Robert’s Wife

Summary

1948 BBC live studio production of St John Ervine’s drama Robert’s Wife.

Theatre play

Robert’s Wife by St John [Greer] Ervine (1883-1971) [more information]

Play synopsis

Set in an industrial town in the South of England, in 1937, Robert’s Wife is a play about the marriage and careers of Robert and Sanchia Carson. The doctor Sanchia’s birth-control clinic becomes an issue which threatens to affect Robert’s chance of advancement in the Church. A further complication is brought by the militant left-wing pacifist Bob, Robert’s son from his first marriage.

Production history

First staged in 1937.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 5 October 1948

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

St John [Greer] Ervine (1883-1971)

Cast

Frank Coburn	Dick Jones
Margaret Delamere	Mrs Jones
Walter Fitzgerald	Bishop of Winterbury
Anne Gunning	Anne
Joan Harben	Miss Orley
Douglas Hurn	Bob
E. J. Kennedy	Chief Inspector John Lindsey
Sam Lysons	Inspector Futvoye
André Morell	Rev. Robert Carson
Diana Morgan	Sanchia Carson
Joseph O’Conor	Rev. Arthur Jefferson
Jill Raymond	June Hanvey
Margaret Scudamore	Mrs Armitage

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.00pm on Monday 11 October 1948.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

Christianity; marriage; sexuality (and morality, politics etc)

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 1 October 1948 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 26; article, p. 24