In a bold move for British broadcasting, Channel 5 is resurrecting one of television's most revered drama strands - Play for Today - with four brand new contemporary productions set to air this November. This revival marks the return of a format that originally defined quality television drama during its BBC heyday from 1970 to 1984.
A Modern Take on Television History
The original BBC series became legendary for showcasing groundbreaking single dramas that captured the social and political climate of Britain. With only three channels available until Channel 4's arrival in 1982, Play for Today reached millions of viewers and launched the careers of numerous writers including David Hare and Stephen Poliakoff, while also featuring work from established names like Dennis Potter and Alan Plater.
Channel 5's programming director Ben Frow has developed a strategy of reviving classic shows to appeal to older audiences potentially neglected by other terrestrial channels. Previous successes include All Creatures Great and Small and Dalgliesh. However, this revival differs significantly in its approach to the source material.
The Four New Plays for Today
The new series launches on 13th November 2024 with four distinct dramas that echo themes from the original series while addressing contemporary concerns.
Never Too Late opens the season, featuring Anita Dobson as a widow exploring romance in a retirement home. Written by Simon Warne and Lydia Marchant, this drama shares thematic similarities with Colin Welland's 1973 Play for Today Kisses at Fifty.
A Knock at the Door stars national treasure Alan Davies as a celebrity confronted by an accusatory young man, creating tension reminiscent of Barrie Keeffe's 1977 drama Gotcha.
Big Winners, written by Martha Watson Allpress, explores a couple's life transformation after winning the lottery, drawing parallels with Jack Rosenthal's Bafta-winning 1977 production Spend, Spend, Spend about football pools winners.
Special Measures by Lee Thompson features Jessica Plummer as a teacher struggling with extreme pressures during an Ofsted inspection, continuing the education theme explored in John Challen's 1974 drama Headmaster.
Evolution of Political Drama
The original Play for Today was renowned for its explicit political commentary, with right-wing critics ironically dubbing it "Plays for Trotskyists." Memorable editions included Jim Allen's The Spongers (1978) and Trevor Griffiths' All Good Men (1974), which offered socialist critiques of British society.
In contrast, the new productions focus primarily on middle-class experiences and maintain a more apolitical stance, reflecting broader changes in television drama towards even-handedness as seen in James Graham's work. This represents a significant departure from the original series' overt ideological positioning.
The revival also shows progress in gender representation, with two of the four new plays featuring female writers - a notable improvement from the male-dominated writing rooms of the original series, though women like Paula Milne and Julia Jones did make significant contributions when opportunities arose.
From Single Plays to Series Potential
Unlike the original commitment to one-off dramas, several of the new productions appear designed with series potential in mind. Never Too Late concludes with a plot twist that could easily seed a six-part comedy-drama, while Big Winners and Special Measures also contain elements that could support longer narratives.
This approach contrasts with the original series' remarkable output of approximately 20 dramas annually for 14 years, which allowed for creative risk-taking and the "right to fail" - a concept that enabled unexpected hits to emerge from what might have seemed unlikely projects.
The revival demonstrates Channel 5's commitment to challenging ageism in television, with two main characters in their eighties and two in their seventies. The cinematography frankly depicts older bodies, with Alan Davies and Michael Fenton Stevens appearing shirtless in scenes that confront age-related physical realities with honesty and occasional humour.
While the scale may be smaller than the BBC's original ambitious output, the return of Play for Today represents a welcome revival of single drama tradition in an era dominated by serialized content and streaming service demands for "long content" to sustain subscriptions.
