Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today (TV Movie 2020)

Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today (TV Movie 2020). 1h 30m

“I have a confession to make. I never had much regard for Play for Today.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThen again I was never the target audience. I was still at school when the strand finished so I was never going to appreciate those dramas on industrial strife, life on the dole and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The plays tended to have a more left of centre viewpoint, something not appreciated during the Thatcherite 1980s.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePlays like Our Day Out or The Flipside of Dominick Hide were more accessible to me. Although I remember films like Spend, Spend, Spend or the controversy caused by the showing of Psy-Warriors.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was only when several productions were repeated some years later on Channel 4 that I began to appreciate them. By then I was older. Over the years the highly regarded Plays for Today have been repeated. The not so good ones are left in the archives.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis celebration has been timed for the 50th anniversary of Play for Today starting. The shock was to learn that 37 of the plays have been wiped. Missing and unlikely to be recovered. Cultural vandalism by the BBC.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt ran through some of the greatest hits. Clips from Abigailu0026#39;s Party, Licking Hitler, Pendau0026#39;s Fen. Omissions were Rumpole of the Bailey, Blue Remembered Hills.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe changing face of Britain was noted. The latter years of the strand had more women writers but diversity was generally neglected.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eControversy came from the non transmission of Scum and Brimstone and Treacle. Both were remade as feature films, although the BBC later broadcast them in the 1990s.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat Play for Today was responsible for was fostering writers and directors who would later go on to make feature films, some through Channel 4u0026#39;s filmmaking arm in the 1980s. It eventually led to the formation of BBC Films as well. Small scale independent British movies.”