During the 1970s the BBC had several different one-off anthology drama series. BBC1's "Play for Today", which aired weekly, mostly consisted of dramas between 50 and 100 minutes long, generally specially written for television and dealing with some aspect of contemporary British life, although there were exceptions. "Play of the Month", as its title suggests, was broadcast monthly, and mostly consisted of adaptations for television of stage plays or novels; many of them dealt with historical subjects. "Play of the Week", which borrowed the title of a defunct ITV series, was a short-lived series which ran between 1976 and 1978; its content was similar to that of "Play for Today" but was broadcast on BBC2. (In the seventies the two channels, although both part of the overall BBC structure, had different identities).
"Second City Firsts", like its predecessor "Thirty Minute Theatre", also dealt with contemporary British life, but its offerings were much shorter, at around half and hour in length. The title derives from the fact that the plays were filmed at the BBC's studios in Birmingham, the UK's second-largest city, and were being shown on television for the first time. (Many were the first plays written by their authors). "Second City Firsts" suffered badly from the BBC's short-sighted policy of wiping old videotapes; out of a total of 53 episodes, 25 are currently missing. Perhaps their very brevity made the Beeb feel that they were not worth keeping; out of more than a hundred "Plays for Today" made during the same period only seven are missing.
"Glitter" was one of three "Second City Firsts" recently repeated on BBC4. It is about two showbiz-mad teenagers, guitarist Barry and vocalist Sue. ("Sue" is the name given in the cast-list, although at one point Barry refers to her as "Marie"). They break into the BBC studios to see their holy of holies, the studio where "Top of the Pops" is filmed. (For those too young to remember, "Top of the Pops" was the Beeb's main pop music television programme at the time. During the seventies it was regarded as required viewing by most British teenagers, although my friends and I made a point of not watching it as part of our protest against what we saw as the shallowness of contemporary youth culture).
Inside the studio Barry and Sue meet Ray Gutberg, a self-important and presumably fictitious rock star, who appears to be under the influence of alcohol (or possibly something stronger) and Noel Edmonds, a real-life DJ and television presenter, being his normal smarmy self. Cut to a scene between Sue and her mother having one of those concerned-parent-versus-rebellious-teenager conversations over the kitchen table, from which it appears that the scene in the TV studio may be something that Sue either dreamt or imagined.
And that's about it. Not a lot of plot. The best thing about it is probably a young Toyah Willcox as Sue, showing the vocal talent that would make her a star a few years later, but I still can't really imagine why BBC4 chose this as part of its selection. The other two "Second City Firsts" it showed, "Girl" and "Club Havana", were a lot better.
"Second City Firsts", like its predecessor "Thirty Minute Theatre", also dealt with contemporary British life, but its offerings were much shorter, at around half and hour in length. The title derives from the fact that the plays were filmed at the BBC's studios in Birmingham, the UK's second-largest city, and were being shown on television for the first time. (Many were the first plays written by their authors). "Second City Firsts" suffered badly from the BBC's short-sighted policy of wiping old videotapes; out of a total of 53 episodes, 25 are currently missing. Perhaps their very brevity made the Beeb feel that they were not worth keeping; out of more than a hundred "Plays for Today" made during the same period only seven are missing.
"Glitter" was one of three "Second City Firsts" recently repeated on BBC4. It is about two showbiz-mad teenagers, guitarist Barry and vocalist Sue. ("Sue" is the name given in the cast-list, although at one point Barry refers to her as "Marie"). They break into the BBC studios to see their holy of holies, the studio where "Top of the Pops" is filmed. (For those too young to remember, "Top of the Pops" was the Beeb's main pop music television programme at the time. During the seventies it was regarded as required viewing by most British teenagers, although my friends and I made a point of not watching it as part of our protest against what we saw as the shallowness of contemporary youth culture).
Inside the studio Barry and Sue meet Ray Gutberg, a self-important and presumably fictitious rock star, who appears to be under the influence of alcohol (or possibly something stronger) and Noel Edmonds, a real-life DJ and television presenter, being his normal smarmy self. Cut to a scene between Sue and her mother having one of those concerned-parent-versus-rebellious-teenager conversations over the kitchen table, from which it appears that the scene in the TV studio may be something that Sue either dreamt or imagined.
And that's about it. Not a lot of plot. The best thing about it is probably a young Toyah Willcox as Sue, showing the vocal talent that would make her a star a few years later, but I still can't really imagine why BBC4 chose this as part of its selection. The other two "Second City Firsts" it showed, "Girl" and "Club Havana", were a lot better.