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ITV Play of the Week

1955–1967 · 13 seasons

Stage-bound, talky chamber pieces that ask you to lean in and listen closely to actors wrestle with moral knots.

Created by
Peter Sasdy, Quentin Lawrence
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Starring
Lally Bowers, Arthur Lawrence, Hilary Liddell
Overview
A UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Created by
Peter Sasdy, Quentin Lawrence
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Starring
Lally Bowers, Arthur Lawrence, Hilary Liddell
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • family
  • class
  • identity
  • betrayal
  • morality
Places
  • home
  • single country house
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • anthology
  • serialised
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror2
Humour4
Realism7
Romance3
Tension5
Darkness5
Complexity7
Emotional weight6

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BBC Play of the Month

1965–1983

Like sitting in the front row of a theatre: language-rich, actor-driven, and emotionally direct, each play a self-contained world.

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Sunday Night Theatre

1950

Stagey, talky live plays that feel like watching theatre from a distance, rewarding close attention with quiet moral weight.

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Theatre Night

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1960

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, comedy
Created by
Peter Sasdy, Quentin Lawrence, Alvin Rakoff, Derek Bennett, James Ferman, Graham Evans
Written by
Fay Weldon, William Fairchild, Richard Yates, Jacques Gillies
Starring
Lally Bowers, Arthur Lawrence, Hilary Liddell, Michael Meacham, Robert Raikes, Campbell Singer, Kevin Stoney, Susan Willemen
Length
13 seasons, 575 episodes, 90 min each
Network
ITV1
Country
United Kingdom
Languages
English

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