The Best Episodes of Play for Today

The exploitation of the Scottish land and its people from the 18th century to the present

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Two men on a local council fight the system when forced with massive spending cuts.

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The story of a single mother of four living on welfare

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The problems of an owner of a building contractor company in Liverpool

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Writer: Alan Bleasdale

A group of men hold a reunion dinner in Tokyo

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"They're nice affable gobblers and we're in the nice affable gobbling business." Tom and Gwen soon find that their gastronomical retreat from the rat race is anything but an escape when the Porters come to dine.

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No description available

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A young man and an old woman try to fit in when their neighborhood goes West Indian

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Stephen Piper is a quiet young man. A virgin, he shows no interest in sex, and is cruelly scorned by an aggressive female neighbour when he rebuffs her advances. He lives with his mother, an overbearing woman who mocks him for being wet. But Stephen has a secret. An accurate and heartfelt depiction of the challenges he faces and a fascinating glimpse at the gender politics of the day.

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When a stockbroker loses his job, he decides to throw a party.

Director: Barry Davis

Writer: Brian Clark

Rumpole defends a young West Indian boy accused of attempted murder.

Director: John Gorrie

Writer: John Mortimer

The rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a 1960s football pools winner, based on a true story

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Writer: Jack Rosenthal

Dominick Hide, a time traveller from London in the year 2130, is studying the city's transport system of 1980. Breaking the rules, he lands his craft to seek out his great-grandfather. Compared to his anaesthetised home, 80s London is filthy and polluted...and yet...it exudes an excitement that soon draws him in.

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Writer: Jeremy Paul

A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.

Director: Gareth Davies

Writer: Dennis Potter

As a playwright dictates notes about his newest play to his secretary, scenes from the play are acted out.

Director: Robert Knights

Writer: Dennis Potter

David Adler is an operator. He strips assets, other men's wives, and his oldest friend's soul - anything for a cool million.

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A young man persuades a woman that he is her son.

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Writer: Dennis Potter

About a strike in a textile factory, based on a true story

Director: Roy Battersby

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A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

Director: Philip Saville

Writer: Philip Martin

Teenager Jimmy's life begins to unravel after the death of his father. With his mother promiscuous and his new stepfather and stepbrother difficult to get along with, he begins to fall into a cycle of petty crime and self harm.

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A story dealing with racial tensions and fascism during a by-election in a West Midlands town

Director: Mike Newell

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Budding comedians take an evening class taught by a retired performer and, for their final exam, must perform for an impresario in a nightclub.

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When a teacher takes a group of troubled school children on a school trip to Conwy in Wales, the children understand life outside of Liverpool.

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In Glasgow, a young man's sole aim is to be as tough as his dying grandfather once was

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Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series on 21 October 1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, Irene Shubik produced it. The play deals with an elderly woman, Edna, who wanders through life in an alcoholic haze without a home, a job or any money. A rambling, pathetic yet defiant woman, Edna sleeps rough and begs for food and shelter and the drama follows her progress as she moves from hostel to hostel, going to a psychiatric ward and then prison along the way. Jeremy Sandford, who had previously written Cathy Come Home, researched the play by living rough himself for two weeks. A great deal of the dialogue and the incidents in the play come from the book, 'Down and Out in Britain' published by Jeremy Sandford in 1971; although the majority of the speakers in the book are male, Jeremy Sandford puts much of their speech into the mouth of the female character. The film features the only notable acting role of British actor Vivian MacKerrell, the real-life inspiration for the character Withnail in Withnail and I. At the 1972 British Academy Television Awards, the play won the Best Drama Production category, with Patricia Hayes receiving the award for Best Actress.

Director: Ted Kotcheff

Writer: Jeremy Sandford