Drama Smörgåsbord

It's time do to something with a bunch of drama odds and sods I've had lying around.

Drama Smörgåsbord - Disc 1

Dr. Finlay's Casebook - 49 - The Red Herring (6-7-64) A.J. Cronin's Dr. Finlay was a long running BBC period drama of 191 episodes spanning 1962 to 1971. Filmed on location in Scotland, it had sort of soap-opera (British soap, not American soap) feel to it.
Cathy Come Home (11-16-66) From Wiki: In a 2000 poll of industry professionals conducted by the British Film Institute to determine the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, Cathy Come Home was voted second, the highest placed drama on the list.
The drama uses a gritty reality documentary approach and deals with social issues not dealt with by TV in the mid-60's. Geoffrey Palmer had a minor role in it. It starred Carol White who was a promising actor at that time but quickly faded and died young after a troubled life of substance abuse and...um...let's just say a lot of older male stars found her sexually attractive.
Abigail's Party (11-1-77) placed 11th on the list of Top 100 programs mentioned above. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail%27s_Party
West Country Tales - 2 - The Poacher (2-1-82) and 8 - With Love Belinda (5-12-83) From IMDB: West Country Tales was an early 1980s supernatural drama series based on real-life experiences sent in by viewers in response to a BBC appeal. Of the hundreds of letters received, 13 stories were selected and turned into TV scripts. Wendy Richard appeared in the 8th ep.
Waters Of The Moon (12-30-83) Set in 1950, features an excellent performance by Penelope Keith and the cast includes other familiar faces such as Joan Sims, Geoffrey Palmer, Virginia McKenna.
East Of Ipswich (2-1-87) written by ex-Python Michael Palin as a memoir of the dreary coastal holidays of his youth and "captures the absurdity of the English middle-class on vacation" (as one reviewer wrote).
Drama Smörgåsbord - Disc 2
Fair Game (6-11-94) Caught up in the World Cup and general election fever of 1970, Marco, a wealthy Italian, goes to England to discover his true identity. Meanwhile local student Carl considers a walking holiday with his girlfriend in the Pennines and their 3 paths all cross at a library.
Moving Story - Episode 1 (5-26-94) was a Carlton TV program that ran for 2 series (13 eps) and starred Warren Clarke. Emma Amos had a role as well. This is more comedy than anything but I forgot about it when I made up the Comedy Smörgåsbord discs, so here it is.
Requiem Apache (10-11-94) was a Channel 4 black comedy with a good cast. A former member of a bank-job gang is retired to the country and living the good life, but his former boss needs to pull off one more job and they have to convince him to return one more time.
Sex And Chocolate (10-26-97) Dawn French is a married teacher tempted by an old boy friend to enjoy some sex and chocolate in Paris. Ooo....naughty girl.
Drama Smörgåsbord - Disc 3
Colour Blind (1998) is a TV adaptation of the Catherine Cookson novel about an interracial couple and their daughter in post-WWII England.
Goodnight Mr. Tom (5-30-99) starred John Thaw (Insp. Morse etc etc). Here's someone else's synopsis: We're in an English village shortly before Dunkirk. "Mr. Tom" Oakley still broods over the death of his wife and small son while he was away in the navy during WWI, and grief has made him a surly hermit. Now children evacuated from London are overwhelming volunteers to house them. Practically under protest, Mr. Tom takes in a painfully quiet 10-year-old, who gradually reveals big problems.
William nightly wets the bed. He can't read or write, although he is intelligent and shows artistic talent. He constantly dreads going to hell. Scars cover his back. Mr. Tom soon realizes that his little boarder comes from a horribly abusive home, and determines to provide him a better one. All goes well until William's mother persuades him to return to London for a few days' visit. When Mr. Tom hears nothing from the boy after two weeks, he can endure the loneliness and worry no longer.
Flesh And Blood (9-25-02) was a BBC drama starring Christopher Eccleston. Here is someone else's thoughts: Who you really are can be hard to face... Written by Peter Bowker, Christopher Eccleston and Emma Cunniffe star in Flesh and Blood, which tells the story of a father whose world is turned upside down when he discovers the truth about his origins. Adopted at birth, Joe Broughton (Christopher Eccleston) is overwhelmed by an obsessive desire to trace his real parents after the birth of his daughter Marie. When he discovers that his mother and father have learning disabilities and never knew they had a child, his world is blown apart. For Joe as well as his wife Cath (Emma Cunniffe), it's the beginning of a rollercoaster journey which challenges not only his preconceptions about disability, but also his sense of his own identity.
Harley Street - Episode 4 (8-7-08) Harley Street was or is a medical soap that ran for 6 eps in the summer of 2008. I've included this episode here because it features June Whitfield and Wendy Craig playing two sisters with one out to do the other one in. Just seeing those two ladies together was cool enough for me.
Hunter {Parts 1 & 2} (2009) Let's let someone else do the talking here: Two-part police thriller. When extremists kidnap two seven-year-old boys from very different backgrounds and promise to release them only if their demands are met, the case falls into the hands of the intuitive and pragmatic Iain Barclay. Faced with a relatively inexperienced and increasingly unreliable team, Barclay soon calls his firm friend and faithful deputy Amy Foster out of early retirement and away from the bottle to support him in solving what emerges to be a highly sensitive crime.
The Turn Of The Screw (12-30-09) This was on BBC the other night. Drama studying the interactions between the living and the dead. A young governess, Ann, is sent to a country house to take care of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Soon after her arrival, Miles is expelled from boarding school. Although charmed by her young charge, she secretly fears there are ominous reasons behind his expulsion. Starring: Michelle Dockery, Sue Johnston (Royle Family/Duck Patrol/Jam & Jerusalem), Dan Stevens, Nicola Walker, Eva Sayer, Josef Lindsay