Play For Today (BBC series)

The entire Play For Today run from 1970-1984 is on the Internet Archive.

Which ones are good?

Having watched about 20 of them, besides the obvious Penda's Fen, Abigail's Party, Blue Remembered Hills etc, The Saturday Party/The Country Party is a delicious diptych, and Just A Boys' Game has stayed with me quite powerfully

All the Alan Clarkes

Need to look thru the list later

Basically that yeah. On some days Penda's Fen is the best film ever made

I second whats already been mentioned. Also "Country" (about an upper-class family in the eve of the Labour election victory in 1945) from '81 is a masterpiece.

Folk horror variant Robin Redbreast only survives in a black and white version but that adds to the hauntology - Bernard Hepton is superb in it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Redbreast_(Play_for_Today)

The opening shot of The Spongers is one of the all-time great provocations that would be unthinkable now - the ending is an all-time punch to the gut:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spongers

thanks all - I was wrong that all of them are on there, there are some missing, but so far I think all the ones you've been recommended are there

the only one I can remember seeing before is Abigail's Party

On some days Penda's Fen is the best film ever made

― imago

Agreed.

Looking through the list and there are so many I haven't seen, I should probably take advantage of the Internet Archive too. I will say two not mentioned so far that are 100% great: Red Shift (adaptation of Alan Garner novel) and Nuts in May (okay that one is obvious but nobody said it yet).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedians_(play)

Links not working, anyway "Comedians" By Trevor Griffiths is worth a watch.

ones i know i've seen that i think are good, allowing for the deceptiveness of memory -

Edna the Inebriate Woman
The Fishing Party
Land of Green Ginger - contractually obliged to rep for this
Gangsters
The Price of Coal
Our Day Out
Just a Boys' Game
The Slab-Boys
The Black Stuff
The Flipside of Dominick Hide

Oh, "The Comedians"

Was going to appear in this at SHP Bracknell, got a bit into rehearsing but it stalled as we didn't have anybody for the old guy comedian teacher role. Will be interesting to see it...

from this list https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Play+for+Today%22, I've seen

Dennis Potter - Brimstone & Treacle, Blue Remembered Hills
Mike Leigh - Hard Labour, Nuts in May
Alan Bennett - Sunset Across the Bay
Alan Clarke - Scum, Penda's Fen