Play for Today
Play for Today
TV ShowEnded

Play for Today

6.6 / 10 · 10 votes
1970
~1h 15m / ep
14 seasons
314 episodes
Drama

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, 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 between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

What critics are saying

Verdicts use the same scale as your list: highly recommended through avoid — plus optional scores and blurbs.

Highly recommended Recommend Give it a go Neutral Avoid

Nobody on Critic, Sir! has logged a verdict for this title yet. The silence is either respectful or suspicious.

Sign in and use Add to My List below to share your own verdict.

Cast

Seasons

  • The Long Distance Piano Player

    1.The Long Distance Piano Player

    15-10-19701h 15m

    A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing

  • The Right Prospectus

    2.The Right Prospectus

    22-10-19701h 15m

    A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.

  • The Lie

    3.The Lie

    29-10-19701h 15m

    ""The Lie"" refers to the 8-year marriage of a couple who are constantly hurting each other.

  • Angels Are So Few

    4.Angels Are So Few

    05-11-19701h 15m

    A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.

  • Ep 5

    5.The Write-Off

    12-11-19701h 15m

    A man is made redundant but can't bring himself to let anyone know, plunging into a web of deceit as he keeps up the charade he is still in work.

  • Ep 6

    6.I Can't See My Little Willie

    19-11-19701h 15m

    A man has a mid-life crisis in his brother's pub where sees life as a game show

  • Ep 7

    7.A Distant Thunder

    26-11-19701h 15m

    A newly-appointed knight finds his celebrations cut short by someone who was witness to his treachery during the war.

  • Ep 8

    8.Hearts and Flowers

    03-12-19701h 15m

    A TV host and his architect brother attend their father's funeral

  • Ep 9

    9.Robin Redbreast

    10-12-19701h 15m

    A woman living in a country cottage thinks that someone is trying to get her.

  • Ep 10

    10.The Hallelujah Handshake

    17-12-19701h 15m

    A petty thief and social misfit finagles his way into a church congregation

  • Ep 11

    11.Alma Mater

    07-01-19711h 15m

    A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school

  • Ep 12

    12.Circle Line

    14-01-19711h 15m

    A cynical student has a radically different view of life from his landlady, leading to conflict. Matters come to a head when he sleeps with her fourteen-year-old brother.

  • Ep 13

    13.Hell's Angel

    21-01-19711h 15m

    A couple are distressed by the changes in their adopted teenage son when he joins a biker gang.

  • Ep 14

    14.The Piano

    28-01-19711h 15m

    An old couple refuse to move when they find out that they can't take their piano with them

  • Ep 15

    15.Billy's Last Stand

    04-02-19711h 15m

    Billy, a self-employed coal-shoveller, gains a seedy business partner and competition in the form of a rival coal-shoveller.

  • Ep 16

    16.The Rainbirds

    11-02-19711h 15m

    A man who attempted suicide by jumping out a window is saved only to live in a coma, in which he has fantasies about his relatives and nightmare creatures.

  • Ep 17

    17.Reddick

    18-02-19711h 15m

    Charges that the Rev 'Red' Reddick is exploiting his youth club members leads to an explosive confrontation.

  • Ep 18

    18.The Foxtrot

    29-04-19711h 15m

    An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband

  • Ep 19

    19.When the Bough Breaks

    06-05-19711h 15m

    When an injured baby arrives at the hospital, a social worker looks for the parents

  • Ep 20

    20.Orkney

    13-05-19711h 15m

    A trilogy of plays--A Time to Keep, The Whaler's Return, and Celia--exploring the life of the islanders in the past and present

  • Ep 21

    21.The Rank and File

    20-05-19711h 15m

    The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970

  • Ep 22

    22.The Man in the Sidecar

    27-05-19711h 15m

    A succesful novelist Edith lives with her husband and his friend, but she decides to ask the friend to leave.

  • Ep 23

    23.Everybody Say Cheese

    03-06-19711h 15m

    The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos

  • Ep 24

    24.The Cellar and the Almond Tree

    10-06-1971

Watching Lists

to create and edit public lists.

Loading lists…

Purchase & Discovery

Find this title on Amazon

Digital

Prime Video & digital

Amazon mixes rent, buy, and Prime in one place — one search covers the usual options.

As an Amazon Associate, Critic, Sir! earns from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure