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Play of the Month

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted regularly from October 1965 to May 1979, before returning for the summer seasons of 1982 and 1983. The producer most associated with the Play of the Month series was Cedric Messina. Thirteen productions were also shown previously or subsequently on BBC2 in the period 1971-73 under Stage 2. Productions were broadcast in colour from November 1969.

Archive status

Of the 128 productions, 40 are missing from the archives (except for short sequences in several cases), having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. One colour production exists only as a black & white telerecording.

4/9 episodes from series one are archived, only the first episode from series two is archived, 2/11 from series three are archived, with one lost transmission surviving in partial footage, 4/9 from series four are archived, 4/8 from series five are fully archived, with one lost broadcast having partial footage, 5/9 from series six are archived, 8/11 from series seven are archived, with one episode ("The Cherry Orchard"), originally transmitted on 19 December 1971 and filmed in colour only surviving as a black and white recording, 7/10 from series eight are archived, and one lost episode having partial footage, 7/9 exist from series nine, with one lost episode having partial footage, 8/9 from series ten are archived, and every episode made from series eleven onwards is archived.

The earliest episode not in the BBC archives is series one episode three, "The Joel Brand Story", originally transmitted on 14 December 1965, and the most latest episode not available in the archives is series ten episode eight "The Shadow of a Gunman", originally transmitted on 20 April 1975.

Productions

Sourced according to the BBC Genome archive of Radio Times magazines, with archival status from TV Brain.[1][2]
Legend: AS/A = Archive status/Availability
Abbreviations: tr =Telerecording; seq = sequence(s)

See also

Other BBC drama anthology series include:

References

  1. ^ "BBC Genome". Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  2. ^ "TV Brain". Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  3. ^ Angelini, Sergio (2003–2014). "Passage to India, A (1965)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. ^ Oliver Wake "Lee Oswald - Assassin (1966)", BFI Screenonline, December 2003
  5. ^ Make Me An Offer, Guide to Musical Theatre website
  6. ^ Make Me an Offer, BFI Film Forever
  7. ^ "Cyrano de Bergerac (1968)". BFI National Archive.
  8. ^ a b The Oscar Wilde Collection, BBC DVD box-set
  9. ^ a b c d e The Anton Chekhov Collection, BBC-Warner DVD box-set (Region 1 only)
  10. ^ a b c The Terence Rattigan Collection, BBC DVD box-set
  11. ^ a b Henrik Ibsen Collection, BBC-Warner DVD boxset (Region 1/N. America only)
  12. ^ See Michael Coveney Obituary: Hugh Leonard, The Guardian, 13 February 2009
  13. ^ a b Maggie Smith at the BBC, BBC Warner DVD box-set (Region 1 only)
  14. ^ a b c d e f The Bernard Shaw Collection, BBC 6 DVD box set
  15. ^ The BBC's 1962 version with Ingrid Bergman and Michael Redgrave is contained within the Henrik Ibsen Collection box-set.
  16. ^ a b c d Helen Mirren at the BBC, BBC DVD box-set
  17. ^ The BBC's 1986 version is contained within The Oscar Wilde Collection
  18. ^ This programme was a co-production with Universal Television.
  19. ^ The Noël Coward Collection, BBC DVD box-set
  20. ^ Diana Rigg at the BBC, BBC-Warner DVD box-set (Region 1 only)

External links