form y separately published work icon The Wednesday Play series - publisher   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 1964... 1964 The Wednesday Play
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A British television series of one-off plays made by the BBC. The series gave breaks to a wide range of writers and directors in the late 1960s, including Dennis Potter, Ken Loach, David Mercer, and John Hopkins. Australia's Alan Seymour also had two of his plays produced in 1965 - The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne and Auto-Stop. Some of the more famous productions include Up the Junction; Cathy Come Home; Stand Up Nigel Barton; Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton; On the Eve of Publication; and Son of Man. The series often addressed controversial issues such as homelessness and abortion.

Includes

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form y separately published work icon Auto-Stop Alan Seymour , Z1924287 1965 single work film/TV

'Once upon a time every young man who could afford it would, at least once in his life, take off on the Grand Tour of Europe and sample the glories - persons as well as things - that lie beyond the protective Channel. Nowadays fewer "milords" can afford the trip and yet more people seem to attempt it. Like Henry in tonight's play by Alan Seymour they cannot travel in high style so they hitch-hike instead, taking the pot luck of drivers and vehicles, dust and haphazard destinations. Henry (played by David Hemmings) goes because Federika, exercising the ancient charm of the femme fatale, challenges him to broaden his mind, enlarge his horizons - grow up, in short - by enduring the rigours of a Continental summer.

'He has to make his way to Athens where he will find awaiting him an even greater challenge from his enigmatic Federika. We go with him, under the bridges of Paris, around the foundations of Rome, on the beaches of Corfu, up and down the ruins of Greece. But alas, most of his time seems to be spent, not working steadily through his guide-book but meeting, loving, and breaking the hearts of a long and cosmopolitan series of beautiful and willing girls - blonde Karin from Norway, Australian Moya, American Rosaleen in shorts and dark glasses. Federika (Delphi Lawrence) is a resourceful woman and the message Henry finds awaiting him in Athens is not at all what he expects; neither is his reception when he finally gets back to London.'

Source: Radio Times, 15 April 1965.

London : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1965
37
form y separately published work icon The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne Alan Seymour , United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1965 Z1361912 1965 single work film/TV satire crime

A Tory statesman is kidnapped by a young pop-music millionaire and shown his arrogance and guilt in scenes from his earlier life (Alan Seymour's description in a letter to Alrene Sykes, published in Australian Literary Studies 6.3, 1974, p. 286).

A contemporary review in the Times notes:

'Rampayne, aristocrat, soldier, diplomat, empire-builder, and now university eminence, is kidnapped and put on trial as a vicious bully by a young man who, as an uneducated, unsubmissive manager of pop groups, and a manipulator of public taste, represents the new world as effectively as Rampayne represents the past that is, only partially. The blacks on both sides are very black–Rampayne is a politically myopic bigot–but, as the case is put for our judgement, we feel that we ourselves could present both prosecution and defence with something closer to justice.'

Source: 'Blacker than Black', The Times, 11 November 1965, p.18.

United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1965
58
form y separately published work icon A Cheery Soul Jonquil Antony , London : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1966 Z1867289 1966 single work film/TV London : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1966
88
form y separately published work icon A Breach in the Wall Ray Lawler , London : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1967 6468870 1967 single work film/TV

'On December 29, 1170, a "turbulent priest" named Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was martyred in his own cathedral. For nearly three-and-a-half centuries his tomb behind the High Altar was the goal of countless pilgrims (including of course Chaucer's), seeking the Saint's blessing and hoping for cures. Then came the Reformation; and Thomas' coffin with the vast treasure which pilgrims had helped around it disappeared. In A Breach In The Wall, tonight's play, the Australian playwright Ray Lawler suggests what might be the consequences if the Saint's body were ever to come to light again.

'A Breach In The Wall is set some time in the near future. The parish church of the Kentish village of Valham is undergoing long-overdue restoration - restoration largely made possible by the fund-raising efforts of the able and radical young incumbent, Lewis Patterson. A walled-in chamber is discovered and within it is a coffin sealed with the crest of Becket. The excitement which follows is used by Mr Lawler to examine the state of the Churches, and Faith itself, today. Would the discovery help to breach the wall between the Anglican and Roman Churches? If the body again became an object of pilgrimage, would it cause an embarrassing revival of "superstition"?'

Source: Radio Times, 23 March 1967.

London : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1967
152
form y separately published work icon All Out for Kangaroo Valley Noel Robinson , United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1969 21447992 1969 single work film/TV Two young Australians arrive in London, where they meet a group of expatriate Australians settled in 'Kangaroo Valley' (Earls Court, London). United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1969

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1964
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      BBC TV ,
      1964-1970 .
      Extent: 172x75 min.p.
      Description: Black and white; colour
Last amended 27 Sep 2013 12:01:45
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