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Play for Today Season 4 Episodes

22 Episodes 1973 - 1974

Episode 1

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

85 mins

Mrs Palfrey tries hard to be accepted by the other residents at the Claremont. But then she meets Ludo and a real friendship begins.

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Episode 2

Her Majesty's Pleasure

They are all 'in' for life so the pleasures are sparse, and strictly of their own making. Their really big event is the Christmas pantomime, only this year they have lost their star. Mother Bear has escaped. Still, there is some consolation. The new arrival looks a likely Goldilocks. 'There's one or two who'll be after him,' says Woodbine - and he knows all their weaknesses.

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Episode 3

Jack Point

83 mins

An amateur operatic society is preparing a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and someone new is needed for the role of Jack Point - but who will break this to the veteran who's always done it?

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Episode 4

The Emergency Channel

Dean has a rare talent. He can be made happy. He exudes happiness and confidence like a rare blossom. Both Sarah in the past, and Julia now, could do this for him. But where are they now that he is alone in Battersea Park with two suitcases and no memory?

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Episode 5

Mummy and Daddy

An early retirement and a seaside bungalow-for Arthur and Marion it's not a chance to miss, especially since their son is buying the bungalow. Arthur's full of plans - GCE, garden, beach-not to mention his own "bit of an interesting diversion." But after a year the delight is beginning to tarnish.

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Episode 6

Private Practice

Why does Sylvia Payne , with her successful husband and luxurious home, get in such a flap about her daughter's school friend coming to visit? This edition is missing from the BBC archives.

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Episode 7

Shutdown

65 mins

It is Wakes Week in the potteries. The factory is deserted but for three "sparks" on a crash maintenance job. Maurice and Arthur are old hands, but young Bernie is green and not just with the wiring. He has conned his way in from somewhere strange. He is secretive about his background. Arthur and Maurice are hard men. They won'be fooled for long.

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Episode 8

Baby Blues

73 mins

After ten years of trying, Lavinia, and a large team of medics, finally manage to produce a live baby. She should now be able to start living her dream, but what happens next is not at all the paradise she has been looking forward to.

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Episode 9

Jingle Bells

Family Christmas, presents, drink, Christmas Eve at the club, Boxing Day football - but, among the celebrations, some hard home-truths. This edition is missing from the BBC archives.

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Episode 10

The Lonely Man's Lover

55 mins

A young farm-girl begins a romance with an artist.

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Episode 11

All Good Men

63 mins

An elderly politician looks back over his career while being interviewed by a TV producer.

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Episode 12

Joe's Ark

66 mins

The religious beliefs of pet shop owner Joe (Freddie Jones) are shaken by the terminal illness of his daughter Lucy (Angharad Rees). For Potter, this play "makes more than a wry nod at possibilities which can comprehend pain, or disgust, or the implacable presence of death itself."

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Episode 13

Hot Fat

Sauna baths are supposed to relax you, but it rather depends who you meet in there. This edition is missing from the BBC archives.

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Episode 14

Easy Go

51 mins

A group of Deptford youngsters hang about by the River Thames on a hot day. When they and some nearby dockers spot a valuable copper boiler floating in the river the two rival factions try to get at it first. The youngsters succeed, but on their way to the totter's yard they are waylaid by the adults, who take the copper off them.

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Episode 15

Headmaster

57 mins

Fisher is good at his job but in new circumstances that isn't enough: he has to face the risks of competition for something bigger.

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Episode 16

Penda's Fen

89 mins

Late spring 1973, and pastor's son Stephen must come to terms with his own identity amid societal pressure, religious guilt and his own imaginings.

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Episode 17

Pidgeon - Hawk or Dove?

75 mins

At the climax of the School Sports something went drastically wrong. Now, Wallace Pidgeon faces the contradictory demands of the bird-watching headmaster, his pupils, his pork-magnate father-in-law and his "child bride."

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Episode 18

Three for the Fancy

75 mins

Art thinks he's breed a champion rabbit. Ern hopes to win with his guinea pig while Abe has a mouse. However they taking on the formidable Entwhistle family, Harold, May and son Alfred. The trio head to the Bradford Show, in Doncaster.

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Episode 19

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil

90 mins

Drama documentary adaptation of John McGrath's play staged by the 7:84 theatre company dealing with the exploitation of the Scottish people throughout history, from the brutal evictions of the Highland crofters by landowners to make way for the more economically viable Cheviot sheep in the 18th century, the development of stag hunts in Highland game parks in the 19th century and finally the exploitation of resources during the oil boom of the 1970's.

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Episode 20

Schmoedipus

67 mins

When a stranger, Glen, appears at the door of middle-aged Elizabeth Carter, he claims to be the illegitimate son she gave away at birth, and she accepts his story.

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Episode 21

The Childhood Friend

68 mins

On holiday, with his family, nothing to do and his wife ill, Sasha (Alexander) is only too pleased to meet again the girl he loved at 17.

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Episode 22

A Follower for Emily

64 mins

The friendship of two residents of a retirement home results in marriage.

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