The Worst Woman in London

Summary: 1965 BBC production of the 19th-century melodrama The Worst Woman in London. This production marked the end of the Gaslight Theatre series of six melodramas from the stage on BBC-2 in 1965.
Theatre play: The Worst Woman in London by Walter Melville [more information]
Play synopsis: This melodrama, one of a series by the author on ‘wicked women’, tells the tale of Francis (and the male spelling is used in the original MS), a woman who manipulates a man.
Production history: None of the playwright’s work was ever printed, says the Radio Times. For the 1965 BBC production, Alec Clunes had to consult a manuscript version in the V&A Museum. First produced in 1899, this play marks the end of the age of melodrama: at its revival four years later there was laughter rather than the conventional hisses and boos.
Date of transmission: Saturday 4 September 1965
Time: 7.05-8.05pm
Series: Gaslight Theatre
Channel: BBC2
Production company: BBC

Producer

Bryan Sears

Playwright

Walter Melville

Adapted for Television by

Alec Clunes

Conductor

Maurice Arnold

Musician

Maurice Arnold (pianoforte)

Musician

Martia Eitler (violin)

Sets / Settings

Jeremy Davies

Advisor

Alec Clunes

Cast

Ronnie Barker	Old Milford / Lugubrious Fireman
Newton Blick	Inspector Curzon of the Yard
Alan Foss	Bob Goldfinch
Joe Gibbons	Bank Clerk / Young Fireman
John Gower	Philip Armstrong / Vincent Lyle
Eira Heath	Ruth Milford
Sandra Michaels	Matilda
Warren Mitchell	Hugh Drayton
Bill Shine	Jack Felton
June Tobin	Francis [sic] Vere de Vere

Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: 19th-century setting; gender roles; melodrama; sexuality (and morality, politics etc)

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