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Description
Play for Today was the BBC's groundbreaking television anthology drama series, epitomising entertainment, social commitment and artistic and intellectual ambition. More than three hundred original television plays and adaptations of stage plays and novels were transmitted to the British public between 1970 and 1984, including legendary dramas such like Robin Redbreast (1970), Edna, The Inebriate Woman (1971), Penda's Fen (1974), and the 'lost' In the Beautiful Caribbean (1972) – the only Play for Today with an all-Black cast, for which no video copy exists. Over 200 writers were involved, among them Stephen Frears, Dennis Potter, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach.
This book is the first ever sustained and over-arching history of the iconic television strand, which provided a public-service of human-centric drama to large and varied audiences. Inside, Tom May rediscovers a prestigious phenomenon, analysing its aesthetics and style, its reception by viewers and critics and its trailblazing representations of change in British society, national and regional identity, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and class. He argues that its variety – with programmes spanning social realism and experimentalism – makes it a direct forerunner of Trainspotting (1996), This Is England (2006) and Small Axe (2020). Including detailed case-studies and many oral and written interviews with significant Play for Today actors, writers, composers, producers and directors, including Alison Steadman, Stephen Poliakoff and Alan Bennett, alongside crucial input from overlooked behind-the-camera figures like Jenny Brewer and Jacmel Dent, this book introduces Play for Today to a new generation.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- EPUB 3.0
- Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
- WCAG level AA
- WCAG v2.2 compliant
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
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- No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
- Has alternative text descriptions for images
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Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
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Rich content
Language tagging provided
Table of Contents
1. A prestigious fixture: Play for Today on British TV
2. Startling conflict and seductive humanism: Play for Today's title sequences
3. 'Drama does not live by words alone': Aesthetics and Style in Play for Today
4. 'Rather more than just “this evening's drama broadcast”': the reception of Play for Today by critics and audiences
5. The United Kingdom's real multi-national theatre: Play for Today and the Nations and Regions
6. 'I like a bit of variety': Play for Today's representation of sexuality and ethnicity
7. 'It's news that isn't passed on': Play for Today's portrayals of gender and class
8. Play for Today's legacy and TV strands, anthologies and one-offs today
Conclusion
References
Product details
| Published | Mar 18 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 9781839027956 |
| Imprint | British Film Institute |
| Illustrations | 78 bw illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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