Armchair Theatre etc. as extras on DVD.

[John Green]

Those wonderful people at Roobarb have listed classic TV plays released as extras on film and TV DVDs. www.zetaminor.com/roobarb/showthread.php?45503-One-off-archive-TV-plays-on-other-DVDs

I thought it might be a good idea to relist them here:

1967 Anglia Play 'The Crossfire' on a 'Jason King' DVD. www.imdb.com/title/tt0769450/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_22

'The Prodigal Daughter' 5.1.1975, with Alastair Sim and Jeremy Brett, on 'Cottage to Let; Special Edition'. www.imdb.com/title/tt0073579/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5 on www.amazon.co.uk/Cottage-Let-DVD-Leslie-Banks/dp/B000LXHJJQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397989572&sr=1-1&keywords=cottage+to+let

Armchair Theatre:The Hothouse' on 'Avengers' series 4. www.imdb.com/title/tt0768909/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_11

'Mr.Humphreys and his Inheritance' on 'Casting the Runes'. www.imdb.com/title/tt3433652/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3 on www.amazon.co.uk/Casting-Runes-DVD-Edward-Petherbridge/dp/B000TP4FT8/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397989708&sr=1-1&keywords=casting+the+runes

Black and Blue:'Secrets' with Michael Palin on 'Ripping Yarns'. www.imdb.com/title/tt0218592/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_42 on www.amazon.co.uk/Ripping-Yarns-Complete-Michael-Palin/dp/B004AGEON4/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397989794&sr=1-1&keywords=ripping+yarns

'Saturday Night Theatre: The Best Pair of Legs in the Business' on'On the Buses series 7'. www.imdb.com/title/tt0450248/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

'Against the Crowd:Murrain' on 'Beasts'. www.imdb.com/title/tt0400143/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2 on www.amazon.co.uk/Beasts-Complete-DVD-Pamela-Moiseiwitsch/dp/B000FAOAZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397989926&sr=1-1&keywords=beasts

'Wednesday Play:Alice' on the Region 1 Jonathan Miller 'Alice in Wonderland' DVD.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058893/?ref_=tt_ep_ep25 on www.amazon.co.uk/Alice-Wonderland-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B002VXEC26/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397990041&sr=1-4&keywords=alice+wonderland+miller

'Conception of Murder: Peter and Maria' and 'Thriller: Where the Action Is' with Ingrid Pitt on 'Countess Dracula Special Edition'. www.imdb.com/title/tt0545510/?ref_=tt_ep_ep4 and www.imdb.com/title/tt0073890/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4 on www.amazon.co.uk/Countess-Dracula-Special-Ingrid-Pitt/dp/B000GUK3QA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397990552&sr=1-1&keywords=countess+dracula

'The Man in Room 17: How to Rob a Bank and Get away With It' www.imdb.com/title/tt0641179/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3 on 'Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

[Deleted]

That's very useful to know. Thanks!

Single plays have been under-represented in DVD releases all along, particularly by Network (who have released many other worthy but far more obscure dramas). I'd pay good money for a set that collected all the single plays produced by Anglia in the '60s, for instance (and as they kept 'em all, there are quite a few - many potentially very interesting). There are lots of shows that remain untouched - e.g. play anthology series such as Suspicion, Saturday Night Theatre, The Root Of All Evil, Playhouse and The Frighteners - as well as more ABC Armchair Theatres and many others. Seeing as they're considered a seminal TV genre, single plays been very under-used.

[John Green]

The Dutch version of 'Dombey and Son' (1983) has 'The Signal Man' a Ghost Story for Christmas as an extra.Both have English audio. www.amazon.co.uk/Dombey-and-Son-import/dp/B002P9UHD4/ref=sr_1_5?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1403516665&sr=1-5&keywords=dombey

[John Green]

The Chic Murray Collection on DVD includes 'Sanctury', one of the Short Story series from Scottish TV. Broadcast 24.12.1973.

While I'm banned from reading any posts on Roobarb-including my own-for 45 years, I don't think this play was mentioned in the thread there.

(And yes, my opening words in the first post above are ironic now, but I stand by 99% of them).

[Peter Stirling]

John you haven't been upsetting Roobarb have you? Its all bit eccentric over there and you tread glass with posting anything.

the Short Story series (AKA Late Night Theatre/Drama in some regions) was an intriguing series full of imaginative plays when people cared about the play rather than not making an effort because the audience might be one man and his dog.
So It's a welcome surprise that the Scottish TV entry survives after all the rumours over the years about fires etc.

Slightly O/T
But on the BFI DVD for the movie 'Lunch Hour'

You also get two other James Hill 30 min films used by the BBC for colour demo/test transmissions.

The Home Made Car

Guiseppana

both well remembered.

[John Green]

Thanks,Peter. Very useful.

The sleeve lists this as "Sanctuary-A short film co-starring Chic Murray", which is a bit misleading.

While it's a gentle crime story with a touch of humor (the opening narration is by Jack Warner, which is a bit disconcerting), I also like the slight Saphire and Steel ambiance with its being set in a motorway service station, with one or two bird's eye shots which disconcert slightly. The only sci-fi element lies in the references to the technological marvels of "the infra-red machine" into which you pop the food you want heated...

Cast list:

Thorley Waters.
Michael Balfour.
Chic Murray.
Charles Houston.
Katy Gardiner.
Joseph Greig.

Written by David Edgar.

Exterior shots of lorries for the enthusiast, and True Detective magazines on the spinner for the obsessive.

Contents of the DVD (which is Exempt):

Toffee in His Pocket-A Tribute to Chic Murray.
Callum's Star Variety-Featuring a performance from Chic Murray.
Sanctuary.
Chic Murray on a tour of Glasgow's famous Civic Hall.


There are a lot of nice people at Roobarbs. The advantage of not being able to read the posts-I can't even see the home page, there's just a 'Forbidden Forever' statement that comes up addressed to me-is that I don't suffer frustrations at being unable to contribute.

[John Green]

The Chic Murray disc is available at less than £3.00, including postage, on ebay.