The Barretts of Wimpole Street

Summary

1951 BBC production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier.

Theatre play

The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier (1878-1942) [more information]

Play synopsis

The story of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning’s courtship and her tyrant father’s unwillingness to allow them to marry.

Production history

This play, Besier’s only major success, premiered at the Malvern Festival of 1930, produced by Sir Barry Jackson.

Date of transmission

Sunday 14 October 1951

Time

8.45-10.50pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Harold Clayton

Playwright

Rudolf Besier (1878-1942)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Peter Bathurst	Henry Bevan
Eileen Beldon	Wilson
Grey Blake	Captain Surtees Cook
Cecil Brock	Charles Moulton Barrett
D. A. Clarke-Smith	Edward Moulton Barrett
Maurice Colbourne	Dr Ford Waterlow
Betty Cooper	Arabel Moulton Barrett
John Fabian	Septimus Moulton Barrett
Elizabeth Hunt	Bella Hedley
Pauline Jameson	Elizabeth Moulton Barrett
Griffith Jones	Robert Browning
Patricia Marmont	Henrietta Moulton Barrett
Denis McCarthy	Henry Moulton Barrett
Michael Reddington	Octavius Moulton Barrett
Arnold Ridley	Dr Chambers
Michael Rose	George Moulton Barrett
David Stoll	Alfred Moulton Barrett

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again on Thursday 18 October 1951 at 8.00pm.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; poetry and literature, as theme

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 12 October 1951 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and article, p. 48