ITV Play of the Week
ITV Play of the Week is a 90-minute UK television anthology series produced by a variety of companies including Granada Television, Associated-Rediffusion, ATV and Anglia Television. From 1956 to 1966 approximately 500 episodes aired on ITV. The first production was Ten Minute Alibi, produced by Associated-Rediffusion on 14 May 1956[1] and the earliest to survive is There Was a Young Lady, transmitted on 23 July 1956.[2] The first production not to be transmitted live was Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck[3] which was recorded on film. The first to be pre-recorded on videotape was Mary Broome, a Granada production broadcast on 3 September 1958.[4] Subsequently, only one play was transmitted live, Associated-Rediffusion's Search Party on 26 July 1960.[5] The master tape of The Liberty Man, a Granada production broadcast on 1 October 1958, contains the original advertisements during the first commercial break.[6] The Violent Years was networked from Anglia on its opening night, 27 October 1959, and exists at the University of East Anglia.[7]
Other productions included:
- Look Back in Anger - produced by Granada, broadcast 28 November 1956, does not exist[8]
- Morning's at Seven - produced by H.M. Tennent for ATV, broadcast 21 August 1957, does not exist[9]
- Death of a Salesman - produced by Granada, broadcast 27 November 1957, does not exist[10]
- The Importance of Being Earnest - produced by Associated-Rediffusion, broadcast 26 March 1958, does not exist[11]
- Playboy of the Western World - produced by Granada, broadcast 26 November 1958, does not exist[12]
- The Skin of Our Teeth - produced by Granada, broadcast 17 March 1959, does not exist[13]
- The Member of the Wedding - produced by Granada, broadcast 16 February 1960, does not exist[14]
- The House of Bernarda Alba - produced by Associated-Rediffusion, broadcast 23 February 1960, does not exist[15]
- The Birthday Party - produced by Associated-Rediffusion, broadcast 22 March 1960, does not exist[16]
- I Remember Mama - produced by Associated-Rediffusion, broadcast 27 June 1961, does not exist[17]
- The Lark - produced by Granada, broadcast 28 August 1962, does not exist[18]
- The Rose Tattoo - produced by Granada, broadcast 13 January 1964, does not exist[19]
- Come Back, Little Sheba - produced by Anglia, broadcast 8 March 1965, does not exist[20]
- You in Your Small Corner - produced by Granada, broadcast 5 June 1962, exists[21]
Among its directors were Tony Richardson, Peter Wood, Peter Brook, Vivian Matalon, and Desmond Davis.
Notable guest stars included Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole, Laurence Olivier, Vivian Leigh, Maggie Smith, Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Judi Dench, Deborah Kerr, Paul Scofield, Laurence Harvey, Glenda Jackson, Susannah York, Leslie Caron, Richard Harris, Edith Evans, James Mason, Claire Bloom, David McCallum, Donald Sutherland, John Gielgud, Oliver Reed, Mel Ferrer, Diana Rigg and Margaret Whiting.
External links
References
- ↑ The Kaleidoscope British Independent Television Drama Research Guide, 1955-2010, page 2652
- ↑ Ibid, page 2652
- ↑ Ibid, page 2654
- ↑ Ibid, page 2660
- ↑ Ibid, page 2670
- ↑ Ibid, page 2661
- ↑ Ibid, page 2666
- ↑ Ibid, page 2653
- ↑ Ibid, page 2656
- ↑ Ibid, page 2657
- ↑ Ibid, page 2658
- ↑ Ibid, page 2661
- ↑ Ibid, page 2663
- ↑ Ibid, page 2667
- ↑ Ibid, page 2668
- ↑ Ibid, page 2668
- ↑ Ibid, page 2674
- ↑ Ibid, page 2678
- ↑ Ibid, page 2684
- ↑ Ibid, page 2689
- ↑ Ibid, page 2677