Heaven and Charing Cross

Summary

1950 BBC live studio production of Heaven and Charing Cross, Aubrey Danvers-Walker’s drama of lower middle-class London life.

Theatre play

Heaven and Charing Cross by Aubrey Danvers-Walker [more information]

Play synopsis

Set in the back-room of a tobacconist’s shop in London, this is a family drama set in play by the arrival of a young woman Bella, who has been invited by Charlie to the birthday party of his mother.

Production history

Presented at the Players’ Theatre in 1938 and then at St Martin’s Theatre, London.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 8 August 1950

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Stephen Harrison

Playwright

Aubrey Danvers-Walker

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Michael Brennan	Eddie Norman
John Derrick	Detective-Inspector Regan
Dorothy Gordon	Lily Norman
Rowena Gregory	Bella Wilson
Arthur Hambling	Mr Norman
Natalie Jordan	Fanny Norman
Barbara Leake	Miss Knaggs
Hilary Liddell	Beatrice Peck
James Ottaway	Victor Peck
Oscar Quitak	Charlie Norman
Vi Stevens	Mrs Burgess
Joan Young	Mrs Norman

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Notes

According to Radio Times (4 August 1950, p. 36) extracts of the play were presented on television from Alexandra Palace before the war, when the producer was Royston Morley. The Screen Plays database does not presently have a record of this broadcast.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 4 August 1950 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 38; article by Lionel Hale, ‘A Cockney Tragedy’, p. 37; article, p. 36