A Soldier for Christmas

Summary

1950 BBC live stuudio production for Christmas Eve of Reginald Beckwith’s wartime comedy A Soldier for Christmas.

Theatre play

A Soldier for Christmas by Reginald Beckwith [more information]

Play synopsis

'Although it is a wartime Christmas in this pleasant comedy when a Canadian soldier comes to stay at the Fergusons’ country house, the war is far away. What effect does the simple young soldier have on the household? And when Milly, the N.A.A.F.I. girl, is billeted there too, is it she or the daughter of the house who captivates him?' (Lionel Hale, ‘The Best Fairy Story in the World’, Radio Times, 22 December 1944, p. 47).

Production history

Performed at the Playhouse, London in October-November 1944.

Date of transmission

Sunday 24 December 1950

Time

8.20-10.05pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Douglas Allen

Playwright

Reginald Beckwith

Sets / Settings

James Bould

Cast

Robert Beatty	Pte William Mackenzie
Esmé Church	Mrs Jones
Janet Cottam	Child
Jessie Evans	Milly Smith
Keith Faulkner	Carol Singer
Roger Field	Carol Singer
Anthony Forwood	Ronald Vines
Rachel Gurney	Phoebe Ferguson
Joan Harben	Brenda Nicholls
Jimmy Holland	Carol Singer / Child
Noel Howlett	Mr Ferguson
Evelyn Moore	Postwoman
Susan Richmond	Lady Doubeny
Heather Thatcher	Mrs Ferguson
Frances Waring	Mrs Jarvis

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

Christmas; comedy; Second World War, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 22 December 1950 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 48; article by Lionel Hale, ‘The Best Fairy Story in the World’, p. 47