About this season
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
Episodes (8)
1. The Heiress
Aired 12 October 1969
A naive young woman falls for a handsome young man who her emotionally abusive father suspects is a fortune hunter.
2. Charley's Aunt
Aired 23 November 1969
Charley and Jack pressure classmate Fancourt to pose as Charley's aunt Donna Lucia. Their purpose is to have a chaperone for their amorous visits with Amy and Kitty, niece and ward of crusty Stephen Spettigue. Complications begin when Fancourt, in drag, becomes the love object of not only old Spettigue but also Jack's grandfather.
3. The Marquis
Aired 14 December 1969
4. Three Sisters
Aired 18 January 1970 • 129 min
In a small Russian town at the turn of the century, Olga, Irina, Masha, and their brother Andrei live but dream daily of their return to Moscow, where life is charming and stimulating meaningful. But for now, they exist in a malaise of dissatisfaction. Soldiers from the local military post provide them some companionship and society, but nothing can suffice to replace Moscow in their hopes. Andrei marries provincial Natasha and begins to settle into a life of much less meaning than he'd hoped. Natasha begins to run the family her way. Masha, though married, yearns for the sophisticated life and begins a dalliance with Vershinin, an army officer with a sick and suicidal wife. Even Irina, the freshest, most optimistic of the sisters, begins to waver in her dreams until, finally, tragedy strikes.
5. In Good King Charles's Golden Days
Aired 15 February 1970
6. Separate Tables
Aired 15 March 1970 • 95 min
The stories of several people are told as they stay at a seaside hotel in Bournemouth.
7. Howards End
Aired 19 April 1970
A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.
8. The Rivals
Aired 15 May 1970 • 117 min
A glittering "fancy-dress" comedy that bubbles over with the wit and humour of Richard Sheridan, and characters like Mrs Malaprop and Sir Anthony Absolute, "the very pineapple of perfection".