Playhouse — Season 8

Aired 30 October 1981 • 115 min

An Englishwoman seeking to escape her marriage arrives at French hotel.

Aired 6 November 1981

A boy feels restless during a hot summer in prewar Cornwall.

Aired 13 November 1981

Aired 27 November 1981

Aired 4 December 1981

Secure in her suburban home, Virginia Fly dreams of a life of unbridled passion and romance. She feels her fantasies are about to become reality when she is asked to take part in a TV documentary about pre-marital love - a subject about which she is sadly ignorant...

Aired 11 December 1981

Gerald is on the edge of a complete breakdown. During an afternoon with his father, he starts to come to terms with the wounding confusions and mistakes of his past—his lies, his girlfriend's suicide, his mother's obsessive love of his younger brother, and her death in a hospital when he arrived too late to communicate his real feelings for her.

Aired 18 December 1981

The local country dancing team of old-age pensioners is forced to change its style when Jack, its leader, arrives with a new partner, one who is younger and prettier.

Aired 8 January 1982

Aired 15 January 1982

An apparently happy and privileged woman begins shoplifting.

Aired 22 January 1982

The story of Aubrey Beardsley, an English illustrator and author, whose black ink drawings were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler.

Aired 29 January 1982

Four television critics gather in a Wardour Street preview theatre to see a documentary and get the surprise of their lives.

Aired 5 February 1982

A keen ballroom dancer becomes an alcoholic after discovering she's infertile.

Aired 12 February 1982

A once-famous writer, now long out of fashion, is interviewed by a disconcerting young woman.

Aired 19 February 1982

In 1945, just a year since the allied troops entered Paris, Simone arrives for her first day at M. Leon's tailoring workshop.

Aired 26 February 1982 • 111 min

Wealthy Alexander Moore and working-class Jerry Crowe are childhood friends and, in 1914, find themselves in the same Army unit – Alex as an officer and Jerry as a private. They still remain close, however, until Jerry is court-martialed for desertion, and Alex is put in charge of the firing squad.

Aired 5 March 1982

In 1919, the carnage of WWI has left the country desperately short of young men. Maud, who runs the farm for her crippled father, decides that it is time for her young sister Clara to be married, and a husband could provide a strong pair of hands around the place. Stan the pigman seems to fix most things, why not this?

Aired 12 March 1982 • 29 min

At the moment, money is scarce and times are hard for everyone—even villains like Charlie and Denny are feeling the pinch. But their luck could change when a chance encounter with a film crew provides them with an eccentric method of getting their hands on a lot of loot.

Aired 19 March 1982

When James pays one of his periodic visits to his mother, he finds her curiously resigned to the loneliness she's suffered for the years since her husband's death. Somehow, she has managed to keep all the family ties intact.

Aired 26 March 1982

Gerald fancies himself as a bit of a gourmet and a trip to the gastronomic delights of France promises well. His wife Hilary isn't so sure; she isn't sure of a lot of things about Gerald just recently, but the menu at the extravagantly recommended La Petite Chanson provides an unexpected solution.

Aired 2 April 1982 • 35 min

Academic scavenger Shorty believes he's tracked down some letters that reveal an unexpected side to Miss Jane Austen's nature.

Aired 16 April 1982

Nancy is the sole inhabitant of the Isle of Annagh off the west coast of Scotland. Although World War III is raging all around she sees little of it until Michael, a young pilot officer, pays an involuntary visit and is in danger of dragging the hostilities along with him.

Aired 23 April 1982

An anthropologist observed by one of his erstwhile victims — a sophisticated comedy.

Aired 30 April 1982

Two women meet for lunch every two weeks to swap news. But this week is different.

Aired 7 May 1982

At a railway public house, two strangers engage in a conversation and begin to open up about their life's. Richard is an alcoholic and former stockbroker is just been released from jail. Arthur works for the railway as a points operator.

Aired 14 May 1982

Jake's a professional, a married man with a reputation to maintain—and a bank to rob.

Aired 21 May 1982

Her husband Gary is behind on the central heating installation. Eunice, her best friend, has a crush on the lodger — an actor appearing in a violent play at the local rep. No wonder Tina is anxious about the housewarming.

Aired 28 May 1982

At a concert, Marcia picked Terry out of the crowd. So he no longer feels alone. Until he learns about her secret life and dare not tell his friends.

Aired 4 June 1982

Stan McVay has given up smoking, gone on a diet and feels like hell. He's also abandoned the Ulster spud and just learned that his teenage daughter is having an affair with a married man.

Aired 11 June 1982

Three short stories by Irwin Shaw.

Aired 18 June 1982

Eddie's 40th birthday party reunites friends not seen since the old days of ton-up bikes and early rock and roll. It could be a chance to relive those 'good times', if the others can only match Eddie's enthusiasm.

Aired 7 July 1982

A henpecked American visiting Europe is able to throw off his ghastly wife and find love.

Aired 9 July 1982

A famous writer finds that a long-suppressed secret is about to be revealed by his former mistress.

Aired 14 January 1983

Aired 1 April 1983

Aired 20 May 1983