My mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia aged 92. She’s still alive today, aged 99 and she still asks, ‘is there a Play for Today’ on tonight.

What a masterclass. How I miss this type of drama. I could watch these plays from the seventies all day everyday!

superb play, that series was among the best telly ever, colin welland, a genius, RIP

This programme, was really interesting! My dear late hubby, Tony and i got married back on the 29th of March back in 1982 and by 1991, we realised that although we loved each other very much, we had become more like bezzie mates and the romance side of it had gone, so we split up but he and i always made sure over the years, we either lived next door or very near to each other and we just had a ball, coz we went where ever and with whoever we wanted to go with, knowing we were always there for each other. Sadly i lost him to stage 4 pancreatic cancer on the 5th of February 2019 and i feel like i have lost my right arm. I know our way would not suit everyone but it sure suited us! .... Many thanks for sharing this great episode with us! xxxxxx

Superb acting and a storyline that's still relevent today. A gem of a play.❤

I spent my working life in Sheffield. I had a fabulous life for about 20 odd years. While there I got acquainted with Yorkshire life, culture and food. Of all the characters of the English I have met, the yorkshireman had something unique about him. He walked tall, proud and a whole teapot full of warm humanity which is typical of Yorkshire. My life in Sheffield was blessed with cricket, beer, smiles and sunday roast which remains in my memory and remains as unforgettable.

Such great quality tv. Sadly lacking today.

Oh for the days when television used to be worth watching …sigh 😔

I loved these plays. My nan and me shared a bedroom. It was not ideal, but needs must , in the 70s when often family lived together in small houses. . She used to put this on in the bedroom, and we would lay in our beds and watch it. 😊 rip nan ❤

Britain has made some great dramas.

These plays are not only great art, but also great social history. They capture the society and social attitudes of the 1970s. The increasing post industrial dereliction. Britain in the 70s and 80s was often a grey looking place, dirty and filled with overgrown wasteland. A lost world.

Loved seeing Bill Maynard in shows, when i were a child. Top notch actor.

This was addictive to watch, why can’t tv programmes be like this today

Really enjoyed this and very thought provking. Like others have said very well written by the brilliant Colin Welland. Back in the day s when there was true talent on TV not sh**like love Island and that crap Essex programme 😒🙄

Proper kitchen sink and bloody brilliant. Kicks the stuffing out of the shite that’s peddled today

Thanks for this show, it was terrific, forgot what awesome tv was like.

Wish they would bring back play for today. Not just for the drama but because it was a great showcase and springboard for actors and writers.

Brilliantly written and acted. I’d forgotten how good television used to be, if only it was still half as good.

We’ve gone from classic TV dramas like this to naked attraction rather says it all

This means a lot more to me now I'm middle aged than when I saw it the first time as a teenager. Talk about the human condition...

I was 12 when I watched this play. Never ever forgotten it. Play for Today was great!

The days before weddings got out of hand, sandwiches and a barrel of beer,

Iv waited almost 50 years to watch this again i could remember the coal shovel and a story line that a 17 year old did not fully understand .But i knew one day i would.Thanks

I enjoyed this very much, I didn't know TV could produce drama of this quality. Very unlike so much of the shite on now, endless 'reality' crap, stuff about the royal family, Downton Abbey, etc.

Those long forgotten days when the kids played out in the street instead of fixated like zombies to their phones..

Michael Apted passed away recently. He was the guy behind '7 Up' - the longest running documentary series in the world. He even made a Bond film. Sheer talent.

It brings back fond memories of the 1970s for me, and how the story line pulls you in ,and great acting not like the crap that is made these days

This is glorious. How I yearn for the quietness of these times

Terrific. Had no idea Bill Maynard could act like this, rather than the buffoon characters he was always given. Enjoyed this.

'I'll av a pint of advocaat' What a line. My first taste of alcohol was running my finger round the inside of a sherry glass recently drained of advocaat. Thanks nan❤

The old woman drinking in the corner ‘ I wish my arse was Bonny again. I’ be off like a dose of salts’ brilliant! Some watchdog group would crush that today.

One of the best Plays for Today and watched many times. A nice touch was to have the Oldham Tinkers providing much of the soundtrack.

I caught this in 93 and even in 93 it still held up and was very good indeed. Love seeing location footage from the early 70s, wonderful to see the old cars and old streets of bygone Britain that I grew up in...lovely nostalgia.

It’s 2023 & this is so relevant , the dads right she’s only 17 that’s so young

Such an honest portrayal of how life can take a complete turn in a careless moment. I really enjoyed this play. While it made me so sad for all that was lost, it also made me hopeful for the future happiness of all the characters. Also, I LOVED all the 70's hairstyles! Some really cool "shag" haircuts,lol! And can you believe the main character was only 50? He looked about 65!😯

How I miss such quality TV.

This one is a keeper…brilliant casting, script, settings and music. A memory and tearjerker, and a fabulous record of the times. Thank you so much for sharing.

Beautifully acted, written and directed - with the kind of nuance and complexity that is very rare in TV today. Thank you so much for posting.

Bill Maynard was a great actor, both comedy and drama. RIP.

My mum spoke about this play for a long time. Then we saw it about 10yrs at the BFI. I was 40 then. NOW I'M 50!!!!! Scary how quickly life goes. I'm really glad he left his 'drab' wife. We only have 1 life. So go for it. Sorry if I've offended anyone.

Colin Welland? You were a bloody genius. God bless ya. A superbly written drama. A brilliant cast. Who knew Bill Maynard could be so intimidating!?

Well written and acted, we went from brilliant peaces of work like this and have descended into the mire of utter tosh ……

Time's when England was a great place .

Watched the whole thing and enjoyed it better than tv available tonight 😄👌

This is brilliant - in every way .

I loved the "Play for Today", I was lucky enough to have parents who let me "stay up late" to watch. Colin Welland used to come into my family's pub when he was in Edinburgh for the "Festival"............The old saying about "Never meeting your heroes" certainly didn't apply to him.............A real Gent!

Ya gets no real thanks or perks for being the steady one, the nurturing one, the keeping it altogether one. ya become a willing beast of burden for fcking years and they all go off in the end and live their own lives while you standstill twisting your apron watching them all leave. Grab ya life by the balls and when you can, make a run for it out the door and dont look back like they have. Good Luck to ya all out there.

Brilliantly written and brilliantly acted by a great cast. Gripping and emotional proves they made proper drama.

Fantastic one off gritty kitchen sink drama. Lovely to revisit this. Bill Maynard was brilliant and genius writing from Colin Welland.

Never saw Bill Maynard in a serious role before. Great man.

A wonderful play in every respect. The setting in the early 1970s made it even more absorbing, but Collin Welland and the outstanding cast made it timeless. Thank you very much for sharing it. As an aside, in some respects its setting in an industrial town and the subject, the challenges of marriage, bring to mind the film A Kind of Loving. It is a great film from 1962, a breakthrough for director John Schlesinger and the mesmerizing Alan Bates.

Great TV, compared to the reality sh*t you get these days. Thanks a mil for posting.

Watching this in my fifty and I have to say that I really enjoyed the old tv plays and films

August 1993 was around the last time I watched the BBC.

The saucy landlady, Edna Garfoot, off 'Get Carter'. Thanks for this.

The pub they come out of at the beginning was my local for 9 years from 1976 till 1985. It’s “The Brighton” on Brighton street Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. Sadly no longer a pub. 😥

Brilliant but also heart-breaking.

I've seen this its good , i love these old british gritty dramas . pure nostalgia .

Wow, what great realistic acting, it’s like true reflection of working class northern life in a pit village.

50 year olds looked a lot older in the '70s didn't they?

Stuff the cost of living crisis ,I'll just watch this !

I was just short of my 21 st birthday when this was first shown and now i am 71 , Tempus indeed Fugit . Also a great play . Thank you .

Every era has its share of TV trash and the 70s was no different, but "Play for Today" is one thing I really wish they'd bring back.

Alex Wroth. I don’t remember the 70’s being bleak. It was good time for me.

Wonderful Play! It was shown on telly some time in the 90s! The great Colin Welland wrote it!. The daughter here was a no nonsense lass!!!

Most men in their 50s in this period had served in the war. They wore suits to go to the pub and drank bitter or mild , not lager or ‘ shots’ or snorted ‘ coke ‘ ! They were still relatively young but social convention had them behaving in manner that seems much older today. They certainly wouldn’t have tolerated the kind of anti social behaviour and criminals we see today roaming the streets ; they would’ve formed an unofficial ‘ army ‘ and taken the law into their own hands and taken drug dealers and the like out of circulation. Best quote : “ We been hanging’ out for years you and me , like a couple of bloody Nancy’s “ ! Ha, ha, ha…

Brilliant cameo performance by John Comer of a man who never stopped to ask who he was or what he wanted, who hid his true self behind petty theft, and who seems to understands less about himself than the people around him do. The genuine shock and shame when he’s confronted is painful. The truth hurts.

I was 10 when this was first aired probably watched it then as was the sort of programme mum would have on, always enjoyed this kind of play so miss Play for Today, coming from Liverpool the grittiness rang true.

harsh reality drama…thought provoking and entertaining… fantastic…

Many thanks Ian. I miss quality drama.

Ultimate film written by a genius and several superb actors

Incidentally writer Colin Welland won an Oscar for writing Chariots of Fire

I use to really enjoy the play for today series thank you for sharing 😄😄

I love watching old TV drama for the nostalgia. Even when I was a kid I liked Play for today. The best thing I ever saw back then was a play on TV an American play by Sam shepherd called True West with John malkovich playing the leading role, I'd love to see that one again.

Who would a thought Selwyn Froggitt could be a right bastard ! Its like watching Kes Last of the Summer Wine and Corrie all in one go this !! Well done Colin Welland and Mike Apted.. the hard broken piss pot Yorkshire close knit community trapped in their own self induced cages fearful of what lies beyond and stuck in their pride It all shines in this....Maynard Dunham and Yates give top line on here Thanks for posting !

This is depressing I can now at the age of 59 relate to this ...university challenge living on a council estate the 1970' s no prospect from one useless inept government from another ....ffs .....

well what do you know ..I just chanced on this (as vaguely remember the title "Play For Today" so was intrigued to take a gander ) and realised it was first broadcast on my birthday.. I would have been twelve years old on the day...How time passes so quickly...

Cautionary tale (for women especially) - doing everything for your partner and not nurturing yourself is a losing game.

I watched them all at the time....not one dud.....today?.....drivel, written by phone fiddlers staring endlessly at their phones.This play has the unmistakable, irreplaceable...nay, the incomparable Bill Maynard!

Good old green grass always my favourite character in heartbeat but the theme tune made it hit home the weekend was over and school in the morning 🤬😜

These plays back then were always " true to life " Not like the shite today... Look at the soaps now...someone is killed twice a week 😳

Vera duckworth buttering bread they need to bring this out on dvd

This aired in the same year & month that Britain joined the EEC - forunner of the EU

colin welland. the star of the tv comedy "cowboys" with roy kinnear.. i used to watch these as a kid but i was a bit young to understand them really.. but now later on in life i can see why these were so good to watch as my parents always watched them.. great stuff.. thanks uploader

I was married to a Yorkshireman and I have to say there is a real truth here. Not the adultery but the communities and general ‘feel’

I love the theme tune. Many thanks

The redhead is Vera Duckworth from the Street. Marjorie Yates (Audrey) always reminded me of Glenda Jackson. What a great episode from this groundbreaking series.

Bloody ell!!! James Hazeldine!!! superb actor and human being R.I.P

When the world and life was normal. Sad where we are now days.

This really illustrates how absurd weddings really are.

Certain type of dignity that’s missing in today’s TV . No bad language even with such a sensitive subject .

its saturday night and i've just kisses at fifty for the first time absolutely brilliant a bit like the documentary the family you look at tv today all game shows and adverts

Sooo good so many memories watching these❤❤❤ Thankyou

Two years earlier Bill Maynard's wife played the part of Michael Caine's landlady Edna Garfoot in 'Get Carter'.

The world before the Internet and uber dinners. Life was simple back then. You knew your neighbours and there was no CCTV.

Really enjoyed this film glad I came across it .many thanks

Well written and acted. Never give up hope. Always look on the bright side of life.

a realistic picture of 70s life

Best thing I've sen in ages

I remember meeting Bill Maynard at the services on my way to Scarborough he was huge