The Wednesday Play

The Wednesday Play

The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen.

Drama

Seasons

1. Catch as Catch Can

Air Date: 1964-09-30

2. A Crack in the Ice

Air Date: 1964-10-28

3. In Camera

Air Date: 1964-11-04

4. Pale Horse, Pale Rider

Air Date: 1964-11-11

5. The Big Breaker

Air Date: 1964-11-18

6. Mr. Douglas

Air Date: 1964-11-25

7. Malatesta

Air Date: 1964-12-02

8. The July Plot

Air Date: 1964-12-09

9. First Love

Air Date: 1964-12-16

10. A Tap on the Shoulder

Air Date: 1965-01-06

11. Sir Jocelyn, the Minister Would Like a Word ...

Air Date: 1965-01-13

12. The Navigators

Air Date: 1965-01-20

13. Fable

Air Date: 1965-01-27

Fable is a British television play, shown on 27 January 1965 as an episode of The Wednesday Play series on BBC 1. Written by John Hopkins, the play is set in a parallel totalitarian Britain where those in authority are black people, and white people are their social underdogs - a reversal of the situation in contemporary apartheid South Africa. It was directed by Christopher Morahan and produced by James MacTaggart.

14. Dan, Dan The Charity Man

Air Date: 1965-02-03

15. Ashes to Ashes

Air Date: 1965-02-10

16. Wear a Very Big Hat

Air Date: 1965-02-17

17. The Confidence Course

Air Date: 1965-02-24

18. Campaign for One

Air Date: 1965-03-03

19. Horror of Darkness

Air Date: 1965-03-10

"The liberal middle-class mask well and truly slips in John Hopkins' intense, slow-burning love triangle drama, broadcast in the BBC's groundbreaking Wednesday Play slot. An affluent, cosmopolitan London couple (Jackson and Lynch) find their outwardly charmed lives turned upside down by the appearance of a troubled homosexual friend (Williamson), who quickly touches a raw nerve. In a virtuoso performance, Jackson's spirited, cerebral Cathy finds herself unable to penetrate either man's psyche. Stylishly shot and built to a shocking crescendo by director Page, this gripping chamber piece simmers with suppressed desire, creativity – and rage." Quoting the description from the 2011 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival site.

20. A Little Temptation

Air Date: 1965-03-17

21. Moving On

Air Date: 1965-03-24

22. Cat's Cradle

Air Date: 1965-03-31

23. Three Clear Sundays

Air Date: 1965-04-07

24. The Interior Decorator

Air Date: 1965-04-14

25. Auto-Stop

Air Date: 1965-04-21

26. The Good Shoe Maker and the Poor Fish Peddler

Air Date: 1965-04-28

27. Cemented with Love

Air Date: 1965-05-05

28. A Knight in Tarnished Armour

Air Date: 1965-05-12

29. For the West

Air Date: 1965-05-26

30. And Did Those Feet?

Air Date: 1965-06-02

31. The Man Without Papers

Air Date: 1965-06-09

32. The Pistol

Air Date: 1965-06-16

33. Women in Crisis: With Love and Tears

Air Date: 1965-06-23

34. The Seven O'Clock Crunch

Air Date: 1965-06-30

1. The War Game

Air Date: 1965-10-06

2. Alice

Air Date: 1965-10-13

3. The Girl Who Loved Robots

Air Date: 1965-10-20

4. A Designing Woman

Air Date: 1965-10-27

5. Up The Junction

Air Date: 1965-11-03

6. The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne

Air Date: 1965-11-10

7. The End of Arthur's Marriage

Air Date: 1965-11-17

8. Tomorrow, Just You Wait

Air Date: 1965-11-24

9. The Bond

Air Date: 1965-12-01

10. Stand Up, Nigel Barton

Air Date: 1965-12-08

11. Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton

Air Date: 1965-12-15

12. The Coming Out Party

Air Date: 1965-12-22

13. The Bone Yard

Air Date: 1966-01-05

14. A Man On Her Back

Air Date: 1966-01-12

15. Rodney, Our Intrepid Hero

Air Date: 1966-01-19

16. Calf Love

Air Date: 1966-01-26

17. Silent Song

Air Date: 1966-02-02

18. Who's A Good Boy Then?

Air Date: 1966-02-09

19. A Game - Like - Only A Game

Air Date: 1966-02-16

20. Why Aren't You Famous?

Air Date: 1966-02-23

21. Macready's Gala

Air Date: 1966-03-02

22. A Walk In The Sea

Air Date: 1966-03-09

23. Boy In The Smoke

Air Date: 1966-03-16

24. Barlowe of the Car Park

Air Date: 1966-03-23

25. The Portsmouth Defence

Air Date: 1966-03-30

26. Pity About The Abbey

Air Date: 1966-04-06

27. The Big Man Coughed and Died

Air Date: 1966-04-13

28. The Snow Ball

Air Date: 1966-04-20

29. A Cheery Soul

Air Date: 1966-04-27

30. The Connoiseur

Air Date: 1966-05-04

31. The Retreat

Air Date: 1966-05-11

32. Ape and Essence

Air Date: 1966-05-18

33. Toddler on the Run

Air Date: 1966-05-25

34. The Executioner

Air Date: 1966-06-01

35. Way Off Beat

Air Date: 1966-06-08

36. A Soiree at Blossom's Hotel

Air Date: 1966-06-15

37. Cock, Hen and Counting Pit

Air Date: 1966-06-22

1. Photo Finish

Air Date: 1966-09-21

2. A Hero of our Time

Air Date: 1966-09-28

3. The Frighteners

Air Date: 1966-10-12

A Piece of Resistance

4. A Piece of Resistance

Air Date: 1966-10-19

5. Where the Buffalo Roam

Air Date: 1966-10-26

A mentally disturbed Welsh teenager is obsessed with Westerns. His volatile temperament loses him the few people who might have been sympathetic, and helped him. Instead, he spirals down to inevitable destruction.

6. The Head Waiter

Air Date: 1966-11-09

7. Cathy Come Home

Air Date: 1966-11-16

8. The Private Tutor

Air Date: 1966-11-23

9. A Pyre for Private James

Air Date: 1966-11-30

10. A Tale of Two Wives

Air Date: 1966-12-07

11. Little Master Mind

Air Date: 1966-12-14

12. The Mayfly and the Frog

Air Date: 1966-12-21

13. Person To Person

Air Date: 1967-01-04

14. The Order

Air Date: 1967-01-11

15. Everybody's Rich Except Us

Air Date: 1967-01-18

16. The Lump

Air Date: 1967-01-25

17. Who's Going to Take Me On?

Air Date: 1967-02-01

18. Death of a Teddy Bear

Air Date: 1967-02-08

19. Days in the Trees

Air Date: 1967-02-15

20. In Two Minds

Air Date: 1967-02-22

21. Another Day, Another Dollar

Air Date: 1967-03-01

22. Public Inquiry

Air Date: 1967-03-08

23. A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer's Assistant

Air Date: 1967-03-15

24. A Breach in the Wall

Air Date: 1967-03-22

25. The Voices in the Park

Air Date: 1967-03-29

26. Dismissal Leading to Lustfulness

Air Date: 1967-04-05

27. A Brilliant Future Behind Him

Air Date: 1967-04-12

28. Message for Posterity

Air Date: 1967-04-19

29. A Way with the Ladies

Air Date: 1967-04-26

30. The Playground

Air Date: 1967-05-03

31. Drums Along the Avon

Air Date: 1967-05-10

1. Sleeping Dog

Air Date: 1967-10-11

2. Wanted: Single Gentleman

Air Date: 1967-10-18

3. A Black Candle for Mrs. Gogarty

Air Date: 1967-10-25

4. The Devil a Monk Would Be

Air Date: 1967-11-08

5. Fall of the Goat

Air Date: 1967-11-15

6. The Profile of a Gentleman

Air Date: 1967-11-22

7. Dial Rudolph Valentino One One

Air Date: 1967-11-29

It is the morning of a notorious bachelor's wedding in this tale of marriage, friendship and non-communication between parents and children.

8. Kippers and Curtains

Air Date: 1967-12-06

The Honourable Audrey is the latest arrival at a boarding-house in a working-class area of London.

9. Death of a Private

Air Date: 1967-12-13

10. An Officer of the Court

Air Date: 1967-12-20

11. The Fat of the Land

Air Date: 1967-12-27

12. Toggle

Air Date: 1968-01-03

13. House of Character

Air Date: 1968-01-10

14. Jamie, On a Flying Visit

Air Date: 1968-01-17

15. Monsieur Barnett

Air Date: 1968-01-24

16. The Drummer and the Bloke

Air Date: 1968-01-31

17. Rebel in the Grave

Air Date: 1968-02-07

18. Coincidence

Air Date: 1968-02-21

19. Light Blue

Air Date: 1968-04-03

20. Let's Murder Vivaldi

Air Date: 1968-04-10

21. The Golden Vision

Air Date: 1968-04-17

22. The Man Behind You

Air Date: 1968-05-01

23. Infidelity Took Place

Air Date: 1968-05-08

98. Episode 98

Air Date:

99. Episode 99

Air Date:

1. Mrs Lawrence Will Look After It

Air Date: 1968-08-21

2. Spoiled

Air Date: 1968-08-28

3. The Gorge

Air Date: 1968-09-04

4. A Night with Mrs. Da Tanka

Air Date: 1968-09-11

5. Charlie

Air Date: 1968-09-18

6. Anyone For Tennis?

Air Date: 1968-09-25

7. Mooney and his Caravans

Air Date: 1968-10-02

8. The Lower Largo Sequence

Air Date: 1968-10-09

9. Hello, Good Evening and Welcome

Air Date: 1968-10-16

10. A Bit of Crucifixion, Father

Air Date: 1968-10-23

11. Nothing Will be The Same

Air Date: 1968-10-30

12. A Beast With Two Backs

Air Date: 1968-11-06

An isolated New Forest community in 19th Century Britain. A young local girl is murdered by a mentally disturbed youth, but the villagers blame a stranger, an Italian traveling showman and his bear, rather than see the rot in their own camp.

13. On the Eve of Publication

Air Date: 1968-11-27

14. The Fabulous Frump

Air Date: 1969-01-08

15. Smoke Screen

Air Date: 1969-01-15

16. Dr. Aitkinson's Daughter

Air Date: 1969-01-21

17. The Apprentices

Air Date: 1969-01-29

18. Birthday

Air Date: 1969-02-05

19. The Big Flame

Air Date: 1969-02-12

20. A Serpent in Putney

Air Date: 1969-02-19

21. Bami Powl Zapl

Air Date: 1969-03-05

22. Sling Your Hook

Air Date: 1969-04-02

23. A Child and a Half

Air Date: 1969-04-09

24. Son of Man

Air Date: 1969-04-16

25. The Exiles

Air Date: 1969-04-23

26. Blodwen, Home from Rachel's Marriage

Air Date: 1969-04-30

1. The Parachute

Air Date: 1969-08-06

2. Pitchi Poi

Air Date: 1969-09-24

3. The Last Train through Harecastle Tunnel

Air Date: 1969-10-01

4. Patterson O.K.

Air Date: 1969-10-08

5. The Mark II Wife

Air Date: 1969-10-15

6. Close the Coalhouse Door

Air Date: 1969-10-23

7. The Sad Decline of Arthur Maybury

Air Date: 1969-10-30

8. All Out for Kangaroo Valley

Air Date: 1969-11-05

9. Happy

Air Date: 1969-11-12

10. There Is Also Tomorrow

Air Date: 1969-11-19

11. The Compartment/Playmates

Air Date: 1969-11-26

12. Blood of the Lamb

Air Date: 1969-12-03

13. The Vortex

Air Date: 1969-12-10

14. It Wasn't Me

Air Date: 1969-12-17

15. The Season of the Witch

Air Date: 1970-01-07

16. Mille Miglia

Air Date: 1970-01-14

17. The Hunting of Lionel Crane

Air Date: 1970-01-21

18. Rest in Peace, Uncle Fred

Air Date: 1970-01-28

19. Mad Jack

Air Date: 1970-02-04

20. Nathan and Tabileth

Air Date: 1970-02-11

21. The Italian Table

Air Date: 1970-02-18

22. The Boy Who Wanted Peace

Air Date: 1970-02-25

23. The Cellar and the Almond Tree

Air Date: 1970-03-04

24. The Year of the Sex Olympics

Air Date: 1970-03-11

25. No Trams to Lime Street

Air Date: 1970-03-18

26. To See How Far It Is 1: Murphy's Law

Air Date: 1970-03-25

27. To See How Far It Is 2: The Curse of the Donkins

Air Date: 1970-04-01

28. To See How Far It Is 3: To See How Far It Is

Air Date: 1970-04-08

29. Wine of India

Air Date: 1970-04-15

30. Sovereign's Company

Air Date: 1970-04-22

31. Party Games

Air Date: 1970-04-29

32. Emma's Time

Air Date: 1970-05-06

33. Chariot of Fire

Air Date: 1970-05-13

A prison visitor becomes involved with a convicted sex offender.

34. Wind Vs. Polygamy

Air Date: 1970-05-27

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Rating

4.5/10

Release Date

1964-09-30

Episodes

187 (6 seasons)

Status

Ended

Cast