(1970)
Dir - James MacTaggart
Overall: GOOD
One of the earliest surviving Play for Today installments, (though it currently only exists in black and white, the original color videotape long gone), Robin Redbreast exemplifies the type of slow moving folk horror that British television was adapt at delivering around the time. As was common practice, the interiors are shot on video while exteriors were done on film, but this is only minimally jarring, due to the fact that most of the proceedings are done in doors and also because director James MacTaggart maintains a consistent tone of gradual unease. There is no incidental score and only one tense set piece in the finale, the rest of John Griffith Bowen's script allowing for Anna Cropper's protagonist to grow more paranoid by the unorthodox behavior of her new country neighbors, especially by the time that she becomes stranded there against her will with an unplanned baby on the way. The twist is both sinister and satisfying, playing off of Pagan folklore that leaves the fate of Cropper's child unresolved as the countryside village bides their time.
(1974)
Dir - Alan Clarke
Overall: GOOD
A rare work in English folk horror that is philosophical in its intent, Penda's Fen is one of eleven Play for Today installments made by director Alan Clarke, authored by David Rudkin who also adapted the M.R. James story "The Ash Tree" for BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas strand. Through the troubled eyes of a young adopted protagonist that is on the cusp of entering into adulthood, the story ponders over much, namely the social and religious state of contemporary England and how it melds with its pre-Christian past. Spencer Banks is opinionated in his beliefs, a traditionalist who is at odds with his parents, teachers, and classmates, but also one who becomes susceptible to psychological influences that take on an otherworldly nature. He has a conversation with a long-dead Edward Elgar, (whose "The Dream of Gerontius" composition has a profound spiritual effect on him), he witnesses Pagan rituals, angels and demons appear to him in dreams, homoerotic fantasies intrude upon those dreams, and he eventually comes face to face with King Penda and the "mother and father of England", all of which spells his coming of age where he must find his place in a landscape that persistently challenges him. Though Elgar's music plays a significant role, Clarke lets things play out with no incidental score, lingering on most of the images to create an enigmatic and lingering effect long after the credits role.
(1976)
Dir - Herbert Wise
Overall: GOOD
An interesting police procedural that takes a muted approach to its material, "A Story to Frighten the Children" has a misleading title as it concerns an adult woman who gets stalked, murdered, and raped late at night in a populated neighborhood whose inhabitants fail to help her. In this respect it is more a cautionary tale for women and communities, showcasing the harrowing aftermath of indifference and fear. As was the case for many Play for Today segments, it is presented in a sobering manner with no incidental music and no cinematic flourishes. The opening inciting incident is particularly disturbing as it is played out in real time, with the victim's screams falling on deaf ears as she is persistently unable to shake off the murderous advances of her pursuer. What follows is law enforcement's frustration with interviewing a slew of people, some of whom are not forthcoming with any useful information until after a television crew shows up. Besides the killer, everyone else's intentions are coming from a good place, despite their inability to be cooperative at times. It is only that they are fueled by apprehension and guilt, presenting a complex and all too real scenario that crime investigations often find themselves navigating through.
(1977)
Dir - John Glenister
Overall: GOOD
A quasi-companion piece to the season one Play for Today folk horror installment Robin Redbreast in that both were written by John Bowen and feature Freda Bamford playing the same supporting character, A Photograph plays a long con on the viewer, which is fitting considering the subject matter. This is because it focuses on a dysfunctional husband and wife couple, (John Stride and Stephanie Turner, respectively), the husband of which is a self-centered blowhard who frequently flies off at the handle, neglects his understandably troubled spouse, and never comes clean about his extramarital affairs despite having numerous opportunities to do so. The inciting incident is when they are mailed a photograph of two women sitting in front of a caravan with no information attached to it, which prompts Stride to embark on an investigation to find out who is in said photograph, also serving as an excuse to get away from his irritable wife. Besides the couple's painfully unhealthy report with each other and Stride's insufferable disposition, the only other unsettling events are the bookending ones, as the story opens with a shot of Stride wide-eyed on his back with his mouth open, an image that explains itself in the ominous finale. It may have too little and sudden of a payoff for some viewers, but it presents domestic turbulence in a refreshingly stark manner that makes the enigmatic conclusion land with a well-earned amount of weight.
(1979)
Dir - John Goldschmidt
Overall: GOOD
Though it is equipped with a curious ending that seems to miss its mark, Play for Today's 1979 installment Vampires is otherwise another subdued and interesting one that subverts whatever expectations the title may suggest. Contemporary set, it follows three young boys going about their days in dreary Liverpool after they become enchanted by the undead when they catch Hammer's Dracula: Prince of Darkness on television during an unsupervised evening. This sets the stage for an upbringing where parents are largely out of the picture, allowing the boy's fantasies to run rampant when they become convinced that a local fellow who works at a graveyard is indeed a blood-sucker. Director John Goldschmidt's presentation is in keeping with other's from the program, meaning that there is no incidental music and whatever humor is present is played calmly enough to be undetectable. It is far from a miserable watch though, showcasing the power of children's imaginations when said children are surrounded by few prospects and take whatever educational mentoring that they receive from school for granted. The finale moment works only if one looks at it as just a more pronounced visual depiction of the children's spiral into otherworldly fancy. If taken at face value though, it jives incorrectly with the previously established themes.
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