Julian Upton welcomes this release from the ITV archives which sees Noël Coward himself introduce these four sparkling plays, first broadcast in 1964.
This short series of updated adaptations of four of Noel Coward’s best plays commandeered the ‘ITV Play of the Week’ strand for a month in summer 1964, and was presented by Granada Television (‘from the North’), back when that signified a true sign of quality TV drama.
All directed by the ground-breaking Joan Kemp-Welch (one of television drama’s first and most successful female producer-directors), the revivals are fascinating to see again now not just for the remarkable casting — Present Laughter’s Peter Wyngarde, James Bolam and Jennie Linden; Blithe Spirit’s Hattie Jacques; The Vortex’s Margaret Johnston, and Design for Living’s Jill Bennett and Daniel Massey — but also for the pithy and laugh-out-loud introductions by the great man himself (seated, as required, in a well-appointed study, and taking elegant drags on a cigarette).
With such sparkling material and lively creative contributors, A Choice of Coward couldn’t really put a foot wrong, and it doesn’t. This is a very welcome excavation from the monochrome annals of the ITV archives.
For four weeks in 1964, ITV’s prestigious Play of the Week slot was given over to a short series of plays by one of the most popular and beloved playwrights of the 20th century, Nöel Coward. Each play featured a short introduction from Coward himself.
The plays presented here are amongst the finest he wrote and feature an exceptional cast that includes Peter Wyngarde, James Bolam, Barbara Murray, Hattie Jacques and Philip Bond. All plays are produced and directed by the legendary Joan Kemp-Welch - one of the first women television directors, and whose name was a byword for quality, her body of work stretching from Shakespeare to Pinter, from ambitious Passion Plays to Oscar Wilde.
Present Laughter: Garry Essendine’s little indiscretions cause more than a slight upheaval in his household, particularly when everyone decides they are going to Africa with him.
Blithe Spirit: Holding a séance seems like a terrific lark, but for Charles Condomine it’s something a bit more than that when the ghost of his first wife turns up to haunt him.
The Vortex: Florence Lancaster is a neurotic woman still living in the past. She was a great beauty - and now finds pleasure in attracting younger men.
Design for Living: Gilda, Otto and Leo carry on a complicated three-way relationship. Entangled with first Otto and then Leo, Gilda finally marries Ernest - but cannot dismiss “the two” from her mind.
