BBC2 Play of the Week — Season 1

Aired 21 September 1977 • 85 min

Professor Anderson attends a conference in Prague, but what he really wants to do is attend a football match. Then he meets a former student unexpectedly, and must consider putting his philosophical ideas into practice.

Aired 28 September 1977 • 90 min

In the 1920s, Michael Arlen was one of the most popular and acclaimed writers in the world, but he mysteriously stopped writing altogether. His son tries to work out why.

Aired 5 October 1977

A once-celebrated writer who has written nothing since the war, lies paralysed and dying as his family gathers at the family home.

Aired 12 October 1977

A dramatisation of events surrounding the loss of the turret ship HMS Victoria during fleet exercises off Tripoli on 22 June 1893.

Aired 19 October 1977 • 60 min

A biopic of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose opposition to Adolf Hitler led to his involvement in an assassination plot.

Aired 26 October 1977

Czechoslovakia, April 1945. A chance meeting between a professor and his former student turns into a violent trial of strength.

Aired 2 November 1977

A busy day in the kitchen of a great hotel.

Aired 16 November 1977

Graeme Warrack was Divisional Chief Doctor of the 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. With other doctors, medical personnel and padres, he stayed behind with the wounded.

Aired 4 January 1978 • 55 min

A man seeks the perfect relationship.

Aired 11 January 1978 • 37 min

Arthur Dodsworth has recently retired. He lives alone except for his budgie and memories of his late wife Winnie. One afternoon his nap is interrupted by the doorbell; his former secretary, Peggy Prothero, has come to visit.

Aired 18 January 1978

Satire set at the Department of Something or Other, where mistakes in form-filling can bring careers to a sudden end.

Aired 25 January 1978

Moscow is the setting for a reunion between Viktor and Susan which brings about unforeseen complications.

Aired 1 February 1978

Marcus Fleischman's reincarnation proves a frustrating one. His widow, in his absence, leads the simple life of a shopkeeper, and brings up their son as best she can.

Aired 8 February 1978

A former teacher takes on the system armed only with pen, paper and stamps.

Aired 15 February 1978

Married life starts off full of bright hopes for Alex and Lynda, but soon they are trapped in a nightmare with their friend Bill.

Aired 22 February 1978

A disparate group of guests find themselves locked into a largely empty television studio controlled by an anonymous man.

Aired 1 March 1978 • 78 min

France, 1924. Two English gentlemen join forces to investigate notorious villainess Vanity Fair in her fortified chateau. Tongue-in-cheek 1978 TV film based on the novel by Dornford Yates.

Aired 15 March 1978 • 80 min

In the 23rd century, Albion (formerly Britain) is made up of two distinct communities — the Aggros (farm workers) and the Toonies (industrial workers). They meet at Zummerdown for the annual midsummer festival of Stargazy.

Aired 22 March 1978 • 80 min

Lavretsky returns to Russia from Europe and joins the group of admirers of his beautiful young cousin Liza.

Aired 29 March 1978

Some young women, sharing accommodation, invite their boyfriends for tea on Sunday. But one of them proves to be alarmingly disturbed.

Aired 3 May 1978

In 19th-century Eastern Europe, a group of actors, led by Janos, arrive at a castle to give the Count and his friends a private performance. But the actors are also revolutionaries, and they have another agenda.

Aired 17 May 1978

An unexpected stranger arrives at the old peoples home in Norway where a famous writer is kept in confinement after the war. A young partisan plots his assassination, while others advocate handing him over for trial for collaboration.

Aired 24 May 1978

A fateful day in the life of a celebrated composer.