An Amazing Rediscovery of Lost British TV

In September 2010, the BFI and the Library of Congress announced an unprecedented rediscovery of classic British television dramas originally broadcast between 1957 and 1969. What follows is the complete list - comprising more than 60 titles.

ANTIGONE (BBC, tx. 27.10.1959)
Television version of play by Jean Anouilh, updating Sophocles. Stars Dorothy Tutin and David McCallum, with Sam Kydd in a minor role.

BLOOD AND THUNDER: THE CHANGELING (Granada, 4.1.1965)
TV version of the Jacobean drama by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Produced by Philip Mackie. Stars Derek Godfrey, Kika Markham Nerys Hughes and Patrick Troughton.

FESTIVAL (BBC)

The Duel (16.10.1963)
A television play based on the short story by Anton Chekhov, starring Philip Madoc and John Wood and directed by Charles Jarrott.

THE FIRST GENTLEMAN (Southern Television, 1.7.1961)
TV staging of an Old Vic play set in Regency England, starring Charles Gray and Susannah York.

FOR SCHOOLS: TWELFTH NIGHT (Associated-Rediffusion, 18.3.1959)
Television version of Shakespeare's play for school children. Cast includes Bernard Horsfall, John Wood and Emrys James.

FOR SCHOOLS: ROMEO AND JULIET (Associated-Rediffusion, 1962)
Shakespeare's play, directed for TV by Prudence Nesbitt. Cast includes Jane Asher, David Weston, Peter Ellis and Jerome Willis.

Part 1 (23.10.1962)
Part 2 (6.11.1962)
Part 3 (13.11.1962)
Part 4 (20.11.1962)
Part 5 (27.11.1962)

FOR SCHOOLS: HAMLET (Associated-Rediffusion)
Shakespeare's play, directed for TV by Tania Lieven. Cast includes Sydney Taffler, Michael Aldridge, Barry Foster.

Part 1 (22.10.1963)
Part 2 (5.11.1963)
Part 3 (12.11.1963)
Part 4 (19.11.1963)
Part 5 (26.11.1963)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (BBC, 5.2.1967)
Shakespeare's play with a cast including Derek Jacobi, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith and, in minor roles, Frank Finlay, Michael Gambon and Christopher Timothy.

PARIS 1900 (Granada TV)
Series based on the farces of Georges Feydeau, adapted and produced by Philip Mackie. Cast includes Alfred Marks, Kenneth Griffith, Adrienne Corri, Zena Walker, Henry McGee and Judy Cornwall.

The Ribadier System (2.10.1964)
Fashion For Ladies (9.10.1964) - Also stars Joan Hickson
The Lambert Affair (16.10.1964)
Half a Husband (23.10.1964)
The Ribbon (30.10.1964) - Also stars Nicky Henson
The Luck of the Game (6.11.1964) - Also stars Robert Dorning

PLAY OF THE WEEK (Rediffusion)

The Wild Duck (30.1.1957)
Television version of the Saville Theatre production of Ibsen's play. Stars Emlyn Williams, Dorothy Tutin and Michael Gough. Directed by Charles Crichton.
The Killing of the King (27.1.1959)
Historical drama about the death of Charles I. Written by Hugh Ross Williamson and directed by Ronald Marriott. Stars John Phillips and Edgar Wreford.
Dandy Dick (28.7.1959)
Television adaptation of the play by Arthur Wing Pinero. Stars Newton Blick and Jack Allen. Directed by Tania Lieven.
The Flowering Cherry (2.2.1960)
Television adaptation of Robert Bolt's play. Stars Michael Hordern, Charles Lamb and Amanda Walker. Directed by Toby Robertson.
Freedom in September (18.9.1962)
Play about political asylum by Leo Lehman. Stars Joseph Furst and Patrick Troughton. Directed by Joan Kemp-Welch.
The Typewriter (20.11.1962)
Giles Cooper's adaptation of Cocteau's play. Stars Jeremy Brett and Margaret Johnston. Directed by Joan Kemp-Welch.
The Three Sisters (3.9.1963)
Leo Lehman's adaptation of Chekhov's play starring Jill Bennett, Kenneth Griffith and Griffith Jones. Directed by Joan Kemp-Welch.

PLAYED UPON A STAGE: SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER (Rediffusion, 11.5.1960, 18.5.1960 & 25.5.1960)
Three-part adapation of Oliver Goldsmith's play for Schools programmes. Directed by Roger Jenkins. Stars Paul Daneman

REMBRANDT (BBC, 18.12.1969)
Play about the painter, starring Richard Johnson, Jill Bennett and Wilfred Brambell. Directed by Rudolph Cartier.

THE SUNDAY NIGHT PLAY (BBC)

Charley's Aunt (16.4.1961)
A television version of Brandon Thomas's classic farce, produced by Stuart Burge. It stars Bernard Cribbins, Donald Wolfit, Barrie Ingham, Rosalie Crutchley and John Warner.
The Rivals (21.1.1962)
Richard Sheridan's classic C18th comedy in a new production by Hal Burton, starring Jeannie Carson, with Betty Marsden as Mrs Malaprop, and also featuring Dinsdale Landon and Barrie Ingham.

SUNDAY NIGHT THEATRE: THE LOWER DEPTHS (BBC, 16.11.1958)
TV adaptation of Maxim Gorky's play set in a Russian dosshouse, with a cast featuring Leo McKern and Diane Aubrey and produced by Michael Elliott.

THEATRE 625 (BBC)

Rosmersholm (26.9.1965)
Television adaptation of Ibsen's play starring Peggy Ashcroft and Knut Wigert with Angela Baddeley and John Laurie. Directed by Michael Barry and produced by Cedric Messina.
The World of George Orwell: 1984 (28.11.1965)
An updated version of Nigel Kneale's adaptation of 1984, directed by Christopher Morahan and produced by Cedric Messina. Stars David Buck, Jane Merrow, Joseph O'Conor and Vernon Dobtcheff.
Dr. Knock (2.1.1966)
Leonard Rossiter and John Le Mesurier star as village doctors in this television version of Harley Granville-Barker's translation of Jules Romains' satire. Directed by Herbert Wise and produced by Cedric Messina.
The Seagull (27.3.1966)
Second in a trilogy of Russian plays produced for Theatre 625, this version of Chekhov's play stars Pamela Brown and Robin Phillips with Gemma Jones and Annette Crosbie. Directed by Alan Cooke and produced by Cedric Messina.
The Queen and the Welshman (10.4.1966)
Historical play by Rosemary Anne Sisson. Cast includes Dorothy Tutin, Jeremy Brett and Jack Wild. Directed by Basil Coleman and produced by Cedric Messina.
The Blood Knot (12.6.1967)
Athol Fugard stars in his play about racial tensions in South Africa. Directed by Robin Midgley and produced by Michael Bakewell.

THIRTEEN AGAINST FATE (BBC)
Some of the best of Georges Simenon's short stories exploring the criminal mind are adapted for this series produced by Irene Shubik. Writers include Clive Exton, Hugh Leonard, Stanley Miller, Julia Jones and Leo Lehman. Eileen Diss who created the atmospheric sets for the Inspector Maigret series, heads the design team. Music composed and conducted by Tony Russell.

Trapped (Cour d'Assises) (26.6.1966)
Petty criminal Louis Bert finds his past catching up with him when his convenient arrangement with the woman he lives with is violently disrupted.
The Widower (Le Veuf) (10.7.1966)
The fourth play in the series dwells on a wife's suicide and a husband's self delusion. Cast includes Joss Ackland. Directed by Silvio Narizzano.
The Judge (Le Temoins) (17.7.1966)
President of the Assizes Judge Lhomond finds his own experiences mirrored by those of the young prisoner in the dock. Cast includes Alexander Knox. Directed by Naomi Capon.
The Schoolmaster (L'Evade) (24.7.1966)
Dramatised by Alun Richards.
The Witness (Le Haut Mal) (31.7.1966)
Jean Naliers lives with his unothodox family on a Breton farm. An epileptic fit provides an opportunity for murder.
The Friends (Chemin Sans Issue) (7.8.1966)
A suspense thriller set in the south of France. Vladimir Dobranski, captain of the yacht Electra, owned by wealthy alcoholic Madame Papelier and also her lover, is attracted to her daughter but she prefers the company of his best friend Blinis. Incidental music by Tubby Hayes.
The Survivors (Les Rescapes du Telemaque) (14.8.1966)
Leading French actress, Russian-born Lila Kedrova plays in English for TV for the first time as bawdy-house keeper Emma Martens, caught up in a bitter vendetta between the widow of a trawler skipper and the sole survivor of the trawler' s wreck. Directed by Rudolph Cartier.
The Murderer (L'Assassin ) (28.8.1966)
Dr Hans Kuperus practices medicine in an eminently respectable Dutch town but when he murders his wife's lover there is more to the killing than crime passionnel. Directed by Alan Bridges. Cast includes Frank Finlay and Annette Crosbie.
The Suspect (Les Fiancailles de M. Hire) (4.9.1966)
A recluse becomes the victim of society following a brutal murder. Cast includes Marius Goring.
The Consul (Les Gens d'en face) (11.9.1966)
Set in Batum, a Black Sea Port 1933, Adil Bey arrives to take up his post in the Turkish Consulate but discovers an atmosphere of intrigue and suspicion. Unable to trust anyone he suspects poison when he suddenly feels unwell. Cast includes Michael Pennington and Michele Dotrice.

THURSDAY THEATRE (BBC)

The Young Elizabeth (24.12.1964)
Television play adapted from 1959 work by Francis Letton and Jenette Dowling on the life of Elizabeth I, produced by Cedric Messina and directed by Charles Jarrott. Stars Valerie Gearon in the title role.
Naked Island (11.2.1965)
Play by Russell Brandon, based on his best-selling book, set in Singapore's Changi Jail, August 1945. Producer Bernard Hepton, director John Gorrie. Stars James Bolam, Ray Barrett and Burt Kwouk.
Anatol (18.3.1965)
Television version of Arthur Schnitzler play about a bourgeois playboy set in Vienna, produced by Bernard Hepton, directed by Christopher Morahan. Stars Robert Hardy, John Wood and Moira Redmond

TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATRE (BBC)

Colombe (17.1.1960)
Television version of play by Jean Anouilh, produced by Naomi Capon. A tragicomedy set backstage at the theatre, pitting idealism against realism and sensitivity against practicality, starring Francoise Rosay (in her first British TV performance), Dorothy Tutin and Sean Connery, also featuring Peter Sallis and Patrick Wymark.
The Insect Play (19.6.1960)
Television version of the satirical play by brothers Josef and Karel Capek. Hal Burton's ambitious production used two studios, with one needed for the flying apparatus for the butterfly scenes. The cast of nearly a hundred includes Patrick Troughton, Jack Smethurst and Gretchen Franklin.

VICTORIA REGINA (Granada)
Series based on Laurence houseman's plays about Queen Victoria, directed by Stuart Latham and starring Patricia Routeledge as Victoria.

Summer (20.11.1964)
Autumn (27.11.1964)

THE VICTORIANS (Granada TV Network Production)
Series produced by Philip Mackie and performed by The Company of Seven, a group specifically formed to present this collection of dramas just as they would have been performed to Victorian audiences at the time. Each play reflects contemporary theatrical style and social attitudes and is representative of its decade, starting with the 1830s through to the 1880s. The Company of Seven consists of Michael Barrington, Geoffrey Bayldon, Barrie Ingham, Charles Kay, John Wood, Patricia Garwood and Ingrid Hafner.

The Rent Day (31.5.1963)
Set in the English countryside in the 1830s with a strong and complicated plot revolving around a farmer's struggle to avoid eviction. Adapted from Douglas Jerrold's play by Gerald Savory. Directed by Herbert Wise.
London Assurance (7.6.1963)
Debt-ridden young rake Charles Courtly flees 1840s London to Oak Hall in Gloucestershire and falls in love with a charming young woman - who is about to marry his father. Adapted from Dion Boucicault's play by Gerald Savory. Directed by Stuart Latham.
Society (14.6.1963)
London in the 1860s. Impoverished gentleman Sidney Daryl, is approached by social climber and nouveau riche Chodd Junior but finds him to be a rival for the girl he loves. Adapted by Gerald Savory from the play by T.W. Robertson. Directed by Graeme McDonald.
The Ticket-of-Leave Man (21.6.1963)
London in the 1860s. North-country lad Bob Brierly seeks justice when he is framed by villain Dalton and imprisoned. Adapted by Gerald Savory from the story by Tom Taylor. Directed by Stuart Latham.
Two Roses (28.6.1963)
Kent, the 1860s. When roguish charlatan Digby Grant inherits a fortune he withdraws his two beautiful daughters from the marriage market, forbidding them to see the young men they really love. Adapted from James Albery's play by Gerald Savory. Directed by Richard Everitt. Features Joan Hickson.
Still Waters Run Deep (5.7.1963)
London, the 1860s. When nice but dull John Mildmay discovers that dashing Captain Hawksley is after his young wife and the family fortune, he devises a subtle plot to discredit him. Adapted by Gerald Savory from the play by Tom Taylor. Directed by Cliff Owen.
The Silver King (12.7.1963)
London, the 1870s. The plot thickens as dissolute Wilfred Denver, forced into further ruin by the vengeful Geoffrey Ware, is found pistol in hand next to Ware's dead body. Adapted by Gerald Savory from the play by Henry Arthur Jones and Henry Herman. Directed by Philip Mackie.
Sweet Lavender (19.7.1963)
London, the 1880s. Gentleman and aspiring lawyer, Clement Hale falls for his housekeeper's daughter but social attitudes stand in the way of their love match. Adapted by Gerald Savory from the play by Arthur W.Pinero. Directed by Graeme McDonald. Featuring Gwen Watford.

THE WEDNESDAY PLAY (BBC)
Two editions of the BBC's flagship anthology.

Auto Stop (21.4.1965)
Play about a young couple hitch hiking in Europe, written by lan Seymour. Directed by Brian Parker, produced by James McTaggart and starring David Hemmings.
The Bond (1.12.1965)
Play about a young married couple seen as representing "New Britain" by politicians and the media. Produced by James McTaggart and directed by Mary Ridge. Stars Hannah Gordon.

A WINTER'S TALE (BBC, 20.4.1962)
Shakespeare's play, produced and directed by Don Taylor, with a cast including Robert Shaw, Patrick McNee and Ron Moody.