
Franchise
Mike Leigh's Play For Today
Mike Leigh's original plays produced by the BBC in the "Play For Today" series
6.7A quiet and put-upon house cleaner breaks her silence.
Hard Labour
1973
7.1A middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them.
Nuts in May
1976
6.5Trevor is an extremely shy undertaker's assistant. He always tags along with his good friend Ronnie, when he goes to the pub with his girlfriend Sandra. Sandra introduces Trevor to her more forward friend Linda. Linda has a difficult time getting Trevor to go out with her, but she finally gets him to go to a disco; he won't dance, so Linda dances with Ronnie.
The Kiss of Death
1977
7.4Beverly and Laurence are entertaining their new neighbours, Angela and Tony as well as Sue, whose teenage daughter, Abigail, is having a party. Over drinks and small talk, class differences and relationship difficulties emerge.
Abigail's Party
1977
6.3Slice-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 and pretentious friends Nigel, Giles, and Anthony, who gather for a wine-soaked dinner party with the chatty and risque Samantha and the mousy Caroline; the plummy Lord and Lady Crouchurst, in a spot of bother needing the help of Francis, a senior partner, to assist with the family's cash flow. Alan comes home from work to find Mr. Shakespeare doing a photo shoot of one of April's cats and a wealthy stranger, Miss Hunt, waiting to purchase one. His instincts for sycophantic palaver kick in.
Who's Who
1979
6.3Three postal workers and their dysfunctional families interact over cups of tea and Sunday dinner.
Home Sweet Home
1982