Play for Today review: Channel 5's revival of of a classic 'brand' is worth applauding, even if the first episode is not an instant classic
The original Play for Today strand, which ran on the BBC for 14 years through the 70s and into the mid-80s, is one of those things TV connoisseurs like to cite as a demonstration of their TV knowledge.
They point to the fact that it gave opportunities to up-and-coming writers and directors like Mike Leigh, Dennis Potter, Paula Milne and Stephen Poliakoff, and produced British TV classics like Abigail's Party and Brimstone and Treacle, and saw the first appearance of Rumpole of the Bailey.
Which might mean the reappearance of the Play for Today 'brand' (Channel 5, Thurs, 9pm) comes as something of a disappointment.
It's not so much a reboot, more a convenient way to flag up these one-hour dramas as stand-alone efforts, rare beasts in these days of mega-budget epics on streaming platforms, or the continuing dramas the 'linear' channels like to clog their schedules with.
It's no real surprise that Channel 5 have taken this leap – they've got a track record in taking venerable BBC hits and reheating them, from All Creatures Great and Small to the recent The Forsytes, and not always with success.
But you have to applaud them for their continuing efforts to support British TV drama in their own, small-scale way.
It's a shame that the first effort in the new run of Play for Today, It's Never Too Late, is a little weak.
Anita Dobson plays Cynthia, a woman not in the first flush of youth, let's say, but who had a racy past with best pal Marjorie.
Unfortunately, Marjorie has recently departed for the great discotheque in the sky, but we know Cynthia isn't one for settling for a gradual slide into senility, as she puts her glad-rags on and treats Marjorie's wake as a likely chance for a hook-up.
“Well, you've got Tinder, Hinge and Grindr, I've got this,” she tells daughter Amanda (Tracy-Ann Obermann).
A series of increasingly unlikely events see Cynthia moved into a retirement village – a setting Richard Osman's success has turned into a fertile breeding ground for dramatic storylines – and meet and old beau from her rock groupie past, Frank, played by Nigel Havers being, well, Nigel Havers.
Along the way, clearly signposted plot points lead to a surprise which won't shock anyone who's been paying the slightest bit of attention.
Meanwhile, there are vaguely surrealist attempts to paint the residents of the retirement village as oddballs and kooks and broad, bird-watching-based humour which fails to hit the mark.
Eventually, we get to the happy ending you felt we were in for all along, as Cynthia and Frank use the retirement village's concert to give us a rendition of It Had to be You, apparently to the tune of One Way or Another.
It's all a bit by-the-numbers, leading us through the plot by telling rather than showing, although the veteran cast – also including Nina Wadia and Michael Fenton-Stevens – are charming company.
But that's not necessarily the point.
Not every Play for Today produced at the Beeb was written by Colin Welland or Jack Rosenthal. Not every production was directed by Jon Amiel or Alan Clarke or Roland Joffe.
And let's face it, they weren't all instant classics.
But they gave young drama-makers a chance, and gave us, the viewers, a chance to see something different, or something scary, or something funny, or something so arresting it would make you sit up and say they're good, I'll keep an eye on them.
And that's something we don't see often enough, among the 90-minute long TV epics with years between each 'season', or the soaps, or the true crime drama-docs.
Channel 5's Play for Today gives us a chance to find a gem. So it's only right we give Play for Today a chance to grow in return.