So Much To Do

Summary

1938 BBC Television studio production of H. R. Barbor’s So Much To Do, a play about Cecil Rhodes, adapted and produced for television by Jan Bussell.

Theatre play

So Much To Do by Herbert Reginald Barbor [more information]

Play synopsis

A study of the career Cecil Rhodes, in which he is seen as a digger in the diamond fields of South Africa, a politician, financier, pioneer and educationalist.

Production history

Written for the theatre and acquired in 1930 for a London production by C. B. Cochran, although it is unclear whether it was ever staged or published.

Date of transmission

Monday 16 May 1938

Time

3.00pm (90 mins)

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Jan Bussell

Playwright

Herbert Reginald Barbor

Adapted for Television by

Jan Bussell

Cast

Frank Pettingell	Paul Kruger
John Ruddock	Leander Starr Jameson
Otto Wallen	Mziligazi
Arthur Young	Cecil Rhodes

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Re-presented at 9.20pm on Tuesday 17 May 1938.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

British Empire and colonies; historical drama; South Africa, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting: Chamber Music and Variety (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Times, 16 May 1938, p. 10

Title

Radio Times, 13 May 1938 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 16