The Government Inspector

Summary

BBC Television production of Gogol’s The Government Inspector.

Theatre play

The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol [more information]

Play synopsis

'A comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Inspector).

Production history

First published in 1836.

Date of transmission

Sunday 9 February 1958

Time

8.30pm

Series

Television World Theatre

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Alan Bromly

Playwright

Nikolai Gogol

Adaptor of Script

Barry Thomas

Translator

D. J. Campbell

Designer

Stephen Taylor

Cast

Reginald Barratt	Yosif
Douglas Blackwell	First Constable
Alexis Bobrinskoy	Gendarme
Wilfrid Brambell	The Postmaster
Helen Christie	Anna
Peter Copley (1915-2008)	School Superintendent
Hamilton Dyce	Third Merchant
John Gill	Dobchinsky
Tony Hancock	Hlestakov
Reginald Hearne	Polive Superintendent
Denis Holmes	Second Merchant
Noel Howlett	The Judge
Harold Kasket	Abdulin, a Merchant
Gertan Klauber	Mishka
Philip Leaver	Health Commissioner
Susan Maryott	Marya
John Phillips	The Mayor
Michael Segal	Bobchinsky
Frank Sieman	Innkeeper
Dervis Ward	Second Constable

Additional details

Notes

This production is estimated to have been seen by 9.5 million viewers (source: ‘Cost to BBC of Competitive Television’, The Times, 13 March 1958, p. 14).

Play tags

19th-century setting; comedy; politics; Russia (Soviet Union etc), as theme or setting; Russian drama

Audiovisual sources

Title

The Government Inspector (BBC, 1958)

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.

Print sources

Title

Cost to BBC of Competitive Television (Newspaper article)

Author/creator

Anonymous

Reference

The Times, 13 March 1958, p. 14

Title

Lao-tse Bronowski (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Maurice Richardson (Reviewer)

Reference

The Observer, 16 February 1958, p. 12

Title

Radio Times, 7 February 1958 (Magazine)

Linking notes

cover image; articles on pp. 5 and 7; listing on p. 9

Title

The Government Inspector: Bubbling Comedy (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 10 February 1958, p. 4

Title

Two Television Plays: The Government Inspector (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 10 February 1958, p. 3