the Billy Plays, they starred Kenneth Branagh as Billy Martin in his first acting role following his graduation from RADA.

There were also some groups of plays transmitted that – for various reasons – did not go out under the Play for Today banner, but which were funded from the same department, used much the same production team and are generally regarded in episode guides and analysis as being part of the Play for Today canon.

Several plays were BAFTA award winners. John Le Mesurier and Patricia Hayes were named Best Actor and Actress, respectively, for their roles in the 1971 series Traitor and Edna, The Inebriate Woman, the latter also being named Best Drama Production. Celia Johnson was named Best Actress for Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, broadcast in 1973. Stocker's Copper (1972), Kisses at Fifty (1973), Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976), Spend, Spend, Spend! (1977), Licking Hitler (1978), and Blue Remembered Hills (1979) were all named Best Single Play by BAFTA.

Videotapes of thirty-seven of the episodes produced between 1970 and 1975 were wiped after transmission, and no copies of many of them are known to exist.

Two plays were controversially pulled from transmission shortly before broadcast due to concerns over their content: these were Dennis Potter's Brimstone & Treacle in 1976 and Roy Minton's Scum the following year. In the case of Brimstone & Treacle it was due to concerns over the play's depiction of a disabled woman's rape at the hands of a man who may possibly have been the devil, and with Scum the worry was its supposed sensationalism of life in a borstal. Scum and Brimstone & Treacle were eventually transmitted, although in the meantime both had circumvented their withdrawal by being re-made as cinema films. Another play Pillion recorded in 1979 was never broadcast.

One play, The Other Woman, generated some mild controversy for its "graphic depiction" of lesbianism, and for the onscreen kiss between Jane Lapotaire and Lynne Frederick.

Demise and legacy

After fourteen series and numerous repeats of individual productions, the programme officially ended in August 1984, although two series of single dramas without Play for Today billing were broadcast on BBC1 in a similar time slot from July to December 1983 and from November 1984 to February 1985. Thereafter the strand of single dramas became Screen Two on BBC2 from January 1985, and later also Screen One on BBC1 from September 1989. The general trend in 1980s television production was away from one-off plays and towards a greater concentration on series and serials. When one-offs were produced, such as Film on Four on Channel 4, they tended to be made with a cinematic approach rather than betraying television drama's roots in the theatre that Play for Today and earlier series on both the BBC and ITV had often demonstrated.

Nonetheless, the series is generally remembered as a benchmark of high-quality British television drama, and has become a byword for what many continue to argue was a golden age of British television. In 2000, the British Film Institute produced a poll of industry professionals to determine the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, and five of the programmes included in the final tally were from Play for Today.

A new programme publicised as a return of Play for Today, but under the working title of The Evening Play, was announced at the beginning of March 2006, but nothing has been heard from it since. Kevin Spacey, film star and director of the Old Vic, in March 2008 told BBC News that he would like to see the return of the show, but the journalists Michael Gove and Mark Lawson expressed disagreement, Gove (by then a Conservative MP) describing them as "exercises in viewer patronisation". Jan Moir in The Daily Telegraph wrote in support of Spacey, saying "the British loved Play for Today once, and would do so again. A good piece of drama looks at the human condition, and tells us something we should know about ourselves."

A book detailing the origins of the series, Play for Today: The First Year by Simon Farquhar, was published in 2021.

Productions

The following list was sourced according to the BBC Genome archive of Radio Times magazines. Titles that carried the tag Play For Today on the BBC listings for their first or subsequent transmission are included, along with some repeats such as the repeat of the Days of Hope quartet, where the initial broadcast was not branded Play for Today, but the repeat was. Repeats of the individual productions are excluded. All episodes were broadcast on BBC1, except for the delayed broadcast of Scum in 1991 which was broadcast on BBC2.

Some early episodes are missing or no longer exist in colour.

Original air date	Title	Authors	Producer	Director	Lead actor(s)	Home media	Notes
Series 1
Template:Dts	The Long Distance Piano Player						Repeated 13 April 1972. 16 mm b&w print
Template:Dts	The Right Prospectus				, Elvi Hale		Repeated 16 December 1971
Template:Dts	The Lie	Ingmar Bergman & Paul Britten Austin				Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set	Written by Ingmar Bergman, translated by Paul Britten Austin. A production for The Largest Theatre in the World project of the EBU. Winner of the SFTA award for best drama production of 1970. Repeated on BBC2 31 March 1971, and on BBC1 16 March 1972.
Template:Dts	Angels Are So Few
Template:Dts	The Write-Off						Canadian production. Missing.
Template:Dts	I Can't See My Little Willie						Repeated 18 May 1972. Missing except for domestic audio recording.
Template:Dts	A Distant Thunder						Missing.
Template:Dts	Hearts and Flowers						Repeated 9 March 1972. 16 mm b&w print
Template:Dts	Robin Redbreast					DVD release by the BFI	Due to a power cut, the ending of this episode was blacked out in many areas, necessitating a repeat of the full episode on 25 February 1971. 16mm b&w print
Template:Dts	The Hallelujah Handshake					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	Repeated 23 December 1971.
Template:Dts	Alma Mater						Repeated 4 May 1972. Missing.
Template:Dts	Circle Line						The Winner of the BBCtv Student Play Competition. Missing.
Template:Dts	Hell's Angel						David Agnew is a BBC in-house pen name typically used when multiple writers contributed to a script. Anthony Read was the author commissioned to write the play. Repeated 25 May 1972. Missing.
Template:Dts	The Piano						Repeated 10 August 1972.
Template:Dts	Billy's Last Stand						Repeated 20 April 1972. Missing.
Template:Dts	The Rainbirds						A production for The Largest Theatre in the World project of the EBU.
Template:Dts	Reddick						Canadian production. Missing.
Template:Dts	No Trams to Lime Street	Alun Owen (Book), Marty Wilde & Ronnie Scott (Music & Lyrics)					Musical. First shown under The Wednesday Play, 18 March 1970.
Template:Dts	Mad Jack						First shown under The Wednesday Play, 4 February 1970. Winner of the first prize and the silver Dore Catholic Prize at the 1971 Monte Carlo International Television Festival.
Template:Dts	Scenes from Family Life						First shown under Plays of Today on BBC2, 25 September 1969.
Template:Dts	Wind Versus Polygamy						First shown under Theatre 625 15 July 1968 and then The Wednesday Play, 27 May 1970.
Template:Dts	Playmates						First shown within Double Bill of The Wednesday Play on 26 November 1969.
Template:Dts	Sovereign's Company					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	First shown under The Wednesday Play, 22 April 1970.
Template:Dts	Season of the Witch	Desmond McCarthy & Johnny Byrne					First shown under The Wednesday Play, 7 January 1970.
Template:Dts	The Foxtrot						Repeated 30 March 1972. 16 mm b&w print
Template:Dts	When The Bough Breaks						Repeated 11 May 1972.
Template:Dts	Orkney	George Mackay Brown & John McGrath					Three stories by George Mackay Brown, adapted by John McGrath: A Time to Keep, The Whaler's Return and Celia. Repeated 27 April 1972.
Template:Dts	The Rank And File					Included on the Ken Loach at the BBC DVD boxset
Template:Dts	The Man in the Sidecar						Repeated 24 August 1972. Missing.
Template:Dts	Everybody Say Cheese						Missing.
Template:Dts	The Cellar and the Almond Tree						First shown under The Wednesday Play, 4 March 1970. Repeated on BBC2 on 13 December 1980 and on BBC1 on 14 July 1988.
Template:Dts	The Italian Table						First shown under The Wednesday Play, 18 February 1970.
Template:Dts	There Is Also Tomorrow						First shown under The Wednesday Play, 19 November 1969.
Template:Dts	Chariot of Fire						First shown under The Wednesday Play, 20 May 1970.
Series 2
Template:Dts	Traitor						BAFTA Best Actor (John Le Mesurier). Repeated on BBC2 on 27 February 1973 and on BBC1 on 21 July 1987.
Template:Dts	Edna, the Inebriate Woman					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set	BAFTA Best Actress (Patricia Hayes) & Drama Production. Repeated 2 Mar 1972, on BBC2 on 20 August 1977 and on BBC2 on 3 November 1986.
Template:Dts	Evelyn						Repeated 27 July 1972 and on BBC2 20 February 1973.
Template:Dts	O Fat White Woman						Repeated 16 July 1973.
Template:Dts	Thank You Very Much						Duration 40 minutes. 16 mm b&w print.
Template:Dts	Michael Regan						Repeated 17 August 1972.
Template:Dts	Skin Deep	Michael O'Neill & Jeremy Seabrook					Missing.
Template:Dts	Pal
Template:Dts	The Pigeon Fancier						16mm b&w print
Template:Dts	Home					DVD release by Metrodome	A NET/CBC production. Adapted by the playwright from his original stage play. Repeated on BBC2 6 February 1973.
Template:Dts	Still Waters						Repeated 3 August 1972.
Template:Dts	Stocker's Copper					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set	BAFTA Best Single Play. Writers' Guild Awards 1972: Best British Original Teleplay. Repeated 18 December 1972 and 31 August 1982. Shown in the USA on 23 July 1977 as a Piccadilly Circus episode.
Template:Dts	The House On Highbury Hill						Missing.
Template:Dts	In the Beautiful Caribbean
Template:Dts	Ackerman, Dougall and Harker						Repeated 6 August 1973.
Template:Dts	The Villa Maroc						Repeated 30 July 1973.
Template:Dts	Cows						Missing.
Template:Dts	The Fishing Party					DVD release by Simply Media	From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 9 July 1973 and on BBC2 4 August 1993.
Series 3
Template:Dts	The Reporters						Repeated 3 January 1974 and 18 April 1974.
Template:Dts	A Life Is For Ever						Repeated 11 July 1974. Missing.
Template:Dts	Carson Country
Template:Dts	Man Friday						Missing.
Template:Dts	Triple Exposure
Template:Dts	Better Than the Movies						Missing.
Template:Dts	The General's Day
Template:Dts	The Bankrupt
Template:Dts	Just Your Luck					BBC DVD	Repeated 18 July 1974.
Template:Dts	The Bouncing Boy						Repeated 25 April 1974.
Template:Dts	Shakespeare or Bust					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set	From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 4 April 1974.
Template:Dts	Land of Green Ginger						From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 24 January 1974 and on BBC4 26 March 2005.
Template:Dts	Kisses at Fifty						BAFTA Best Single Play. Repeated 20 December 1973 and on BBC2 11 August 1993.
Template:Dts	Highway Robbery	Michael O'Neill & Jeremy Seabrook					Missing.
Template:Dts	Song at Twilight
Template:Dts	Only Make Believe						Repeated 2 May 1974.
Template:Dts	For Sylvia, or the Air Show	John Burrows & John Harding					Missing.
Template:Dts	The Operation
Template:Dts	Access to the Children						Repeated 9 May 1974.
Template:Dts	Hard Labour					Included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set	Repeated 30 May 1974, on BBC2 18 August 1993, and on BBC4 14 July 2008 and 7 December 2021.
Template:Dts	Man Above Men						Missing.
Template:Dts	Speech Day						Repeated 10 January 1974.
Template:Dts	Steps Back
Template:Dts	Three's One						Missing.
Template:Dts	Edward G - Like the Filmstar
Template:Dts	Blooming Youth						Repeated 16 May 1974.
Template:Dts	The Stretch						Missing.
Template:Dts	Making the Play	Terence Brady & Charlotte Bingham
Series 4
Template:Dts	Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont						Adapted from the novel. BAFTA Best Actress (Celia Johnson). Repeated 20 March 1975.
Template:Dts	Her Majesty's Pleasure
Template:Dts	Jack Point						Repeated 3 April 1975.
Template:Dts	The Emergency Channel						Missing.
Template:Dts	Mummy and Daddy						Incomplete.
Template:Dts	Private Practice						Missing.
Template:Dts	Shutdown						Repeated 19 June 1975.
Template:Dts	Baby Blues
Template:Dts	Jingle Bells						Missing.
Template:Dts	The Lonely Man's Lover						From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 6 February 1975.
Template:Dts	All Good Men
Template:Dts	Joe's Ark						Repeated 19 December 1974, 7 July 1987, and on BBC4 30 January 2005.
Template:Dts	Hot Fat						Missing.
Template:Dts	Easy Go	Brian Clark & Ronnie King, Cliff Norris, Peter French, Paul Stuart, Tony Ali, Paul Bishop, Deirdre Walsh, Janice Reeves					Postponed from 7 February 1974.
Template:Dts	Headmaster						Repeated 12 June 1975. Spun off as a series in 1977.
Template:Dts	Penda's Fen					Blu-ray and DVD by the BFI; also included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 13 February 1975.
Template:Dts	Pidgeon - Hawk or Dove?			David Rose
Template:Dts	Three for the Fancy						Repeated 28 August 1974.
Template:Dts	Template:Va					Blu-ray & DVD releases by Panamint Cinema	Adapted from the stage play. Repeated 17 April 1975.
Template:Dts	Schmoedipus						Repeated 10 April 1975.
Template:Dts	The Childhood Friend
Template:Dts	A Follower for Emily					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set
Series 5
Template:Dts	Leeds — United!						Duration 115 minutes. Repeated 12 August 1976. Repeated on BBC4 3 November 2020.
Template:Dts	Baby Love						Adapted from the play.
Template:Dts	Back of Beyond					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set	Repeated 5 August 1976.
Template:Dts	The Bevellers						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	Taking Leave
Template:Dts	Fugitive
Template:Dts	Eleanor
Template:Dts	Gangsters					Included on the Gangsters DVD set	From BBC Birmingham. Duration 110 minutes. Repeated 2 September 1976. Spun off as a series.
Template:Dts	The After Dinner Game	Malcolm Bradbury & Christopher Bigsby					From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Breath
Template:Dts	The Death of a Young Young Man
Template:Dts	Sunset Across the Bay				, Harry Markham	Included on the Alan Bennett at the BBC DVD boxset	Repeated 19 August 1976 and on BBC2 26 July 1992.
Template:Dts	Funny Farm					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	Goodbye						From the novel by William Sansom.
Template:Dts	Just Another Saturday					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set & The Peter McDougall Collection DVD set	Winner of the 1975 Italia Prize for Television Drama Programmes. Repeated on BBC2 7 November 1975, on BBC1 26 August 1976 and on BBC2 24 August 1977.
Template:Dts	Child of Hope						Based on Joel Carlson's book No Neutral Ground.
Template:Dts	The Saturday Party						Repeated 25 April 1977, the day before its sequel, The Country Party.
Template:Dts	Wednesday Love
Template:Dts	The Dandelion Clock						Missing.
Template:Dts	Brassneck	Howard Brenton & David Hare					Adapted from the play.
Template:Dts	The Floater
5 June 1975	By Common Consent	Paul Thompson	Kenith Trodd	Ron Daniels, John Robins	Michelle Abrahams		Adapted from the play. Not billed as a Play for Today in the Radio Times.
Series 6
Template:Dts	Plaintiffs and Defendants						Shown in the USA on 16 July 1977 as a Piccadilly Circus episode.
Template:Dts	Two Sundays						Repeated 1 Sep 1977.
Template:Dts	Moss
Template:Dts	84, Charing Cross Road	Helene Hanff & Hugh Whitemore					Adapted from the book. Repeated 21 July 1977.
Template:Dts	Keep an Eye on Albert
Template:Dts	Children of the Sun	Michael O'Neill & Jeremy Seabrook					Missing. Final missing episode.
Template:Dts	After the Solo
Template:Dts	Through the Night						Repeated 4 August 1977.
Template:Dts	A Passage to England					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set	Repeated 25 August 1977.
Template:Dts	Rumpole of the Bailey					DVD release by Acorn	Repeated 16 May 1993, and on BBC4 18 and 19 January 2009. Spun off as a long-running series on ITV (Thames Television).
Template:Dts	The Other Woman						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Nuts in May					Included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set	From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 11 August 1977, on BBC2 5 September 1982 and 27 December 1993, and on BBC4 19 April 2009, 20 July 2010, 6 May 2012 and 1 December 2014.
Template:Dts	Doran's Box						From BBC Birmingham. Exists only as a domestic video recording.
Template:Dts	Packman's Barn						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	A Story to Frighten the Children
Template:Dts	The Happy Hunting Ground
Template:Dts	Jumping Bean Bag
Template:Dts	Clay, Smeddum and Greenden	Lewis Grassic Gibbon & Bill Craig					Trilogy by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, dramatised by Bill Craig; from BBC Scotland. Repeated 18 August 1977.
Template:Dts	Love Letters on Blue Paper
Template:Dts	Willie Rough						Adapted from the stage play.
Template:Dts	Tiptoe Through the Tulips
Template:Dts	The Peddler
Template:Dts	Early Struggles
Template:Dts	Double Dare						Repeated 28 July 1977, and on BBC4 6 February 2005.
Series 7
Template:Dts	Bar Mitzvah Boy					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set & the Jack Rosenthal at the BBC DVD set.	BAFTA Best Single Play and Best Writer awards, 1976. Repeated 6 May 1977, 28 February 1978 and 23 June 1997, and on BBC4 18 July 2004 and 17 March 2005.
Template:Dts	Bet Your Life
Template:Dts	Rocky Marciano Is Dead
Template:Dts	The Elephants' Graveyard				, Jon Morrison	Included on the Play for Today Vol .2 BFI Blu-ray set & The Peter McDougall Collection DVD set	Repeated 25 Jul 1978.
Template:Dts	Housewives' Choice
Template:Dts	Your Man from Six Counties					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	Buffet
Template:Dts	Love on a Gunboat						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	The Kiss of Death					Included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set
Template:Dts	Our Flesh and Blood					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set	From BBC Birmingham. Repeated 29 August 1978.
Template:Dts	Do As I Say
Template:Dts	Spend, Spend, Spend!					Included on the Jack Rosenthal at the BBC DVD set	Based on the book by Vivian Nicholson and Stephen Smith. BAFTA Best Single Play. Repeated 1 June 1978.
Template:Dts	A Photograph					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 1 BFI Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	Gotcha					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set	Double bill. Repeated 15 August 1978.
	Campion's Interview					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	A Choice of Evils
Template:Dts	The Country Party						Sequel to The Saturday Party.
Series 8
Template:Dts	Stronger Than the Sun						Repeated 21 February 1978, and on BBC4 21 January 2003, 14 May 2003 and 5 March 2006.
Template:Dts	Come the Revolution
Template:Dts	Abigail's Party					DVD release by BBC; also included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set	Adapted from the stage play. Repeated 7 August 1979, on BBC2 6 September 1982, 5 July 1992 and 1 November 1997, and on BBC4 26 June 2002, 11 August 2002, 28 October 2007, 17 December 2007, 7 November 2010, 21 March 2013, 24 November 2014, 14 October 2020 and 1 June 2022.
Template:Dts	Oy Vay Maria
Template:Dts	Nipper
Template:Dts	One Day at a Time
Template:Dts	The Mayor's Charity					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	Catchpenny Twist						Repeated 21 August 1979.
Template:Dts	Charades						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	The Thin End of the Wedge
Template:Dts	Scully's New Year's Eve						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Licking Hitler						From BBC Birmingham. BAFTA Best Single Play. Repeated 31 July 1979.
Template:Dts	Red Shift					BFI DVD	From BBC Birmingham. Adapted from the novel.
Template:Dts	The Spongers					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set	Duration 105 minutes. Prix Italia 1978, Golden Award and Best Script at Prague 1978. Repeated 6 September 1979, and on BBC2 25 August 1993 and 17 July 1999.
Template:Dts	Destiny						Adapted from the play. Duration 105 minutes. Repeated 14 August 1979.
Template:Dts	Our Day Out					DVD release by Simply Media	First shown as a Play of the Week on BBC2, 28 December 1977. Repeated on BBC2 26 December 1979, and in 3 instalments under Scene, 14, 21 & 28 January 1994, and on BBC4 22 August 2008.
Template:Dts	The After Dinner Joke
Template:Dts	Days of Hope: 1916 - Joining Up					Included on the Ken Loach at the BBC DVD boxset	First shown 11 September 1975.
Template:Dts	Days of Hope: 1921 – Every Pit in Britain Is Idle						First shown 18 September 1975.
Template:Dts	Days Of Hope: 1924 - A Miracle						First shown 25 September 1975.
Template:Dts	Days Of Hope: 1926 - General Strike						First shown 2 October 1975.
Template:Dts	The Price of Coal: Meet the People					Included on the Ken Loach at the BBC DVD boxset	First shown 29 March 1977.
Template:Dts	The Price of Coal: Back to Reality						First shown 5 April 1977.
Template:Dts	The Legion Hall Bombing
Series 9
Template:Dts	Nina					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	Victims of Apartheid					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set
Template:Dts	A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts	John Esmonde & Bob Larbey	James Cellan Jones
Template:Dts	Dinner at the Sporting Club					DVD release by Simply Media
Template:Dts	Donal and Sally				, Sylvestra Le Touzel		Best Direction, 1979 Prague International Television Festival. Repeated 8 July 1980.
Template:Dts	Sorry…	Václav Havel & Vera Blackwell					Adapted and translated by Vera Blackwell from the Vaněk plays Private View (a.k.a. Unveiling) and Audience. Repeated 6 January 1990.
Template:Dts	Butterflies Don't Count
Template:Dts	Soldiers Talking, Cleanly
Template:Dts	One Bummer News Day
Template:Dts	The Out of Town Boys						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Vampires
Template:Dts	The Chief Mourner
Template:Dts	Waterloo Sunset						Repeated 5 August 1980.
Template:Dts	Blue Remembered Hills					Included on the Helen Mirren at the BBC DVD set	BAFTA Best Single Play and Best Director 1979. Repeated on BBC2 30 May 1980 and 6 November 1986, and on BBC4 5 June 2008.
Template:Dts	Who's Who					Included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set	Repeated on BBC2 7 September 1982.
Template:Dts	The Last Window Cleaner
Template:Dts	Ploughman's Share						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	Degree of Uncertainty
Template:Dts	Light
Template:Dts	Coming Out					Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set	Repeated on BBC2 13 June 1980.
Template:Dts	Don't Be Silly						Repeated 12 August 1980. Repeated on BBC4 10 November 2020.
Series 10
Template:Dts	Long Distance Information						Repeated on BBC2 4 October 1980.
Template:Dts	Cries from a Watchtower
Template:Dts	Comedians						Adapted from the stage play. Repeated 19 August 1980, and on BBC2 9 May 1993.
Template:Dts	Even Solomon
Template:Dts	Just a Boys' Game				, Ken Hutchison	Included on the Play for Today Vol. 2 BFI Blu-ray set; The Peter McDougall Collection DVD set	Repeated 26 August 1980. Repeated on BBC4 27 October 2020.
Template:Dts	Billy						Repeated 10 November 1981.
Template:Dts	A Hole in Babylon	Jim Hawkins & Horace Ové				Included on the Play for Today Vol. 3 BFI Blu-ray set	Based on events of the 1975 Spaghetti House siege. Repeated on BBC2 27 June 1992. Repeated on BBC4 20 October 2020.
Template:Dts	The Slab Boys					DVD release by John Williams Productions	Adapted from the play.
Template:Dts	Katie: The Year of a Child	Ian Cullen & John Norton
Template:Dts	The Network
Template:Dts	The Black Stuff					Included on the Boys from the Black Stuff DVD set	The Black Stuff was commissioned and produced for the Play for Today strand in 1978, but not broadcast until 1980, as a one-off play on BBC2 (not billed as a Play for Today). However BBC sources today generally do refer to it as a Play for Today. Repeated on BBC1 30 July 1981, and on BBC4 19 September 2010 and 17 November 2020.
Template:Dts	Chance of a Lifetime						Repeated 3 September 1981.
Template:Dts	Keep Smiling						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Dreams of Leaving
Template:Dts	Thicker Than Water
Template:Dts	Murder Rap						Repeated 13 August 1981.
Template:Dts	Instant Enlightenment Including VAT						Postponed from 22 November 1979.
Template:Dts	No Defence
Template:Dts	That Crazy Woman
Template:Dts	A Gift from Nessus	William McIlvanney & Bill Craig					Novel by William McIlvanney, dramatised by Bill Craig; from BBC Scotland.
Template:Dts	Kate, the Good Neighbour						Repeated 27 August 1981.
Template:Dts	Buses
Template:Dts	Shadows on Our Skin	Jennifer Johnston & Derek Mahon					Screenplay by Derek Mahon from the novel by Jennifer Johnston. Repeated 20 August 1981.
Template:Dts	Ladies
Template:Dts	The Vanishing Army						First shown as a Play of the Week on BBC2 29 November 1978, and repeated on BBC1 28 August 1979.
Template:Dts	Not for the Likes of Us						From BBC Bristol
Template:Dts	The Executioner
Template:Dts	The Imitation Game					DVD release by Simply Media	Repeated on BBC2 8 September 1981 and 12 May 1993.
Template:Dts	A Walk in the Forest						Repeated on BBC2 6 July 1980.
Template:Dts	On Giant's Shoulders	Marjorie Wallace, Michael Robson, William Humble & Anthony Simmons					Based on the book by Marjorie Wallace and Michael Robson, dramatised by William Humble and Anthony Simmons. First shown as a Play of the Week on BBC2, 28 March 1979. Repeated on BBC2 4 November 1986.
Template:Dts	Fearless Frank						First shown as a Play of the Week on BBC2, 4 October 1978.
Series 11
Template:Dts	Pasmore	Richard Eyre & David Storey					Screenplay by Richard Eyre from the novel by David Storey. Repeated 10 August 1982.
Template:Dts	C2H5OH						Title is the chemical formula for ethanol (alcohol).
Template:Dts	The Adventures of Frank: 1 – Everybody's Fiddling Something	John McGrath, Mark Brown, Mike O'Neill & Si Cowe					A musical play in two parts by John McGrath, with music by Mark Brown and additional songs by Mike O'Neill and Si Cowe.
Template:Dts	The Adventures of Frank: 2 – Seeds of Ice
Template:Dts	Minor Complications						Repeated 3 August 1982.
Template:Dts	Jude
Template:Dts	The Flipside of Dominick Hide	Jeremy Paul & Alan Gibson				DVD release by BBC	Repeated 7 December 1982, and on BBC4 26 February 2006, 20 May 2006 and 26 July 2008.
Template:Dts	Name for the Day
Template:Dts	Jessie						Repeated 11 December 1982.
Template:Dts	Beyond the Pale
Template:Dts	The Muscle Market						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado
Template:Dts	The Cause
Template:Dts	Beloved Enemy	David Leland & Charles Levinson				Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	Derived from the book Vodka Cola by Charles Levinson.
Template:Dts	The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner
Template:Dts	The Union
Template:Dts	Sorry						Repeated 17 August 1982.
Template:Dts	Shai Mala Khani The Garland	H. O. Nazareth & Horace Ové					From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	The Sin Bin
Template:Dts	Before Water Lilies
Template:Dts	Bavarian Night
Template:Dts	The Good Time Girls						From BBC Scotland. Repeated 27 July 1982.
Template:Dts	Baby Talk
Template:Dts	A Turn for the Worse
Template:Dts	Psy-Warriors					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	Adapted from the play.
Series 12
Template:Dts	Country						Repeated on BBC2 26 May 1993. Repeated on BBC4 12 October 2020.
Template:Dts	London Is Drowning
Template:Dts	A Room for the Winter
Template:Dts	No Visible Scar
Template:Dts	Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain						Repeated on BBC2 15 February 1989.
Template:Dts	Protest	Václav Havel & Vera Blackwell					Translated and adapted by Vera Blackwell from the play.
Template:Dts	United Kingdom
Template:Dts	P.Q. 17	Roger Milner & Captain Jack Broome					From the book Convoy Is to Scatter by Captain Jack Broome.
Template:Dts	The Factory
Template:Dts	England's Greens and Peasant Land
Template:Dts	A Cotswold Death
Template:Dts	Under the Skin
Template:Dts	Commitments						Adapted from the play. Exists only as a domestic video recording.
Template:Dts	Life After Death
Template:Dts	The Silly Season						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	Too Late to Talk to Billy						First of the Billy trilogy. Repeated 3 May 1983.Repeated on BBC4 5 October 2022.
Template:Dts	Willie's Last Stand
Template:Dts	Tishoo
Template:Dts	Home, Sweet Home					Included on the Mike Leigh at the BBC DVD set
Template:Dts	A Sudden Wrench						Repeated on BBC2 18 March 1983.
Template:Dts	Eve Set the Balls of Corruption Rolling						From BBC Scotland. Pye Award for Best Writer New to Television, 1982
Template:Dts	Whistling Wally
Series 13
Template:Dts	Soft Targets					Included on the Helen Mirren at the BBC DVD set	Repeated on BBC4 25 Jan 2003.
Template:Dts	3 Minute Heroes						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	The Remainder Man
Template:Dts	Intensive Care						Repeated on BBC2 9 August 1992.
Template:Dts	A Mother Like Him
Template:Dts	John David
Template:Dts	Aliens						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	Another Flip for Dominick	Jeremy Paul & Alan Gibson				BBC DVD release	Repeated on BBC4 27 May 2006 and 2 August 2008.
Template:Dts	Last Love
Template:Dts	Gates of Gold
Template:Dts	Wayne and Albert
Template:Dts	Atlantis						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	The Last Term
Template:Dts	Reluctant Chickens						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	Shall I Be Mother?
Template:Dts	The Falklands Factor
Template:Dts	A Matter of Choice for Billy						Second of the Billy trilogy.Repeated on BBC4 5 October 2022.
Series 14
Template:Dts	Young Shoulders	John Wain & Robert Smith					Screenplay by Robert Smith and John Wain of the novel.
Template:Dts	A Coming to Terms for Billy						Third of the Billy trilogy. From BBC Northern Ireland. Repeated on BBC4 12 October 2022.
Template:Dts	Z for Zachariah						Adapted from the novel. Duration 120 minutes.
Template:Dts	Moving on the Edge
Template:Dts	Desert of Lies
Template:Dts	Hard Feelings						Adapted from the play.
Template:Dts	Under the Hammer
Template:Dts	King
Template:Dts	Rainy Day Women						Repeated on BBC2 8 September 1990.
Template:Dts	Dog Ends
Template:Dts	The Groundling and the Kite						From BBC Birmingham
Template:Dts	The Cry	Derek Mahon & Chris Menaul from a story by John Montague					Adapted from a story by John Montague.
Template:Dts	It Could Happen to Anybody						From BBC Scotland
Template:Dts	Only Children
Template:Dts	The Amazing Miss Stella Estelle
Postponed broadcasts
Template:Dts	Brimstone & Treacle					BBC DVD release	Postponed from 6 April 1976. Repeated on BBC2 5 September 1998 and on BBC4 2 January 2005.
Template:Dts	Scum					Included in the Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC Blu-ray set	Postponed from 8 November 1977.
Unbroadcast	Pillion						Recorded in 1979 but never transmitted.

Channel 5 relaunch

Original air date	Title	Authors	Producer	Director	Lead actor(s)	Home media	Notes
Series 1
Template:Dts	Never Too Late	Simon Warne, Lydia Marchant		Sara Harrak	Anita Dobson, Nigel Havers
Template:Dts	Big Winners	Martha Watson Allpress		Emma Turner	Sue Johnston, Paul Copley
Template:Dts	A Knock at the Door	David Whitehouse		Daniel Rands	Alan Davies, Nikki Amuka-Bird
Template:Dts	Special Measures	Lee Thompson		Jack McLoughlin	Jessica Plummer, Shaun Fagan

Home media

The BFI have released three box sets of the series on Blu-ray, each consisting of various plays from throughout the show's run. Volume 1 contains seven plays broadcast between 1970 and 77; The Lie (1970), Shakespeare or Bust (1973), Back of Beyond (1974), Passage to England (1975), Your Man from Six Counties (1976), Our Flesh and Blood (1977), and A Photograph (1977). Five of the productions were remastered using the original 16mm film negatives which still exist in the BBC Archives.

Volume 2 contains seven plays broadcast between 1972 and 79; Stocker's Copper (1972), The Elephants' Graveyard (1976), Gotcha / Campion's Interview (1977), The Spongers (1978), Victims of Apartheid (1978), and Just a Boys' Game (1979).

Volume 3, released on 21 March 2022, contains six plays broadcast between 1971 and 79; Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971), Just Another Saturday (1975), Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976), The Mayor's Charity (1977), Coming Out (1979), and A Hole in Babylon (1979).

Robin Redbreast, Penda's Fen, Abigail's Party, Our Day Out, The Imitation Game and several others have received standalone releases on DVD and Blu-ray, whilst others have been released on compilation DVDs with the creators' other works.

Bibliography

• Evans, Jeff. The Penguin TV Companion (1st ed.). London: Penguin Books. 2001. Template:ISBN.
• Vahimagi, Tise. British Television: An Illustrated Guide. Oxford. Oxford University Press / British Film Institute. 1994. Template:ISBN.
• Farquhar, Simon. Play for Today: The First Year. 2021. Template:ISBN.

External links

• Template:BBC programme
• Drama out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today - 2020 BBC documentary
• Template:Trim/ Template:Trim at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
• TV Cream's Play for Today website, contains synopses of most episodes Internet archive link
• Play for Today pages on British Television Drama site
• Play for Today section at the BFI's Screenonline
• Archive status of Play for Today at lostshows.com Redirects to TVBrain | Kaleidoscope | Lost shows | TV Archive | TV History, a paysite