CTVA UK - "TV Playhouse" aka "Filmed Playhouse" (Harry Alan Towers)(1955-56)

CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - UK Police Crime Drama series

Martin Kane (US)(live)(1949-53) Martin Kane (Europe)(1953-54)  Martin Kane (UK)(1957-58)
Harry Alan Towers productions
The Adventures of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1954-55) starring Marius Goring
 TV Playhouse (1955-56)  -  Lilli Palmer Theatre (1955-56) -   Fredric March Tales From Dickens (1958-59)

Martin Kane (1957-58)   Dial 999  (1958-59)

TV Playhouse (1955-56)
aka Filmed Playhouse
     Episode Guide compiled by  The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by: Alan Keeling
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)

 ------------
TV PLAYHOUSE
------------
Towers of London Production  for  Incorporated Television Programme Company
Executive Producer Harry Alan Towers  / Produced by Dennis Vance (some  episodes)
for
ATV London (Saturdays around 10pm)

UK Filmed Anthology series 1955-56 approx 24 episodes x 60 min

One of the first Weekend Drama series on the newly formed ATV who had won the ITV Weekend franchise
in London from Saturday 24 September 1955.

Not to be confused with the "Live" plays on ITV Thursday nights - ITV Television Playhouse (1956-67)

################ TV Playhouse ################
############## season 1 1955-56 ##############
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ITV Saturdays around 10pm

1.1 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): MID LEVEL [BFI]
24-Sept-1955 ATV London Saturday (ATV's first day of broadcasting)
Produced by Quentin Lawrence & Stuart Latham
Written by Berkeley Mather
Cast:
Jack Allen ........... group captain
Michael Gough ........ Dawson
Betty McDowall ....... Toni
Rupert Davies ........ Grant
Raf De La Torre ...... Marashenos
Hilda Fennimore ...... Mrs Grant
William Franklyn ..... Bluey
Alec Gunn ............ security captain
Stratford Johns ...... Heath
Keith Pyott .......... Rev J Franston
John Tinn ............ Charlie
Alan White ........... Verity

1.2 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): MAN OF DESTINY [BFI]
1-Oct-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Original Story by George Bernard Shaw
Cast:
Desmond Walter Ellis ... lieutenant
James Donald ......... Napoleon
Elizabeth Sellars .... the strange lady
George Colouris ...... Guiseppe

1.3 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): BOX THIRTEEN [BFI]
8-Oct-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
Incorporated Television Programme Company
Produced by Dennis Vance
Directed by John Mitchell
Cast:
David De Keyser ...... Sergeant Parry
Basil Henson ......... Michael Barrick
Priscilla Morgan ..... Columbine
Liam Gaffney ......... Inspector Blake
David Tudor-Jones .... Jester
Richard Caldicot ..... Julian Hurlie
Jane Hylton .......... Katherine Rutland
John Robinson ....... Howard Henschel
Marjorie Stewart ..... Evelyn Henschel
Maurice Kaufmann ..... Peter Rivingham
Robert Raikes ........ John COllington
Marguerite Brennan ... Carol
Ian Fleming .......... Michael's father
Shirley Watson ....... girl
Ronald Wood .......... attendant

1.4 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE RESCUE [BFI]
15-Oct-55 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
Produced & Directed by Leonard Brett
Written by Iain MacCormick
Cast:
Neville Crabbe ....... Hafiz
Thomas Heathcote ..... Paul Trevor
Paula Byrne .......... Helen Trevor
Lloyd Lamble ......... Garvey
Douglas Blackwell .... Corney
Richard Johnson ...... Patkin
Noel Dryden .......... Dr Fowler
Norman Claridge ...... Mr Soames
Lionel Murton ........ Church 

1.5 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE CONCERT (BFI)
22-Oct-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
In association with H.M. Tennent
For the Incorporated Television Programme Company Ltd
Produced by Harry Alan Towers
Directed by Dennis Vance
Associate Director, Stephen Clarkson
Assistant Director, Peter Crowhurst
Screenplay by Joseph Schull
Art Director, Frank White
Cast:
Barbara Kelly ....... Anne
Bernard Braden ...... Jennings
Lionel Murton ....... Standish
Josephine Barrington ....... mother
Malcolm Keen ........ father
Helen Backlin ....... sister
Patience Collier .... Mrs Kevin
Peter Sallis ........ Mr Kevin
Cyril Luckham ....... Miller
Olga Dickie ......... matron
Ronald Radd ......... taxi driver
Synopsis:.
Drama set in Montreal. A novelist, Dr Richard Jennings (who is never seen, only heard), decides to leave his apartment
at short notice. His acquaintances cannot understand why he would want to leave so suddenly; so his friend, Professor
Standish, visits him to find out why. Jennings tells Standish the story of how he met Anne Rivers, a blind girl who
lives in the same apartment block, a few days previously. He tells Standish that he has spent every evening since
listening to the story of how she was blinded and of her struggle to live independently of her friends and family.
However, the night before, MIss Rivers had invited him to go to a concert on Saturday with her friends and family
and Jennings gave the excuse that he couldn't go because he was leaving for good the following day. As Jennings is
finishing his story Miss Rivers rings the bell to his apartment and Jennings forces Standish to say that he is the
new tenant and that Jennings has now gone. Standish accuses Jennings of being cruel, but Jennings defends himself
revealing that he is a black man ( a fact that he has not told Miss Rivers) and that he can't bring himself to make
her face her possible prejudices or to deal with those of her family.

1.6 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): FRENCH FOR LOVE (BFI)
29-Oct-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company
Executive Producer Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by Hugh Rennie
Teleplay by Gerald Verner
Original Story by Marguerite Steen and Derek Patmore
Cast:
George Curzon ...... Victor
Zena Howard ........ Hortense
Prunella Scales ..... Gabrielle
Shaun O'Riordan ....... Robin
Dennis Buckley ....... Pierre
Barbara Couper ....... Amy
Rene LePlat ........ Taxi driver
Synopsis:
Victor lives contentedly in the South of France, separated from his wife for several years and being looked
after by his housekeeper Hortense. His quiet life is disrupted by the arrival of his daughter Gabrielle and
her boyfriend Robin, the latter come to ask Victor for Gabrielle's hand in marriage.

1.7 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE FACTS OF LIFE
5-Nov-55 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company
Produced & Directed by Antony Kearey
Written by Roger MacDougall
Cast:
Eleanor Summerfield ... Marjorie
Lionel Jeffries ....... Allan
William Simons ........ Jonathan
Irene Browne .......... Mrs Peters
Allan Jeayes .......... Eric Standford
Myrtle Reed ........... Jill
Morris Sweden ......... Curlie
Anita Sharp-Bolster ... Rachel

1.8 [--]TV Playhouse: (filmed): A QUESTION OF FACT (BFI) 
12-Nov-1955 ATV London, Saturday 
Written by Wynyard Browne
Starring: Edith Evans & John Neville
Cast in Order of Appearance:
John Neville .......... Paul Gardiner
Robert Perceval ....... Private Detective
Joyce Carey ........... Mrs Trafford
Hazel Penwarden ........ Rachel Gardiner
Amy Dalby ............. Draper's Assistant
Harold Scott .......... Arthur Lamb
Carleton Hobbs ........ Headmaster
Robert Scroggins ...... Schoolboy
Alban Balkelock ....... Messenger
Margery Caldicott ..... Parlourmaid
Edith Evans ........... Mrs Smith
Synopsis:
Paul Gardiner, a young schoolmaster who has been brought up as an orphan knowing
little of his past is suddenly prompted to find out more about his background -
and his parents.
(9Aug58 repeated on ATV London, Sun 4.35pm under the series title "Filmed Playhouse")

1.9 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): FROLIC WIND (BFI)
19-Nov-1955 ATV London, Saturday
ATV Production (possibly Live?)
Adapted for Television by Howard Clewes / Original Story by Richard Pryce
Directed by Lionel Harris
Cast:
Helen Hayes ......... Lady Athaliah
Roger Livesey ....... Lothar Smith
Gladys Boot ......... Lady Bernice
Irene Brown ......... Lady Damaris
Joyce Carey ......... Lady Cleone
Jennifer Wright ..... Miss Jewell
Mary Kerridge ....... Miss Vulliamy
David Peel .......... Mr Charlecote
Llewellyn Rees ...... General Tresmand
Oliver Johnston ..... Jerrold
Lady Athaliah lives with her three elderly sisters at Pagnell Bois and the exposure of long-held family secrets
at a gathering of guests. 

1.10 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed):  I PASSED BY YOUR WINDOW (BFI)
26-Nov-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company Ltd
Executive Producer Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by Antony Kearey
Written by Rachel Grieve
Cast:
Mervyn Johns ........ Walter Turnbull
Marie Ney ........... Lillian Harvey
Ilona Ference ....... Margaret
John Arnatt ......... Detective-Inspector Howard
Olive Sloane ........ Addie
David Garth ......... Philip
Aubrey Richards ..... Sergeant Evans
Kenneth Firth ....... police sergeant
Synopsis
Walter Turnbull tells the police he was on his way to a cricket club meeting at the time of his wife's murder.
But neither his sister-in-law, Lillian Harvey, whom he claims to have seen on his way, nor her daughter, Margaret,
remember seeing him.

1.11 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE LAST REUNION
3-Dec-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production / Filmed at Highbury Studios
for Incorporated Television Programme Company Ltd
Produced & Directed by Leonard Brett
Assistant Director, Peter Crowhurst
Screenplay, Kenneth Hyde
Editor, Bill Lenny
Art Director, Frank White
Music, Christopher Whelen
Cast:
Basil Appleby ........ Johnnie
Alfred Burke ......... Ginger
Geoffrey Chater ...... Dusty
Harold Goodwin ....... Reg
Michael Gough ........ Hugo
Noel Howlett ......... manservant
Barry Keegan ......... Buck
Joan Marion .......... Elizabeth
Duncan McIntyre ...... Jock
Eric Portman ......... Simmie
Synopsis:
A group of World War II veteran airmen meet annually for a dinner, to meet up and reminisce. However, at the
latest dinner there is a ghostly presence and the revelation of a shocking secret.
 

1.12 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): QUAY SOUTH [BFI]
10-Dec-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
Executive Producer Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by Desmond Davis
Teleplay by Denis Webb / Original Story by Howard Clewes
Cast:
Roger Livesey ........ Captain Daniel Thwaite
Miriam Karlin ........ Hilda Thwaite
Richard Pearson ...... Elwes
Allan Cuthbertson .... The Adjutant
Frederick Piper ...... Spanish
Doria Noar ........... Agnes
Philip Ray ........... Uncle O'Hara
Michael Bates ........ Captain Allan Gerard
Robert Sanson ........ The Commanding Officer
Peter Barkworth ...... Lt Shirley
Peter Sallis ......... Corporal Foster
Newton Blick ......... Fisherman
Peter Wigzell ........ Sentry
Synopsis:
Set in 1940 in Quay South, a harbour in the North East of England, and the struggle of Captain Thwaite
when the authorities try to take over his blockship the "Ebb Tide". 

1.13 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE BOY ABOUT THE PLACE (BFI)
17-Dec-1955 ATV London, Saturday / (repeated 28Jul58)
Towers of London Production
Executive Producer Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by Don Chaffey & Ted Lloyd
A Ghost Story Written by James Parish.
Cast:
Many Miller ......... Jennifer Hyland
Greta Gynt .......... Mrs Hyland
Paul Carpenter ...... Major Hyland
Richard O'Sullivan ... The Boy
Michael Brookin ..... Rev. Robert Loyd
Brian Oulton ........ Mr Thomas
John Miller ......... Mr Purvis
Vi Stevens .......... Mrs Fisher
Fred Adderley ....... Rigley
George Ross ......... William Horder
Betty Turner ........ Mrs Stone
Synopsis:
Major Hyland and his wife become worried when their young daughter starts to have an imaginary friend, a young boy,
when they rent a house in Norfolk. They become more uneasy when they learn that the young son of a former inhabitant
of the house drowned in the river running along the bottom of the garden.
 
1.14 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE GOLDEN FLEECE (BFI)
31-Dec-1955 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company
Executive Producer, Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by Leonard Brett
Original Play, J.B. Priestley
Cast:
Megs Jenkins .......... Cudden
Frank Atkinson ........ George
Bernard Lee ........... William Lotless
Fabia Drake ........... Lady Leadmill
John Garside .......... Sir Rufus Garnett
Anne West ............. Elsie
Noël Hood ............. Miss Weeks
Lucy Griffiths ........ Miss Sell
Bruno Barnabe ......... Mondovi
Gladys Boot ........... Lady Garnett
Janet Joye ............ Mrs Tagg
Sidney Vivian ......... Tagg
Gene Anderson ......... Veronica Frensham
James Raglan .......... Lord Fleetfield
Brian Worth ........... Alec Rothbury
John Salew ............ Dr Plumweather
Frank Pettingell ...... Perkins
Synopsis:
Television production of the play by J.B. Priestley about the welathy inhabitants of the Golden Fleece hotel
and what happens when ex-chambermaid Molly Cudden finds she is a rich woman.
(repeated on ATV London 25Apr59, and again 18Jun61 Sun 2.30pm)

1.15 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): SKIPPER NEXT TO GOD [BFI]
7-Jan-1956 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
Produced & Directed by Stuart Latham
Teleplay by Howard Clewes / Original Story by Jan De Hartog
Cast:
Donald Houston ........ Jaris Kuyper
Bruno Barnabe ......... Meyer
Martin Miller ......... Rabbi
Harold Scott .......... Davelaar
Hugh McDermott ........ US naval officer
Denis Shaw ............ cook
Marne Maitland ........ lieutenant of police
Ernest Jay ............ the consul
John Glen ............. Richters
Allan Jeayes .......... Bruinsma
Peter Stephens ........ Dutch officer
John Ruddock .......... clergyman

1.16 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE OLD LADIES [BFI]
14-Jan-1956 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company
Produced by Quentin Lawrence
Teleplay Rodney Ackland / Original Story by Hugh Walpole
Cast:
Edith Evans ........... Mrs Agatha Payne
Susan Richmond ........ Miss May Beringer
Barbara Everest ....... Miss Lucy Amorest

1.17 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): NO ESCAPE
21-Jan-1956 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production / Produced by Harry Alan Towers
Incorporated Television Programme Company
Written by Rhys Davies
Directed by Lionel Harris
Cast:
Valerie Tayler ......... Rachel Lloyd
Gladys Boot ............ Lisabeth
Richard Vernon ......... Stephen Meredith
Peter Williams ......... Gwilym Thomas
Michael Scott .......... Bob Peasley
Joyce Carey ............ Clara Peasley
Noel Davis ............. Vaughan
Miriam Karlin .......... Violet Myer
Esther Lawrence ........ Megan
Synopsis:
Rachel Lloyd lives a hollow, pointless life in her farm in Wales. Fifteen years earlier Stephen Meredith, the man she
was to have married, ran off with another woman. She has never been able to kill her love or longing for him. Then one
evening as she is working at her desk she feels a presence in the room. She turns and sees Stephen Meredith.

1.18 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): THE LADY ASKS FOR HELP (BFI)
28-Jan-1956 ATV London, Saturday
 Towers of London Production / Filmed at Elstree Studios
for Incorporated Television Programme Company Ltd
Executive Producer, Harry Alan Towers
Produced & Directed by David MacDonald
Production Manager, Fraser Foulsham
Assistant Director, Peter Crowhurst
Script Supervisor, Pamela Carlton
Screenplay by James Parish & Kenneth Hyde
Director of Photography, Stephen Dade
Camera Operator, Peter Allwork
Editor, Seymour Logie
Art Director, Duncan Sutherland
Wardrobe, Irma Birch
Make-up, Bill Lodge
Hair, Bernadette Ibbetson
Music Director, W.L. Trytel
Sound Supervisor, Fred Turtle
Sound Recording, Gordon Hay
Dubbing editor, Peter Thornton
Cast:
Nora Swinburne ........ Carla Grahame
Clifford Evans ........ Hilary Grahame
Mary Laura Wood ....... Eileen Munroe
David Aylmer .......... Harry Grahame
Dorothy Bromiley ...... Pauline Kirby
Stratford Johns ....... Richard Munroe
Peter Lindsay ......... Boy
Julia James ........... Girl
Michael Nightingale ...... Inspector
Lloyd Lamble ......... Robert Fenwick
Nora Gordon .......... Janet
Cyril Chamberlain .... Briggs
Synopsis:
A woman asks her husband's advice when she hears that an old admirer of hers is talking injudiciously.
(Repeat: 24Mar62 Tyne-Tees UK, Sat 8:40 pm)

1.19 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): TEDDY GANG (BFI)
04-Feb-1956 ATV London, Saturday
Produced by Harry Alan Towers
Written by John Kruse
Directed by David Macdonald
Guest Cast:
Lee Patterson ........ Johnny Gates
Lloyd Lamble ......... Det. Supt. Findlater
Malcolm Knight ....... Nick Gates
Brian Peck ........... Looie
Maureen Connell ...... Jenny
Percy Herbert ........ Det. Inspector Thompson
Van Boolan ........... The "big man"
Cyril Chamberlain .... The bookmaker
Synopsis:
Young delinquent, Nick Gates, leader of a gang of Teddy Boys is currently engaged in the theft of motor cycles/cars,
and taking them to the gang's hideout in a garage.
(Repeat: 15Jan61 Tyne-Tees UK, Sun 3:25 pm)

1.20 [--] TV Playhouse: (filmed): BAMBOO BARS  [BFI]
11-Feb-1956 ATV London, Saturday
Towers of London Production
for Incorporated Television Programme Company
Written by Berkely Mather
Directed by David MacDonald
Cast:
Michael Shepley ....... Colonel Rempton
William Fraklyn ...... Hawksley
Harold Berens ......... Harris
David Hutcheson ....... Major Clarke
Kenneth Hyde .......... Ashley
Cyril Chamberlain ..... Brewster
Mary Steele ........... Susan
=========================================

[--] TV Playhouse: JANE CLEGG (60 min.)
tx date not known
Directed by Peter Cotes

[--] TV Playhouse: THE ANATOMIST (90 min. slot) [verified -AK]
filmed circa 1954
A Towers of London production, filmed at National Studios, Elstree.
Written by James Bridie, Adapted for television by Denis Webb
Directed by Dennis Vance
Cast:
Alastair Sim ..... Dr. Knox
George Cole ...... Walter
Adrienne Corri ..... Mary Paterson
Jill Bennett ...... Mary Belle
Margaret Gordon ...... Amelia
Diarmuid Kelly ...... Burke
Michael Ripper ..... Hare
Peter Halliday ...... Raby

[--] TV Playhouse: THE HOLLOW (60 min.)
Directed by Not Known

[--] TV Playhouse: HEAVEN AND EARTH (90 min.)
made circa 1954
Produced by Dennis Vance
Written by Peter Brook and Dennis Cannan
Directed by Peter Brook
cast:
Paul Scofield .......... Dr. Gary Lewis
Marjorie Stewart ....... Oriel Frome
Peter Illing ........... De Sala
Leo McKern ............. Grogan
Richard Johnson ........ John Fleming
Dorothy Bromiley ....... Ann Fleming
Thomas Heathcote ....... Price
Michael Goodliffe ...... Captain
Lois Maxwell ........... Miss Baumer
Dr. Gary Lewis is a young evangelist with a huge following who leaves his followers to enjoy a holiday in the South of
France. On the plane flying out, engine trouble develops, and all four propellers cut-out simultaneously. The plane
rapidly loses height. Then, without explanation the engines swing into action again. But this is not the end of the story.
(This was not really a tv film as such, but a television play on film)

################ TV Playhouse ###############
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