Grand National Night

Summary

BBC Television production of the thriller Grand National Night, presented in the Sunday-Night Theatre strand.

Theatre play

Grand National Night by Dorothy Christie and Campbell Christie (1893-1963) [more information]

Play synopsis

Setting: Liverpool. Racehorse orainer Gerald Coates kills his wife Babs during an argument. Gerald is likeable and successful; Babs, however, is an alcoholic. Their marriage is on the rocks. The play is less a whodunnit than a question of whether he will get away with her death.

Production history

Dated to 1946.

Date of transmission

Sunday 6 July 1958

Time

8.00pm (75 mins)

Series

Sunday-Night Theatre

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Alan Bromly

Playwright

Campbell Christie (1893-1963)

Playwright

Dorothy Christie

Designer

Roy Oxley

Cast

Tony Britton	Gerald Coates
Victor Brooks	Detective Inspector Ayling
Edward Dentith	Sergeant Gibson
June Ellis	Pinkie Collins
Vanda Godsell	Babs Coates
Frank Lawless	Buns Darling
Frank Pemberton	Policeman
Llewellyn Rees	Morton
John Sharplin	Philip Balfour
Barbara Shelley	Joyce Penrose

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

crime; murder; north of England, as theme or setting; thriller

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 4 July 1958 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and article on p. 9, with photograph

Title

Theatrical Appeal of Television Play: Grand National Night (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 7 July 1958, p. 12