Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

Theatre play

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler [more information]

Play synopsis

The play is set in the State of Victoria, Australia. The scene is a double-storied terraced cottage during the hot weather of December 1952. This is the seventeenth summer that Roo and Barney, two cane-cutters, have come south to spend their five months of lay-off from work with two girlfriends. This summer, however, things have changed: Roo is feeling his age and Barney’s girlfriend has deserted him for marriage with another.

Production history

First performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, on 28 November 1955. First London performance: 30 April 1957. Turned into an Australian-British film directed by Leslie Norman in 1959.

Date of transmission

Wednesday 28 October 1964

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Playwright

Ray Lawler

Additional details

Play tags

ageing; Australian drama

Audiovisual sources

Title

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (BBC, 1964)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.