Play for Today
Play for Today: Season 5

Air Date

October 31, 1974

Episodes

22 episodes

Play for Today

Season 5

Episodes

1. Leeds--United!

October 31, 1974
75 min

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

2. Baby Love

November 7, 1974
75 min

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

3. Back of Beyond

November 14, 1974
75 min

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.'

4. The Bevellers

November 21, 1974
75 min

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

5. Taking Leave

November 28, 1974
75 min

"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.

6. Fugitive

December 5, 1974
75 min

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.

7. Eleanor

December 12, 1974
75 min

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?

8. Gangsters

January 9, 1975
75 min

A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

9. The After Dinner Game

January 16, 1975
75 min

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.

10. Breath

January 23, 1975
75 min

A story about an asthma sufferer

11. The Death of a Young, Young Man

January 30, 1975
75 min

Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

12. Sunset Across the Bay

February 20, 1975
75 min

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

13. Funny Farm

February 27, 1975
75 min

One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

14. Goodbye

March 6, 1975
75 min

"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.

15. Just Another Saturday

March 13, 1975
75 min

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.

16. A Child of Hope

April 24, 1975
75 min

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.

17. The Saturday Party

May 1, 1975
75 min

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

18. Wednesday Love

May 8, 1975
75 min

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

19. The Dandelion Clock

May 15, 1975
75 min

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

20. Brassneck

May 22, 1975
75 min

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

21. The Floater

May 29, 1975
75 min

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.

22. By Common Consent

June 5, 1975
75 min

Political fantasy about a fascist regime

No cast information available