Saturday Playhouse

Saturday Playhouse was a 60-minute UK anthology television series produced by and airing on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 4 January 1958 until 1 April 1961. There were sixty-eight episodes, among them adaptations of the plays The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Cat and the Canary. One of the episodes, Alex Atkinson’s classic thriller Design for Murder, was featured twice on the BBC: first on Saturday Playhouse (Saturday, 15 March 1958; S1/Ep.6) and again from the BBC's own theatre in Bristol (Thursday, 6 July 1961).

Episodes

Cast

S1.E1 ∙ The Man Upstairs

1. S1.E1 ∙ The Man Upstairs

4th Jan 1958

An anthology series of dramatisations of plays.

S1.E2 ∙ The Distaff Side

2. S1.E2 ∙ The Distaff Side

11th Jan 1958

An upper middle-class family is ruled by the ancient and churlish matriarch. Her daughters' marriages are all in jeopardy, with affairs and communions with the dead. It's difficult to find any solitude or sanity in the family.

S1.E3 ∙ Heroes Don't Care

3. S1.E3 ∙ Heroes Don't Care

18th Jan 1958

S1.E4 ∙ Britannia of Billingsgate

4. S1.E4 ∙ Britannia of Billingsgate

25th Jan 1958

S1.E5 ∙ The Corn Is Green

5. S1.E5 ∙ The Corn Is Green

1st Feb 1958

A spinster schoolteacher arrives in a Welsh mining valley and discovers a boy genius in her class.

S1.E6 ∙ Design for Murder

6. S1.E6 ∙ Design for Murder

8th Feb 1958

S1.E7 ∙ My Flesh, My Blood

7. S1.E7 ∙ My Flesh, My Blood

15th Feb 1958

S1.E8 ∙ Ladies in Retirement

8. S1.E8 ∙ Ladies in Retirement

22nd Feb 1958

Ellen Creed struggles to hold down her job as housekeeper-companion to the retired actress Leonora Fiske whilst trying to protect her two disturbed sisters from the threat of incarceration.

S1.E9 ∙ A Likely Tale

9. S1.E9 ∙ A Likely Tale

1st Mar 1958

A dying old man changes his will to leave everything to the new housemaid who has caught his eye, much to the alarm of his three grown up children and grandson.

S1.E10 ∙ And No Birds Sing

10. S1.E10 ∙ And No Birds Sing

8th Mar 1958

S1.E11 ∙ Carry On, Admiral

11. S1.E11 ∙ Carry On, Admiral

15th Mar 1958

The action takes place in a bedroom in a Portsmouth hotel, the wardroom of H.M.S. Sherwood, and the living-room at Admiralty House.

S1.E12 ∙ French Without Tears

12. S1.E12 ∙ French Without Tears

22nd Mar 1958

The love affairs of three young Englishmen at a language cramming school in the south of France. Diana, the sister of one of the boys, arrives in town to flirt with all of her brothers' schoolmates.

S1.E13 ∙ High Heaven

13. S1.E13 ∙ High Heaven

29th Mar 1958

S1.E14 ∙ The Ware Case

14. S1.E14 ∙ The Ware Case

5th Apr 1958

A financier is accused of murder when his brother-in-law is found dead in his garden pond. After winning the court case he returns home to find that his lawyer has romantic inclinations towards his wife.

S1.E15 ∙ The Fourth Wall

15. S1.E15 ∙ The Fourth Wall

12th Apr 1958

The host of a dinner party is murdered.

S1.E16 ∙ Dr. Angelus

16. S1.E16 ∙ Dr. Angelus

19th Apr 1958

S1.E17 ∙ A Young Affair

17. S1.E17 ∙ A Young Affair

26th Apr 1958

S1.E18 ∙ The Dover Road

18. S1.E18 ∙ The Dover Road

13th Sep 1958

A wealthy man lives on the Dover Road, a traditional path of elopers. His practice of forcing such couples to see one another in the sober light of home life in his house leads to a personal involvement for him.

S1.E19 ∙ Day of Retirement

19. S1.E19 ∙ Day of Retirement

20th Sep 1958

S1.E20 ∙ A Private Eye for Pennsylvania

20. S1.E20 ∙ A Private Eye for Pennsylvania

27th Sep 1958

S1.E21 ∙ Four for Solitaire

21. S1.E21 ∙ Four for Solitaire

25th Oct 1958

S1.E22 ∙ Trespass

22. S1.E22 ∙ Trespass

22nd Nov 1958

S1.E23 ∙ The Duke in Darkness

23. S1.E23 ∙ The Duke in Darkness

6th Dec 1958

A duke imprisoned for 15 years in a castle in France feigns blindness for five years to lull the suspicions of his captors in order to plan his escape.

S1.E24 ∙ The Magistrate

24. S1.E24 ∙ The Magistrate

20th Dec 1958

A widow weds a magistrate and makes her 19-year-old son act as a boy.

S1.E25 ∙ So Many Children

25. S1.E25 ∙ So Many Children

27th Dec 1958

S1.E26 ∙ Trilby

26. S1.E26 ∙ Trilby

17th Jan 1959

in 19th-century Paris, a sinister hypnotist tries to turn a simple Irish girl into an opera star.

S1.E27 ∙ Murder on the Agenda

27. S1.E27 ∙ Murder on the Agenda

14th Feb 1959

Eynon Evans plays the part of Inspector Probert George, who was tortured in a prisoner-of-war camp when his plans for escape were discovered, is dead after five years in a mental home. His five fellow prisoners had sworn that if George died they would kill the man who had betrayed him to the Germans. But which of them was to do the killing? And how?

S1.E28 ∙ Golden Rain

28. S1.E28 ∙ Golden Rain

28th Feb 1959

S1.E29 ∙ While the Sun Shines

29. S1.E29 ∙ While the Sun Shines

28th Mar 1959

S1.E30 ∙ The Cat and the Canary

30. S1.E30 ∙ The Cat and the Canary

9th May 1959

At an old, dark house, on a dark and stormy night, an ill-assorted group of people meet for the reading of a millionaire's will. But there's a madman on the loose.

S1.E31 ∙ The Larford Lad

31. S1.E31 ∙ The Larford Lad

20th Jun 1959

The story of a young boxer's rise to fame.

S1.E32 ∙ Black Chiffon

32. S1.E32 ∙ Black Chiffon

4th Jul 1959

A woman who has an absolutely untarnished reputation unaccountably steals a black-chiffon nightgown days before her son's wedding.

S1.E33 ∙ My Young Brother

33. S1.E33 ∙ My Young Brother

18th Jul 1959

S1.E34 ∙ Love and Miss Figgis

34. S1.E34 ∙ Love and Miss Figgis

1st Aug 1959

S1.E35 ∙ Unfinished Journey

35. S1.E35 ∙ Unfinished Journey

8th Aug 1959

S1.E36 ∙ The Cathedral

36. S1.E36 ∙ The Cathedral

15th Aug 1959

S1.E37 ∙ Last Day in Dreamland

37. S1.E37 ∙ Last Day in Dreamland

29th Aug 1959

S1.E38 ∙ It Isn't Enough

38. S1.E38 ∙ It Isn't Enough

26th Sep 1959

S1.E39 ∙ Haul for the Shore

39. S1.E39 ∙ Haul for the Shore

24th Oct 1959

S1.E40 ∙ Bed and Breakfast

40. S1.E40 ∙ Bed and Breakfast

21st Nov 1959

S1.E41 ∙ The Farmer's Wife

41. S1.E41 ∙ The Farmer's Wife

5th Dec 1959

After his daughter weds, a middle-aged widower with a profitable farm decides to remarry but finds choosing a suitable mate a problematic process.

S1.E42 ∙ Through a Glass Darkly

42. S1.E42 ∙ Through a Glass Darkly

19th Dec 1959

S1.E43 ∙ Conflict at Kalanadi

43. S1.E43 ∙ Conflict at Kalanadi

16th Jan 1960

S1.E44 ∙ The Difficult Age

44. S1.E44 ∙ The Difficult Age

30th Jan 1960

S1.E45 ∙ Going Like a Fox

45. S1.E45 ∙ Going Like a Fox

13th Feb 1960

S1.E46 ∙ The Return of Peggy Atherton

46. S1.E46 ∙ The Return of Peggy Atherton

27th Feb 1960

S1.E47 ∙ Home and the Heart

47. S1.E47 ∙ Home and the Heart

12th Mar 1960

S1.E48 ∙ A Matter of Age

48. S1.E48 ∙ A Matter of Age

26th Mar 1960

S1.E49 ∙ Devonshire Cream

49. S1.E49 ∙ Devonshire Cream

9th Apr 1960

S1.E50 ∙ The Country Boy

50. S1.E50 ∙ The Country Boy

23rd Apr 1960

S1.E51 ∙ The Man Who Came to Dinner

51. S1.E51 ∙ The Man Who Came to Dinner

7th May 1960

Sheridan Whiteside, famous as an author, broadcaster and expert on just about everything, is invited to dinner by a pompous small-town businessman - and stays rather longer than anyone anticipated.

S1.E52 ∙ Marriage Settlement

52. S1.E52 ∙ Marriage Settlement

21st May 1960

S1.E53 ∙ The Guinea Pig

53. S1.E53 ∙ The Guinea Pig

4th Jun 1960

A working-class boy gets a scholarship to a public school.

S1.E54 ∙ The Breadwinner

54. S1.E54 ∙ The Breadwinner

18th Jun 1960

S1.E55 ∙ On the Edge

55. S1.E55 ∙ On the Edge

16th Jul 1960

S1.E56 ∙ Dream Girl

56. S1.E56 ∙ Dream Girl

13th Aug 1960

A young lady is filled with daydreams until she meets her reality man.

S1.E57 ∙ The Shop at Sly Corner

57. S1.E57 ∙ The Shop at Sly Corner

27th Aug 1960

Descius Heiss is a French expatriate, and former Devil's Island prisoner, with two passions; driving shrewd bargains in antiques at his Sly Corner Shop, and the care of his motherless, violin-playing daughter, Margaret. But, his comfortable wealth comes more from being a fence for stolen goods than it does buying-and-selling antiques. His secret is discovered by his shop assistant Archie Fellowes, a nasty, sniveling young rat, and he begins blackmailing Heiss. Heiss employs the usual solution to blackmailers, and the film ends in a London concert-hall where Margaret is playing the Mendelssohm Violin Concerto.

S1.E58 ∙ Family Occasion

58. S1.E58 ∙ Family Occasion

8th Oct 1960

What is Margaret hiding from the rest of the family when they arrive for their father's funeral?

S1.E59 ∙ The Bachelor Brothers

59. S1.E59 ∙ The Bachelor Brothers

22nd Oct 1960

S1.E60 ∙ Your Obedient Servant

60. S1.E60 ∙ Your Obedient Servant

19th Nov 1960

S1.E61 ∙ The Druid Circle

61. S1.E61 ∙ The Druid Circle

3rd Dec 1960

An embittered professor comes near to wrecking the lives of a young man and young woman whose love for each other has been accidentally revealed to him through a letter written by the boy to the girl.

S1.E62 ∙ The Colonel

62. S1.E62 ∙ The Colonel

17th Dec 1960

S1.E63 ∙ A Run for the Money

63. S1.E63 ∙ A Run for the Money

31st Dec 1960

S1.E64 ∙ A Sense of Guilt

64. S1.E64 ∙ A Sense of Guilt

14th Jan 1961

S1.E65 ∙ The Four Poster

65. S1.E65 ∙ The Four Poster

28th Jan 1961

The up-and-down lives of a married couple over decades, depicted as a series of bedroom scenes.

S1.E66 ∙ The House with the Green Shutters

66. S1.E66 ∙ The House with the Green Shutters

11th Feb 1961

S1.E67 ∙ A Perfect Stranger

67. S1.E67 ∙ A Perfect Stranger

25th Feb 1961

S1.E68 ∙ Seagulls Over Sorrento

68. S1.E68 ∙ Seagulls Over Sorrento

4th Mar 1961

A Navy lieutenant is borrowed by the British to supervise torpedo experiments after one of their scientists is killed.

First air date

4th Jan 1958

Last air date

4th Mar 1961

Status

Returning Series

Type

Scripted

Original language

en

Networks