A Likely Tale

Summary: This BBC presentation of a 45-minute extract from Gerald Savory’s new comedy A Likely Tale was transmitted from the Globe Theatre, London, where it was enjoying its premiere run.
Theatre play: A Likely Tale by Gerald Savory (1909-1996) [more information]
Play synopsis: The scene of this comedy is a Victorian house near Wimbledon Common. ‘The old man is dying. His three adult children attend him. To keep them on their toes and out of malice he keeps changing his will in favour of a different offspring. His grandson Jonah arrives and is determined to get into the will by sucking up to his grandfather. But grandfather’s eye has been caught by the new maid and in his latest will he leaves everything to her. Jonah turns his attention to one of his aunts thinking that if he seduces her he might get his hands on some of the property that way. It turns out that there is no money left and nobody will get anything from the will’ (source: http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/savory-gerald.html#30885).
Production history: Grand Theatre, Blackpool, January 1956.
Date of transmission: Monday 23 April 1956
Time: 8.00pm (45 mins)
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Director

Peter Ashmore

Television Presentation by

Dennis Monger

Playwright

Gerald Savory (1909-1996)

Decor

Motley

Cast

Violet Farebrother	Lola Petersham
Robert Morley (1908-1992)	Oswald Petersham / Jonah Petersham
Judy Parfitt	Ursula Bludgeon
Richard Pearson	Gregory Lupton
Margaret Rutherford	Mirabelle Petersham

Title: A Likely Start to A Likely Tale - But Then a Decline (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Philip Hope-Wallace (Reviewer)
Reference: The Manchester Guardian, 23 March 1956, p. 11
Linking notes: n.b. this is a review of the stage production, not the televised excerpt.

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