Play for Today Season 5, Episode 22: By Common Consent

1

Leeds--United!

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

75 min

2

Baby Love

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

75 min

3

Back of Beyond

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.'

75 min

4

The Bevellers

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

75 min

5

Taking Leave

"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.

75 min

6

Fugitive

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.

75 min

7

Eleanor

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?

75 min

8

Gangsters

A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

75 min

9

The After Dinner Game

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.

75 min

10

Breath

A story about an asthma sufferer

75 min

11

The Death of a Young, Young Man

Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

75 min

12

Sunset Across the Bay

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

75 min

13

Funny Farm

One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

75 min

14

Goodbye

"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.

75 min

15

Just Another Saturday

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.

75 min

16

A Child of Hope

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.

75 min

17

The Saturday Party

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

75 min

18

Wednesday Love

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

75 min

19

The Dandelion Clock

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

75 min

20

Brassneck

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

75 min

21

The Floater

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.

75 min

22

By Common Consent

Political fantasy about a fascist regime

75 min