... Is there truly an audience for such plays? by Patrick Campbell Tales of Piccadilly, A Special Occasion, London Weekend, January 24. ONE more producer, this time Jack Williams, has fallen headlong into the anthology trap. Tales of Piccadilly, now in its third week, is no more than an irrelevant audience-catching title. Its writers will either ignore it or find themselves stricted by it. Last ...

... BBC-1, August 19 by Donald Sartain TELEVISION for children has usually assumed that it needs to work to different standards from adult entertainment. In plays this has often meant that the story has mattered most and the performance has been little more than the young viewers would be able to do themselves. Part One of Ian Serraillier's , dramatised in eight parts by Alexander Baron, showed ...

... The Guardians: Head of State London Weekend, July 24 by John Lawrence AFTER the tense realism of the first episode in this new series from London Weekend, I found this week's story by John Bowen rather disappointing. The plot concerned the political manoeuvrings for power between the puppet Prime Minister, Sir Timothy Hobson, and the sinister and efficient Norman, messenger to the General, ...

... Humour too dated for 1971 viewer by Denis Plimmer Some Matters of Little Consequence, BBC-2, February 12. IN the early days of American burlesque, before it became merely a venue for strippers, there were, apart from the busty, broad-beamed, jovial girls in the line, the leading comic or ''Top Banana, and the straight man. These were the mainstays, and their black out skits or bits were ...

... Comedy Tonight BBC-2, November 11 by James Towler IT IS good to see variety back again on a Sunday night and the opening production in this series augers well for the future. The show was built around Roy Hudd who represents both its major strength and a weakness in that I feel he tends to over-extend himself. His forte is undoubtedly that of solo comedian and his ap proach has a compelling ...

... Absorbing and mildly amusing by James Towler Thirtv-Minute Theatre, No Charge for the Extra Service, BBC-2. March 15. HE IS a widower. She is a widow. Both are middle-aged and comfortably off. They are genteel to the core and dance exquisitely to the recorded music of the Pick of World Top Waltzes. The room was cast like themselves, in the mood of a bygone age the 'thirties. This was the ...

... First class in every way by James Towler Play For Today, Billy's Last Stand. BBC-1, February 4. THAT there is a drama to be found on every doorstep, providing you have a writer of sufficient depth to exploit it, must surely be one of the most significant conclusions to be drawn from Billy's Last Stand. Unfortunately playwrights of the calibre of Barry Hines are few and far between. This ...

... Badly conceived and executed by John Lawrence Paul Temple. Night Train, BBC-1, January 24. THERE is a school of thought which feels that programmes intended merely as light escapist entertainment should be excused the more rigorous kind of critical approach on the grounds that they are not, after all, to be taken too seriously. I sonally ao not understand now exactly one can go round ad ...

... Thirty-Minute Theatre: Seven Days in the Life of Andrew Pelham BBC 2, July 5 by John Lawrence ONE usually expects the first episode of a new series to be rather short on action, and rather long on explanatory dialogue while the scene is set, and the relevant characters introduced. However, in this, the first of seven stories by Innes Lloyd and Derek Hoddinott, precisely the reverse was the ...

... The Guardians: End in Dust London Weekend, October 2 by John Lawrence LAST week saw the end of this unusual series from London Weekend, with an episode by John Bowen drawing all the loose ends to a conclusion. As a whole, the series has certainly been gripping for much of the time, realistic most of the time and entertaining as well, but there have been several weak nesses which have ...

... Classic condensed too much by Patrick Campbell LET us start with a frank admission: when it comes to the dramatisation of the classics the BBC stands alone for excellence of its technique and craftsmanship. Whether or not many of the chosen subjects are entirely suitable for translation from one medium to another is another question, the answer to which must depend upon the reasons that ...

... Thoughtful and well-observed by John Lawrence Tales of Piccadilly, Behind the Spearmint Sign, London Weekend. January 10. IF one's idea of a seedy Inquiry agent was something between a Marker and a Palmer, then the bumbling incompetent who was the hero of Nicholas Palmer's sensitive story was certainly a surprise. The others, real enough in their way, had at least the consolation of a cer ...