Theatre Night is the umbrella title under which adaptations of classic and contemporary stage plays were usually broadcast on BBC 2 between 15 September 1985 and 21 July 1990.
List of episodes The main source for compiling this list was the BFI Film and TV Database. The website's master list is here. IMDb was also used, but some significant errors were found; these are noted.
Legend: Se = Season; Ep = Episode Se Ep Title Author Producer/Director Performers UKTransmissiondate11This version of the play is contained with The Oscar Wilde Collection, a BBC 3 DVD box setOscar WildeLouis Marks (p);Tony Smith (d)Helena Little,Tim Woodward,Stephanie Turner,Kenneth Cranham,James Saxon,Geoff Morrell15 September 198512August StrindbergLouis Marks (p);Kenneth Ives (d)Colin Blakely,Dorothy Tutin,Irene Handl,Edward Fox,Robert Lang22 September 198513Alan AyckbournShaun Sutton (p);Michael Simpson (d)Tom Courtenay,Julia McKenzie,Dinsdale Landen,Hywel Bennett,Maureen Lipman29 September 198514Robert ArdreyLouis Marks (p);Mike Vardy (d)Charles Dance,Anna Massey,Paul Copley,Kathleen Byron,David de Keyser,Garrick Hagon,Graham Crowden,Burnell Tucker6 October 198515J. M. Synge(play The Playboy of the Western World);Mustapha Matura (adaptation)Alan Shallcross (p);Nicolas Kent (d)Joan Ann Maynard,Rudolph Walker,Jim Findley,Ram John Holder,Stefan Kalipha,Frank Singuineau13 October 198516Arthur Wing PineroLouis Marks & Cedric Messina (p);Tom Kingdom (d)Michael Hordern,Nicholas Jones,Avril Angers,Samantha Bond,Patricia Brake,Philip Locke,Vivian Pickles,Linda Polan,Arthur Cox20 October 198517Mikhail Bulgakov (play);Dusty Hughes (adaptation)This is a videotape recording of the RSC stage production.Cedric Messina (p);Bill Alexander (d)Antony Sher,David Bradley,Penelope Beaumont,Sylvia Coleridge,David Troughton,Christopher Bowen27 October 198518Molière (play)Christopher Hampton (translation)Cedric Messina (p);Bill Alexander (d)Antony Sher,Nigel Hawthorne,Alison Steadman,Sylvia Coleridge,David Bradley,Ian Talbot,Stephanie Fayerman3 November 1985While the RSC stage production, from which this episode of Theatre Night derives, was first performed in 1983, IMDb is inaccurate in dating this videotaped version from that year. The BFI Film & TV Database indicates the start date for this programme's production was in 1984, while the copyright date is for 1985. See the BFI Film & TV Database outline page.21The Devil's Disciple, Theatre Night, BBC Two. 1987.This production is contained within The Bernard Shaw Collection, a BBC 6 DVD box set.George Bernard ShawShaun Sutton (p);David Jones (d)Mike Gwilym,Ian Richardson,Elizabeth Spriggs,Patrick Stewart,Patrick Newell,John Cater,Patrick Godfrey,Larry Lamb,Benjamin Whitrow17 May 198722Joe OrtonShaun Sutton (p);Barry Davis (d)Dinsdale Landen,Tessa Peake-Jones,Timothy West,Prunella Scales24 May 198723August StrindbergShaun Sutton (p);Michael Simpson (d)Janet McTeer,Patrick Malahide31 May 198724Michael FraynShaun Sutton (p);Michael DarlowRobert Hardy,Judi Dench,David Graham,Martin Jarvis,Wolf Kahler,Arnold Lee7 June 198725This production is contained within The Judi Dench Collection, a BBC 6 DVD box setThis production is contained within the Henrik Ibsen Collection, a 6 DVD BBC box set (Region 1/N. America only).Henrik IbsenLouis Marks (p);Elijah Moshinsky (d)Judi Dench,Kenneth Branagh,Michael Gambon,Freddie Jones,Natasha Richardson14 June 198726Harold PinterRosemary Hill (p);Kenneth Ives (d)Joan Plowright,Harold Pinter,Kenneth Cranham,Colin Blakely,Julie Walters,Robert Lang21 June 198731MolièreShaun Sutton (p);Michael Simpson (d)Nigel Hawthorne,Jim Broadbent,Kate Buffery,Janet Suzman,Christopher Benjamin,Ron Cook,John Gill,Simon Sutton,Cyril Shaps1 April 198832Henrik IbsenShaun Sutton (p);Michael Darlow (d)Leo McKern,Jane Lapotaire,Sebastian Shaw,Miranda Richardson,Simon Rouse15 May 198833The Importance of Being Earnest, BFI Film & TV databaseOscar WildeShaun Sutton (p);Stuart Burge (d)Paul McGann,Rupert Frazer,Amanda Redman,Natalie Ogle,Gemma Jones,Alec McCowen,Joan Plowright,John Woodnutt,Peter Copley29 May 1988IMDb dates this programme to 1986. While it is quite possible this production was recorded during that year, no evidence has been traced suggesting that it was transmitted elsewhere in the world before its British television premiere on this date. 34Richard Brinsley SheridanShaun Sutton (p);Elijah Moshinsky (d)Donald Sinden,Sheila Hancock,Michael Maloney;Patrick Ryecart,Amanda Redman,Ronald Pickup,Suzanne Burden5 June 198835John GalsworthyShaun Sutton (p);Michael Darlow (d)Peter Vaughan,Timothy West,Kate Buffery,Anna Calder-Marshall,Tenniel Evans,Andrew Burt,Trevor CooperBernard Archard,John Nettleton,John Woodnutt,Patsy Smart12 June 198841George Bernard ShawShaun Sutton (p);James Cellan Jones (d)Helena Bonham Carter,Kika Markham,Pip Torrens,Dinsdale Landen,Patsy Kensit,Nicolas Chagrin16 April 198942David StoreyShaun Sutton (p);Barry Davis (d)Timothy West,Kenneth Cranham,Jimmy Jewel,Roger Lloyd-Pack,Gawn Grainger23 April 198943The Play of the Month production from 1977 is contained within The Terence Rattigan Collection, a 5 DVD BBC box set.Terence RattiganShaun Sutton (p);Michael Darlow (d)Rosemary Leach,Gordon Jackson,Gwen Watford,Emma Thompson,Ian Richardson,David Troughton30 April 198944David HareTim Ironside-Wood (p);Colin Ludlowe (p);Paul Marcus (p);Moira Armstrong (d)Tim Roth,Emma Thompson,Bernard Hepton,Peter Hawkins,James Appleby,John Joyce7 May 198945John Williams "Goddard, Jim (1936-2013)", BFI ScreenonlineFranz Kafka (short story);Steven Berkoff (adaptation)Martyn Auty (p);Jim Goddard (d)Tim Roth,Steven Berkoff,Linda Marlowe,Saskia Reeves,Gary Olsen21 May 1989Tim Roth starred in the play at the Mermaid Theatre in 1987. IMDb dates this episode from 1987, which is the year of copyright, but it was not transmitted in the UK until 1989. It was produced in association with Viva Theatre Productions.46Michael FraynNo producer credited;Barry Davis (d)Barbara Flynn,Michael Kitchen,Alan Rickman,Harriet Walter,Howard Cooke28 May 198951Michael Brooke "Othello (1990)", BFI Screenonline, December 2003William ShakespeareGreg Smith (p);Trevor Nunn (d)Willard White,Ian McKellen,Imogen Stubbs,Zoë Wanamaker,Sean Baker,Michael Grandage,Clive Swift23 June 199052Edward BondTim Ironside-Wood (p);Don Taylor (d)David Suchet,Kenneth Haigh,Peter Jeffrey,Brenda Bruce30 June 199053IMDb suggests (in error) that there were five episodes in the last season. At the time this article was begun (May 2014) the compilers had left 5:3 in a place holding state.Stewart Parker (writer);Lesley Bruce (adaptation)No producer credited;Nicholas Kent (d)Dearbhla Molloy,Adrian Dunbar,Barbara Adair,Michelle Fairley,Sam Dale14 July 199054EuripidesLouis Marks (p);Don TaylorRoy Marsden,Fiona Shaw,Imogen Boorman,Eric Allan,Tim Woodward,Jason Durr,Tessa Peake-Jones21 July 1990
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