Screen Two
Screen Two is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1985 to 1994.
Following the demise of the BBC's Play for Today, which ran from 1970 to 1984, producer Kenith Trodd was asked to formulate a new series of one-off television dramas. However, while Play For Today's style had been a largely studio-based form of theatre on television, the new series was shot entirely on film. This was an attempt by the BBC to repeat the success of Channel 4's television films, many of which had been released in cinemas.
From 1989 to 1993 a companion series, Screen One, was broadcast on the more mainstream BBC1. After almost a decade Screen Two came to an end as the BBC moved its attentions away from expensive single dramas and concentrated production on series and serials instead.
Series One
TX Date |
Title |
Director |
Writer |
Main cast |
6 January 1985 |
Contact |
Alan Clarke |
A F N Clarke |
Sean Chapman, John Blundell |
13 January 1985 |
Poppyland |
John Madden |
William Humble |
Isla Blair, Jonathan Hyde, John Shrapnel, Richard Wilson, Norman Jones, Martin Wyldeck |
20 January 1985 |
Unfair Exchanges |
Gavin Millar |
Ken Campbell |
Julie Walters, David Rappaport, Ken Campbell, Janet Henfrey, John Abineri, Christopher Ellison, Wolf Kahler, Malcolm Terris, Dave Lee Travis |
27 January 1985 |
Knockback: Part One |
Piers Haggard |
Shirley Cooklin, Brian Phelan, Peter Adams |
Leslie Grantham, Pauline Collins, Laurence Harrington, Eric Mason, Paddy Joyce |
3 February 1985 |
Knockback: Part Two |
Piers Haggard |
Shirley Cooklin, Brian Phelan, Peter Adams |
Leslie Grantham, Pauline Collins |
10 February 1985 |
Lent |
Peter Barber-Fleming |
Michael Wilcox |
Graham McGrath, Harry Andrews, Fabia Drake, David Langton, Constance Chapman |
17 February 1985 |
The Unknown Soldier |
Mike Vardy |
Raymond Hitchcock |
Nicholas Clay, David Neal, James Gaddas |
24 February 1985 |
The Burston Rebellion |
Norman Stone |
Elaine Morgan |
Eileen Atkins, Bernard Hill, John Shrapnel, Geoffrey Chater, John Abineri, Frank Mills, Peter Benson, Jon Laurimore, Norman Jones, Peter Tuddenham |
3 March 1985 |
Space Station: Milton Keynes |
Colin Rogers & Leslie Stewart |
Leslie Stewart |
Patricia Garwood, Gian Sammarco, Nigel Lambert |
10 March 1985 |
In The Secret State |
Christopher Morahan |
Brian Phelan |
Frank Finlay, Thorley Walters, Michael Byrne, Ronald Fraser, Ken Campbell, Natasha Richardson, Hilary Minster, Malcolm Terris, Geoffrey Chater, Tony Selby, Roger Brierley, Gorden Kaye, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Ivor Salter, Stephen Churchett, Pip Donaghy |
Series Two
TX Date |
Title |
Director |
Writer |
Main cast |
12 January 1986 |
The McGuffin |
Colin Bucksey |
John Bowen |
Charles Dance, Mark Rylance, Ann Todd, Anna Massey, Chris Langham, Francis Matthews, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Brian Glover, Jerry Stiller, Stephen Lewis |
19 January 1986 |
The Silent Twins |
Jon Amiel |
Marjorie Wallace |
Tony Robinson, John Savident |
26 January 1986 |
Time After Time |
Bill Hays |
Andrew Davies |
John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Helen Cherry, Brenda Bruce, Freddie Jones, Fiona Walker, George Baker |
2 February 1986 |
Frankie & Johnnie |
Martin Campbell |
Paula Milne |
Hywel Bennett, Diana Hardcastle, Amanda Donohoe, Shelagh Fraser, Norman Jones |
9 February 1986 |
Honest, Decent and True |
Les Blair |
Les Blair |
Derrick O'Connor, Adrian Edmondson, Gary Oldman, Richard E. Grant, Arabella Weir, Owen Brenman |
16 February 1986 |
Song of Experience |
Stephen Frears |
Martin Allen |
Rachel Bell, Nigel Terry |
23 February 1986 |
The Insurance Man |
Richard Eyre |
Alan Bennett |
Trevor Peacock, Alan MacNaughtan, Teddy Turner, Vivian Pickles, Tony Haygarth, Jim Broadbent, Daniel Day-Lewis, Richenda Carey, Geoffrey Palmer, Roger Hammond, Benjamin Whitrow |
2 March 1986 |
Hotel du Lac |
Giles Foster |
Christopher Hampton |
Anna Massey, Denholm Elliott, Googie Withers, Julia McKenzie, Patricia Hodge, Irene Handl, Barry Foster, Geoffrey Chater, Jeffry Wickham, Patsy Byrne |
9 March 1986 |
The Russian Soldier |
Gavin Millar |
Brian Phelan |
Warren Clarke, Alan MacNaughtan, Patrick Malahide, Jerome Flynn, June Page, Iain Rattray, Eileen Helsby |
16 March 1986 |
Blood Hunt |
Peter Barber-Fleming |
Neil M. Gunn (novel) |
Iain Glen, Andrew Keir, Nigel Stock, Michael Carter, Arabella Weir |
23 March 1986 |
Shergar |
Nigel Finch |
Bill Morrison |
Stephen Rea, Gary Waldhorn, Ian McElhinney, Dermot Crowley, Peter Caffrey |
30 March 1986 |
Hard Travelling |
Colin Gregg |
Hugh Stoddart |
Suzanne Burden, Tom Bell, Jack Shepherd, Michael Gough, Perry Benson, Denis Carey, Colette O'Neil, Gordon Salkilld |
6 April 1986 |
Double Image |
Mick Jackson |
Stephen Davis |
Tommy Lee Jones |
Series Three
TX Date |
Title |
Director |
Writer |
Main cast |
4 January 1987 |
Coast to Coast |
Sandy Johnson |
Stan Hey |
Lenny Henry, John Shea, Peter Vaughan, George Baker, Pete Postlethwaite, Cherie Lunghi, Al Matthews, Edward Peel, Neville Smith, Tony Haygarth |
11 January 1987 |
Blunt |
John Glenister |
Robin Chapman |
Anthony Hopkins, Ian Richardson, Michael Williams, Geoffrey Chater, Albert Welling |
18 January 1987 |
Will You Love Me Tomorrow |
Adrian Shergold |
Adrian Shergold, David Snodin |
Joanne Whalley, Tilly Vosburgh, Phil Daniels, Iain Glen, Beverley Callard |
25 January 1987 |
After Pilkington |
Christopher Morahan |
Simon Gray |
Bob Peck, Miranda Richardson, Gary Waldhorn, Barry Foster, Derek Ware |
1 February 1987 |
East of Ipswich |
Tristram Powell |
Michael Palin |
John Nettleton, Pat Heywood, Graham Crowden, Janine Duvitski, Timothy Bateson, Roger Brierley, Tip Tipping, Wayne Michaels |
8 February 1987 |
Naming the Names |
Stuart Burge |
Anne Devlin |
Sylvestra Le Touzel, Michael Maloney, Mick Ford, James Ellis, Eileen Way |
15 February 1987 |
Northanger Abbey |
Giles Foster |
Maggie Wadey |
Katharine Schlesinger, Peter Firth, Robert Hardy, Googie Withers, Geoffrey Chater, Elvi Hale, Helen Fraser, Elaine Ives-Cameron |
22 February 1987 |
Visitors [1] |
Piers Haggard |
Dennis Potter |
John Standing, Michael Brandon, Nicola Pagett, Glynis Barber |
1 March 1987 |
Heaven on Earth |
Allan Kroeker |
Margaret Atwood, Peter Pearson |
Torquil Campbell, Sarah Polley, Fiona Reid |
8 March 1987 |
Inappropriate Behaviour |
Paul Seed |
Andrew Davies |
Charlotte Coleman, Anne Reid |
15 March 1987 |
Going Home |
Terence Ryan |
Christopher Green |
Nicholas Campbell, Milan Cheylov, Albert Schultz |
29 March 1987 |
Quartermaine's Terms |
Bill Hays |
Simon Gray |
Eleanor Bron, Edward Fox, Clive Francis, John Gielgud, Peter Jeffrey, Tessa Peake-Jones |
5 April 1987 |
On the Palm |
Michael Whyte |
Dave Sheasby |
Phillip Jackson, Cathy Tyson, James Hazeldine, Peter Martin, Liz Smith |
17 April 1987 |
Hedgehog Wedding |
Tim King |
Elizabeth Spender |
Sheila Allen, Lynsey Baxter, Frederick Treves |
19 April 1987 |
The Children of Dynmouth |
Peter Hammond |
William Trevor |
John Bird, Alec Bregonzi, Roger Brierley, David Daker |
Series Four
TX Date |
Title |
Director |
Writer |
Main cast |
10 January 1988 |
The Vision |
Norman Stone |
William Nicholson |
Eileen Atkins, Dirk Bogarde, Helena Bonham Carter, Lynda Bellingham, Alan Curtis, Bruce Boa, Bruce Montague, Lee Remick, Paul Maxwell |
17 January 1988 |
Dead Lucky |
Barbara Rennie |
Ruth Rendell (novel), Barbara Rennie |
Phil Davis, Nicholas Farrell, William Gaminara, Donald Douglas |
24 January 1988 |
Sweet as You Are |
Angela Pope |
William Nicholson |
Liam Neeson, Miranda Richardson, Philip Bird, Philip McGough |
31 January 1988 |
Stanley Spencer |
Anna Benson Gyles |
Elaine Morgan |
Lesley Dunlop, David Horovitch, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser |
7 February 1988 |
Border |
Misha Williams |
Tim Rose Price |
Edita Brychta, Daniel Hill, Norman Jones, Catherine Schell, Lynn Farleigh, Roy Evans, Hana Maria Pravda |
14 February 1988 |
Follow the Yellow Brick Road |
Nick Hornby |
Dennis Potter |
Andrée Bernard |
6 March 1988 |
Love Birds |
Stephen Whittaker |
Barry Collins |
Stephen Bent, Linda Henry, Shaheen Khan, Paul Bhattacharjee, Lloyd McGuire |
13 March 1988 |
Shadow on the Earth |
Chris Bernard |
David Kane |
Billy Hartman |
27 March 1988 |
Reasonable Force |
Jim Goddard |
Patrick Malahide |
John Hannah, Warren Clarke, Adrian Dunbar, Michael Melia |
3 April 1988 |
The Temptation of Eileen Hughes |
Tristram Powell |
Brian Moore |
Angharad Rees, Birdy Sweeney |
17 April 1988 |
Lucky Sunil |
Michael Caton-Jones |
Andrew Davies |
Kulvinder Ghir, Michelle Collins, Hugh Cornwell, Niamh Cusack, Richenda Carey, Albert Moses, Benjamin Whitrow |
Series Five
TX Date |
Title |
Director |
Writer |
Main cast |
8 January 1989 |
Death of a Son |
Ross Devenish |
Tony Marchant |
Lynn Redgrave, Jay Simpson, Oliver Ford Davies, Frederick Treves, Jerome Willis, Richard Moore, Derek Ware, Roy Evans |
15 January 1989 |
Angel Voices |
Michael Darlow |
Stephen Wakelam |
Michael Williams, Alan Rothwell |
22 January 1989 |
Flying in the Branches |
Eva Kolouchova |
Anna Fodorova |
Ralph Bates, Edita Brychta, Susan Fleetwood, Ian McNeice |
29 January 1989 |
Words of Love |
Colin Nutley |
Philip Norman |
Charlie Creed-Miles, Tom Bell, Liz Smith |
5 February 1989 |
Leaving |
Sandy Johnson |
Daniel Boyle |
Maggie Bell, Paul Young |
12 February 1989 |
Virtuoso |
Tony Smith |
William Humble |
Alfred Molina, Alison Steadman, Philip Locke, Mark Wing-Davey |
19 February 1989 |
The Picnic |
Paul Seed |
Lesley Bruce |
Billie Whitelaw, Iain Glen, Brenda Fricker, Ross Kemp, Phil Smeeton |
26 February 1989 |
The Firm |
Alan Clarke |
Al Hunter Ashton |
Gary Oldman, Lesley Manville, Philip Davis, Steve McFadden |
5 March 1989 |
Here is the News |
Udayan Prasad |
G. F. Newman |
Richard E. Grant, Jim Carter, Heathcote Williams, Michael Melia, Simon Rouse |
12 March 1989 |
Ice Dance |
Alan Dossor |
Stephen Lowe |
Warren Clarke |
19 March 1989 |
Sitting Targets |
Jenny Wilkes |
Peter Ransley |
Gina Bellman, Jonathan Hyde, Phyllis Logan, John Bowe |
26 March 1989 |
Defrosting the Fridge |
Sandy Johnson |
Ray Connolly |
Joe Don Baker, Phyllis Logan, Togo Igawa, Victor Maddern, Russell Floyd |
References
External links