'The Wednesday Play'/'Play For Today' on DVD

[Simon36]

I would hazard a guess that The Parachute's move to Play of the Month was because it was felt it deserved that more prestigious slot, as I would think POTM was viewed as at the time. POTM was usually a televising of a theatre favourite, but it did occasionally showcase new work, and with the combo of Mercer writing and Osborne starring, and it being a a product of such quality (it won the Prix Italia that year), perhaps that move was considered an accolade.

[Billy Smart]

I've written an article about this - http://cstonline.tv/the-wednesday-play- ... ailability

[bent_halo]

Good stuff, Billy. I noticed the other day that Cathy Come Home is now available on Region 'A' Blu-Ray, as part of the Criterion edition of Kes. Is that the first TWP on BD?

[Billy Smart]

I've added all of the Alan Clarke At The BBC titles to the list at the top of this thread.

[Simon36]

And 36 Play for Todays on BBC Store now, Still Waters and Back of Beyond just added, and with more to come!

https://store.bbc.com/play-for-today

[Billy Smart]

This is a surprise - The Cheviot, The Stag & The Black, Black Oil on blu-ray! - https://www.panamint.co.uk/panamint-blu ... il-blu-ray

[Simon36]

Amazing!

[Billy Smart]

I've added last year's releases of The Fishing Party and The Imitation Game to the list at the top of this thread.

Wouldn't it be good if some more Play For Today DVD titles were released as part of next year's fiftieth anniversary?

[spflog1]

I'd love to see Stocker's Copper released. It's a Play for Today episode from 1972, telling the story of a strike by Cornish clay miners in 1913. Gareth Thomas is in a lead role as one of the policemen being shipped in to deal with the problem.

[Billy Smart]

Wouldn't it be good if some more Play For Today DVD titles were released as part of next year's fiftieth anniversary?

And, indeed, they are coming... This BFI announcement - https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/new ... unced-2020 - includes the welcome news:

DVD/Blu-ray: BEST OF PLAY FOR TODAY VOL.1

I particularly like "Volume 1"!

[Billy Smart]

The BFI have announced the plays to be included on Play For Today: Volume One:

The Lie (Written by Ingmar Bergman / Dir. Alan Bridges, 1970)
Shakespeare or Bust (Written by Peter Terson / Dir. Brian Parker, 1973)
Back of Beyond (Written by Julia Jones, Dir. Desmond Davis, 1974)
Passage to England (Written by Leon Griffiths / Dir. John Mackenzie, 1975)
Our Flesh and Blood (Written by Mike Stott / Dir. Pedr James, 1977)
A Photograph (Written by John Bowen / Dir. John Glenister, 1977)
Your Man from Six Counties (Written by Colin Welland / Dir. Barry Davis, 1976)

Five of the plays (the ones on film) have been restored from the negatives.

(I surmise from this that Volume Two will be plays from 1977-84.)

[Mark]

Great to see some being released.

[Simon36]

The BFI have announced the plays to be included on Play For Today: Volume One:

The Lie (Written by Ingmar Bergman / Dir. Alan Bridges, 1970)
Shakespeare or Bust (Written by Peter Terson / Dir. Brian Parker, 1973)
Back of Beyond (Written by Julia Jones, Dir. Desmond Davis, 1974)
Passage to England (Written by Leon Griffiths / Dir. John Mackenzie, 1975)
Our Flesh and Blood (Written by Mike Stott / Dir. Pedr James, 1977)
A Photograph (Written by John Bowen / Dir. John Glenister, 1977)
Your Man from Six Counties (Written by Colin Welland / Dir. Barry Davis, 1976)

Five of the plays (the ones on film) have been restored from the negatives.

(I surmise from this that Volume Two will be plays from 1977-84.)

It’s an odd selection in some ways but a good one. It’s especially good that Back of Beyond, a very obscure piece, is surfacing, and will be restored, as it’s a very visual piece. It’s not Julia Jones’ best play (it’s much more of a mood piece than a dialogue driven one) but it’s a fascinating little film.

Your Man from Six Counties is similarly one of the lesser-known pieces, Welland’s last for the series. Shakespeare or Bust is probably the best of the Fishing Party trilogy, a lovely, eccentric little gem.

[Billy Smart]

I get the feeling that Your Man From Six Counties got remembered as an Irish play, rather than Welland one. It's one of the most cinematic PFT stories in intention, with its use of spectacular landscape and climax at a local geographical feature. It's a particularly good choice for a play to restore, as it is a story that could really do without the murk and hairs of a 1970s 16mm print in order to be told to full effect.

[Mark]

It's a shame "Traitor" never gets a look in, incredible performance from John Le Mesurier.

I'm sure BBC Four gave it a screening years ago.

[Simon36]

I get the feeling that Your Man From Six Counties got remembered as an Irish play, rather than Welland one. It's one of the most cinematic PFT stories in intention, with its use of spectacular landscape and climax at a local geographical feature. It's a particularly good choice for a play to restore, as it is a story that could really do without the murk and hairs of a 1970s 16mm print in order to be told to full effect.

I agree. It’s a very fine piece. Never repeated, something Welland had theories aBout.

[Billy Smart]

The box set won't be the only 50th anniversary Play For Today activity taking place this autumn. I don't know if the BFI Southbank season that was to have gone ahead in September will still occur in some form, but Illuminations have been making a BBC4 documentary about the strand. They have a Play For Today Twitter feed giving details of their progress and links to related matters - https://twitter.com/PlayforToday_20 .