Libel

Summary

1948 BBC live studio production of Edward Wooll’s drama Libel.

Theatre play

Libel by Edward Wooll [more information]

Play synopsis

'Well sustained story of double identity, with a unique court scene, and a situation fraught with implications which keep one on the toes. A man has been shell-shocked and the past has been virtually wiped out. He gets in the hands of some schemers, who wait until he has married and gone into Parliament to bring suit against him for posing as someone to whose identity he has no claim.' (Kirkus Review, 1936, available online https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/edward-wooll/libel/; accessed 12 February 2014.)

Production history

First produced at the Playhouse Theatre, London in 1934 and then on Broadway in December 1935. Published London: Samuel French, 1936.

Date of transmission

Thursday 22 April 1948

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Douglas Allen

Playwright

Edward Wooll

Sets / Settings

Stephen Bundy

Cast

Victor Adams	William Bale
Stuart Chedburn	General Winterton
Julian d’Albie	Sir Wilfred Kelling
David Eadie	Major Brampton
Alan [Allan] Goford	George Hemsby
Elizabeth Gray	Lady Loddon
Cyril Hardingham	Usher
Michael Hordern	Sir Mark Loddon
Maxwell Jackson	Numero Quinze
Michael Kent	Mr Justice Tuttington
Godfrey Kenton	Thomas Foxley
Carl Lacey	Captain Gerald Loddon
Harry Lane	Patrick Buckenham
Andrea Malandrinos	Emile Fiordon
Elizabeth Maude	Sarah Carleton
Evelyn Moore	Millicent Winterton
Frederick Ross	Associate
Eric Stocker	Admiral Fairfax Loddon

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.00pm on Friday 23 April 1948.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

American drama; court-room drama; politics

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 16 April 1948 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 24; listing, p. 27