The Play on One
A series of television plays, some original, some based on pre-existing plays or novels.
Seasons
1. Down Where the Buffalo Go
Air Date: 1988-01-19
Based at the Holy Loch naval base, the holy union of US Marine Carl and local girl Rachel is on the rocks, as she wants to leave Scotland and settle in America while he wants to remain.
2. The Dark Room
Air Date: 1988-01-26
A reclusive couple live on a Scotland block with their infant son. But it soon becomes apparent there's something strange about their situation and the wife is on the verge of a breakdown. But just what is their secret?
3. Normal Service
Air Date: 1988-02-02
It's General Election Day 1964, and the resources of Forth and Clyde Television are under stress. Too many shows want too many things done too quickly. Some of the design and graphics staff are intent on not getting involved. Others won't survive the strain.
4. The Dunroamin' Rising
Air Date: 1988-02-09
A former firebrand socialist finds himself in a care home after a fall renders him unable to look after himself. But after learning that the staff are to be sacked for economic reasons, he rallies the residents to fight back.
5. A Wholly Healthy Glasgow
Air Date: 1988-02-16
A new, idealistic gym instructor threatens the seedy lifestyle of the current employees of the Adonis Health Club in Glasgow.
6. Unreported Incident
Air Date: 1988-02-23
Once enemies at opposite ends of a gun on the Irish border, Jack Lawrence and Jimmy Dunne wound up with lives inextricably entwined. Chat show host Michael Flynn wants a sob story with a happy ending, but Jack and Jimmy give him something else entirely.
7. Airbase
Air Date: 1988-03-01
Madeline Kohler, a young female American Air Force officer, is posted to the all-male world of a U.S. airbase in Britain.
8. The Party
Air Date: 1988-03-08
While Paris students protest in May 1968, television producer Joe Shawcross hosts a discussion of Socialist beliefs and actions in his fashionable London home, only to realise that he is not living his own ideals.
1. Heartland
Air Date: 1989-02-21
In West Wales, Jack and his farming family have built up their dairy herd with vast loans and are then told they must cut back on milk production and slaughter some of the herd. The community launches a campaign against the quotas, but Jack takes the law into his own hands.
2. These Foolish Things
Air Date: 1989-02-28
Gutrune's hunt for a husband among the wealthy and aristocratic circles of London is hampered by the fact that her chosen man Nick, a London newspaper editor, is still in love with the wife from whom he is separated.
3. Govan Ghost Story
Air Date: 1989-03-07
Old memories are awakened in a terrifying and dangerous way when Jock encounters a strange little girl in the high-rise block of flats where he lives. Who is she? What does she want?
4. The Shawl
Air Date: 1989-03-14
John performs as a spiritual medium, using the visits of a troubled woman to introduce a young man to the mysteries and skills of the clairvoyant. The young man threatens to leave unless John stages a séance that will persuade Miss A to transfer an inheritance to them.
5. A View of Harry Clark
Air Date: 1989-03-21
Harry Clark is a social worker on the verge of cracking up. His job is to help other people but who's there to help him?
6. The Gift
Air Date: 1989-03-28
Robert and Gordon, two talented teenage footballers from Wick, are invited to Glasgow for a week's trial with a big club. It is their first taste of professional football, but both the game and the city upset their expectations.
7. Clowns
Air Date: 1989-04-04
Arthur is about to celebrate his 80th birthday and his family is gathering for a party. It is a time for celebration, but also for family tensions and a reassessment of how we all spend our lives.
8. Biting the Hands
Air Date: 1989-04-11
Two Scottish women doing a feminist cabaret act in a seedy pub have to choose between principle and profit when success on the alternative cabaret circuit beckons.
9. A Master of the Marionettes
Air Date: 1989-04-18
Teddy Rose is a committed and successful salesman, allaying suburban insecurity with domestic alarm systems. But one evening, violence confronts him face to face.
10. Unexplained Laughter
Air Date: 1989-04-25
Unlucky in love Lydia retreats to the Welsh hills for a consoling visit to her old friend Betty. But things may not be as amiable as they seem.
1. Changing Step
Air Date: 1990-07-26
Spring 1917: the privileged world of Sorn Castle is upside down, its stately rooms full of amputees from the Western Front. While the local aristocracy makes a first attempt at nursing, a romance blossoms.
2. The Wreck on the Highway
Air Date: 1990-08-02
Washed up country-and-western singer John McGuire is broke and his family is emigrating. He and grandson Billy share the same dreams. They run away together in search of John's wealthy American ex-co-star Betsy Hall.
3. Killing Time
Air Date: 1990-08-09
DHSS clerk Martin meets 17-year-old Harry, who is sleeping rough, and invites him to stay for the weekend. Martin begins to trust Harry. Could this be the love that they are both looking for?
4. Obituaries
Air Date: 1990-08-16
In a nursing home, 'Chalky' White and Timothy Apcar compete for the privilege of shaking the Royal hand. The Daily Telegraph is the battleground, the obituary columns the challenge. As the game progresses it soon becomes clear that both are in deadly earnest.
5. Separation
Air Date: 1990-08-23
When New York actress Sarah Weiss calls London playwright Joe, they begin a special relationship conducted through trans-Atlantic phone calls. Both have special conditions they both have to fight to overcome their separation.
6. Yellowbacks
Air Date: 1990-08-30
In a very near-future Britain, when draconian powers have been given to the authorities under the new Secret Emergency Provisions of the Dangerous Disease Act, Dr Juliet Horwitz finds herself hooded, handcuffed and interrogated by a ruthless pair, as does scientist Alex McPherson, both of whom are the key to finding Martin Pitt, a virus carrier who has disappeared.
1. Misterioso
Air Date: 1991-07-25
On the death of her mother, a young Northern England woman learns that her father is actually her step-father. She embarks on a search for her biological father and finds him running a jazz club in London, and learns a lot about her family that she didn't know before.
2. Gas and Candles
Air Date: 1991-08-01
Two pensioners strike back as they struggle to survive in a high-rise flat. A tin of salmon triggers a chain of life-altering events. The key to this intriguing tale is the identity of 'Mr Shah'.
3. Escape from Kampala
Air Date: 1991-08-08
Wycliffe Kato, Director of Civil Aviation in Idi Amin's Uganda, is catching a flight to Canada for a conference when he's arrested by Amin's secret police, members of the notorious Sate Research Bureau, and thrown into the Nakasero prison. This should have meant certain death, but, along with his cellmates and army officers under suspicion of organising a coup, Kato escapes and travels on foot to Nairobi.
4. And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon
Air Date: 1991-08-15
Wisecracking hospital DJ Eddie brightens the daily routine for former nightclub singer Andrea and her fellow patients in a women's cancer ward. They share hopes and dreams for an unpredictable future.
5. Out of the Blue
Air Date: 1991-08-22
Alan makes films in the warehouse studio where he lives, with the help of friends Rudy and Liz. Even Rudy's girlfriend, Julie, finds herself caught up in his plans. But Alan falls in love with beautiful young Chirsty, and decides to create the perfect romance between them. However, life begins to imitate the fantasy, which has become an obsession for him.
6. Effie's Burning
Air Date: 1991-08-29
The medical burns unit sees a lot of strange cases, but none stranger than Effie, who claims her burns are the result of spontaneous combustion.
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Rating
6.0/10
Release Date
1988-01-19
Episodes
30 (4 seasons)
Status
Ended
Cast
Production Companies
BBC
BBC Scotland
BBC Cymru Wales
BBC Pebble Mill