The Visitors

Summary

1961 Granada Television production for ITV of the Russian play The Visitors by Leonid Zorin.

Theatre play

The Visitors by Leonid Zorin [more information]

Play synopsis

'Zorin points to faults in the Soviet system. Using a story that contrasts three generations, he shows the decline of the early revolutionary ideals. His play attacks the fear of not following the party line. The story opens in the turmoil of a family reunion. Pyotr is a high official in the Ministry of Justice. He belongs to the new elite, with the special privileges - and the corruption - of exalted position. But he lives with fear nudging him on’ (TV Times, 15 December 1961, p. 10).

Production history

First staged in Moscow in 1954.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 19 December 1961

Time

9.35-11.05pm

Series

Play of the Week

Channel

ITV

Production company

Granada Television (1956-)

Credits

Director

Vladek Sheybal

Playwright

Leonid Zorin

Adapted for Television by

William Slater

Translator

Michael Glenny

Designer

Darrell Lass

Cast

Walter Brown	Pavel Trubin
Lucinda Curtis	Elena
Peter Dyneley	Pyotr
Leslie French	Pokrovsky
Zoe Hicks	Nina
Oliver Johnston	Alexei
Neil McCallum	Sergei
Mary Morris	Varvara
Susan Richards	Vera
Geoffrey Tetlow	Hotel Clerk
Alan Tucker	Tyoma

Additional details

Play tags

Russia (Soviet Union etc), as theme or setting; Russian drama

Print sources

Title

TV Times, 15 December 1961 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 10; listing, p. 23