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Playhouse

Season 7 · 29 episodes · Oct 31, 1980

  1. Episode 1

    Caught on a Train

    Oct 31, 1980

    Peter boards a train to attend an important business meeting across Europe. His trip is complicated by two women also assigned to his compartment. One is an independent American whom Peter finds attractive. The other is Frau Messner, an extremely particular and demanding older European woman. Between the two of them, they try different aspects of Peter's patience...

  2. Episode 2

    Fatal Spring

    Nov 7, 1980

    Using a remarkable blend of dramatic techniques, this study of three English poets – also three courageous soldiers – gradually develops towards their historical and crucial meeting.

  3. Episode 3

    The Black Madonna

    Nov 14, 1980

    Lou Parker feels very strongly that she and her husband, Ray, are different from the Farrells and the Ackerleys. With them it's all television. But she and Ray have the local library and The Observer. They keep abreast. They're different.

  4. Episode 4

    The Happy Autumn Fields

    Nov 21, 1980

  5. Playhouse season 7 episode 5 still

    Episode 5

    Grown-Ups

    Nov 28, 1980

    Young working class couple Dick and Mandy move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them to action.

  6. Episode 6

    My Dear Palestrina

    Dec 5, 1980

  7. Episode 7

    Shaping Up

    Dec 12, 1980

  8. Episode 8

    Standing in for Henry

    Dec 19, 1980

    At a Nottingham advertising agency, young graphic designer Graham is recruited as a temporary replacement for the iconic Henry. The agency are desperate to be part of the Swinging Sixties but not without Henry. Can Graham replace him?

  9. Episode 9

    Fothergill

    Jan 9, 1981

    John Fothergill, aesthete and scholar, becomes the proprietor of the Spread Eagle, in Thame, Oxfordshire, with the intent of turning it into the most celebrated Inn in England, catering to the brightest lights in London's literati.

  10. Episode 10

    One Hundred and Eighty!!!

    Jan 16, 1981

    A darts tournament is put in peril when the players' wives stage a sit-in in the pub.

  11. Episode 11

    The Kindness of Mrs. Radcliffe

    Jan 23, 1981

    A day in the life of Mrs Radcliffe, who believes that the advice she so freely gives is done only out of kindness.

  12. Episode 12

    A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter

    Jan 30, 1981

    In prison the night before his execution, Republican preacher Hugh Peter prepares to be hanged, drawn and quartered for treason.

  13. Episode 13

    Journal of Bridget Hitler

    Feb 6, 1981

    An Irishwoman married to a German in pre-WWI Liverpool prepares to meet her brother-in-law, a young man named Adolf Hitler.

  14. Episode 14

    Days at the Beach

    Feb 13, 1981

    In 1920, a trio of British soldiers have to guard an unexploded mine that has washed up on a beach.

  15. Episode 15

    Bobby Wants to Meet Me

    Feb 20, 1981

    In 1978, Changes Magazine journalist Neville Morris writes an essay about Bob Dylan called 'A Jewish Massiah'. Dylan's publicist Elle Smith reaches out that The Bard wants to meet him at Earl's Court.

  16. Episode 16

    Days

    Feb 27, 1981

    A mother, waiting for a visit through a hospital day, reflects on her life. Dreams haunt her, fantasies seduce her, memories crowd in on her, distorting the drab reality of her day to day existence. Must her daughter follow in her footsteps? How can she find a way to guide her towards a brighter future?

  17. Episode 17

    Clapperclaw

    Mar 6, 1981

    VE Night, 1945: In a Yorkshire pub, not everyone is in a mood to celebrate. Lorna Thorpe's 'All-Star' dance band is down two members, the beer has run out, and some influential friends on the city council have booked flights to Buenos Aires.

  18. Episode 18

    The Potsdam Quartet

    Mar 13, 1981

    An exploration of the personal and professional conflicts of a string quartet who have been playing together for many years, but are on the point of disintegrating.

  19. Episode 19

    Unity

    Mar 20, 1981

    The true story of Unity Mitford who, in the 1930s, moves to Germany, where she befriends Adolf Hitler.

  20. Episode 20

    Skylark

    Mar 27, 1981

  21. Episode 21

    Elizabeth Alone: Part 1

    Apr 3, 1981

    After nineteen years of marriage, three children, and a brief but passionate affair followed by a quick divorce, Elizabeth Aidallbery has to go for an emergency operation. From her bed, she has the leisure to take stock of her life, and frankly, it doesn't look very edifying: there's the 17-year-old daughter who's run off to a commune with her boyfriend; an old hopeless suitor who continues to press his claims; and of course the memory of the havoc caused by the affair. No doubt she could put her life back in order. But need that involve all those people who cause her so much heartache?

  22. Episode 22

    Elizabeth Alone: Part 2

    Apr 10, 1981

    After nineteen years of marriage, three children, and a brief but passionate affair followed by a quick divorce, Elizabeth Aidallbery has to go for an emergency operation. From her bed, she has the leisure to take stock of her life, and frankly, it doesn't look very edifying: there's the 17-year-old daughter who's run off to a commune with her boyfriend; an old hopeless suitor who continues to press his claims; and of course the memory of the havoc caused by the affair. No doubt she could put her life back in order. But need that involve all those people who cause her so much heartache?

  23. Episode 23

    Elizabeth Alone: Part 3

    Apr 17, 1981

    After nineteen years of marriage, three children, and a brief but passionate affair followed by a quick divorce, Elizabeth Aidallbery has to go for an emergency operation. From her bed, she has the leisure to take stock of her life, and frankly, it doesn't look very edifying: there's the 17-year-old daughter who's run off to a commune with her boyfriend; an old hopeless suitor who continues to press his claims; and of course the memory of the havoc caused by the affair. No doubt she could put her life back in order. But need that involve all those people who cause her so much heartache?

  24. Episode 24

    The Man Who Almost Knew Eamonn Andrews

    Apr 24, 1981

  25. Episode 25

    You're All Right, How Am I?

    May 1, 1981

  26. Episode 26

    The Day War Broke Out

    May 15, 1981

    Albie Warren and his girlfriend Carla are second on the bill of variety artists and musicians performing to half empty venues. Albie impersonates wartime comic Rob Wilton to people who don't know him. Will he take the chance to top the bill?

  27. Episode 27

    Random Moments in a May Garden

    May 22, 1981

  28. Episode 28

    Going Gently

    Jun 5, 1981

    Two men sharing a hospital room after their diagnoses of terminal cancer struggle with fear, physical pain, the difficulties of being in hospital, family members unable to cope, loneliness, and their unusual friendship.

  29. Episode 29

    Marriage

    Jul 10, 1981