Play For Today Vol 3 — Play For Today Vol 3( Blu Ray boxset)

Between the years 1970 and 1984 the BBC aired the anthology drama series Play For Today- in all, there were three hundred and eight made. Many of them highlighted both great scripts, well-observed acting, and interesting/ at times provocative subject matters. Here we have the third of BFI’s Play For Today blu ray boxsets -it takes in six plays from between the years 1971 and 1979, and they cover a good range of subjects/ topics. We go from a homeless character study, onto fly the wall-doc meets gritty drama regarding Glasgow’s Orange band march. There's a Jewish coming of age drama, a little Britain bureaucracy comedy-drama, a siege drama/ light thriller, and a coming to terms with sexuality drama.

All the plays/films have been giving a wonderfully clean and crisp remastering- really enhancing the 70s colours/ tones. For each play, we get the original script and image gallery. The finished release comes with a sixty-page book featuring writing about the plays by Katie Crosson, David Archibald, screenwriter Peter McDougall, Dr Julia Wagner, Jon Dear, Simon McCallum and Kaleem Aftab.

On the first disc, we have two plays- the first of these is Edna, the Inebriate Woman, which was first aired on October the 21st 1971. It’s a character study focusing on forty-something bag lady Edna- played by respected London born actress Patricia Hayes- who has a whopping one hundred and thirty-five credits to her name, taking in both TV show and film roles such as The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby(1947), Hancock's Half Hour, Fragment of Fear(1970),Till Death Us Do Part, The Never-ending Story(1984), and A Fish Called Wanda(1988).

Edna, the Inebriate Woman was directed by the Canadian born Ted Kotcheff (Wake in Fright, First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s) from a script by Jeremy Sandford (Cathy Come Home & Last Summer). It’s fair to say that the play is a rather grim, at times troubling affair- though there are moments of humour and joy too.
The hour and a half play is set in both the city and the countryside- as we follow Edna (Hayes) on a fairly episodic journey.  She goes from checking into a homeless shelter- to the indignity of being checked for lice on her head and public hair before showering. Moving on to sleeping in countryside barns and drinking river water from her hat. Onto a period in a mental hospital, where we see a pill-popping obsessed June Brown (Eastenders Dot Cotton), and troubling conveyer belt-like electroshock treatments. She spends nights around fires under railway arches, gets arrested for sleeping in abandoned houses, and gets thrown out for sneaking into full shelters to sleep under one of the beds. At one point she gets is sent to prison, and here she meets Josie (Barbara Jefford) who runs a slightly less conventional shelter called Jesus Saves, which is located in a residential area of a city. And it seems Edna may well have found a long-term place to stay….

Hayes is very believable in the role- being an outspoken and cackling laugher drinker, though she has her downs too, with the actress portraying a great range of emotions throughout. The surrounding and fairly shifting supporting cast are all good too, and at points, it looks like real street folk are being used as extras. We get more even and filled out characters when she gets to the Jesus Saves shelter, though thorough-out the play she meets a great selection of down on their luck, but interesting characters.

I guess the episodic/ free-flowing quality of much of the play's runtime may put some off, but I feel it fits the character well. On the whole Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a great opening play to this set and makes for a believable fly on the wall statement of what it would have been like to be a homeless woman in the 1970s.

 
The second feature on disc one is Just Another Saturday-this originally aired in March 1975. It charts the yearly orange march in Glasgow, focusing on seventeen-year-old Jon (Jon Morrison)- who spins the lead mace for one of the marching bands.

The play is really a game of two halves- largely starting off like a fly on the wall doc, charting Jon getting dressed for the march, making his way there by bus, then the buzz and adhesion of how it’s all going to go. We get some great footage of Glasgow's crowded streets and the various bands in the march. At around thirty minutes through this one hour and twenty-two-minute play, the tone rather shifts- as the bands march hits issues deliberately dwelling in a Catholic Street. And from here on we move into the more edgy drama side of things, as Jon starts to have doubts about his involvement with the movement.

It was written by Greenock, Strathclyde born Peter McDougall- who had four 70’s Play For Today credits, other TV plays, and wrote the script for whiskey focused comedy romance Whiskey Galore (2016).  It was directed by Edinburgh born John Mackenzie- who helmed thirty-six credits to his name, taking in TV plays, and a few feature lengths like The Long Good Friday (1980), The Fourth Protocol (1987), and a few Paul McCartney related projects.
 

Morrison is a good fit for the initially full of passion seventeen-year-old. The supporting cast is largely well placed and believable, and most notable in its second half Billy Connolly plays a straight role as Jon’s older drinking buddy. On the whole Just Another Saturday is an interesting enough blend of fly on the wall doc, and drama with some later fairly tense moments. I just wished the drama had kicked in sooner, as the first quarter is a little flabby, and after a time will only appeal to those interested in marching bands/ and or the orange marches.
 

 

Moving onto disc number two- and we have another two plays. The first of these is Bar Mitzvah Boy- this first aired on the 7th of March 1977. And what we have here is pretty much what it says on the box- a drama, with light touches of humour, focusing on the coming-of-age ceremony of a thirteen-year-old boy. It runs for the one hour and fifteen-minute mark, and is largely a well-acted and entertaining drama.

It was written by Manchester-born Jack Rosenthal, who was married to known Jewish British female comedian/actress Maureen Lipman- and wrote scripts for the likes of Yenti (1983),  And A Nightingale sung, and a host of other TV episodes/ plays.  And was directed by Berlin-born Michael Tuchner (Fear Is the Key, the film version of The Likely Lads, and a host of TV episodes/ plays/ TV Movies)

The film is set in a London suburb, and focuses on the Green family- we have Eliot Green (Jeremy Steyn) a thickly black-haired & conscientious teen, and his in her early twenties sister Lesley (Adrienne Posta). There is the pair's older middle-aged parents- Rita (Maria Charles), a rather busy body & big-haired woman, and more laid back- though family/ job-focused taxi driver Victor (Bernard Spear).

The play is spread over a day before the Bar Mitzvah/ celebrations, and the day itself. To begin with, young Eliot is fairly keen and ready, but as his mother ponders and panics about what’s ahead, he thinks about what it all means- and starts getting cold feet.

Going from the leads down to the supporting actors- the cast is well picked. Steyn makes for a believable thirteen year old- shifting between munching snacks, wind-up his older sister, and getting ready for the big day. Charles works very well as the family's mother, at times becoming amusingly overbear and campily emotional in her reactions. And Spear is a good fit for the paying-for-it-all, but looking for an easy life father. Supporting actors worth a mention is Jonathan Lynn, as Lesley’s always trying to impress/ not wanting to offend boyfriend. And Jack Lynn is likeable as the caring/ trying to sort things out Rabbi Sherman. The only slightly less effective actor here is Posta, as Lesley- as there doesn’t seem to be much character depth to her acting. I’m not Jewish, but do find their ceremonies and culture fascinating- and of course, I enjoy family dramas, so I very much enjoyed what Bar Mitzvah Boy had to offer.

 

The second play on disc two is 1977’s The Mayor’s Charity, which originally aired on 29th November of that year. And what we have here is a comedy-drama based in the world of British small-town bureaucracy. It was directed by St Albans born Mike Newell- who had an impressive seventy-nine credits to his name, taking in the feature-length credits such as The Awakening (1980), Four Weddings & A Funeral (1994), and Donnie Brasco (1997). As well as mid 60’s Coronation Street episodes, five other episodes of Play For Today, and a few other TV things. It had a script by Henry Livings- who had nineteen other writing credits to his name, taking in a few other TV plays, and episodes of Juliet Bravo, Bulman, and Sense of Place.

It's based in the fictional English town of Medburgh, where no-nonsense/ speak her mind Olive Major (Thora Hird), takes on the post of town mayor. For one of her first appointments, she makes pompous ex-military man Higham (Frank Windsor) her attendant and macebearer, which rather upset her colleagues.

The play is full of wonderful pompous to bumbling characters - with supporting roles from the likes of Roy Kinnear, as Olive’s brother who stands in as a replacement for her husband at events. Phil Davis as spotty and awkward council steward Mr Destry, and Terence Rigby as by-the-book chief administrator Mr Brabazon.

It’s an episodic play- as we go from the mayor's first formal party, onto a French mayor and his wife coming to the town, onto a fancy-dress charity ball. The whole thing is a mix of rye and lightly mocking humour, bumbling English awkwardness, and light drama. It all feels very British, and I think this may be one of the plays on this boxset that will only really hit home/ fully amuse those familiar with local bureaucracy.

 

Going onto disc number three, and first up we have A Hole in Babylon- this aired on the 29th of November 1979. And it’s a drama/ light thriller based around a siege on a restaurant in the centre of London- it’s built around news footage of the real siege, and flashbacks & froths in time scales. It was directed by Trinidad born Horace Ové- who has eighteen credits to his name- going from 60’s and 70’s documentaries like Baldwin's Nigger, which focused on the UK civil rights movement in the 60s, Reggae focusing on a reggae festival. Going onto feature-length films like immigration drama Pressure (1976), black cricket comedy Playing Away (1987), and murder mystery drama set on a Caribbean housing estate The Ghost of Hing King Estate (2009).  The script was co-written by Ové, and Jim Hawkins who had twenty-some credits on the likes of Eastenders, The Bill,  and Out Of Bounds.

The play is based on a real-life siege that took place between 28th September and 3rd October 1975. When three men involved in black liberation tried to rob the Spaghetti House in Knightsbridge London, but it all goes wrong so they decide to carry out a siege in the restaurant's basement. The film very much jumps back and forth in time in quite a confusing manner- focusing on first one then another of the three, and their surrounding friends/ acquaintances, as well as sudden jumps to real news footage.

Playing the three men we have T.Bone Wilson playing the gang's leader Frank Davis, Archie Pool as Wes Dick, and Trevor Thomas as Bonsu Monroe. Each of the men is of black origin, but each has a different background- either been born/ growing up in the UK, or coming into the country for education/ or to get away from issues in their home country. It’s certainly interesting to see the black liberation movement/ related in 1970s London, some of the sweaty and grimy basement filming is effective, as is some of the drama interaction. The problem is, is the rather muddled structure & flow of the whole thing. So, it’s certainly an interesting experiment from the Play For Today format, but as a consistent play it doesn’t really work

 

Lastly, we have Coming Out, which aired on the 10th of April 1979- and as its title suggests it’s a trouble-with-being-public about one’s sexuality drama. It focuses on a respected romantic novelist, who is a closeted homosexual writing a column on gay issues under a pseudonym- which turns out to be hugely popular. The play is directed by Southport Lancashire born Carol Wiseman- who had thirty-plus credits to his name, taking in episodes of Emmerdale Farm, The Bill, and Big Deal. With only one feature-length film to her name, 1993’s Face The Music which is a romantic comedy with Molly Ringwald in.  The script was written by James Andrew Hall- who has coming on for forty credits to his name, these from mid-sixties Crossroads episodes, 80’s Tv adaptation of David Copperfield, and an episode of Tales of The Unexpected

The play has a very good cast- we have as its lead Anton Rodgers as romantic novelist Lewis Duncan/ aka Zippy Grimes- whose battling with if he feels comfortable staying in the closet or wants to begrudgery come out. We have Nigel Havers as Lewis flirty/ having a bit on the side partner Richie. There’s Hywel Bennett as Lewis's pushy publisher Harry Essendoft. There’s Richard Pearson, as the older and flamboyant speak his mind gay friend Gerald.

The whole thing slides in at the one hour and six mark, with a well-observed and lightly amusing script. It’s a great time capsule of the ’70s, highlighting the now terribly outdated/ clichéd treatment of guy people living in UK during this time. It’s entertaining, at times provocative for the time play- which is a great end to this collection.
 

In finishing, this boxset severs up another varied and largely rewarding selection of 70’s TV plays/ films- with some great acting, scriptwriting, and filmmaking on display. To purchase this boxset directly from the BFI just drop by here.