The Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 5

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

Director: Roy Battersby

Writer: N/A

After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is with the occasional shopkeeper and young Rachel, who delivers her papers. For Rachel, her visits to Olwen are half adventure, half honest friendship. But they also mean a time to 'put aside childish things.'

Director: Desmond Davis

Writer: N/A

The first (and last) day at work of a young apprentice in a bevelling shop at a Glasgow glass factory

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

"Well, I hope I won'be seeing you come home in that uniform much more. Six years - that's long enough out of any man's life." Mike's time is nearly up. The army gives him a weekend pass so he's home from Ulster to decide whether to sign on again. His parents want him to stay but he's wondering whether the family's own flare-ups aren't a bit too like the Troubles he has left behind.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

After 18 years as a friar, Peter is no longer sure of his vocation. It is a happy life, maybe too much so, and now he has met Clare. Will his doubts run away with him? Runaway friars are officially "fugitives" who must be persuaded back to their order.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Eleanor is unable to communicate her inner thoughts as she's bullied at school and virtually ignored by her parents. With a mundane working existence awaiting her, she desires a chance at another life - but at what cost?

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

Director: Philip Saville

Writer: Philip Martin

Vice-Chancellor Bartley Humbolt has problems. His young university is almost bankrupt, his wife is threatening to leave him, his protége professor from industry is threatening to overshadow him, and his prestigious professor of history is threatening to resign. But Bartley is a born manipulator. And when he gives a dinner party, he has something very special in mind - for afters.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

A story about an asthma sufferer

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

A elderly couple become disillusioned when they retire to their favorite holiday resort.

Director: Stephen Frears

Writer: Alan Bennett

One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

Director: Alan Clarke

Writer: N/A

"All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.

Director: Gavin Millar

Writer: N/A

A young man participating in the Orange Parade in Glasgow becomes disillusioned with the pageant when he discovers its unpleasant and violent history and witnesses the participants' attacks on Catholics.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles from their home. They are to be tried under South Africa's Terrorism Act despite the UN ruling that South Africa must abandon its "illegal administration" of their country.

Director: N/A

Writer: John Elliot

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

Director: Barry Davis

Writer: Brian Clark

Two women, looking for amusement on their afternoons off, visit a drinking club.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

In Belfast, a girl awaits the return of her missing father.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

England, 1945-75: Builder Alfred Bagley makes a fortune, with a little help from his friends.

Director: Mike Newell

Writer: Howard Brenton

A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing when you see the works.

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A

Political fantasy about a fascist regime

Director: N/A

Writer: N/A