Screen One
Screen One is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and distributed by BBC Worldwide, that was transmitted on BBC One from 1989 to 1998. A total of six series were broadcast, incorporating sixty individual films, several of which were broadcast as stand-alone specials. The series was born following the demise of the BBC's Play for Today, which ran from 1970 to 1984. Producer Kenith Trodd was asked to formulate a new series of one-off television dramas, the result of which was Screen Two, which began broadcasting on BBC2 in 1985. However, while Play for Today's style had often been a largely studio-based form of theatre on television, Screen Two was shot entirely on film. Three of the episodes ("The Accountant", "News Hounds" and "A Question of Attribution") won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama. In 1989, the series was adapted for more mainstream audiences on BBC1, and Screen One was born to follow the lead taken by Channel 4, several of whose many television films had later been released in cinemas.
 | This article uses a non-standard episode table. |
| Screen One | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Various |
| Directed by | Various |
| Starring | Various |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 60 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Cinematography | John McGlashan et al. |
| Editor | Ken Pearce et al. |
| Running time | 90 minutes (approx.) |
| Production company | BBC |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 10 September 1989 – 15 February 1998 |
Screen One is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and distributed by BBC Worldwide, that was transmitted on BBC One from 1989 to 1998.[1] A total of six series were broadcast, incorporating sixty individual films, several of which were broadcast as stand-alone specials. The series was born following the demise of the BBC's Play for Today, which ran from 1970 to 1984. Producer Kenith Trodd was asked to formulate a new series of one-off television dramas, the result of which was Screen Two, which began broadcasting on BBC2 in 1985. However, while Play for Today's style had often been a largely studio-based form of theatre on television, Screen Two was shot entirely on film. Three of the episodes ("The Accountant", "News Hounds" and "A Question of Attribution") won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama.
In 1989, the series was adapted for more mainstream audiences on BBC1, and Screen One was born to follow the lead taken by Channel 4, several of whose many television films had later been released in cinemas.
Talent
[edit]Screen One attracted many names familiar to television and film audiences, including the likes of Peggy Ashcroft, Alfred Molina, Sean Bean, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone, Alan Bates, Judi Dench, James Fox, Keith Allen, Bob Peck, Alun Armstrong, Marina Sirtis, David Jason, Brenda Blethyn, James Bolam, Adrian Edmondson, Alison Steadman, Timothy West, Clive Russell, Janet McTeer and Michael Murphy. Several actors also made their on-screen debuts during the series, including Keira Knightley in the fifth series episode Royal Celebration.
Demise
[edit]By 1993, the prevailing mood within the BBC was to move away from single dramas and concentrate production on series and serials, and as such, a reduced six-episode series, broadcast in 1994, was to be the last full-length series of Screen One, although a further eight one-off specials followed up to 1998.
Transmissions
[edit]| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 8 (7 + 1 Special) | 10 September 1989 | 27 December 1989 | |
| 2 | 10 (8 + 2 Specials) | 2 September 1990 | 1 January 1991 | |
| 3 | 10 (8 + 2 Specials) | 20 June 1991 | 1 January 1992 | |
| 4 | 9 (8 + 1 Special) | 6 September 1992 | 31 October 1992 | |
| 5 | 8 | 5 September 1993 | 24 October 1993 | |
| 6 | 7 (6 + 1 Special) | 6 February 1994 | 16 October 1994 | |
| 7 | 8 (8 Specials) | 20 January 1995 | 15 February 1998 | |
Episodes
[edit]Series 1 (1989)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "One Way Out" | Mick Ford | Robert Young | 10 September 1989 | |
| 2 | "Nineteen 96" | G. F. Newman | Karl Francis | 17 September 1989 | |
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Starring Keith Barron, Alun Armstrong, Keith Allen, Dudley Sutton, Roger Brierley, Clyde Pollitt and Roger Nott | |||||
| 3 | "The Accountant" | Geoffrey Case | Les Blair | 24 September 1989 | |
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Starring Alfred Molina and David Graham | |||||
| 4 | "Home Run" | Andy Armitage | Nicholas Renton | 1 October 1989 | |
| 5 | "She's Been Away" | Stephen Poliakoff | Peter Hall | 8 October 1989 | |
| 6 | "The Mountain and the Molehill" | David Reid | Moira Armstrong | 15 October 1989 | |
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Starring Michael Gough, John Carson, Paul Brooke, Roger Brierley, Peter Howell, Ian Thompson and James Appleby | |||||
| 7 | "Blore M.P." | Robin Chapman | Robert Young | 22 October 1989 | |
|
Starring Timothy West, Oscar Quitak, James Warwick, Barry Jackson, Stephen Moore, Ray Winstone, David Jackson, John Baddeley and Clyde Pollitt. (Based on the novel Scandal, by A.N. Wilson). | |||||
| 8 | "Ball-Trap on the Cote Sauvage" | Andrew Davies | Jack Gold | 27 December 1989 | |
Series 2 (1990—1991)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "News Hounds" | Les Blair | Les Blair | 2 September 1990 | |
|
Starring Adrian Edmondson, Alison Steadman, Steven Mackintosh, Edwina Currie, Paul Kember and Nigel Pegram | |||||
| 2 | "Frankenstein's Baby" | Emma Tennant | Robert Bierman | 9 September 1990 | |
| 3 | "The Police" | Arthur Ellis | Ian Knox | 16 September 1990 | |
|
Starring Oliver Ford Davies, Derek Martin, Arbel Jones and Paul Collins | |||||
| 4 | "Sweet Nothing" | Vincent O'Connell | Tony Smith | 23 September 1990 | |
| 5 | "Can You Hear Me Thinking?" | Monty Haltrecht & Beverley Marcus | Christopher Morahan | 30 September 1990 | |
|
Starring Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Richard Henders, Charmian May, Pik-Sen Lim, Cyril Shaps, Sally Bretton and Christopher Burgess
| |||||
| 6 | "One Last Chance" | Andrew Kazamia | Gabrielle Beaumont | 7 October 1990 | |
| 7 | "Sticky Wickets" | Fletcher Watkins | Dewi Humphreys | 14 October 1990 | |
| 8 | "Survival of the Fittest" | Julian Mitchell | Martyn Friend | 21 October 1990 | |
| 9 | "Dark City" | David Lan | Chris Curling | 11 December 1990 | |
|
Special. Starring Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, Vusi Dibakwane and Thapelo Mafokeng | |||||
| 10 | "Happy Feet" | Michael Bradwell | Michael Bradwell | 1 January 1991 | |
Series 3 (1991—1992)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Skulduggery" | Phil Davis | Phil Davis | 20 June 1991 | |
|
Special. Starring David Thewlis, Robin Weaver, Patsy Palmer, Charlie Creed-Miles, Jake Wood and Robert Pugh | |||||
| 2 | "Hancock" | William Humble | Tony Smith | 1 September 1991 | |
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Starring Alfred Molina, Frances Barber, Clive Russell, Paul Brooke, Kenneth Gilbert and Nick Burnell[3] | |||||
| 3 | "Tell Me That You Love Me" | Adrian Hodges | Bruce MacDonald | 8 September 1991 | |
| 4 | "Filipina Dreamgirls" | Andrew Davies | Les Blair | 15 September 1991 | |
| 5 | "Dancin' Thru the Dark" | Willy Russell | Mike Ockrent | 22 September 1991 | |
|
Linda is out on her hen night, while her fiance is out on his stag night. Linda is having major doubts about getting married. When both groups arrive at a club, they find the band fronted by her ex-boyfriend—and the love of her life—Peter. Linda has to decide: does she stay and settle down, like her friends want her to, or does she chuck it all in and run away with Peter? Starring Claire Hackett, Con O'Neill, Julia Deakin, Simon O'Brien and Mark Womack
| |||||
| 6 | "Ex" | William Humble | Paul Seed | 29 September 1991 | |
| 7 | "Prince" | Julie Burchill | David Wheatley | 6 October 1991 | |
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Starring Sean Bean, Janet McTeer, Celia Montague and Jackie McGuire | |||||
| 8 | "Alive and Kicking" | Al Hunter Ashton | Robert Young | 13 October 1991 | |
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Stevie "Smudger" Smith is a heroin dealer and an addict. His wife Marie is also an addict, and when their baby, Jason, is born he is addicted too. When Jason is taken into care, Marie leaves Smudger to get clean and win Jason back, with the help of unorthodox drug counsellor Liam Kane. Stevie and Liam are soon at loggerheads as Stevie wants his wife and son back, but realises he can only do this if he also gets clean. In trouble with his old gang and his rivals, he does so, but has no interest in the conventional rehabilitation on offer. He decides to form a football team of recovering addicts, helped by his old coach, Earl.[5] Starring Lenny Henry, Robbie Coltrane, Jane Horrocks, Paul Barber, Annabelle Apsion, Imogen Boorman, Geff Francis, Jillie Meers and Sakuntala Ramanee | |||||
| 9 | "A Question of Attribution" | Alan Bennett | John Schlesinger | 20 October 1991 | |
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Starring James Fox, Prunella Scales, Geoffrey Palmer, David Calder, John Cater and Edward de Souza
| |||||
| 10 | "Adam Bede" | Maggie Wadey | Giles Foster | 1 January 1992 | |
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Special. Starring Patsy Kensit, Julia McKenzie, Jean Marsh, Freddie Jones, Paul Brooke, Patsy Byrne, Roy Evans, Edward Jewesbury and Michael Robbins
| |||||
Series 4 (1992)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Very Polish Practice" | Andrew Davies | David Tucker | 6 September 1992 | |
|
Starring Peter Davison, David Troughton, Joanna Kanska, Alfred Molina and Gertan Klauber
| |||||
| 2 | "Disaster at Valdez" | Michael Baker | Paul Seed | 13 September 1992 | |
| 3 | "Born Kicking" | Barry Hines | Mandie Fletcher | 20 September 1992 | |
| 4 | "Black and Blue" | G. F. Newman | David Hayman | 27 September 1992 | |
| 5 | "Seconds Out" | Lynda La Plante | Bruce MacDonald | 4 October 1992 | |
|
Starring Steven Waddington, Tom Bell, Derek Newark, Jack Watson, Nick Brimble, Frank Mills, Thomas Craig, Tim Barlow, Eric Mason and Roy Heather | |||||
| 6 | "Running Late" | Simon Gray | Udayan Prasad | 11 October 1992 | |
| 7 | "Losing Track" | Roger Eldridge | Jim Lee | 18 October 1992 | |
| 8 | "Trust Me" | Tony Sarchet | Tony Dow | 25 October 1992 | |
|
Starring Alfred Molina, Hywel Bennett, Jill Gascoine, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Edna Doré, Harry Towb, Derek Benfield and David Simeon | |||||
| 9 | "Ghostwatch" | Stephen Volk | Lesley Manning | 31 October 1992 | |
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Special. Starring Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Mike Smith and Craig Charles
| |||||
Series 5 (1993)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Wide-Eyed and Legless" | Deric Longden & Jack Rosenthal | Richard Loncraine | 5 September 1993 | |
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Starring Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Thora Hird and Moya Brady
| |||||
| 2 | "A Foreign Field" | Roy Clarke | Charles Sturridge | 12 September 1993 | |
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Starring Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Geraldine Chaplin, Lauren Bacall, Jeanne Moreau and Dorothy Grumbar
| |||||
| 3 | "Down Among the Big Boys" | Peter McDougall | Charles Gormley | 19 September 1993 | |
|
Louie, the Glasgow detective son of a policeman, is about to marry the daughter of the accomplished robbery chief JoJo. Louie is placed in charge of investigating a mystery thief before his wedding. Jojo comes to realize that Louie is looking for him and wrestles with how to handle this. Starring Douglas Henshall, Billy Connolly, John Murtagh, Ewan Stewart, Maggie Bell and Ashley Jensen
| |||||
| 4 | "Royal Celebration" | William Humble | Ferdinand Fairfax | 26 September 1993 | |
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Starring Kenneth Cranham, Minnie Driver, Rupert Graves, Leslie Phillips, Keira Knightley and Gordon Salkilld. This was Knightley's first screen appearance. | |||||
| 5 | "Tender Loving Care" | Lucy Gannon | Dewi Humphreys | 3 October 1993 | |
| 6 | "Money for Nothing" | Tim Firth | Mike Ockrent | 10 October 1993 | |
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Starring Julian Glover, Martin Short, Christien Anholt, Paul Reynolds, Tim Preece, Wolf Kahler and Sean Baker | |||||
| 7 | "Wall of Silence" | Maurice Gran & Laurence Marks | Philip Saville | 17 October 1993 | |
| 8 | "The Bullion Boys" | Jim Hitchmough | Christopher Morahan | 24 October 1993 | |
|
The true story of how Britain's gold reserve was secretly transferred to Liverpool at the start of the Second World War. Starring David Jason, Tim Pigott-Smith, Gorden Kaye, Brenda Blethyn, Geoffrey Hutchings and Paul Angelis
| |||||
Series 6 (1994)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bambino Mio" | Colin Welland | Edward Bennett | 6 February 1994 | |
|
Special. Starring Julie Walters, Georges Corraface, John McArdle and Orlando Urdaneta
| |||||
| 2 | "A Breed of Heroes" | Charles Wood | Diarmuid Lawrence | 4 September 1994 | |
| 3 | "Pat and Margaret" | Victoria Wood | Gavin Millar | 11 September 1994 | |
|
Starring Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Don Henderson, Duncan Preston, Thora Hird, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Shirley Stelfox, Roger Brierley, Tenniel Evans and Charles Pemberton
| |||||
| 4 | "Two Golden Balls" | Maureen Chadwick | Anya Camilleri | 18 September 1994 | |
| 5 | "Meat" | Daniel Boyle | John Madden | 25 September 1994 | |
| 6 | "Murder in Mind" | Jenny Diski | Robert Bierman | 2 October 1994 | |
|
Starring Cathryn Harrison, Trevor Eve, Anna Massey, Steven Mackintosh, Bruce Alexander and Christopher Owen | |||||
| 7 | "Doggin' Around" | Alan Plater | Desmond Davis | 16 October 1994 | |
Specials (1995–1998)
[edit]| Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Plant" | Jonathan Lewis | Jonathan Lewis | 20 January 1995 | |
| 2 | "Trip Trap" | Lucy Gannon | Danny Hiller | 9 March 1996 | |
| 3 | "Killing Me Softly" | Rebecca Frayn | Stephen Whittaker | 7 July 1996 | |
| 4 | "Truth or Dare" | TBA | John Madden | 31 August 1996 | |
| 5 | "Gobble" | Ian Hislop & Nick Newman | Jimmy Mulville | 15 February 1997 | |
| 6 | "Deacon Brodie" | Simon Donald | Philip Saville | 8 March 1997 | |
| 7 | "Hostile Waters" | Troy Kennedy-Martin | David Drury | 26 July 1997 | |
|
Starring Rutger Hauer, Martin Sheen, Max Von Sydow, Colm Feore and Michael Attwell
| |||||
| 8 | "Our Boy" | Tony Grounds | David Evans | 15 February 1998 | |
See also
[edit]Other BBC drama anthology series include:
- The Play on One
- The Wednesday Play
- Theatre 625
- Thirty-Minute Theatre
- Play for Today
- Play for Tomorrow
- Play of the Month
- Playhouse
- Stage 2
- Screen Two
- ScreenPlay
- Second City Firsts
- Thursday Theatre
References
[edit]- ^ "Screen One". BBC. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
- ^ "The Judi Dench Collection". Amazon. 5 November 2007.
- ^ "BBC One – Screen One, Series 3, Hancock". Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "Dancin' Thru the Dark". Amazon. 26 March 2012.
- ^ 2015 review by Mark Cunliffe at letterbox.com; retrieved 24 January 2018
- ^ "Alan Bennett at the BBC". Amazon. 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Adam Bede". Amazon.
- ^ "Ghostwatch". Amazon. 25 November 2002. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "The Wedding Gift". Amazon. 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "A Foreign Field". Amazon. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Down Among the Big Boys". Amazon. 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Martins at War – The Bullion boys". Martinsbank.co.uk. 22 May 1940. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "Bambino Mio". Amazon. February 1999. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Pat & Margaret". Amazon. 21 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
External links
[edit]- Screen One at BBC Online
- Screen One at IMDb
- Screen One at IMDb
- Screen One at IMDb
