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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Tara Conlan

Channel 5 revives BBC’s Play for Today to ‘help shape future of British drama’

Alison Steadman and Tim Stern smiling as they sit on an armchair in Abigail's Party
Alison Steadman and Tim Stern in Abigail's Party, broadcast as part of Play for Today in 1977. The first in Channel 5’s series will air later this year. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

It was one of the most influential British television series of the last century, renowned for exploring thorny societal issues and bringing the work of emerging talent, such as Ray Winstone, Alison Steadman, Helen Mirren and Dennis Potter, to mass audiences.

Now Play for Today is being revived on Channel 5, to give young writers, actors and producers from lower-income backgrounds a way into TV, helped by established talent.

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