Hugh Leonard

Widows' Peak

Scandal and mystery reign following the arrival of Edwina in a small Irish town populated entirely by widows. Edwina quickly falls out with the locals while also falling in with the son of the community's leader

Second Childhood

Charles Dennistoun, a 60-year-old contestant on 'You Bet a Million' - a quiz show for millionaires - wins the jackpot prize, a course in rejuvenation. But his friends and family have mixed feeling, and the repercussions have blackly comic effects on all concerned.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

A human-looking robot housekeeper is the latest gadget to acquire in the ceaseless battle to keep up with the Joneses. But housewife Claire Belmont starts to question the wisdom of her husband's purchase when TN3 (Tony) arrives. Can a man-like robot do everything a man can do, but willingly, obediently, tirelessly? Is a robot less than a man, or more?

Da

A New York playwright is summoned to Ireland to bury his father. While at his boyhood home, he encounters his father's spirit and relives memories both pleasant and not.

The Higgler

Harvey Whitlow has been back from World War I for a year, and he's been having a hard time making a go of it. Keith Drinkell, as the peddler of farm products (called a "higgler" in England), is married to Jane Carr in a one-hour drama, "The Higgler," on the Masterpiece Theater.

No Such Thing as a Vampire

Alexis, the wife of Dr. Cheria, mysteriously falls ill, it's believed by the villagers that she is a victim of a vampire. One night, she awakes screaming with blood running from two marks down her neck.

Percy

Edwin Antony (Hywel Bennett) is emasculated in an accident which kills a young philanderer. Doctors successfully replace his member with that of the dead man, but refuse to tell him the full story of the organ's origin. So Edwin begins a search which takes him to the philanderer's wife - and also to his many, many girlfriends...

Wuthering Heights

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Widows' Peak

Scandal and mystery reign following the arrival of Edwina in a small Irish town populated entirely by widows. Edwina quickly falls out with the locals while also falling in with the son of the community's leader

Second Childhood

Charles Dennistoun, a 60-year-old contestant on 'You Bet a Million' - a quiz show for millionaires - wins the jackpot prize, a course in rejuvenation. But his friends and family have mixed feeling, and the repercussions have blackly comic effects on all concerned.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

A human-looking robot housekeeper is the latest gadget to acquire in the ceaseless battle to keep up with the Joneses. But housewife Claire Belmont starts to question the wisdom of her husband's purchase when TN3 (Tony) arrives. Can a man-like robot do everything a man can do, but willingly, obediently, tirelessly? Is a robot less than a man, or more?

Da

A New York playwright is summoned to Ireland to bury his father. While at his boyhood home, he encounters his father's spirit and relives memories both pleasant and not.

The Higgler

Harvey Whitlow has been back from World War I for a year, and he's been having a hard time making a go of it. Keith Drinkell, as the peddler of farm products (called a "higgler" in England), is married to Jane Carr in a one-hour drama, "The Higgler," on the Masterpiece Theater.

No Such Thing as a Vampire

Alexis, the wife of Dr. Cheria, mysteriously falls ill, it's believed by the villagers that she is a victim of a vampire. One night, she awakes screaming with blood running from two marks down her neck.

Percy

Edwin Antony (Hywel Bennett) is emasculated in an accident which kills a young philanderer. Doctors successfully replace his member with that of the dead man, but refuse to tell him the full story of the organ's origin. So Edwin begins a search which takes him to the philanderer's wife - and also to his many, many girlfriends...

Wuthering Heights

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Great Catherine

When British Capt. Charles Edstaston arrives at the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg, Russia, he is stunned by the palace's disorderly condition. The severely intoxicated Prince Potemkin concludes that the handsome Edstaston would be a suitable lover for Catherine, and he coerces the bewildered visitor into her bedchamber. Edstaston manages to escape, but he is repeatedly recaptured and delivered to the mischievous Catherine.

Our Miss Fred

Danny La Rue stars in this 1970s drag comedy as Fred Wimbush, a Shakespearean actor who is drafted into WWII and is appearing in a camp show in France when the Nazis advance. Unless he continues in his female costume, Fred is certain to be shot as a spy. The risque gags and double entendres fly as he attempts to make his escape in the company of a troupe of Girl Guides.

The Moonstone

Adaptation of the classic novel. A priceless jewel, originally plundered from a Hindu shrine, is presented to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday. The jewel goes missing and suspicion falls over the household, threatening to destroy someone close to Rachel's heart.

The Corpse Can't Play

Ronnie's party is going well, but his mother Alice is waiting for her husband Tom to return from the office to help supervise. The doorbell rings, but instead of Tom it's Simon Potter, a strange little boy who Ronnie dislikes, and who knows some unusual and horrifying variations of children's party games.

The Possessed

Adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel about liberal discussion versus revolutionary action in a provincial Russian town in the mid-nineteenth century.

Interlude

A young female journalist in London falls in love with a married orchestra conductor.

Silent Song

Life in a Trappist monastery offers a life of contemplation and hard labour.

BBC Play of the Month

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

Thirty-Minute Theatre

An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.

The Wednesday Play

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

Anthology series of dramatic works.

Father Brown

Based on the short stories by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown is a Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective.

Country Matters

An anthology series adapted from plays and short stories by A.E Coppard and H.E. Bates, depicting English country life and rural romance at the turn of the 20th-century. It presents unsentimental stories of human relationships and raw emotions – heartfelt passions, crippling frustrations, unspoken love and destructive jealousy.

Out of the Unknown

Out of the Unknown is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Each episode was a dramatisation of a science fiction short story; some were created for the series, but most were adaptations of already published stories. The first three years were exclusively science fiction, but that genre was abandoned in the final year in favour of horror and fantasy. A number of episodes were wiped during the early 1970s, as was standard procedure at the time.

Half Hour Story

18 short plays written especially for TV, an opportunity for up-and-coming directors such as floor manager Alan Clarke, who ended up doing 10 of the episodes. Some top ranking performers were attracted to the series.

Great Expectations

Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.

Wuthering Heights

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Six Dates with Barker

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Insurrection

The events of the Easter Rising, told in the style contemporary news broadcasts and a series of dramatic reconstructions.

Wuthering Heights

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

The Informer

The Informer is a British crime drama series broadcast on ITV from August 1966 to December 1967. Created by John Whitney and Geoffrey Bellman, it stars Ian Hendry as former barrister Alex Lambert, disgraced and disbarred, who has to rebuild his life. He utilises his former contacts on both sides of the law to become a paid informer. Living well from the rewards paid by insurance companies, Lambert still has to hide his activities from both his wife and others behind a new persona in the guise as a business consultant. Two seasons were produced, totalling 21 episodes. Only two episodes are known to exist, the remainder presumably wiped.

Shadows of Fear

Anthology series in which characters find themselves in weird and scary situations. Not evoked by the supernatural but by other people.

Storyboard

Highly regarded anthology from the 1980s presenting a diverse range of high-quality single dramas that would serve as pilots for possible future series.

Late Night Horror

A short-lived horror anthology broadcast in the United Kingdom weekly from 11 April until 16 May 1968 on BBC Two. However, following viewer complaints of its unsuitability, it was pulled, with four of six episodes believed lost (the third episode resurfaced as a 16mm black-and-white film telerecording in 2016, and the first in 2026).

Dombey and Son

Charles Dickens' classic novel is given its first television adaptation in this classic 1969 BBC production. Paul Dombey is a well-to-do shipping firm owner, who lacks a son to take over the family business. After rejecting his daughter's affection, he reconciles with her before his death.

The Verdict Is Yours

'The Verdict Is Yours' premiered on September 2, 1957, in the CBS Daytime lineup. Unscripted, the show featured real lawyers playing the lawyers and judge. The defendants and witnesses on the program were professional actors who ad-libbed their dialogue, although they were given a general outline of what they were supposed to say. Sportscaster Jim McKay was the original reporter, providing commentary on the trials. He was succeeded in 1960 by newsman Bill Stout.

Seven of One

Seven of One is a 1973 BBC2 comedy anthology starring Ronnie Barker. 7 of 1 is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms, three of which were picked up for a full series run. Originally called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other.

Armchair Theatre

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

The Moonstone

A priceless jewel, originally plundered from a Hindu shrine, is presented to Rachel Verinder on her 18th birthday. The jewel goes missing and suspicion falls over the household, threatening to destroy someone close to Rachel's heart.