Robert Mountford

The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series of standalone contemporary dramas aired during the afternoons of 2003–07 on BBC One, featuring well-known actors in one-off stories. A daytime drama strand showcasing a variety of genres, from comedy to mystery, it was part of a long tradition of afternoon plays on BBC Radio 4, which would go on to influence the television version.

When two YouTubers uncover a mysterious grave in an abandoned churchyard, what starts as harmless entertainment soon turns darker when their discovery begins to unwrap a mystery which has lain dormant for over a century.

A British Asian family are beginning their Eid celebrations when they receive a sudden unexpected visitor.

Spun together with a blend of Indian music and movement, this production from one of the UK’s leading cross-cultural theatre companies sees Shakespeare’s tragedy re-imagined in a contemporary context as a brew of treachery and ambition sets an Asian family on a road to destruction. 

The production sees the engineers of Macbeth’s downfall depicted as three outrageous hijras who cook up an explosive brew of treachery, ambition and passion, showing a strand of Indian society little-known in the west.

Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no fibs. Christmas at Hardcastle Hall, where guests are assured of a hearty welcome. The gramophone is playing a Charleston, cocktails are in the shaker, and romance is in the air. Kate Hardcastle can’t wait to meet her intended fiance, Charles Marlow – but when Marlow finally turns up, he’s not the shy and retiring man anyone was expecting. Wily Kate soon realises that faint heart never won fair husband…

The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series of standalone contemporary dramas aired during the afternoons of 2003–07 on BBC One, featuring well-known actors in one-off stories. A daytime drama strand showcasing a variety of genres, from comedy to mystery, it was part of a long tradition of afternoon plays on BBC Radio 4, which would go on to influence the television version.