Performance (Season 4)

Message For Posterity (Episode 1)

Writer: Dennis Potter

Air date: 1994-10-29

Runtime: 107 min

Overview: A Parliamentary committee decides to commission a portrait as a memorial to an ageing Conservative, wartime ex-Prime Minister, Sir David Browning. Bizarrely, they choose anarchic, anti-establishment and equally ageing artist James Player, who appears to stand for the very opposite values and positions to his prospective sitter. During sittings the two men find many opportunities to score political and social points off each. Screened with an with an introduction by Brian Walden, a contemporary of writer Dennis Potter at Oxford and an old Oxford political sparring partner.

Measure for Measure (Episode 2)

Air date: 1994-11-05

Runtime: 112 min

Overview: Modern dress version of Shakespeare's "problem comedy" emphasizing the darker elements of the play and eliminating most of the humor, as Claudio is dragged to the police station on charges of fornication, and given a rectal exam in front of a window.

The Deep Blue Sea (Episode 3)

Air date: 1994-11-12

Runtime: 100 min

Overview: A woman unhappy in her passionless marriage leaves her husband for a younger and more ardent lover.

Summer Day's Dream (Episode 4)

Air date: 1994-11-19

Runtime: 106 min

Overview: In 1975, after a nuclear war, the nations have combined to set up a World Government. An old man who lives quietly in the country finds his peace threatened by a visit from three World Government figures.

The Mother (Episode 5)

Air date: 1994-11-26

Overview: Paddy Chayefsky's 1954 play set in the Bronx tells the story of a recently widowed 66-year-old seeks a job after 40 years if being a homemaker.