BBC2 Play of the Week Season 1, Episode 1: Professional Foul

Exiles

In the 1920s, Michael Arlen was one of the most popular and acclaimed writers in the world, but he mysteriously stopped writing altogether. His son tries to work out why.

90 min

Abie's Will

A once-celebrated writer who has written nothing since the war, lies paralysed and dying as his family gathers at the family home.

The Sinking of HMS Victoria

A dramatisation of events surrounding the loss of the turret ship HMS Victoria during fleet exercises off Tripoli on 22 June 1893.

True Patriot

A biopic of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose opposition to Adolf Hitler led to his involvement in an assassination plot.

60 min

Shooting the Chandelier

Czechoslovakia, April 1945. A chance meeting between a professor and his former student turns into a violent trial of strength.

The Kitchen

A busy day in the kitchen of a great hotel.

Arnhem: The Story of an Escape

Graeme Warrack was Divisional Chief Doctor of the 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. With other doctors, medical personnel and padres, he stayed behind with the wounded.

Forgotten Love Songs

A man seeks the perfect relationship.

55 min

A Visit from Miss Prothero

Arthur Dodsworth has recently retired. He lives alone except for his budgie and memories of his late wife Winnie. One afternoon his nap is interrupted by the doorbell; his former secretary, Peggy Prothero, has come to visit.

37 min

Mr. & Mrs. Bureaucrat

Satire set at the Department of Something or Other, where mistakes in form-filling can bring careers to a sudden end.

Foreign Affairs

Moscow is the setting for a reunion between Viktor and Susan which brings about unforeseen complications.

The Dissolution of Marcus Fleischman

Marcus Fleischman's reincarnation proves a frustrating one. His widow, in his absence, leads the simple life of a shopkeeper, and brings up their son as best she can.

The O'Hooligan File

A former teacher takes on the system armed only with pen, paper and stamps.

The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill

Married life starts off full of bright hopes for Alex and Lynda, but soon they are trapped in a nightmare with their friend Bill.

Flayed

A disparate group of guests find themselves locked into a largely empty television studio controlled by an anonymous man.

She Fell Among Thieves

France, 1924. Two English gentlemen join forces to investigate notorious villainess Vanity Fair in her fortified chateau. Tongue-in-cheek 1978 TV film based on the novel by Dornford Yates.

78 min

Stargazy on Zummerdown

In the 23rd century, Albion (formerly Britain) is made up of two distinct communities — the Aggros (farm workers) and the Toonies (industrial workers). They meet at Zummerdown for the annual midsummer festival of Stargazy.

80 min

Liza

Lavretsky returns to Russia from Europe and joins the group of admirers of his beautiful young cousin Liza.

80 min

For Tea on Sunday

Some young women, sharing accommodation, invite their boyfriends for tea on Sunday. But one of them proves to be alarmingly disturbed.

When the Actors Come

In 19th-century Eastern Europe, a group of actors, led by Janos, arrive at a castle to give the Count and his friends a private performance. But the actors are also revolutionaries, and they have another agenda.

Ice Age

An unexpected stranger arrives at the old peoples home in Norway where a famous writer is kept in confinement after the war. A young partisan plots his assassination, while others advocate handing him over for trial for collaboration.

The Copyist

A fateful day in the life of a celebrated composer.