Television play

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the television play (also called a teleplay) was a popular television genre in the UK. The genre was often associated with the social realism-influenced British drama style known as "kitchen sink realism", which depicted the social issues facing working class families. "Armchair Theatre" (1956-74 on ABC), "The Wednesday Play" (1964-70 on BBC) and "Play for Today" (1970-84) had huge audiences and garnered praise from critics for their quality.

Television plays became less common in the 1980s, because the general trend in 1980s television production was away from relatively expensive one-off plays and towards police, medical or period drama series. Nonetheless, television plays were regarded as a benchmark of high-quality British television drama, part of what some television historians refer to as the Golden Age of British television.

History

" Armchair Theatre": 1956-74

"Armchair Theatre" was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 until 1968 in its original form, and was intermittently resurrected during the 1970s. Plays tackled many difficult and controversial subjects in the then-popular "kitchen sink realism" style, yet still managed to gain a mass audience. The Canadian producer Sydney Newman, who was ABC's Head of Drama from 1958 to 1962, turned "Armchair Theatre" into a vehicle for the generation of 'Angry Young Men' such as Clive Exton who were coming to prominence in the late 1950s and early 60s.

The programme was networked nationally on ITV on Sunday evenings, and often drew large audiences. Over 450 plays were made and broadcast under the "Armchair..." banner from 1956 to 1980. Among the best-known plays were "No Trams to Lime Street" (1959) by Alun Owen and "A Night Out" (1960) by Harold Pinter.

After the 1968 ITV franchise overhauls and ABC's metamorphosis into Thames, the programme was dropped until 1974, when a new version was produced under the title "Armchair Cinema", effectively a series of short TV movies. "Armchair Theatre" was an important influence over later similar programmes such as the BBC's "The Wednesday Play" (1964–1970). This latter programme was initiated by Sydney Newman as a deliberate attempt to echo the success of "Armchair Theatre" after he had moved to the BBC in 1963.

"The Wednesday Play": 1964-1970

"The Wednesday Play" ran on BBC1 from 1964 to 1970. The head of BBC Drama, Sydney Newman, appointed James MacTaggart to start a play series that would be "relevant to the lives of a mainstream popular audience." The goal was to find or commission teleplays that "would be fast...telling an exciting narrative sparely" using material "that would more accurately reflect the experience of the audience." To do so, MacTaggart hired "fresh new writers", whose new ideas led to the teleplay garnering "the reputation for 'controversy' and 'outrage'." [ [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wednesdaypla/wednesdaypla.htm Wednesday Play, The ] ] Newman had previously had success with the similar programme "Armchair Theatre". He also wanted to get away from the BBC's reputation of producing very 'safe' and unchallenging drama programmes, to produce something with more bite and vigour.

Every week this drama anthology series presented a different play, usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources were also presented. The series gained a reputation for presenting gritty contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen. Director Ken Loach made two highly regarded plays for the series: an adaptation of Nell Dunn's "Up the Junction" (1965) and the saga of a homeless young couple and their battle to keep their children, "Cathy Come Home" (1966). "The Wednesday Play" came to an end in 1970 when the transmission day changed, and the series morphed into the equally "Play for Today" series.

"Play for Today": 1970-1984

"Play for Today" was a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. Over 300 original plays, most between an hour and ninety minutes in length, were transmitted during the fourteen-year period the series aired. "Play for Today" featured gritty contemporary social realist dramas, historical pieces, fantasies, biopics and science-fiction. Most pieces were written directly for television, but there were also occasional adaptations of novels and stage plays.

Some well-known teleplays from the series included Mike Leigh's "Nuts in May" (1976) and "Abigail's Party" (1977), which examined the dysfunctional interactions between neighbours and married couples. Some teleplays, such as "Rumpole of the Bailey", were later made into series.

Decline of genre: mid-1980s

By the 1980s, television plays declined due to several factors. "One-off" teleplays were relatively more costly to produce than drama series, because a drama series could re-use the same sets and costumes for many episodes. As well, audience tastes were turning away from the teleplay style, and towards medical, police, and period drama series. Nevertheless, television plays were regarded as a benchmark of high-quality British television drama, part of what some television historians refer to as the "golden age" of British television.

Further reading

*Evans, Jeff. "The Penguin TV Companion" (1st ed.). London: Penguin Books. 2001. ISBN 0-14-051467-8.
*Vahimagi, Tise. "British Television: An Illustrated Guide". Oxford. Oxford University Press / British Film Institute. 1994. ISBN 0-19-818336-4.

References