# Play of the Month

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted regularly from October 1965 to May 1979, before returning for the summer seasons of 1982 and 1983. The producer most associated with the Play of the Month series was Cedric Messina. Thirteen productions were also shown previously or subsequently on BBC2 in the period 1971-73 under Stage 2. Productions were broadcast in colour from November 1969.

## Archive status

Of the 128 productions, 40 are missing from the archives (except for short sequences in several cases), having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. One colour production exists only as a black & white telerecording.
4/9 episodes from series one are archived, only the first episode from series two is archived, 2/11 from series three are archived, with one lost transmission surviving in partial footage, 4/9 from series four are archived, 4/8 from series five are fully archived, with one lost broadcast having partial footage, 5/9 from series six are archived, 8/11 from series seven are archived, with one episode ("The Cherry Orchard"), originally transmitted on 19 December 1971 and filmed in colour only surviving as a black and white recording, 7/10 from series eight are archived, and one lost episode having partial footage, 7/9 exist from series nine, with one lost episode having partial footage, 8/9 from series ten are archived, and every episode made from series eleven onwards is archived.
The earliest episode not in the BBC archives is series one episode three, "The Joel Brand Story", originally transmitted on 14 December 1965, and the latest episode not available in the archives is series ten episode eight "The Shadow of a Gunman", originally transmitted on 20 April 1975.

## Productions

Sourced according to the BBC Genome archive of Radio Times magazines, with archival status from TV Brain.
Legend: AS/A = Archive status/Availability Abbreviations: tr =Telerecording; seq = sequence(s)
| UK Transmission date | Title | Author | Producer | Director | Performers (non-exhaustive) | Notes | AS/A |
| Series One ||||||||
| 19 Oct 1965 | Luther | John Osborne | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Alec McCowen, Patrick Magee, Geoffrey Bayldon, Ray Barrett, Jerold Wells, Philip Stone, Fulton Mackay, James Cairncross, Douglas Ditta, Peter Purves, Rex Robinson | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 16 Nov 1965 | A Passage to India | E. M. Forster (novel); Santha Rama Rau (play); John Maynard (adaptation) | Peter Luke | Waris Hussein | Sybil Thorndike, Virginia McKenna, Zia Mohyeddin, Cyril Cusack Ishaq Bux, Saeed Jaffrey, John Bryans, Doreen Mantle | Adapted from the play of the novel. Repeated on BBC2 29 Jun 1992. | Survives |
| 14 Dec 1965 | The Joel Brand Story | Heinar Kipphardt, based on the book by Alex Weissberg; adapted from German by Rudolph Cartier | Peter Luke | Rudolph Cartier | Cyril Shaps, Zia Mohyeddin, Anton Diffring, Martin Benson, Michael Godfrey, Harold Goldblatt, Pat Gorman, Gertan Klauber, Tutte Lemkow, Peter Howell | Adapted from the book. | Lost |
| 18 Jan 1966 | Gordon of Khartoum | Robin Maugham (play); David Benedictus (adaptation) | Peter Luke | Rudolph Cartier | Alan Badel, Charles Carson, John Franklyn-Robbins, Gladys Spencer, Cyril Shaps, Roy Stewart | Adapted from the play The Last Hero. | Lost |
| 15 Feb 1966 | Where Angels Fear to Tread | E. M. Forster (novel); Elizabeth Hart (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Naomi Capon | Anna Massey, Wendy Hiller, Alec McCowen, Nora Swinburne, André Lawrence | Adapted from the novel. | Lost |
| 15 Mar 1966 | Lee Oswald - Assassin | Felix Lützkendorf (play); Rudolph Cartier & Reed De Rouen (adaptation) | Peter Luke | Rudolph Cartier | Tony Bill, Dora Reisser, Robert Ayres, John Alderson, Donald Sutherland, Callen Angelo, David Bauer, Glenn Beck, Reed De Rouen, Harold Goldblatt, David Graham, David Healy, Paul Maxwell, Warren Mitchell, Shane Rimmer, Tony Sibbald | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 12 Apr 1966 | Make Me an Offer | Wolf Mankowitz (book); David Heneker & Monty Norman (m/ly) | Cedric Messina | Bill Hays | Diana Coupland, Peter Gilmore, Judith Bruce, Meier Tzelniker, James Grout, Ivor Salter, Patrick O'Connell, Timothy Bateson | Adapted from the novel. | Lost |
| 24 May 1966 | Death of a Salesman | Arthur Miller | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Rod Steiger, Betsy Blair, Joss Ackland, Tony Bill, Kenneth J. Warren, David Healy | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 28 Jun 1966 | The Devil's Eggshell | David Weir, based on an idea by Alex Comfort. | Cedric Messina | Gareth Davies | Leonard Rossiter, Keith Barron, David Langton, John Phillips, Nicholas Pennell, Bernard Hepton, Burt Kwouk, Michael Culver, Stephanie Bidmead, Anthony Jacobs, Basil Moss, Peter Copley, Godfrey James | | Survives |
| Series Two ||||||||
| 27 Sep 1966 | Defection! The Case of Colonel Petrov | Donald Bull, based on the book by Michael Bialoguski. | Cedric Messina | Bill Hays | Nigel Stock, Lee Montague, Charles Tingwell, Jerome Willis, Colin Jeavons, James Bree, Willoughby Gray, George Roubicek, George Pastell, Walter Sparrow, Peter van Dissel | Based on the book The Petrov Story. | Survives |
| 25 Oct 1966 | Days to Come | H. G. Wells (story); Ken Taylor (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Alan Bridges | Dinsdale Landen, Judi Dench, Bernard Archard, John Quentin, Michael Gough, Alan Rowe, Michael Brennan, Norman Mitchell, Richard Coe, Peter Birrel, Yvonne Antrobus, John Caesar, Geoffrey Cheshire, Martin King, Rex Robinson | Adapted from the novella. | Lost |
| 22 Nov 1966 | Corridors of Power | C. P. Snow (novel); adapted by John Elliot | Cedric Messina | Raymond Menmuir | Patrick Allen, Alec Clunes, William Mervyn, Sarah Lawson Joseph Fürst, Tenniel Evans, John Tate, Martin Friend, Donald Pickering, Kenneth Waller, Michael Guest, Morris Perry, Andrew Lodge, Eric Elliott, Peter Thompson | Adapted from the novel. | Lost |
| 20 Dec 1966 | The Making of Jericho | Alun Owen | Cedric Messina | Bill Hays | John Thaw, Neville Smith, Pauline Collins, Peter Jeffrey, Wendy Richard, Donald Gee, John Scott Martin, Reg Lever, Geoffrey Hughes | | Lost |
| 14 Mar 1967 | The Cabinet Papers | Maurice Edelman (book); Anthony Steven (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Waris Hussein | Maxine Audley, Griffith Jones, Richard Leech, Gerald Sim, Richard Vernon, Llewellyn Rees, David Garth, John Bryans, Iréna Mayeska, Alan Haywood, John Baker | Adapted from the book. | Lost |
| Series Three ||||||||
| 15 Oct 1967 | Girls in Uniform | Christa Winsloe (play); Barbara Burnham (translation); Derek Ingrey (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Waris Hussein | Virginia McKenna, Sonia Dresdel, Rachel Kempson, Francesca Annis, Anna Calder-Marshall, Petra Markham, Jan Chappell, Sally Faulkner, Stephanie Bidmead | Adapted from the play/film. Repeated 6 Jul 1969. | Lost |
| 12 Nov 1967 | The Moon and Sixpence | W. Somerset Maugham (novel); Clive Exton (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Charles Gray, Ronald Hines, Barry Justice, Sylvia Kay, Elisabeth Welch | Adapted from the novel. | Lost |
| 3 Dec 1967 | Romeo and Juliet | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Hywel Bennett, Kika Markham, John Gielgud, Thora Hird, Michael Gambon, Ronald Pickup, Charles Kay, Edward Burnham, Stephanie Bidmead, Brian Badcoe, David Griffin, Michael Godfrey, Derrick Gilbert | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 21 Jan 1968 | The Parachute | David Mercer | Tony Garnett | Anthony Page | Alan Badel, Jill Bennett, John Osborne, Isabel Dean, Esmond Knight, Barry Jackson, Norman Jones, Royston Farrell, Stephen Whittaker, Drewe Henley, John J. Carney | Repeated as The Wednesday Play 6 Aug 1969, on BBC2 1 Sep 1976 and 29 Nov 1980, and on BBC1 23 Jun 1988. | Survives |
| 11 Feb 1968 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Eric Porter, Peter Jeffrey, Suzanne Neve, Simon Brent, Jerome Willis, Harold Innocent, Michael Godfrey, Gertan Klauber, Joseph Greig, Steve Peters | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 17 Mar 1968 | Ghosts | Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer | Cedric Messina | Michael Elliott | Celia Johnson, Tom Courtenay, Donald Wolfit, Fulton Mackay, Vickery Turner | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 14 Apr 1968 | The Corn Is Green | Emlyn Williams (play); Harry Green (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Philip Dudley | Wendy Hiller, Ronald Fraser, Stephanie Bidmead, Glyn Houston John Ogwen, Glyn Owen, Mona Bruce | Adapted from the play | Lost |
| 12 May 1968 | The Tempest | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Michael Redgrave, Keith Michell, Jonathan Dennis, Ronald Pickup, Tessa Wyatt, John Woodvine, Donald Eccles, James Cairncross, Llewellyn Rees | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 9 Jun 1968 | The Old Ladies | Rodney Ackland (play); Hugh Walpole (source novel) | Cedric Messina | William Slater | Flora Robson, Athene Seyler, Katina Paxinou | Adapted from the play of the novel. | Lost |
| 7 Jul 1968 | Man and Superman | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Eric Porter, Maggie Smith, Adrienne Corri, Rachel Kempson, Cyril Luckham, Angharad Rees, Tony Selby, Godfrey Quigley | Adapted from the play. | seq exist |
| 4 Aug 1968 | Hay Fever | Noël Coward | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | Celia Johnson, Anna Massey, Richard Briers, Dennis Price, Charles Gray, Hazel Hughes, Ian McKellen, Vickery Turner, Lucy Fleming | Adapted from the play. Repeated 3 Aug 1969. | Lost |
| Series Four ||||||||
| 1 Sep 1968 | St. Joan | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | Waris Hussein | Janet Suzman, Hugh Walters, Glyn Owen, Richard Hampton, Murray Melvin, John Bryans, Michael Craig, Maurice Denham, Glyn Owen, Ronald Pickup, Jack Watson, Philip Bond, Jerold Wells | Adapted from the play. Repeated 8 Jun 1969. | Lost |
| 13 Oct 1968 | The Male Animal | James Thurber and Elliott Nugent. | Cedric Messina | Alan Bridges | Lee Montague, Anthony Perkins, Toby Robins, Alan Gifford, Jumoke Debayo, Christopher Benjamin | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 17 Nov 1968 | The Seagull | Anton Chekhov, translated by George Calderon | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Pamela Brown, Robert Stephens, Gemma Jones, Robin Phillips, Niall MacGinnis, Michael Gambon | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Theatre 625, 27 Mar 1966. | Survives |
| 24 Dec 1968 | Waters of the Moon | N. C. Hunter | Cedric Messina | Herbert Wise | Athene Seyler, Vivien Merchant, Kathleen Harrison, Michael Gwynn, Roland Culver, Margaret Leighton | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 12 Jan 1969 | Mary, Queen of Scots | Friedrich Schiller, translated by Stephen Spender | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Virginia McKenna, Pamela Brown, Derek Godfrey, Peter Cellier, Fanny Rowe, Walter Fitzgerald, John Harvey, Bernard Hepton, Tony Steedman | Adapted from the play Mary Stuart. | Lost |
| 9 Feb 1969 | Maigret at Bay | Georges Simenon (novel); Donald Bull (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | William Slater | Rupert Davies, Helen Shingler, Neville Jason, Gillian Hills, Yootha Joyce, Clive Cazes, Tony Harwood, Geoffrey Morris, Martin Miller, Hans De Vries, Donald Pickering, Murray Evans, Kenneth Benda, Ann Tirard, Geoffrey Cheshire, Robin Scott | Adapted from the novel Maigret se défend. | Survives |
| 2 Mar 1969 | Relatively Speaking | Alan Ayckbourn | Cedric Messina | Herbert Wise | Celia Johnson, Donald Sinden, John Stride, Judy Cornwell, | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 13 Apr 1969 | Julius Caesar | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | Alan Bridges | Robert Stephens, Frank Finlay, Maurice Denham, Edward Woodward, Anthony Bate, Alan Rowe, Jon Rollason, John Alderton, John Abineri, Terence De Marney, Christopher Guard, Christopher Timothy, Trevor Martin, Brian Vaughan, Christopher Benjamin, Richard Coe, Christopher Denham, Christopher Timothy, Stuart Wilson, Andrew Johns, Duncan Preston | Adapted from the play. Repeated 5 Jul 1970. | Survives |
| 11 May 1969 | An Ideal Husband | Oscar Wilde | Cedric Messina | Rudolph Cartier | Jeremy Brett, Keith Michell, Margaret Leighton, Dinah Sheridan, Susan Hampshire, Penelope Lee, Erik Chitty | Adapted from the play. Repeated 26 Jul 1970. | Survives |
| Series Five ||||||||
| 12 Oct 1969 | The Heiress | Ruth and Augustus Goetz, from a novel by Henry James | Cedric Messina | Terence Dudley | Vincent Price, Eileen Atkins, John Stride, Lally Bowers, Shirley Dixon, David Allister | Adapted from the novel Washington Square. | Lost |
| 23 Nov 1969 | Charley's Aunt | Brandon Thomas (play); Richard Waring (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | Danny La Rue, Ronnie Barker, Coral Browne, Dinsdale Landen, John Standing, Robert Coote, Royce Mills, Reginald Barratt, George Giles | Adapted from the play. Co-production between the BBC and Keep Films. Repeated 30 Aug 1970. | Survives |
| 14 Dec 1969 | The Marquise | Noël Coward | Cedric Messina | Alan Gibson | Celia Johnson, Philip Latham, Richard Vernon, David Griffin, Ciaran Madden, Nigel Terry, Wensley Pithey | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 18 Jan 1970 | Three Sisters | Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen | Gerald Savory | Cedric Messina | Eileen Atkins, Janet Suzman, Michele Dotrice, Anthony Hopkins, Sarah Badel, Ronald Hines, Joss Ackland, Donald Pickering, Michael Bryant, Jill Bennett, Erik Chitty, Christopher Timothy | Adapted from the play. Repeated 22 Aug 1971. | Survives |
| 15 Feb 1970 | In Good King Charles's Golden Days | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | John Gielgud, Michael Craig, Maurice Denham, Derek Godfrey, Joan Greenwood, Felicity Hain, Barbara Jefford, Corin Redgrave, Joyce Redman, Athene Seyler, Elisabeth Bergner | Adapted from the play. Repeated 25 Jul 1971. | Lost |
| 15 Mar 1970 | Separate Tables | Terence Rattigan (play); Hugh Whitemore (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Eric Porter, Annette Crosbie, Geraldine McEwan, Robert Harris, Cathleen Nesbitt, Hazel Hughes | Adapted from the plays. | Survives |
| 19 Apr 1970 | Howards End | E. M. Forster, adapted by Pauline MacAulay | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Leo Genn, Rachel Kempson, Glenda Jackson, Andrew Ray, Geraldine Sherman, Christopher Gable, Tessa Shaw, Daphne Heard, Mary Healey, John Tordoff, Caroline Hunt | Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 2 Dec 1970. | seq exist |
| 17 May 1970 | The Rivals | Richard Brinsley Sheridan | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Andrew Cruickshank, Beryl Reid, Jeremy Brett, Jennie Linden, John Alderton, T. P. McKenna, Susan Penhaligon, Lynn Farleigh | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Six ||||||||
| 20 Sep 1970 | Macbeth | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | Eric Porter, Janet Suzman, John Thaw, John Woodvine, John Alderton, Michael Goodliffe, Tony Caunter, Sylvia Coleridge, Daphne Heard, Hilary Mason, Geoffrey Palmer, Wolfe Morris, Alan Rowe, Donald Douglas, John Bailey, David Spenser, Leon Eagles, Christopher Guard Paul Greenhalgh | Adapted from the play. Repeated 20 Jun 1971. | Survives |
| 18 Oct 1970 | Ross | Terence Rattigan (play); William Emms (adaptation) | Gerald Savory | Cedric Messina | Ian McKellen, Charles Gray, Barrie Ingham, John Bennett, Martin Jarvis, Edward Fox, Brian Rawlinson, Michael Robbins, David Spenser, Kim Fortune, Hugh Walters, Simon Lack, Robert Luckham, Victor Pemberton, David Griffin, Richard Hampton | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 28 Jul 1971. | Lost |
| 8 Nov 1970 | Uncle Vanya | Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen | Cedric Messina | Christopher Morahan | Freddie Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Ann Bell, Roland Culver, Jenifer Armitage, John Baskcomb, Richard Beale, Stacey Tendeter | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 11 Aug 1971. | Survives |
| 24 Dec 1970 | Five Finger Exercise | Peter Shaffer | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | Margaret Lockwood, Paul Rogers, Gary Bond, Sally Thomsett, Timothy Dalton | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 3 Jan 1971 | Act of Betrayal | Hugh Whitemore | Cedric Messina | William Slater | Zena Walker, Mary Wimbush, Michael Gwynn, Stanley Meadows, Deborah Lavin, Alan MacNaughtan, Gertan Klauber, Nicholas Smith, Jay Neill | Repeated 23 Mar 1972. | Survives |
| 21 Feb 1971 | Candida | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | George Baker, Jeremy Bulloch, Timothy Dalton, Geraldine McEwan, Clive Revill | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 14 Jul 1971. | Lost |
| 21 Mar 1971 | The Wild Duck | Henrik Ibsen (play); Max Faber (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Alan Bridges | Denholm Elliott, Derek Godfrey, Mark Dignam, Rosemary Leach, John Robinson, Jenny Agutter, Stephanie Bidmead, Christopher Benjamin, Brian Vaughan | Adapted from the play. Repeated 19 Mar 1972. | Survives |
| 25 Apr 1971 | Don Juan in Hell | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Michael Hordern, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Vivien Merchant | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 23 May 1971 | Platonov | Anton Chekhov, translated by Dmitri Makaroff, adapted by John Elliot | Cedric Messina | Christopher Morahan | Rex Harrison, Patsy Byrne, Siân Phillips, Clive Revill, Donald Eccles, Geoffrey Bayldon, Willoughby Goddard, Stacey Tendeter, John Gill, Kevin Stoney, Neil McCarthy | Adapted from the play. Repeated 8 Mar 1973. | Survives |
| Series Seven ||||||||
| 26 Sep 1971 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | James Cellan Jones | Eileen Atkins, Robert Stephens, Lynn Redgrave, Amanda Barrie, Jeremy Clyde, Edward Fox, Michael Gambon, Eleanor Bron, Ronnie Barker, Paul Henry, John Laurie, Clifford Rose, John Glyn-Jones, Pam Ferris, Ken Parry | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 7 Aug 1973. | Survives |
| 24 Oct 1971 | Rasputin | Ronald Eyre | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Robert Stephens, Peter Barkworth, Isabel Dean, Jonathan Moore, Lally Bowers, T. P. McKenna, Andrew Robertson, Reg Lye, Leonard Trolley, Derrick Gilbert, John Savident, James Bree, Harry Waters | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 17 Oct 1972. | Survives |
| 28 Nov 1971 | Tartuffe | Molière (play) Richard Wilbur (translator/adaption) | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Michael Hordern, Michael Craig, John Standing, David Nettheim, Mary Morris, Patricia Routledge | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 9 Oct 1973. | Lost |
| 19 Dec 1971 | The Cherry Orchard | Anton Chekhov, translated by Elisaveta Fen | Gerald Savory | Cedric Messina | Celia Johnson, Edward Woodward, Jenny Agutter, Ray Brooks, Christopher Gable, Gemma Jones, Cyril Shaps, David Spenser, Mary Wimbush | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 24 Oct 1972. | bw 16mm tr only |
| 23 Jan 1972 | Summer and Smoke | Tennessee Williams | Cedric Messina | Alvin Rakoff | Lee Remick, David Hedison, Barry Morse, Betsy Blair, Wendy Miller, Bruce Clark | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 20 Feb 1972 | Stephen D | James Joyce, adapted by Hugh Leonard | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Donal McCann, James Aspinall, Pamela Duncan, Martin Dempsey, Pauline Delaney, David Kelly, Aidan Murphy, Brendan Price, Brenda Fricker | Adapted from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Stephen Hero. Repeated on BBC2 under Stage 2, 31 Oct 1972. | Survives |
| 16 Apr 1972 | The Merchant of Venice | William Shakespeare | Gerald Savory | Cedric Messina | Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, Charles Gray, Christopher Gable, Robert Harris, Malcolm Stoddard, Nerys Hughes, David Spenser, John Moffatt, Alan Tucker, Ken Parry | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 14 May 1972 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Oscar Wilde | Cedric Messina | Rudolph Cartier | Coral Browne, Judy Geeson, Liza Goddard, Derek Godfrey, Charles Gray, James Villiers, Judy Geeson, Siân Phillips | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 11 Jun 1972 | The Playboy of the Western World | J.M. Synge | Cedric Messina | Alan Gibson | John Hurt, Sinéad Cusack, Pauline Delaney, Joe Lynch, Kevin Flood, Gerard Murphy | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 21 Jul 1971. | Survives |
| 23 Jul 1972 | She Stoops to Conquer | Oliver Goldsmith | Cedric Messina | Michael Elliott | Tom Courtenay, Thora Hird, Juliet Mills, Ralph Richardson, Elaine Taylor, Terry Bale, Esmond Knight, Geoffrey Bateman | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 4 Aug 1971. | Survives |
| 13 Aug 1972 | Trelawny of the 'Wells' | Arthur Wing Pinero | Cedric Messina | Herbert Wise | John Alderton, Graham Crowden, Lally Bowers, Roland Culver, Ian Ogilvy, Anthony Ainley, Lila Kaye, John Dearth, John Cater, Godfrey James, Stephanie Turner, Henry Woolf | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 7 Jul 1971. | Survives |
| Series Eight ||||||||
| 15 Sep 1972 | The Millionairess | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | William Slater | Maggie Smith, James Villiers, Peter Barkworth, Charles Gray, Tom Baker, Priscilla Morgan, Avril Angers, John Garrie, Donald Pickering | Adapted from the play. Repeated 13 Jun 1973. | Survives |
| 20 Oct 1972 | Hedda Gabler | Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer | Cedric Messina | Waris Hussein | Janet Suzman, Ian McKellen, Jane Asher, Brendan Barry, Dorothy Reynolds, Tom Bell | Adapted from the play. Repeated 14 Jul 1974 and on BBC2 5 Nov 1986. | Survives |
| 24 Nov 1972 | King Oedipus | Sophocles, translated by E. F. Watling | Cedric Messina | Alan Bridges | Ian Holm, Sheila Allen, Alan Webb, Anthony Bate, Sydney Tafler, George Coulouris, Edward Kelsey, Alan Rowe, Ahmed Khalil, Philip Ryan, Sidney Kean | Adapted from the play Oedipus Rex. Repeated on BBC2 2 Jul 1974. | Survives |
| 20 Dec 1972 | The Magistrate | Arthur Wing Pinero | Cedric Messina | Bill Hays | Michael Hordern, Geraldine McEwan, Peter Firth, Leonard Rossiter, Anna Calder-Marshall, Barrie Ingham, Jan Francis, Dudley Jones | Adapted from the play. Repeated 9 Jun 1974. | Lost |
| 7 Jan 1973 | The Adventures of Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes (novel); Hugh Whitemore (adaptation) | Gerald Savory | Alvin Rakoff | Rex Harrison, Frank Finlay, Rosemary Leach, Bernard Hepton, Ronald Lacey, Roger Delgado, Robert Eddison, Paul Whitsun-Jones, John Hollis, Walter Sparrow | Adapted from the novel. Co-production between the BBC and Universal Pictures Television. | Survives |
| 16 Feb 1973 | Candide | Voltaire, translated and adapted by James MacTaggart | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Frank Finlay, Ian Ogilvy, Emrys James, Clifton Jones, Angela Richards, Kathleen Helme, Leonard Maguire, Jerome Willis, John Woodnutt, Johnnie Wade | Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 19 Mar 1974. | Survives |
| 15 Apr 1973 | A Room with a View | E. M. Forster (novel); Pauline MacAulay (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Judy Geeson, Charles Gray, Tom Chadbon, John Sharp, Robert Coote, Lally Bowers, Michael Guest | Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 16 Jul 1974. | seq exist |
| 16 May 1973 | The Caucasian Chalk Circle | Bertolt Brecht, translated by Eric Bentley | Cedric Messina | Bill Hays | Leo McKern, Sara Kestelman, Fanny Carby, Donald Gee, Peter Halliday, Terrence Hardiman, Bernard Hepton, Peter Jeffrey, Patrick Magee, Declan Mulholland, James Mellor, Edmund Pegge, Robert Powell, John Thaw, Linda Thorson | Adapted from the play. | Lost |
| 18 Jul 1973 | The Duchess of Malfi | John Webster | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Eileen Atkins, Michael Bryant, Charles Kay, T. P. McKenna, Gary Bond, Jerome Willis, Michael Godfrey, Robert James, Roy Evans, Michael Lynch, Talfryn Thomas, Tim Curry, Nick Brimble, Jack Galloway, Dallas Cavell, Peter Spraggon | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 10 Oct 1972. | Survives |
| 22 Aug 1973 | Peer Gynt | Henrik Ibsen, English version by Norman Ginsbury | Cedric Messina | Alan Cooke | Colin Blakely, Wendy Hiller, Francesca Annis, Ray Barrett, Aubrey Morris, Lois Baxter, Dudley Foster, John Franklyn-Robbins, Terence Bayler, Helen Blatch, Claire Davenport, Elroy Josephs, Andrew Lane, Mark McManus | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 26 Sep 1972. | Survives |
| Series Nine ||||||||
| 16 Sep 1973 | The Love-Girl and the Innocent | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by Nicholas Bethell and David Burg | Cedric Messina | Alan Clarke | David Leland, Gabrielle Lloyd, Richard Durden, Patrick Stewart, Allan Surtees, Barry Jackson, John Kane, Alan Gerrard, Forbes Collins, Reg Pritchard, Eric Mason, Edwin Finn, John Herrington, George Cormack, Trevor Lawrence, Carl Forgione, Brian Grellis | Adapted from the play. Repeated 11 Aug 1974. | Survives |
| 21 Oct 1973 | The Common | Peter Nichols | Cedric Messina | Christopher Morahan | Vivien Merchant, Peter Jeffrey, Dennis Waterman, Gwen Taylor, Shelagh Fraser, Trevor Baxter, Tony Sibbald | Repeated 8 Jun 1975. | Survives |
| 18 Nov 1973 | The Recruiting Officer | George Farquhar | Cedric Messina | David Giles | Ian McKellen, Prunella Ransome, Jane Asher, Brian Blessed, Bryan Marshall, John Moffatt, John Welsh, John Flint, Charles Gray, Eileen Helsby, Mitzi McKenzie, Graham Weston | Adapted from the play. | seq exist |
| 16 Dec 1973 | Pygmalion | George Bernard Shaw | Christopher Morahan | Cedric Messina | James Villiers, Lynn Redgrave, Ronald Fraser, Emrys James, Lally Bowers, Angela Baddeley, Jon Rollason, Sheila Grant, John Cannon | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 20 Jan 1974 | The Changeling | Thomas Middleton & William Rowley | Cedric Messina | Anthony Page | Stanley Baker, Helen Mirren, Brian Cox, Alan Webb, T.P. McKenna, Frances Tomelty, Tony Selby, Susan Penhaligon, Christopher Saul | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 17 Feb 1974 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Michael Jayston, Julian Holloway, Gemma Jones, Celia Bannerman, Coral Browne, Lally Bowers, Richard Pearson, Arthur Hewlett | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 17 Mar 1974 | The Deep Blue Sea | Terence Rattigan | Cedric Messina | Rudolph Cartier | Virginia McKenna, Peter Egan, Stephen Murray, Vladek Sheybal, Joseph Blatchley, John Moffatt, Jon Croft | Adapted from the play. Repeated 27 Jul 1975. | Lost |
| 21 Apr 1974 | Mrs Warren's Profession | George Bernard Shaw | Cedric Messina | Herbert Wise | Coral Browne, Penelope Wilton, Robert Powell, James Grout, Richard Pearson | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 3 Oct 1972. | Survives |
| 19 May 1974 | The Skin Game | John Galsworthy | Cedric Messina | William Slater | Paul Rogers, Barbara Jefford, Bernard Lee, Judy Geeson, John Collin, Kate Nicholls, Simon MacCorkindale, David Garfield, Edward Evans | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Ten ||||||||
| 8 Sep 1974 | The Linden Tree | J. B. Priestley | Cedric Messina | Moira Armstrong | Andrew Cruikshank, Margaret Tyzack, Gary Bond, Joanna Van Gyseghem, Marilyn Taylerson, Simon Lack, Michael Craze | Adapted from the play. Repeated 15 Aug 1976. | Survives |
| 24 Oct 1974 | Electra | Sophocles, translated by E. F. Watling | Cedric Messina | Michael Lindsay-Hogg | Eileen Atkins, Rosalie Crutchley, Julian Glover, Derek Godfrey, Georgina Hale, Susan Richards, Martin Shaw | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 15 Sep 1976. | Survives |
| 17 Nov 1974 | The Wood Demon | Anton Chekhov, translated by Ronald Hingley | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Ian Holm, Francesca Annis Ronald Hines, Ronald Fraser, Donal McCann, Angela Pleasence, Cyril Luckham, Geoffrey Bayldon, Vickery Turner, Daphne Heard, Jay Neill | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 27 Nov 1974 | Robinson Crusoe | Daniel Defoe (novel); James MacTaggart (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | James MacTaggart | Stanley Baker, Ram John Holder, Jerome Willis | Adapted from the novel. | Survives |
| 19 Jan 1975 | The Apple Cart | George Bernard Shaw | Alan Shallcross | Cedric Messina | Nigel Davenport, Helen Mirren, Peter Barkworth, Bill Fraser, Trevor Baxter, Beryl Reid, Reg Pritchard, Simon Lack | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 16 Feb 1975 | The School for Scandal | Richard Brinsley Sheridan | Cedric Messina | Stuart Burge | Jeremy Brett, Pauline Collins, Edward Fox, Bernard Lee, Arthur Lowe, Andrew Robertson, Colin Jeavons, Russell Hunter, John Rhys-Davies, Richard Kane, David Kincaid, Willie Shearer | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 23 Mar 1975 | King Lear | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | Jonathan Miller | Michael Hordern, Sarah Badel, Angela Down, Donald Gee, Michael Jayston, Frank Middlemass, Anthony Nicholls, Ronald Pickup, Penelope Wilton, Benjamin Whitrow, Glen Murphy, David Neal, Alec Sabin, David Kincaid, Terry Wright | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 9 Mar 1977. | Survives |
| 20 Apr 1975 | The Shadow of a Gunman | Sean O'Casey | Cedric Messina | Alvin Rakoff | Hilary Minster, Mark Moss, Phyllis McMahon, Isolde Cazelet, Michael O'Donoughue, Keith Steven | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Stage 2, 25 Sep 1973. | Lost |
| 18 May 1975 | Strife | John Galsworthy | Cedric Messina | James Cellan Jones | Colin Blakely, Clifford Evans, Angela Down, Nerys Hughes, Trevor Cooper, John Bennett, Mostyn Evans, Hayden Jones, John Ogwen, Aubrey Richards, Clifford Rose, Hugh Walters, George Waring | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Eleven ||||||||
| 28 Sep 1975 | Chips with Everything | Arnold Wesker | Cedric Messina | Waris Hussein | David Daker, Lloyd McGuire, Terence Budd, Tim Woodward, Karl Johnson, Donald Hewlett, David Troughton, Terry Bale, Leslie Schofield | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 2 Nov 1975 | The Little Minister | J. M. Barrie | Alan Shallcross | Cedric Messina | Ian Ogilvy, Helen Mirren, Peter Barkworth, Bill Simpson, Anne Kristen, Nicholas Jones, David Bailie, John Moffatt, Simon Lack, Robert James | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 14 Dec 1975 | Love's Labour's Lost | William Shakespeare | Cedric Messina | Basil Coleman | Martin Shaw, David Gwillim, Martin C. Thurley, Jeremy Brett, James Berwick, Terence Budd, Maurice Denham, Andrew Harding, Victoria Plucknett, Lorna Heilbron, Clifford Rose, Jan Francis, Tony Haygarth, Hugh Ross, David Bailie | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 29 Dec 1975 | When We Are Married | J. B. Priestley | Cedric Messina | David Giles | Stuart Wilson, John Stratton, Beryl Reid, Eric Porter, Patricia Routledge, Richard Pearson, Thora Hird, Mel Martin, Kenneth Waller, Ronnie Barker, Sheila Reid | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 25 Jan 1976 | Trilby | George du Maurier (novel); Hugh Whitemore (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Piers Haggard | Alan Badel, Sinéad Cusack, Stuart Fox, Michael Anthony, Rosalie Crutchley, Bruce Purchase, Chris Gannon | Adapted from the novel. Repeated on BBC2 14 Sep 1977. | Survives |
| 29 Feb 1976 | Loyalties | John Galsworthy | Cedric Messina | Rudolph Cartier | Edward Fox, Charles Gray, Polly Adams, John Carson, Peter Dyneley, Dinah Sheridan, Erik Chitty, Roger Hammond, Pat Gorman, Andrew Lane, Steve Plytas, Geoffrey Palmer | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 18 Apr 1976 | The Chester Mystery Plays | Maurice Hussey (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Piers Haggard | Tom Courtenay, Michael Hordern, Alun Armstrong, Hilda Braid, Keith Chegwin, Kenneth Colley, Paul Copley, Christopher Guard, Brian Glover, Tony Haygarth, David Jackson, Kevin McNally, John Normington, Terry Scully, Nina Thomas, Raymond Westwell | Adapted from the cycle of Chester Mystery Plays. Repeated 7 Aug - 11 Sep 1977. | Survives |
| 16 May 1976 | French Without Tears | Terence Rattigan | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | Nigel Havers, David Robb, Anthony Andrews, Barbara Kellerman Vernon Dobtcheff, Michael Gambon, Nicola Pagett | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Twelve ||||||||
| 19 Sep 1976 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde John Osborne (play adaptation) | Cedric Messina | John Gorrie | John Gielgud, Peter Firth, Mark Dignam, Jeremy Brett, Nan Munro, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Michael Barrington, Judi Bowker, Nicholas Ball, Lawrence Davidson, Reginald Barratt, Paul Greenhalgh | Adapted from the novel. | Survives |
| 10 Oct 1976 | London Assurance | Dion Boucicault (play) Gerald Savory (adaptation) | Cedric Messina | Ronald Wilson | Anthony Andrews, Judy Cornwell, Jan Francis, Charles Gray, Dinsdale Landen, Clifford Rose, Nigel Stock, James Bree, George Raistrick, Nat Pearn | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 21 Nov 1976 | Look Back in Anger | John Osborne | Cedric Messina | John Glenister | James Hazeldine, Ciaran Madden, Neil Daglish, Chrissy Iddon, Thorley Walters | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 16 Jan 1977 | The Winslow Boy | Terence Rattigan | Cedric Messina | David Giles | Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Simon Chandler, Ann Beach, Eric Porter, Diana Fairfax Michele Dotrice, Kenneth Waller | Adapted from the play. Repeated on BBC2 10 May 1978. | Survives |
| 13 Feb 1977 | The Country Wife | William Wycherley | Cedric Messina | Donald McWhinnie | Helen Mirren, Bernard Cribbins, Anthony Andrews, Amanda Barrie, Adrienne Corri, Ciaran Madden, John Nettleton, Michael Cochrane, Phil Daniels | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 13 Mar 1977 | The Ambassadors | Henry James, dramatised by Denis Constanduros | Cedric Messina | James Cellan Jones | Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Delphine Seyrig, David Huffman, Gayle Hunnicutt, Don Fellows, William Hootkins | Adapted from the novel. | Survives |
| 19 May 1977 | Heartbreak House | George Bernard Shaw | Alan Shallcross | Cedric Messina | John Gielgud, Siân Phillips, Barbara Murray, Daniel Massey, Lesley-Anne Down, David Waller, Donald Pickering, Barry Jackson | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Thirteen ||||||||
| 30 Oct 1977 | You Never Can Tell | George Bernard Shaw | David Jones | James Cellan Jones | Robert Powell, Kika Markham, Ernest Clark, Warren Clarke, Cyril Cusack, Patrick Magee, Judy Parfitt, Kate Nicholls | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 4 Dec 1977 | Waste | Harley Granville-Barker | David Jones | Don Taylor | Paul Daneman, Hannah Gordon, Joyce Carey, Heather Chasen, Annette Crosbie, Robert Lang, André Morell, Stephen Murray, Donald Pickering, Alan Rowe, Michael Cashman | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 15 Jan 1978 | Flint | David Mercer | David Jones | Peter Wood | John Le Mesurier, Julie Covington, Peter Bowles, Dandy Nichols, Beryl Reid, Philip Stone, John Bailey | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 5 Feb 1978 | The Seagull | Anton Chekhov, translated by Ronald Hingley | David Jones | Michael Lindsay-Hogg | Anthony Bate, Zoe Caldwell, Michael Gambon, Georgina Hale, Stephen Rea, Julia Schofield, Alan Webb, John Kane, Allan Surtees | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 5 Mar 1978 | The Sea | Edward Bond | David Jones | Jane Howell | Judy Campbell, Mark Dignam, Victor Spinetti | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 2 Apr 1978 | The Beaux' Stratagem | George Farquhar | James Cellan Jones | David Jones | Brenda Bruce, Tom Conti, Estelle Kohler, Ian Ogilvy, David Waller, Julie Peasgood, Jay Neill, Zoë Wanamaker, Malcolm Terris, Tony Haygarth, Freddie Jones, Souad Faress, Norman Rodway, Ray Callaghan | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 23 Apr 1978 | Danton's Death | Georg Büchner (play) Alan Clarke & Stuart Griffiths (adaptation) | David Jones | Alan Clarke | Norman Rodway, Ian Richardson, Peter Gordon, Katherine Fahey, Felicity Gibson, Don Henderson, Michael Bilton, Nigel Lambert, Michael Pennington, John Woodnutt, Zoë Wanamaker | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| Series Fourteen ||||||||
| 26 Nov 1978 | Kean | Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Frank Hauser. | David Jones | James Cellan Jones | Anthony Hopkins, Neville Phillips Sara Kestelman, Adrienne Corri, Barrie Ingham, Robert Stephens, Frank Middlemass, Cherie Lunghi, Hugh Walters, George Tovey, Harry Fielder | Adapted from Sartre's play about Edmund Kean. | Survives |
| 14 Jan 1979 | Marya | Isaac Babel, translated by Michael Glenny and Harold Shckman, adapted by Christopher Hampton | David Jones | Jack Gold | Trevor Peacock, Paddy Joyce, Clive Revill, Niall Padden, Michael Byrne, Lisa Harrow, Paul Rogers, Susan Tracy, Paul Freeman | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 4 Feb 1979 | The Voysey Inheritance | Harley Granville-Barker | David Jones | Robert Knights | Jeremy Irons, Brewster Mason, Jeremy Child, Julie Covington, Dulcie Gray, Barbara Leigh-Hunt | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 4 Mar 1979 | Hello and Goodbye | Athol Fugard | Louis Marks | Claude Whatham | Yvonne Bryceland, Bill Flynn | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 8 Apr 1979 | The Wings of the Dove | Henry James (novel); Denis Constanduros (adaptation) | Alan Shallcross | John Gorrie | Elizabeth Spriggs, Betsy Blair, John Castle, Suzanne Bertish, Lisa Eichhorn, Rupert Frazer, Alan Rowe, Gino Melvazzi | Adapted from the novel. | Survives |
| 6 May 1979 | Design for Living | Noël Coward | Louis Marks | Philip Saville | Rula Lenska, Clive Arrindell, John Steiner, John Bluthal, Dandy Nichols | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 1 Jul 1979 | The Kitchen | Arnold Wesker | Ann Kirch | Alvin Rakoff | Peter Egan | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC2 under Play of the Week, 2 Nov 1977. | Survives |
| Series Fifteen ||||||||
| 24 May 1982 | I Have Been Here Before | J. B. Priestley | Louis Marks | James Ormerod | Herbert Lom, Anthony Valentine, Lorna Heilbron, Leslie Sands, James Griffiths | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 21 Jun 1982 | On Approval | Frederick Lonsdale | Cedric Messina | David Giles | Penelope Keith, Jeremy Brett, Lindsay Duncan, Benjamin Whitrow | Adapted from the play. First shown 27 Dec 1980. | Survives |
| 19 Jul 1982 | Little Eyolf | Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer | Louis Marks | Michael Darlow | Anthony Hopkins, Diana Rigg, Peggy Ashcroft, Emma Piper, Charles Dance, Timothy Stark | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 23 Aug 1982 | The Critic | Richard Brinsley Sheridan (play); Don Taylor (additional dialogue) | Louis Marks | Don Taylor | John Gielgud, Hywel Bennett, Nigel Hawthorne, Rosemary Leach, Norman Rodway, Alan Badel, Anna Massey, Rodney Bewes, Christopher Biggins | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 20 Sep 1982 | The White Guard | Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Michael Glenny | Louis Marks | Don Taylor | Michael Pennington, Laura Davenport, Nigel Havers, Charles Keating, John Shrapnel, Charles Kay, Gordon Gostelow, Michael Graham Cox, Michael N. Harbour, Martin Clunes, Glen Murphy, John Ringham, Oliver Smith, Walter Sparrow, John Abineri, Andrew Burt, Geoffrey Beevers | Adapted from the novel. | Survives |
| Series Sixteen ||||||||
| 22 May 1983 | Dangerous Corner | J. B. Priestley | Cedric Messina | James Ormerod | Anthony Valentine, Sarah Badel, David Robb, Judi Bowker, Daniel Day-Lewis, Elvi Hale, Susan Fleetwood | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 13 Jun 1983 | The Gay Lord Quex | Arthur Wing Pinero | Louis Marks | Claude Whatham | Hannah Gordon, Evelyn Laye, Rosalind Ayres, Julian Holloway, Lucy Gutteridge, Anton Rodgers, Geraldine Alexander | Adapted from the play. | Survives |
| 11 Jul 1983 | The Misanthrope | Molière | Louis Marks | Michael Simpson | Ian Holm, Cherie Lunghi, Nigel Hawthorne, Annette Crosbie, Michael Kitchen | Adapted from the play. First shown on BBC1 under Festival, 27 Jan 1980. | Survives |
| 12 Sep 1983 | Infidelities | Pierre de Marivaux, translated by David Cohen | Louis Marks | Michael Darlow | Charlotte Rampling, Robin Askwith, Victor Spinetti, James Aubrey, Leonie Mellinger | Adapted from the play Double Inconstancy | Survives |