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New Curated Collection
The Wednesday Play 60th Anniversary
On October 28th 1964 the BBC showed the first drama in a new anthology series called The Wednesday Play, consisting mainly of new, original works written for television. The series quickly gained a reputation for showing contemporary social dramas, featuring controversial issues not usually seen on TV at this time.
To celebrate this anniversary, the BBC Photo Archive has delved into its Set Design pictures and created a new collection of unseen images taken during rehearsals of a selection of these plays.
The collection includes new images from Ken Loach’s drama Up The Junction, Dennis Potter’s ‘Nigel Barton’ plays and John Hopkin’s Fable. It features many well-known British actors such as Michael Hordern, Thomas Baptiste, Eileen Atkins, Nora Nicholson, Keith Barron and Patrick Troughton.
The Wednesday Play ran for six series until 1970 when it was superseded by popular drama series Play for Today.
The Collection | Discover a vast and unrivalled collection of images spanning the life of the corporation. Icons, British programmes, technology and broadcasting milestones throughout the decades at your fingertips.
The Archive | More than 6 million images are held in the Photo Archive on formats ranging from glass plates, negatives, transparencies, and prints to digital files. We ensure that high resolution scanning of photographic material takes place to both protect the material and make it accessible.
The Team | Photographic material is curated by our experienced team of Archivists who are here to help with research or collaborate with you to find rich and surprising photos.
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