Blue Remembered Hills - Play for Today - TV show

On the radio this morning I heard someone mention the BBC’s ‘Play for Today’ which was aired in the seventies/early eighties. They were individual drama’s some of which were controversial when aired others like ‘Boys of the Black Stuff’ became a BBC series.

I had a memory of one in particular but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember its name. I did remember it was about a group of adults playing children one being Colin Welland he was my favourite character, which helped with a search.

The play was ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ (1979) produced and written by playwright Dennis Potter and if you ever come across it I would highly recommend a viewing. I remember at the time it deeply disturbed me.

It was set in wartime Britain in the Forest of Dean and is about a group of friends playing war games on a hot summer’s day. Inside a barn, two girls are playing house with a boy who is a bit of an outcast with the other boys who often taunt and tease him. When the girls decide to join the boys he remains by himself in the barn. The four boys take a break from playing war to show the girls the squirrel they killed with a lot of bluster then the sound of a nearby siren means one of the Italian POW had escaped from the local prison camp.

After winding each other up they return to the barn, thinking the POW might be in there, but it’s the loner, who is obsessively with starting a fires. The other kids, shut the barn door trapping him inside and when they hear him screaming they see the smoke, and it's too late open the door as he is engulfed in the flames. They all disappear into the long grass, bewildered, sobbing.

To give you an idea I am reminded of the movie ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1963) but played by children, not adults. Both show how quick things can go pear-shaped and fear take hold within a group leading to drastic happenings.

The adult actors (Colin Welland, Michael Elphick, Robin Ellis, Helen Mirren, Janine Duvitski, John Bird and Colin Jeavons - all brilliant). Blue Remembered Hills remains a flawless and with the back catalogue, the BBC should make more of them.

Although Play for to Day was not without controversies many were seen to have a left wing/socialist agenda. Two where controversially pulled from transmission before broadcast two that come to mind  are Brimstone and Treacle (1976) was not shown on TV for over 10 years due to concerns over the play's depiction of a disabled woman's rape possibly at the hands of the devil. The other was Scum (1977) that dealt life with in borstal a young offenders' institution now and the violence, racism, including gang rape and suicide with the prison officer’s lack of care. Both were later made into feature films before they were finally transmitted on terrestrial TV.