Plays for Britain

This hard-hitting anthology series continued the single-play format that had proved so successful with ITV's legendary Armchair Theatre, presenting six contemporary plays by writers at relatively early stages in their careers. The plays are both compelling and provocative: Stephen Poliakoff's Hitting Town is an intense portrayal of siblings who find refuge from their bleak lives in one incestuous night; Roger McGough's The Lifeswappers is a darkly comic take on the theme of exchanged identities; Howard Brenton's The Paradise Run centres on an inexperienced soldier in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. These and other powerful screenplays feature strong performances from Kevin McNally, Pete Postlethwaite, Denis Lawson, Sheila Gish, Miriam Margolyes and Ray Winstone; directors include Alan Clarke, Philip Saville and Michael Apted.