BBC2 Play of the Week (Season 1)

Professional Foul (Episode 1)

Writer: Tom Stoppard

Air date: 1977-09-21

Runtime: 85 min

Overview: Professor Anderson attends a conference in Prague, but what he really wants to do is attend a football match. Then he meets a former student unexpectedly, and must consider putting his philosophical ideas into practice.

Exiles (Episode 2)

Writer: Hugh Whitemore

Air date: 1977-09-28

Runtime: 90 min

Overview: In the 1920s, Michael Arlen was one of the most popular and acclaimed writers in the world, but he mysteriously stopped writing altogether. His son tries to work out why.

Abie's Will (Episode 3)

Writer: Christopher Hampton

Air date: 1977-10-05

Overview: A once-celebrated writer who has written nothing since the war, lies paralysed and dying as his family gathers at the family home.

The Sinking of HMS Victoria (Episode 4)

Writer: Donald MacIntyre

Air date: 1977-10-12

Overview: A dramatisation of events surrounding the loss of the turret ship HMS Victoria during fleet exercises off Tripoli on 22 June 1893.

True Patriot (Episode 5)

Writer: Don Shaw

Air date: 1977-10-19

Runtime: 60 min

Overview: A biopic of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose opposition to Adolf Hitler led to his involvement in an assassination plot.

Shooting the Chandelier (Episode 6)

Writer: David Mercer

Air date: 1977-10-26

Overview: Czechoslovakia, April 1945. A chance meeting between a professor and his former student turns into a violent trial of strength.

The Kitchen (Episode 7)

Writer: Arnold Wesker

Air date: 1977-11-02

Overview: A busy day in the kitchen of a great hotel.

Arnhem: The Story of an Escape (Episode 8)

Writer: Graeme Warrack

Air date: 1977-11-16

Overview: Graeme Warrack was Divisional Chief Doctor of the 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. With other doctors, medical personnel and padres, he stayed behind with the wounded.

Forgotten Love Songs (Episode 9)

Writer: Maggie Wadey

Air date: 1978-01-04

Runtime: 55 min

Overview: A man seeks the perfect relationship.

A Visit from Miss Prothero (Episode 10)

Writer: Alan Bennett

Air date: 1978-01-11

Runtime: 37 min

Overview: Arthur Dodsworth has recently retired. He lives alone except for his budgie and memories of his late wife Winnie. One afternoon his nap is interrupted by the doorbell; his former secretary, Peggy Prothero, has come to visit.

Mr. & Mrs. Bureaucrat (Episode 11)

Writer: Willis Hall

Air date: 1978-01-18

Overview: Satire set at the Department of Something or Other, where mistakes in form-filling can bring careers to a sudden end.

Foreign Affairs (Episode 12)

Writer: Don Shaw

Air date: 1978-01-25

Overview: Moscow is the setting for a reunion between Viktor and Susan which brings about unforeseen complications.

The Dissolution of Marcus Fleischman (Episode 13)

Writer: Stephen Davis

Air date: 1978-02-01

Overview: Marcus Fleischman's reincarnation proves a frustrating one. His widow, in his absence, leads the simple life of a shopkeeper, and brings up their son as best she can.

The O'Hooligan File (Episode 14)

Writer: Janey Preger

Air date: 1978-02-08

Overview: A former teacher takes on the system armed only with pen, paper and stamps.

The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill (Episode 15)

Writer: Sean McCarthy

Air date: 1978-02-15

Overview: Married life starts off full of bright hopes for Alex and Lynda, but soon they are trapped in a nightmare with their friend Bill.

Flayed (Episode 16)

Writer: Don Taylor

Air date: 1978-02-22

Overview: A disparate group of guests find themselves locked into a largely empty television studio controlled by an anonymous man.

She Fell Among Thieves (Episode 17)

Writer: Dornford Yates

Air date: 1978-03-01

Runtime: 78 min

Overview: France, 1924. Two English gentlemen join forces to investigate notorious villainess Vanity Fair in her fortified chateau. Tongue-in-cheek 1978 TV film based on the novel by Dornford Yates.

Stargazy on Zummerdown (Episode 18)

Writer: John Fletcher

Air date: 1978-03-15

Runtime: 80 min

Overview: In the 23rd century, Albion (formerly Britain) is made up of two distinct communities — the Aggros (farm workers) and the Toonies (industrial workers). They meet at Zummerdown for the annual midsummer festival of Stargazy.

Liza (Episode 19)

Writer: Leo Lehmann

Air date: 1978-03-22

Runtime: 80 min

Overview: Lavretsky returns to Russia from Europe and joins the group of admirers of his beautiful young cousin Liza.

For Tea on Sunday (Episode 20)

Writer: David Mercer

Air date: 1978-03-29

Overview: Some young women, sharing accommodation, invite their boyfriends for tea on Sunday. But one of them proves to be alarmingly disturbed.

When the Actors Come (Episode 21)

Writer: Don Taylor

Air date: 1978-05-03

Overview: In 19th-century Eastern Europe, a group of actors, led by Janos, arrive at a castle to give the Count and his friends a private performance. But the actors are also revolutionaries, and they have another agenda.

Ice Age (Episode 22)

Writer: Tankred Dorst

Air date: 1978-05-17

Overview: An unexpected stranger arrives at the old peoples home in Norway where a famous writer is kept in confinement after the war. A young partisan plots his assassination, while others advocate handing him over for trial for collaboration.

The Copyist (Episode 23)

Writer: Stephen Deutsch

Air date: 1978-05-24

Overview: A fateful day in the life of a celebrated composer.