Caesar’s Friend

Summary

1947 BBC studio production of the re-telling of the Passion by Campbell Dixon and Dermot Morrah.

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

Thursday 1 May 1947

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Campbell Dixon

Playwright

Dermot Morrah

Cast

Madge Brindley	Zillah
Howleson Culff	Gamaliel
Aubrey Dexter	Marcus Horatius Balhus
Edwin Ellis	Roman Sentry
Frank Foster	Peter
John Harvey	Joseph of Arimathea
Alan Judd	Lucius Licinius Cotta
Stanley Lemin	Decurion
Mary Martlew	Marcella
Joan Maude	Mary, a woman of Magdala
André Morell	Sextus Pontius Pilate
Norman Prince	Damon
Margaretta Scott	Claudia Procula
Anthony Sharp	Annas
Kevin Sheldon	Malchus
Abraham Sofaer	Joseph Caiaphas
Alan Wheatley	Judas

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

ancient Rome and colonies; biblical stories; Christianity; religion, as theme or subject

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 25 April 1947 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 23 and article by ‘The Scanner’, p. 5