The Dear Departed

Summary

1938 BBC Television studio production of Stanley Houghton’s one-act comedy The Dear Departed.

Theatre play

The Dear Departed by Stanley Houghton (1881-1913) [more information]

Play synopsis

The action takes place in a north-country town on a Saturday afternoon. Two sisters believe that their grandfather has died, so they divide his possessions. To their surprise, the grandfather wakes from his slumber and makes it clear to his daughters that he is not going to give them anything

Production history

First performed at the Gaiety Theatre, Manchester on 2 November 1908.Published London: Samuel French, 1910.

Date of transmission

Saturday 1 October 1938

Time

9.45-10.10pm (25 mins)

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Fred O’Donovan (1889-1952)

Playwright

Stanley Houghton (1881-1913)

Cast

Jane Barrett	Victoria Slater
Janet Barrow	Mrs Jordan
Edgar K. Bruce	Ben Jordan
Lawrence Hanray	Abel Merryweather
Laura Smithson	Mrs Slater
Charles Victor	Henry Slater

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.35pm on Wednesday 5 October 1938.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy; inheritance; north of England, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting: Last Promenade Concert (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Times, 1 October 1938, p. 10

Title

Radio Times, 23 September 1938 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 18