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Play for Today

Play for Today

1970Ended14 Seasons314 Episodes6.3TMDB
BBC One

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.

Season 12 Episodes

Browse every episode and jump into details.

Episode 1: Country

Oct 20, 1981 · 1h 15m

The story of the disintegration of an aristocratic country estate after World War II

Episode 3: A Room for the Winter

Nov 3, 1981 · 1h 15m

James, an expatriate South African anti-apartheid fighter, deals with his nightmares and his complaining landlady in a run-down area of London, while dreaming of his lover Stephen, left behind.

Episode 4: No Visible Scar

Nov 17, 1981 · 1h 15m

A nurse is subjected to an interrogation after giving medical treatment to a terrorist leader.

Episode 6: Protest

Dec 1, 1981 · 1h 15m

In an adaptation of Václav Havel's play, a dissident, newly released from prison for political reasons, attempts to get his well-connected friend to sign a protest. In this one man play, both the roles are played by Nigel Hawthorne.

Episode 7: United Kingdom

Dec 8, 1981 · 1h 15m

Two men on a local council fight the system when forced with massive spending cuts.

Episode 8: PQ17

Dec 15, 1981 · 1h 15m

During World War II, a British officer is ordered to abandon a Russian convoy.

Episode 9: The Factory

Dec 22, 1981 · 1h 15m

A manager, a foreman, and two workers are all that remains of a factory yet labor relations stay the same

Episode 10: England's Green and Pleasant Land

Jan 5, 1982 · 1h 15m

A planning decision must be made, and the motorway extension must go through on either the Golf Course or the Allotments - will the greens survive or the peasant lands?

Episode 11: A Cotswold Death

Jan 12, 1982 · 1h 15m

A police inspector investigates the murder of an Arab sheik who had become a village's Lord of the Manor.

Episode 13: Commitments

Jan 26, 1982 · 1h 15m

Politics and relationships during the last years of the Heath government

Episode 15: The Silly Season

Feb 9, 1982 · 1h 15m

Malcolm goes through life hating the mundanity of his existence as a factory worker and an unloved husband. But when students take up summer jobs at the factory, it reawakens both his passion for political feeling and romantic urges.

Episode 17: Willie's Last Stand

Feb 23, 1982 · 1h 15m

Willie and his friends notice the passage of time around them, and how society is changing as their marriages stagnate. Can Willie prove to himself that he still has it, by being able to cheat on his wife just once?

Episode 18: Tishoo

Mar 9, 1982 · 1h 15m

Frank has dedicated 19 years to researching a cure for the common cold, and is almost ready to publish a paper. Yet budget cuts and his own inability to form real relationships with those around him threaten to derail the project.

Episode 19: Home Sweet Home

Mar 16, 1982 · 1h 15m

Home Sweet Home is a 1982 television film devised and directed by Mike Leigh, for BBC TV, 'about postmen, parenthood, social workers and sex.' It was Leigh's second collaboration with Play for Today producer Louis Marks, and cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, and with composer Carl Davis - the music score featured a quartet of basses -. It stars Timothy Spall, here working with Leigh for the first time, Eric Richard, Tim Barker, Kay Stonham, Su Elliot, Frances Barber, Sheila Kelley, and Lorraine Brunning. It was first broadcast on 16 March 1982. The film was shot on location in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. 90 minutes.

Episode 20: A Sudden Wrench

Mar 23, 1982 · 1h 15m

"My life is over - and I just didn't notice it passing." A call to a radio helpline leads to depressed housewife Christine finding a new direction in life.

Episode 21: Eve Set the Balls of Corruption Going

Mar 30, 1982 · 1h 15m

Adolescents will always be obsessed by the same old subject, even when they are educated by nuns. Six ex-Classmates meet for the first time in 12 years and hilarious memories change into highly emotional situations.

Episode 22: Whistling Wally

Apr 6, 1982 · 1h 15m

While Wally was happy there wasn't much wrong with the world, and pints seemed a small price to pay for what he gave us. But don't forget what we gave him. We gave him the knowledge he was important, at least to us.

Season 12 FAQ

Quick answers about this season's release timeline and episode lineup.

When did Play for Today Season 12 premiere?

Play for Today Season 12 premiered on October 20, 1981.

How many episodes are in Play for Today Season 12?

Play for Today Season 12 has 22 episodes.

What is the first episode of Play for Today Season 12?

The season opens with Season 12 Episode 1, "Country". It aired on October 20, 1981.

Go to Season 12 Episode 1

Where to Watch

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