An A to Z of UK Television Drama

[Spoiler alert! This series is almost 50 years old but we will be revealing - around 90 minutes - in who spectacularly dies in the literal cliffhanger to episode 7. You have been warned!] Hey sis, it's Christmas, but this month Andy and Martin are visiting sunny Elounda on Crete for Michael J. Bird's classic revenge drama Who Pays the Ferryman? Featuring Jack Hedley, Betty Arvaniti, Neil McCarty a...

After a brief hiatus, Andy and Martin resume the second season of A to Z with the letter V. Admittedly cheating a little, their choice was 'Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton', the second of two autobiographical Dennis Potter plays from 1965 in The Wednesday Play strand. They also cover the first play, 'Stand Up, Nigel Barton'. Both feature Keith Barron as the title character who we follow from chi...

Andy and Martin travel back in time to the summer of 1965 and the adventures of HR consultant Drew Heriot and his sister-in-law Anne as they face up to the machinations of 'Undermind’: aliens who have brainwashed British citizens in order to cause national unrest ahead of their imminent invasion. Their various schemes include: spreading pirate radio misinformation; inciting youth violence in a sea...

This month Andy and Martin review the highly regarded 1987 BAFTA-winning Scottish drama Tutti Frutti, written by John Byrne and starring Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson. Unfortunately Andy disputes that high regard and is staggered that Fortunes of War (also with Thompson), another best drama nominee that year, lost out to it. He finds Tutti Frutti to be deeply unfunny and its joyful depiction o...

Twenty-one years after their first recorded interview on the first Survivors DVDs back in 2003, Andy catches up with Carolyn Seymour who played Abby Grant in Survivors. Carolyn reflects on her relationships with the key figures who made the show: Terry Nation, Terry Dudley and original director Pennant Roberts; how she and other women actors suffered at the hands of chauvinism in the 70s; and reve...

This month Andy and Martin review the classic post-apocalypse drama Survivors created by Terry Nation. Specifically they review three episodes, one from each series: Law and Order, Over the Hills, and Law of the Jungle. The pair reflect on what Survivors has to say about mankind and also consider the show from a post-pandemic lens. Andy also reflects on his relationship with Survivors now given he...

Rock-a-bye baby in the tower block Your Mum’s on the social Your Dad’s in the dock Your Mum’s in arrears So, the Council’s gonna call Down will come mother, baby and all… Yes this month it's none other than that late 80s police drama Rockliffe's Babies in which we met the seven young and untested members of Victor Tango crime squad and their formidable skipper Det Sgt Alan Rockliffe played by Ian...

Andy & Martin almost meet their match in the 1975 series Quiller. But once they get past the first 10 dreadful minutes of its opening episode they find much to enjoy in this Bond-on-a-budget BBC spy series starring Michael Jayston in the title role. However, it would be lazy to say Quiller simply knocks off Bond, because Elleston Trevor's Quiller is quite different to 007. He doesn't like guns or...

Martin and Andy travel back to the early Eighties to uncover the birth of Agatha Christie on television. Before Joan Hickson's Miss Marple and David Suchet's Poirot came Tommy and Tuppence, two bright young adventurers from the Roaring Twenties played by Francesca Annis and James Warwick: Partners in Crime. Andy also delves further back to explain how Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and The Seven Dials...

This month Martin & Andy tackle a 1976 curio: a 3-part examination of the Zionist military leader Orde Wingate. Wingate is played by Barry Foster (Van de Valk, Fall of Eagles) in a drama scripted by Don Shaw (Survivors), script edited by Louis Marks (Doctor Who, The Lost Boys), directed by Bill Hays (Wish Me Luck) and produced by Innes Lloyd (Doctor Who, Talking Heads). The production is notable f...

After a longer break than intended An A to Z of UK Drama is back for the continuation of its second series, starting off the second half of the alphabet with the letter N and The Nightmare Man... As the fog closes in on a remote Scottish island Andy and Martin are huddled by the fire remembering the time when there were many gruesome and mysterious murrrrrders and the local policemen endlessly dow...

The year is 2003 and Earth's intrepid humans have managed to set-up several bases on the moon. There they face the implacable enemy that is the silence and darkness of space - a serious and apparently underestimated threat to the mental wellbeing of moonbase personnel... Created by Doctor Who’s Barry Letts and Terrance DIcks this 6-part series from 1973 starred Donald Houston, Ralph Bates and Fion...

Summer is finally here, so Andy & Martin are off on their hols to Crete to spend some time at Shepherd's Bar in Agios Nickolaos! Back in 1972 The Lotus Eaters was the flagship new BBC2 drama and the first of Michael J. Bird's quartet of Mediterranean-set serials. Starring Ian Hendry and Wanda Ventham, the series focused on the failing marriage of Erik and Ann Shepherd and the lives and loves of th...

Following their Secret Army episode last season, here Andy & Martin tackle its spin-off Kessler. The pair agree that its a very different show to its parent, which doesn't always hit the mark, but nevertheless boasts some fine acting, especially Clifford Rose in the title role, and wonderfully intricate scripts from John Brason and Gerry Glaister. 6 episodes of absorbing drama take us from Germany...

Why, why, why? Jemima!!! This month Andy and Martin plunge themselves head first into the poorly-made Thames drama Jemima Shore Investigates and probably wish that they had not been so curious about it. Andy gets off lightly though, having only watched 3 episodes and the far superior pilot Quiet as a Nun (as part of Armchair Thriller). Martin meanwhile watched it all and may never recover! Despite...

This time Andy & Martin delve into Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn Mysteries which aired on the BBC in the early Nineties. Having watched the 1990 pilot 'Artists in Crime' and a 1993 episode 'Final Curtain' they are able to compare the performances of Simon Williams and Patrick Malahide in the title role. Belinda Lang is thankfully a constant as his artist 'friend' Agatha Troy, as is the characterful William...

We return from our Christmas break for more of our second season of an A to Z of UK TV Drama... We begin 2023 by looking back at the Granada mini-series Harry's Game. First broadcast in 1982, this hard-hitting drama is best remembered now for it famous end credits theme by Clannad, however, it has much more to recommend it. Set during the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the series foll...

This month Andy and Martin review the 1989 adaptation of Oswald Wynd's novel The Ginger Tree, a 4-million pound co-production with NHK Tokyo and WGBH Boston. Starring Samantha Bond and Daisuke Ryu, this 4-part series tells the tale of Mary Mackenzie's experiences in Manchuria and Japan in the first half of the 20th Century, first as an unhappy wife and then, effectively, as a concubine to a Japane...

Andy & Martin get their cock-er-nee on as they explore the London-set family saga Fox, executive-produced by Verity Lambert. Written by Trevor Preston (The Sweeney) and directed by Jim Goddard (Out) and boasting a stellar cast - Peter Vaughan, Elizabeth Spriggs, Bernard Hill, Rosemary Martin, Ray Winstone and many more - Fox was expected to be a big success but just did not catch the imagination o...

For those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine... an advertisement in a newspaper captures the attention of two constrained and unhappy women from the London of the early 1920s: Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) and Rose Arbuthnott (Miranda Richardson). Their joint goal becomes this seemingly impossible holiday in Portofino, Italy, and together with two guests, to share the financial burden, Mrs Fis...

Andy and Martin turn their attention to a cult sci-fi classic from 1981: John Wyndham's post-apocalyptic tale of man versus plant: The Day of the Triffids. The pair consider how the series has aged, how it compares to similar dramas and what elements still make it rollicking good fun. Along the way they consider hospital and home decor, the Triffid Gun Christmas of 1981 and why Bill Masen is so bi...

While Andy is returning to an old favourite and a third viewing, Martin is seeing this 1971 adaptation of Honore de Balzac’s Cousin Bette for the first time. As with Barchester his worst fears are unfounded, in fact he, like confirmed fan Andy, finds this drama compelling and delicious and vows to introduce it to others. The series concerns the fortunes of poor relation Cousin Bette played with ve...

The second episode of this new series of their podcast sees Andy and Martin visit sleepy Barsetshire and the quiet cathedral town of Barchester, where ecclesiastical and romantic intrigue is going to set tongues wagging and cassocks whirling. This 1982 adaptation of two of Anthony Trollope’s beloved Barsetshire series, The Warden and Barchester Towers, entitled The Barchester Chronicles boasts mem...

Andy and Martin return for another series of an A to Z of UK television drama and in time-honoured fashion are keeping it alphabetical. First up is the iconic Mike Leigh Play for Today: Abigail’s Party. Devised for the stage, and performed over a 100 times before it was recorded for television, Leigh’s kitsch classic sees the monstrous Beverley (a tour-de-force of a performance from Alison Steadma...

We made it! The final episode of the first series of 'An A to Z of UK TV Drama' is in the can. Rather than choosing the rather obvious Z Cars we thought instead that with this instalment that we'd take a much overdue trip into the world of ITC with the French Riviera-set crime caper The Zoo Gang. First broadcast in 1974 this series, based on the book by Paul Gallico (The Poseidon Adventure), was f...