Play for Today Season 3, Episode 11: Shakespeare or Bust

1

The Reporters

Two provincial newspaper reporters - one a young idealist starting out on his career, the other an embittered man who previously wrote for a failed national daily - swap views.

75 min

2

A Life Is for Ever

The story of a man serving a 30-year prison sentence for killing a cop

75 min

3

Carson Country

A story about the origin of the Stormont state

75 min

4

Man Friday

The story of Robinson Crusoe from Man Friday's viewpoint

75 min

5

Triple Exposure

A hippie breaks into the house of a middle-aged couple and forms a relationship with them

75 min

6

Better than the Movies

A man celebrating his birthday comes to appreciate the difference between media fantasy and mundane reality.

75 min

7

The General's Day

An elderly general woos a shy school teacher.

75 min

8

The Bankrupt

A washed-up executive is on the verge of bankruptcy.

75 min

9

Just Your Luck

A pregnant teenager sets about wooing a sailor in a sectarian council estate in Greenock.

75 min

10

The Bouncing Boy

A young couple have a baby boy. However, the new father doesn't take to his new position quite as well as expected.

75 min

11

Shakespeare or Bust

The adventures of three Derbyshire miners going to Stratford-upon-Avon on a barge

75 min

12

Land of Green Ginger

Faced with the prospect of being sent to work abroad, Sally Brown returns home from London to Hull, to see if she still feels the same attachment for her home town - and for her old boyfriend Mike Thurlow. Will she decide to take the job abroad or return to live with Mike in Hull?

75 min

13

Kisses at Fifty

A long-married husband leaves his family for a barmaid.

69 min

14

Highway Robbery

A man fights council plans to demolish his home to make way for a new bypass.

75 min

15

Song at Twilight

The story of a defiant football manager in terminal decline

75 min

16

Only Make Believe

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

75 min

17

For Sylvia or The Air Show

Was this the finest hour? Sifting the truth and fiction about the Battle of Britain, Burrows and Harding give their own account of how the nation sees its heroes - and itself.

75 min

18

The Operation

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

75 min

19

Access to the Children

Malcolmson spends every Sunday taking his children to the zoo, reflecting on the breakdown of his marriage and the events that brought about his divorce. Is there a chance the family can be brought back together?

75 min

20

Hard Labour

The trials of an overworked and underappreciated housecleaner

75 min

21

Man Above Men

"I'm the judge's daughter - I think he's a monstrous old man. I think all men who say 'I'm only doing my job' are monstrous. I've despaired of changing him. But I'd stop short of killing him."

75 min

22

Speech Day

Three underachievers have fun at a school speech day

75 min

23

Steps Back

"Fifteen years since I was forced t' leave, forced t' leave me roots, the territory of me heart." When Gerry takes his fiancée Nita home to Brighouse, what will they find?

75 min

24

Three's One

Are Maggie and Tony using each other as a means of communicating with Dr Leafer? Or are they using Dr Leafer as a means of communicating with each other?

75 min

25

Edward G.--Like the Film Star

Edward G. is nothing like a film star; his life has been ordinary - until now. But he's just had a shattering experience. This edition is missing from the BBC archives.

75 min

26

Blooming Youth

The problems of four people sharing an apartment

75 min

27

The Stretch

Everyone always looked after Maureen. But her husband comes home after two years in prison and finds she has grown up and he's not ready for the change.

75 min

28

Making the Play

They no longer live together because, after 11 years, the marriage is over. So why is she always turning up to see him at the most embarrassing times? And why doesn't he send her away?

75 min