Play for Today
Series 10
1979
E1 · 75 min
Long Distance Information
A fanatical Elvis Presley fan is working as a disc jockey when his idol dies
E2 · 75 min
Cries from a Watchtower
A watchmaker finds his livelihood is threatened by cheaply imported digital watches.
E3 · 75 min
Comedians
Budding comedians take an evening class taught by a retired performer and, for their final exam, must perform for an impresario in a nightclub.
E4 · 75 min
Even Solomon
Stephen Piper is a quiet young man. A virgin, he shows no interest in sex, and is cruelly scorned by an aggressive female neighbour when he rebuffs her advances. He lives with his mother, an overbearing woman who mocks him for being wet. But Stephen has a secret. An accurate and heartfelt depiction of the challenges he faces and a fascinating glimpse at the gender politics of the day.
E5 · 75 min
Just a Boy's Game
In Glasgow, a young man's sole aim is to be as tough as his dying grandfather once was
E6 · 75 min
Billy
A 4-year-old boy is abused by his father
E7 · 75 min
A Hole in Babylon
Exploration of the events leading up to 1975 Spaghetti House siege in London and the motivation of its three protagonists, T-Bone Wilson, Archie Pool, and Trevor Thomas.
E8 · 75 min
The Slab-Boys
The story of a young man who works in a carpet factory
E9 · 75 min
Katie: The Year of a Child
A teenage girl from a family of Irish Travellers is left to look after her brothers and sisters while her father is away.
E10 · 75 min
The Network
What do Rose from Devon and Christina from Stuttgart have in common? And in what way is their fate linked to that of wealthy Fiona Dunkerley?
E11 · 75 min
Chance of a Lifetime
A young man quits school and joins the army.
E12 · 75 min
Keep Smiling
Family picnics should not be like this: bugging devices, men with X-ray eyes. Mary doesn't understand what terrifies Simon, nor the bizarre events of the next six months.
E13 · 75 min
Dreams of Leaving
A journalist moves to London and gets caught up in the big city and his romance with a rich debutante.
E14 · 75 min
Thicker Than Water
Various characters have adventures on the way to a black pudding festival in Normandy.
E15 · 75 min
Murder Rap
An Englishman's home is his castle, and Wally aims to prove it.
E16 · 75 min
Instant Enlightenment Including VAT
Weekend enlightenment seminars serve as a form of brainwashing.
E17 · 75 min
No Defence
Mr. Germanou arrives from Cyprus with his family to settle in England. But on his arrival he's arrested for an historical rape with seemingly no defence.
E18 · 75 min
That Crazy Woman
Twenty years ago, at the age of 56, this extraordinary woman became a national hero by walking from John O'Groats to Land's End. One of the last great English eccentrics (even though she was Russian) in the last days of English innocence.
E19 · 75 min
A Gift from Nessus
The marital and career problems of a middle-aged, middle-class man in Glasgow in the 1960s
E20 · 75 min
Kate, the Good Neighbour
A compassionate elderly woman comes to the realization that she can no longer care for herself or others.
E21 · 75 min
Buses
A story about the regulation of the bus industry in 1930
E22 · 75 min
Shadows on Our Skin
The problems of an 11-year-old boy living in the Catholic part of Londonderry
E23 · 75 min
Ladies
The A Shift at the MHS department store are organising a wedding gift presentation for Elaine. But what's on Miriam's mind, and why does she seem so out of sorts?
E24 · 75 min
The Vanishing Army
A story about the highs and lows of peacetime army life
E25 · 75 min
Not for the Likes of Us
"I dunno, years of putting up with it, waiting on you all, for what? Eh? To become a 14-stone invisible woman?"
E26 · 75 min
The Executioner
Jan and Meg Citron are on holiday in Germany. Their car is stopped by the police. A simple traffic offence? But their seemingly innocent past is ripped open and life will never be the same again.
E27 · 75 min
The Imitation Game
During World War II, an idealistic young woman joins the Army Transport Service
E28 · 75 min
A Walk in the Forest
A writer gets involved with a Soviet dissident