About this season
Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.
Episodes (52)
1. The Pillars of Midnight
Aired 14 September 1958
A smallpox outbreak hits an English city.
2. The Web of Lace
Aired 21 September 1958
3. The Franchise Affair
Aired 28 September 1958
An elderly woman and her spinster niece are accused of kidnapping.
4. Murder in Slow Motion
Aired 5 October 1958
Racing driver Raymond Sibley faces dangers both on and off the track as he competes in the famous Le Mans twenty-four hour race.
5. I Can Destroy the Sun
Aired 12 October 1958 • 60 min
Senior officials in the British, American and Russian governments all receive the same cryptic and unsigned message - "I Can Destroy The Sun". What can it mean?
6. Time of Your Life
Aired 19 October 1958
This is a performance of the play "The Time of Your Life" that was telecast on British television.
7. The Terrorist
Aired 26 October 1958
8. The Witching Hour
Aired 2 November 1958
Jack Brookfield, a gambler with clairvoyant and hypnotic powers, is able to win at cards through his unique gift. But when he inadvertently hypnotizes young Clay Thorne, the youth kills an enemy of Brookfield's while under the trance. No one believes Brookfield's protestations that Thorne is innocent of any murderous intent, so Brookfield teams up with retired lawyer Martin Prentice in hopes of saving the young man from the gallows.
9. The Greatest Man in the World
Aired 9 November 1958
Just after a young unknown American becomes the first on the Moon returns, he dies in an accident. He's laid to rest with full honours, but only the president and a few high officials know just what sort of a man their hero was.
10. Please Murder Me
Aired 16 November 1958
A black comedy in which Mr Potz, a rich man who longs to die, hires his own assassin. He chooses Miss Higgins, an eccentric author of detective fiction, to carry out the grim task.
11. The Boy with Meat Axe
Aired 23 November 1958 • 60 min
12. Underground
Aired 30 November 1958
13. The Report on Jessie Dean
Aired 7 December 1958 • 60 min
A bereaved mother, Jessie Dean, steals a baby belonging to a mother who had wanted her child adopted.
14. Dangerous World
Aired 14 December 1958 • 60 min
A new magistrate takes up a post in a British colony in Africa aiming to uphold justice against corruption.
15. The Deaf Heart
Aired 21 December 1958 • 60 min
16. The Criminals
Aired 28 December 1958 • 60 min
A small construction company's new year's eve party is taken over by a crook who has intricate knowledge of the men's private lives, forcing them into an incredible bank robbery plot.
17. The Sentry
Aired 4 January 1959 • 60 min
An American Civil War drama in which Meade, a Confederate soldier, faces the dilemma of knowing that his brother, who is fighting on the other side, has been left to die in the course of an act of sabotage.
18. The Break
Aired 11 January 1959 • 60 min
19. Soundings
Aired 18 January 1959 • 60 min
A lonely doctor with a mysterious past shies away from operating on a friendly Scottish giant aboard a storm-tossed Antarctic whaler.
20. Love and Money
Aired 25 January 1959
The marriage of a woman from a humble background to a rich Northern mill owner and her growing resentment at what she regards as the condescending nature of him and his family.
21. Hot Summer Night
Aired 1 February 1959 • 60 min
Jack Palmer, a strong union man, is forced to confront his principles when his daughter wants to marry a black man.
22. Ernie Barger Is 50
Aired 8 February 1959 • 60 min
Ernie Barger, a senior partner in a pottery firm, initially celebrates his son's graduation but soon learns that not only is he twenty years behind the times but could also be responsible for his wife's illness.
23. The Thug
Aired 15 February 1959 • 60 min
The relationship between Lewis, a young tearaway, and Charlotte, a shy girl who works in a record shop with her sick father.
24. To Ride a Tiger
Aired 22 February 1959 • 60 min
A cabal in an unnamed South American country pulls a coup by choosing a popular dissident as dictator. His well meant reforms are not well received, and as his marriage fails, he shows the people what a real dictator is capable of.
25. The Fabulous Money Maker
Aired 1 March 1959
A drama based on the life of Ivar Kreugar, a Swedish financier who built up a monopoly in the match industry during the 1920s.
26. The Bird, the Bear and the Actress
Aired 8 March 1959
A group discover a famous designer and their entrepreneur sees this as a chance to have his name associated with their new production. The leading lady is outraged at the way they intend to exploit the old man.
27. No Gun, No Guilt
Aired 15 March 1959
A courtroom drama in which a young American lawyer is accused of concealing material evidence in a murder case.
28. Strange Meeting
Aired 22 March 1959
An Italian set suspense drama in which Bruno, a visiting American criminal is introduced to Grazia, an Italian woman whose motives are mysterious by a strange cloaked figure.
29. Star in the Summer Night
Aired 29 March 1959
International singing star Adeline Girard is all but forgotten, then she meets a young couple who do not want to get married.
30. The Angry Flower
Aired 5 April 1959
31. The Trouble with Benny
Aired 12 April 1959
32. Parole
Aired 19 April 1959
The life of a young convict released on parole and torn between the needs of his family and his former criminal associates.
33. The Shadow of the Ruthless
Aired 26 April 1959
34. Hand in Glove
Aired 3 May 1959
35. Till Death Do Us Part
Aired 10 May 1959
36. The Big Client
Aired 17 May 1959
A satire set in the advertising industry.
37. The Girl on the Beach
Aired 24 May 1959
A girl who has lost her memory discovers that she is rich - a fact resented by others.
38. Wedding Day
Aired 31 May 1959
39. My Guess Would Be Murder
Aired 7 June 1959
40. The Devil's Instrument
Aired 14 June 1959
41. The Model Marriage
Aired 21 June 1959
42. Guest Appearance
Aired 28 June 1959
43. My Lost Saints
Aired 5 July 1959
44. If You Loved Me
Aired 12 July 1959
45. The Grandma Bandit
Aired 19 July 1959
46. A House of His Own
Aired 26 July 1959
47. The Garden Party
Aired 2 August 1959
48. Lysette
Aired 9 August 1959
49. You'll Never See Me Again
Aired 16 August 1959
Jim Mason's wife Molly vanishes after purportedly leaving to visit her parents. When Jim calls the in-laws he has never met, he discovers she never arrived. As the mystery deepens, the police suspect Jim of a sinister crime.
50. Black Laughter/Double Exit
Aired 23 August 1959
51. Invitation to Murder
Aired 30 August 1959
52. Young David
Aired 6 September 1959
A gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.