Play for Today: Series 9
Season 9 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Play for Today Season 8.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 9 Progress Shield
Nina
Oct 17, 1978 · 75 min
The story of two Soviet dissidents living in London and slowly coming apart under the strain of his drinking and her enforced separation from her child
Victims of Apartheid
Oct 24, 1978 · 75 min
George, a black South African, finds it hard to settle down in London after his experiences in South Africa.
A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts
Oct 31, 1978 · 75 min
A young man is declared a hero when he catches a burglar until it's discovered that the burglar is a dwarf.
Dinner at the Sporting Club
Nov 7, 1978 · 75 min
A story about young boxers whose fighting provides entertainment for diners at a sporting club
Donal and Sally
Nov 14, 1978 · 75 min
Adolescent love can be difficult at the best of times, but Donal and Sally have special problems - problems which alarm their families and the instructors at Strathvale Centre.
Sorry
Nov 21, 1978 · 75 min
Consists of two plays ""Audience"" and ""Private View"" about a brewery worker and writer who incurs the wrath of the autocratic government
Butterflies Don't Count
Nov 28, 1978 · 75 min
"Whether priest or thespian, never once let yourself doubt that the role you're playing is real. Lead your little flock from childhood to the grave via God's sweet sacraments and l
Soldiers Talking Cleanly
Dec 5, 1978 · 75 min
A freelance TV presenter has been hired by the BBC to film a documentary about the British army stationed in Germany. Unfortunately the budget is so low he is only allowed to film
One Bummer Newsday
Dec 12, 1978 · 75 min
What happens to provincial journalists when there's nothing in the news and they have a paper to fill?
The Out of Town Boys
Jan 2, 1979 · 75 min
"This could be a bit special, Maggie. This could be the first case of an office block falling down during the topping-out party."
Vampires
Jan 9, 1979 · 75 min
Three boys watch horror films on late night TV and see a man in a local cemetery whom they believe to be a vampire.
The Chief Mourner
Jan 16, 1979 · 75 min
For a successful man with public responsibilities Alan Berry is strangely reluctant to help the police when his wife is murdered.
Waterloo Sunset
Jan 23, 1979 · 75 min
A young man and an old woman try to fit in when their neighborhood goes West Indian
Blue Remembered Hills
Jan 30, 1979 · 75 min
The play activities of seven children living in the countryside during the summer of 1943 end in tragedy; the children were played by adults in childrens clothing. The title is ta
Who's Who
Feb 6, 1979 · 75 min
Slice-of-life look at class divisions among employees of a brokerage house. Alan, with his portrait of the Queen and love of the peerage; his wife April, who raises cats; youthful
The Last Window Cleaner
Feb 13, 1979 · 75 min
The Irish troubles as seen by residents of a boarding house called ""The Crumlin View""
Ploughman's Share
Feb 27, 1979 · 75 min
"Ploughman. Nobody calls you that. You're a has-been. Your head and heart went into a museum wi' that lot you keep in there. Face it: you're redundant."
Degree of Uncertainty
Mar 6, 1979 · 75 min
"I'm 37 years old, remember? I'm not a dead-pan, genned-up, discreetly nymphomaniac ex-head-girl like the majority of your female students. I'm an innocent. I'm vulnerable."
Light
Mar 13, 1979 · 75 min
A village in Cheshire. A deserted cinema. A poet murdered by Stalin. A blown fuse. Victor Silvester. Pickets on trial. Trimmers and fishwires.
Coming Out
Apr 10, 1979 · 75 min
A closeted homosexual writer is content to lead a double life
Don't Be Silly
Jul 24, 1979 · 75 min
A young wife tries to cope with her abusive husband.