BBC Photo Archive | Rediscover, Reimagine
Welcome to the BBC’s Photo Sales website where you can explore BBC copyright images that are available to licence for editorial use in print and digital media globally.
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 Horden, 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The Wednesday Play ran for six series until 1970 when it was superseded by popular drama series Play for Today.
