TV series
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
Availability
Checked Jul 22, 2026
BBC Play of the Month premiered October 19, 1965. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
Guests at a small hotel are disquieted by the insistence of a mysterious doctor that he has been there before.
Directed by James OrmerodWritten by J. B. PriestleyGuest stars Herbert Lom, Anthony Valentine, Lorna Heilbron, James Griffiths, Leslie Sands, Diana Rayworth
Episode 2
Wealthy widow Maria invites long-time dinner companion Richard to spend a month at her house in Scotland. If she still likes him after a month together, they will marry. Mutual friends George, Duke of Bristol and his companion Helen decide to make it a foursome.
Directed by David GilesWritten by Frederick LonsdaleGuest stars Penelope Keith, Jeremy Brett, Benjamin Whitrow, Lindsay Duncan
Episode 3
Writer Alfred is trapped in a loveless, unfulfilled marriage to wealthy Rita. The death of their disabled son wreaks havoc on their relationship as they struggle to find redemption for their personal failures.
Directed by Michael DarlowWritten by Henrik IbsenGuest stars Anthony Hopkins, Diana Rigg, Charles Dance, Peggy Ashcroft, Emma Piper, Timothy Stark
Episode 4
Foppish, would-be playwright-critic Mr Puff invites his literary-minded associates to a production of his horrendous and nonsensical spectacular, The Spanish Armada, confident that he's written a hit.
Directed by Don TaylorWritten by Richard B. SheridanGuest stars Hywel Bennett, John Gielgud, Nigel Hawthorne, Rosemary Leach, Norman Rodway, Alan Badel, Anna Massey, Rodney Bewes
Episode 5
In late 1918 Ukraine, the various armies of the Ukrainian War of Independence (the White Army, the Red Army, the Imperial German Army and Ukrainian nationalists) fight over the city of Kiev, leaving the fate of the Turbin family in ambiguity.
Directed by Don TaylorGuest stars Michael Pennington, Mark Draper, Laura Davenport, Nigel Havers, John Shrapnel, Nicholas Farrell, Charles Kay, Rupert Frazer
Episode information updated Jul 24, 2026
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BBC OneUnited Kingdom
BBCUnited Kingdom