When We Are Married

Summary

1949 BBC live studio production of J. B. Priestley’s Yorkshire comedy When We Are Married.

Theatre play

When We Are Married by J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) [more information]

Play synopsis

The action takes place in 1908 in Yorkshire: ‘A group of old friends, all married on the same day in the same chapel, [gather] at the Helliwells’ home to celebrate their silver anniversary. When they discover that they are not legally married, each couple initially reacts with proper Victorian horror - what will the neighbours think? - but soon all three couples find themselves reevaluating their marriages. In the end, of course, everything turns out well, and the play ends on a happy note’ (http://www.stageagent.com/Shows/View/4899).

Production history

Premiered at London’s St Martin’s Theatre in October 1938.

Date of transmission

Sunday 10 July 1949

Time

8.30-10.15pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

John Glyn-Jones

Playwright

J. B. Priestley (1894-1984)

Sets / Settings

James Bould

Cast

Michael Ashwin	Gerald Forbes
Eileen Beldon	Clara Soppitt
Ernest Butcher	Herbert Soppitt
Ernest Clark	Councillor Albert Parker
Colleen England	Nancy Holmes
Cameron Hall	Henry Ormonroyd
Patricia Hayes	Ruby Birtle
Joan Hickson	Mrs Northrop
Jack Howarth	Alderman Joseph Helliwell
Jack Lester	Fred Dyson
Daphne Maddox	Lottie Grady
Michael Nightingale	Rev. Clement Mercer
Helena Pickard	Annie Parker
Marjorie Rhodes	Maria Helliwell

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 8.45pm on Friday 15 July 1949.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy; marriage; north of England, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 8 July 1949 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 26; article by Lionel Hale, ‘Mr Priestley’s Yorkshire Comedy’, p. 25; brief article, p. 24