The Holly and the Ivy

Summary: BBC Television production of Wynyard Barry Browne’s Christmas drama The Holly and the Ivy.
Theatre play: The Holly and the Ivy by Wynyard Barry Browne (1911-1964) [more information]
Play synopsis: A heart-warming Christmas drama. ‘Set around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1947, the story follows the family of elderly Reverend Martin Gregory as they gather together for Christmas. The faithful daughter, her estranged sister, the son in the army (not to mention two bickering old aunts), make sure it’s certainly a festive period to remember! Simmering tensions, incredible revelations, and a good dose of humour make this an absorbing and uplifting drama for the whole family’ (source: http://www.middlegroundtheatre.co.uk/index-page243.html, accessed 12 November 2012).
Production history: The Holly and the Ivy was first produced at the Duchess Theatre in London in 1950, and it is said to have been considered by Ivor Brown to be ‘the most acute play of middle-class manners since Priestley’s The Linden Tree’ (quoted in Mark Connelly, Christmas: A History, London: Tauris, 2012, p. 184). It was later made into a film, for which the playwright also wrote the screenplay, directed by George More O’Ferrall (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynyard_Browne, accessed 12 November 2012).
Date of transmission: Friday 23 December 1955
Time: 8.45pm (90 mins)
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Barbara Burnham

Playwright

Wynyard Barry Browne (1911-1964)

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Designer

Cast

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

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