  (the title has also been used for the autobiography of rosemary sutcliff)  blue remembered hills is a british television play by dennis potter, originally broadcast on 30 january 1979 as part of the bbc's play for today series. the play concerns a group of seven-year-olds playing in the forest of dean one summer afternoon in 1943. it ends abruptly when the character donald is burned to death partly as a result of the other children's actions. perhaps the most striking feature of the play is that, although the characters are children, they are played by adult actors. potter first used this device in stand up, nigel barton (1965) and returned to it in cold lazarus (1996). the dialogue is written in a forest of dean dialect, which potter also uses extensively in other dramas incorporating a forest of dean setting, most notably a beast with two backs (1968), pennies from heaven (1978) and the singing detective (1986). ==cast== the stars of the original production were: robin ellis (john), michael elphick (peter), colin welland (willie), john bird (raymond), helen mirren (angela), janine duvitski (audrey), colin jeavons (donald). the screenplay has also been adapted for the theatre. the play is now a standard text for gcse drama in great britain. ==title== the title comes from the 40th poem (xlin roman numerals ) in a.e. housman's a shropshire lad.xl by a.e. housman the poem is read by potter himself at the end of the bbc version of the play. ::into my heart an air that kills ::from yon far country blows: ::what are those blue remembered hills, ::what spires, what farms are those? ::that is the land of lost content, ::i see it shining plain, ::the happy highways whe
1979_television_films BBC_television_dramas English-language_films Period_pieces Play_for_Today Works_by_Dennis_Potter