Caesar’s Friend

Summary: 1939 BBC studio production of Caesar’s Friend, Campbell Dixon and Dermot Morrah’s re-telling of the story of Pontius Pilate.
Theatre play: Caesar’s Friend by Campbell Dixon and Dermot Morrah [more information]
Play synopsis: The story of Pontius Pilate told in modern dialogue, with Pilate depicted sympathetically as the central character.
Production history: First produced at London’s Westminster Theatre in 1933 in a production that transferred to the Piccadilly.
Date of transmission: Sunday 2 April 1939
Time: 9.05-10.35pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Campbell Dixon

Playwright

Dermot Morrah

Cast

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Notes: In both the original Westminster Theatre production and in its transfer to the Piccadilly in 1933, D. A. Clarke-Smith played Pontius Pilate and Mary O’Farrell took the role of Claudia Procula. The producer of this television version played Lucius Licinius Cotta in the West End transfer.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: ancient Rome and colonies; biblical stories; Christianity; religion, as theme or subject

Title: Televised Drama: Caesar’s Friend (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Anon. (Author)
Reference: The Times, 6 April 1939, p. 10
Notes: 'The more conversational passages [...] showed that the new medium may permit of a greater subtlety both of tone and of facial expression than the stage; [...] The trial scene, on the other hand, showed some of the limitations of television in its present state. The field of view of the cameras was awkwardly narrow.'

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