Armchair Theatre
British anthology series of single plays from 1956 to 1974.
Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that aired on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. Originally produced by ABC Weekend TV, it was succeeded by Thames Television from mid-1968. The series is notable for its run under Canadian-born producer Sydney Newman, who oversaw 152 episodes between September 1958 and December 1962.
Quick Facts
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Channel
- ITV
- First aired
- 8 July 1956
- Last aired
- 9 July 1974
- Episodes
- 426 (258 missing)
- Company
- ABC Weekend TV; Thames Television
- Related
- Armchair Mystery Theatre
- Out of This World
- Armchair Cinema
- Armchair Thriller
Facts from the source article.
History
Armchair Theatre aired on Sunday evenings on ITV, at that time the UK’s sole commercial network. While contemporary dramas eventually became the norm, that wasn’t obvious from the start. The series was created by Howard Thomas, then head of ABC, who believed television drama and journalism were closely linked, and that the most compelling plays tackle both modern issues and timeless human problems. Dennis Vance produced the first two years, drawing heavily on American and Canadian material. The debut play, The Outsider, was a live medical drama adapted from Dorothy Brandon’s stage work, broadcast on 8 July 1956 from ABC’s Manchester studios in Didsbury. Vance reportedly favored classical adaptations, though some choices—like Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones on 30 March 1958—were far from safe. Sydney Newman took over as producer after becoming ABC’s Head of Drama in April 1958. The dangers of live television struck on 28 November 1958, early in Newman’s run, when actor Gareth Jones, aged 33, collapsed and died between scenes during the broadcast of Underground. Such crises became more manageable once the series moved from Manchester to Teddington Studios near London in summer 1959, allowing episodes to be prerecorded on videotape.
Home media
A DVD boxset featuring eight colour episodes from 1970 to 1973 was released by Network DVD in January 2010. It contains the episodes Say Goodnight to Your Grandma, Office Party, Brown Skin Gal, Stay Home and Mind Bay-Bee, Detective Waiting, Will Amelia Quint Continue Writing 'A Gnome Called Shorthouse'?, The Folk Singer, A Bit of a Lift, and Red Riding Hood. Volume 2, with another eight colour episodes, appeared in 2012: Wednesday's Child, Competition, The Left Overs, High Summer, The Creditors (a modernised version of the play by Strindberg), The Death of Glory, The Square of Three, and According to the Rules. Volume 3 contains episodes ranging from 1957 to 1967: Now Let Him Go, The Criminals, A Night Out, Lena, O My Lena, The Man Out There, The Omega Mystery, Tune on the Old Tax Fiddle, Afternoon of a Nymph, The Snag, Living Image, Poor Cherry, Old Man’s Fancy. Volume 4 includes The Emperor Jones, The Greatest Man in the World, The Scent of Fear, After the Show, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, The Trouble with Our Ivy, The Hard Knock, The Paradise Suite, Long Past Glory, The Importance of Being Earnest, I Took My Little World Away, and The Night Before the Morning After. Network subsequently released further episodes under the Armchair Theatre Archive label. Volume 1: Nothing to Pay (1962), The Cherry on the Top (1964), Light the Blue Touch Paper (1966), Edward the Confessor (1969). Volume 2: Worm in the Bud (1959), The Invasion (1963), The Chocolate Tree (1963), What's Wrong With Humpty Dumpty? (1967). Volume 3: The Bird, the Bear, and the Actress (1959), The Fishing Match (1962), The Man Who Came to Die (1965), Dead Silence (1966). Volume 4: The Thought of Tomorrow (1959), Toff and Fingers (1960), Late Summer (1963), The Gong Show (1965). Armchair Cinema, which included the pilot of the police series The Sweeney (Regan) in its run, was released by Network DVD in autumn 2009. Studiocanal Vintage Classics' blu-ray release of The Family Way included Honeymoon Postponed (1961) as a bonus feature. Network Released ABC Night In volumes several of which include Armchair Theatre episodes: A Very Fine Line (9 March 1968), Danger, Men Working (7 May 1961), A Magnum For Schneider (4 Feb 1967), Call Me Daddy (8 April 1967), My Representative (30 Oct 1960), and Sharp At Four (12 Jan 1964).
More in Television Shows Produced by Thames Television
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