The Orange Orchard

Summary

This 1957 BBC Television production of Eden Phillpotts’ The Orange Orchard was transmitted from the BBC’s West of England television studio.

Theatre play

The Orange Orchard by [Mary] Adelaide Eden Phillpotts (1896-1993) [more information]

Play synopsis

A West Country comedy in which the good health of an elderly farmer’s widow annoys her son and daughter-in-law who want to get their hands on an inheritance, of which she is not yet aware, from an Australian relative. They do their best to hasten her demise, but their plans are thwarted.

Production history

After a radio premiere, this was staged in 1950 at the New Lindsey Theatre.

Date of transmission

Thursday 8 August 1957

Time

8.00-9.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Brandon Acton-Bond

Playwright

[Mary] Adelaide Eden Phillpotts (1896-1993)

Designer

Desmond Chinn

Cast

Frank Atkinson	Mr Pilcher
Wilfred Babbage	Tom White
Constance Chapman	Maude White
Ethel Coleridge	Martha Blanchard
John Drake	Nicholas White
Lewis Gedge	Police Sergeant Caunter
John Levitt	Jimmy
Audrey Noble	Nelly Parsons
Keith Pyott	Reginald Forbes
Jan Stewer	Arthur Brimblecombe
Dorothy White	Ivy Caunter

Additional details

Play tags

comedy; Devon, as theme or setting; inheritance

Print sources

Title

BBC Sets up Natural History Specialist Unit for TV (Newspaper article)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 30 July 1957, p. 7

Title

BBC Television: The Orange Orchard (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 9 August 1957, p. 4

Title

Insults of the Week (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

John Osborne (Reviewer)

Reference

The Observer, 11 August 1957, p. 10

Title

Radio Times, 2 August 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article and listing on pp. 16 and 17

Title

Radio Times, 23 August 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

letter to the Editor on p. 24