The End of the Summer

Summary

BBC Television production of Denis Constanduros’ The End of the Summer.

Theatre play

The End of the Summer by Denis Constanduros [more information]

Play synopsis

A play based on an incident in the life of the Russian novelist and playwright Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883). It is set in the Viardots’ country home in France, in the 1860s. Turgenev was deeply in love with Madame Viardot who had brought up his daughter Paulinette as part of her own household. The play focuses on the love lives of the younger and older generations.

Production history

Premiere: Nottingham Playhouse, November 1956.

Date of transmission

Sunday 6 January 1957

Time

8.30pm (90 mins)

Series

Sunday-Night Theatre

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Barbara Burnham

Playwright

Denis Constanduros

Designer

Stephen Taylor

Cast

William Devlin (1911-1987)	Monsieur Viardot
Mary Ellis	Madame Pauline Viardot
Barbara Everest	Mrs Innis
Susan Lyall Grant	Didie
Ferdy Mayne	Ivan Turgenev
Naomi Moir	Denise
Dudy Nimmo	Paulinette
Brian Nissen	Herr Muler
Anne Robson	Katrine
David Spenser	Gaston

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

France, as theme or setting; poetry and literature, as theme; Russia (Soviet Union etc), as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

BBC Television: The End of the Summer (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 7 January 1957, p. 12

Title

Christmas past at the BBC: the second half of the 1950s. Part 1 (Blog article)

Author/creator

Amanda Wrigley (Author)

Reference

http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/christmas-past-bbc-1950s-1, published 28 December 2012

Title

Radio Times, 4 January 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

pp. 14-15, listing and article