And No Birds Sing

Summary

1951 BBC live studio production of And No Birds Sing by Jenny Laird and John Fernald.

Theatre play

And No Birds Sing by Jenny [Jeannie?] Laird and John Fernald [more information]

Play synopsis

A light comedy set in Dr Elizabeth Payling’s house in London, a year or two after the Second World War. The Radio Times (2 May 1958, p. 23) describes her as having ‘advanced theories about the minds and bodies of her slum patients’.

Production history

Performed at the Aldwych Theatre in 1946 and published in 1947.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 9 January 1951

Time

8.15-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Campbell Logan

Playwright

John Fernald

Playwright

Jenny [Jeannie?] Laird

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Norma Adams	A Policewoman
Derek Blomfield	The Reverend Arthur Platt
Andrew Crawford	Kenneth Tweedie
Leslie Dwyer	Albert Briggs
Jonathan Field	Howard Twigge
Patricia Fryer	Susan Catch
John Garside	Dr William Sykes
Helen Haye	Mrs Emily Heron
Joyce Heron	Dr Elizabeth Payling
Tilsa Page	Pauline Banks
Hector Ross	George Shilling

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

class issues / differences; comedy; medical drama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 5 January 1951 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 45 and article by Lionel Hale, ‘Fun and Verbal Fireowrks’, p. 43