'The Wednesday Play' Digest: Episode One

(Blog written February, 2021)

Over the next few months I am going to be writing short pieces on here covering television plays from The Wednesday Play, an anthology series of British television plays that ran on BBC 1 from 1964-1970. These films were groundbreaking in their exploration of contemporary social issues that sought to challenge not only social boundaries, but also the conventions of television. In many ways, The Wednesday Play reflected the dramatic changes happening In British society and culture in the 1960s, particularly the transition from a former adherence to Victorian values to a more permissive society. Furthermore, the series was home to a plethora of new, exciting creatives such as director Ken Loach (Cathy Come Home), and writers Dennis Potter (Stand Up, Nigel Barton) and Nell Dunn (Up the Junction), among many others.

The Wednesday Play was formed at the behest of Sydney Newman, the head of BBC drama at the time, who saw Britain as “somewhat class-ridden, and sought to create a series of television plays that better represented the lives of ordinary people The new series also reflected a wider drive in the BBC in the early 1960s to loosen moral codes and create challenging, more experimental work, after the ‘Pilkington Report’ concluded that the broadcaster’s content was too safe and irrelevant to the many people in modern Britain, particularly the working-classes. Moreover, this change in the BBC also saw more regionally and socially diverse talents come to the screen. Of The Wednesday Play’s ideals, Newman termed them “agitational contemporaneity” - dramas that challenged as much as they reflected modern Britain.

One of the reasons these plays stood out in the television landscape was the experimental shooting methods behind them. Influenced by cinema verite, directors such as Ken Loach and Jack Gold took these dramas out of the studio and into the streets, giving these contemporary stories verisimilitude and immediacy. This not only brought these plays boldly into the public realm, but also the political. They sought to tackle contemporary issues from racial prejudice (Fable), to abortion (Up the Junction), as well as to influence public opinion and ignite political debate. This was evident in the decision to release Up the Junction (1965) whilst politicians debated the ‘Abortion Law Reform Bill’ in Parliament. This intervention in both public and political life brought controversy with it though, with The Wednesday Play being a regular target of conservative activist Mary Whitehouse, who saw it as a negative influence on moral standards. Ironically, this increase in publicity had the effect of boosting ratings, solidifying The Wednesday Play as one of the most culturally and historically significant British television series of the 1960s.

The End of Arthur’s Marriage (Aired 17th November, 1965):

The End of Arthur’s Marriage is an unusually surreal work from Ken Loach, a director that became synonymous with British social realism. It is part-musical and part-social drama, following a working-class man called Arthur who is tasked with putting a deposit down for a house where he, his wife, and daughter can live. This is lent to him by his middle-class parents in law, who are rather suspicious of Arthur because he is “not serious enough”. Missing out on the house to a middle-class couple who have all the correct letters and recommendations, as well as the benefit of their social rank, Arthur takes his daughter out to the West End to spend the borrowed money on her. As he sees it, she will most likely never have the luxury of being able to spend like this ever again. By the time he makes it back home, he has spent every penny of it, bringing an end, of course, to Arthur’s marriage.

The film interacts with and pokes fun at many contemporary issues in a playful, funny, and experimental manner, getting out into the streets of London with a restless handheld camera as if it were a documentary, whilst also having a watch salesman randomly break into song as if it were entirely normal. Moreover, the characters and general feel to the play would not be amiss in some of the more socially aware popular music of the 1960s, such as The Kinks’ satirical caricatures of the middle and upper classes, or The Beatles’ baroque tales of everyday British life. The opening scenes are indicative of this tone and its interaction with current issues. Arthur’s traditional parents-in-law watch the television with confused faces as young people dance the modern way, all framed in a sexually provocative manner. As a result, the father agitatedly tries his best to turn it off. A voice-over narrator then comes in, explaining their backstories then turning into a spoken word song that labels them as the middle to lower-middles classes, and trivialises their fears (sex, black people) and beliefs (conformity, religion). The writers are clearly taking a dig at Mary Whitehouse and her ‘clean up TV campaign, as well reflecting the differing generational attitudes towards morality and class.

As well as the British class system, the play takes aim at mass consumerism, with varying degrees of success. High-end shops and department stores are referred to by the narrator as religious buildings, and the act of spending as “the cornerstone of democracy”. This, and the absurdity that ensues in relation to Arthur’s spending spree, touches on an interesting point, that consumerism is a fantastical spectacle that functions as a distraction for the masses. Although, what it distracts people from, is unclear in the film. Moreover, because of the liberal use of various, sometimes opposing, styles (surrealism and realism), the play’s messaging can feel chaotic and incoherent. Nevertheless, The End of Arthur’s Marriage is a singular work that taps into the then current discussions in Britain around class and consumerism, which would ultimately reach its apex with the counterculture movement that followed.