Viceroy Sarah

Summary

1938 BBC Television studio production of Norman Ginsbury’s Viceroy Sarah, a historical drama about Sarah Churchill, wife of the Duke of Marlborough.

Theatre play

Viceroy Sarah by Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991) [more information]

Play synopsis

Historical drama about Sarah Churchill, wife of the Duke of Marlborough. The play details ‘the warfare in the court for the control of Queen Anne. At the beginning of the play Sarah Churchill is in power, and the subsequent scenes trace her rise to obstreperous omnipotence, and then her decline and final collapse before the growing influence of her kinswoman, Mrs. Masham.' Source: ‘Stage and Screen: The Theatre’, The Spectator, 22 February 1935, p. 14.

Production history

First performed at the Arts Theatre, Club, 27 May 1934, then at the Whitehall Theatre, London, from 13 February 1935. Published in Famous Plays of 1934-35, London: Victor Gollancz, 1935.

Date of transmission

Sunday 15 May 1938

Time

9.25pm (60 mins)

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Norman Ginsbury (1902-1991)

Cast

Mark Dignam	Colonel Parke
Margaret Emden	Mrs Danvers
Barbara Everest	Queen Anne
W. E. Holloway	Lord Godolphin
Felix Irwin	Robert Harley
Olga Lindo	Abigail Hill (Mrs Masham)
Olaf Olsen	George, Prince of Denmark

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Re-presented at 3pm on Friday 20 May 1938.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

18th-century setting; historical drama

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting: Light Music and a Play (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Times, 20 May 1938, p. 14

Title

Radio Times, 13 May 1938 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 16