Speech Day

Speech Day (1973) Play for Today written by Barry Hines.

Land of Green Ginger

Land of Green Ginger (1973) by Alan Plater

Semi-documentary style Play for Today which records Hull at the point of relocation of the working class from terraced housing to council estate.
Features a soundtrack and an appearance by the folk group The Watersons.

Where Adam Stood

Dennis Potter's adaptation of Edmund Gosse's 'Father & Son' was screened in 1976. It is the story of Edmund and his father, the naturalist and minister Philip Gosse. The Gosse household, which is held together by religious piety and strict bible study, is suffering the recent loss of Edmund's mother.
Gosse believes the story of Genesis to be literary true, but his own research into marine life challenges this belief, as does the forthcoming publication of Darwin's 'Origins of the Species by Means of Natural Selection'.
Gosse's conclusion is to place himself 'where Adam stood' - he would see fully grown flora and fauna on the day of his creation, meaning God had created the world fully formed and thereby fitting in with the recent discoveries of fossils showing the natural world was far older than the Bible would suppose.
It is clear to see that even he acknowledges the weaknesses in his own argument, meanwhile the young Edmund too is learning how to play against his father's religious beliefs when he tells how God has allowed him to have a boat he covets in the toy shop window - something his father had forbidden him to even think about.
The play contains two instances of the kind of scenes we are more used to seeing with Potter - a mad woman who attempts to sexually assault Edmund, and depictions of the boy's nightmares, in which he is approached by a Christ figure who tries to lure him into the sea.
The feel of the play, and the scenes on the beach are reminiscent of certain Pre-Raphaelite paintings - this one in particular: WILLIAM DYCE, 'Pegwell Bay, Kent, a Recollection of October 5th 1858'

Leeds United!

In 1970 30,000 clothing workers in Leeds, as well as parts of Yorkshire and the North East, went on unofficial strike for five weeks for a shilling (twelve pence in pre-decimal currency) pay rise and equal pay.
This 1974 Play For Today telling of the story was written by Colin Welland and filmed in black and white giving the play a stark quality that makes it reminiscent of German films of the 1930s, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, or even like Coronation Street meeting Eraserhead.
Conditions in the factories are revealed to have not evolved much since those of the 19th century, with one worker describing having to wipe 'rat shit' off her bench in the morning before starting at her machine.
The strike ultimately fails in its ends because the shop stewards undermine the workers they represent by reaching a deal with 'the masters' to go back to work for lower offer and the promise of talks.

Spend Spend Spend

Play for today 1977

Don't Vote Vote Vote

With an election looming, here's the Dennis Potter method for getting rid of unwanted canvassers, from 'Vote Vote for Nigel Barton'

The woman on the doorstep who says she hasn't vote in 50 years, on asked whether she thought she 'ought' to:

"Ought? Ought" Did you say Ought? "There's too much ought, sonny. Ought to have a telly licence. Ought to have a dog licence. Ought to keep the hedge cut. Ought to pay the rates on time. Ought to wash your hands after using the lav. Ought to pay threepence for it too. Ought to got to church. Ought to stand for the national anthem. Ought to help the hungry. Ought to avoid the rush hour. Ought not to drink and drive. Ought to post early for Christmas. Ought to be thankful. And all the oughts is about money, sonny....and nobody says they ought to give me that."

..."I'm in sympathy with none of you. All promises now, ennit? Butter wouldn't melt in your mouths, would it? Then up go prices, up go rents, up goes the electricity, the gas, the coal, up go fags, and God knows what else. Right up, I know, oh I know all right. You can't kid me, sonny.
..."And I can't stop gassing no more. Got the dinner going. And I ought to get that ready, oughtn't I?"

The Bushes Scream..

Vampires

Play For Today - 1979

Stu is fascinated by vampires after watching a horror film with his younger brother. His fascination begins to merge into the reality of his home life when his friends tell him they have seen a vampire at the local cemetery.