The Young Idea

Summary

1939 BBC studio production of the comedy The Young Idea by Noël Coward.

Theatre play

The Young Idea by Noël Coward (1899-1973) [more information]

Play synopsis

The plot features the precocious siblings Sholto and Gerda trying to rescue their father George from a sterile second marriage and reunite him with their raffish and arty mother, Jennifer. Events take place in George Brent’s house in England and Jennifer Brent’s villa in Italy.

Production history

Written when Noel Coward was 21, this was first staged at the Savoy Theatre, London in 1923 and revived at the St Martin’s in 1931.

Date of transmission

Friday 24 February 1939

Time

3.00-5.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Reginald Smith

Playwright

Noël Coward (1899-1973)

Sets / Settings

Malcolm Baker-Smith

Cast

Dorothy Black	Cicely
Alban Blakelock	Eustace Dabbit
Audrey Cameron	Sibyl Blaith
Hugh Casson	Huddle
Kitty de Leigh	Jennifer
Olga Edwardes	Gerda
Morris Harvey	Hiram J. Walkin
William Hutchison	Claude Eccles
Phoebe Kershaw	Priscilla Hartleberry
Lena Maitland	Julia Cragworthy; Maria
Kenneth Morgan	Sholto
Thorley Walters	Rodney Masters
Cecil Winter	George Brent

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 9.00pm on Tuesday 28 February 1939.

Notes

''A completely enjoyable two hours of high comedy’, considered Joyce Grenfell ('Broadcasting: Television’, 5 March 1939, p. 11).

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy; Italy, as theme or setting; marriage

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting: Television (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Joyce Grenfell (Author)

Reference

The Observer, 5 March 1939, p. 11

Title

Radio Times, 17 February 1939 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 17