The Plays of J. B. Priestley

Summary

13 plays and dramatisations of the works of the influential playwright, novelist and essayist J. B. Priestley - plus bonus programmes

J. B. Priestley was one of Britain's most significant writers. His output was prodigious: in his lifetime, he penned 26 novels, 39 plays and hundreds of essays. He enjoyed great success on stage, notably with Dangerous Corner, Time and the Conways and An Inspector Calls, which experimented with narrative structure and unorthodox theories of time. Included here are some of his most esteemed works, adapted for radio and brought together in one statement collection.

We begin with Priestley's most famous play, An Inspector Calls, which sees Inspector Goole arriving unexpectedly at the prosperous Birling family home. Their celebratory dinner is shattered by his startling revelations about the death of a young woman. Next is Time and The Conways, telling the story of one family in several scenes set over 19 years, and When We Are Married, in which three couples receive a rude shock during their joint silver wedding party. In I Have Been Here Before, a group of strangers who meet at a remote Yorkshire inn discover that they are all interdependent - have they met before?

A happy gathering of friends discover that their relationships aren't what they seem in Dangerous Corner and, in Eden End, an elderly Yorkshire GP finds himself coming to the end of an era. The Linden Tree is set in England 1947, where rationing and austerity have fostered opportunism, escapism - and confrontation - within the Linden family.

The Good Companions, J. B. Priestley's classic story of a 1929 concert party tour, is followed by The Demon King, in which a Boxing Day panto is set to be a flop - until the Demon King comes on. In Lost Empires, Richard Hemcastle leaves his dead-end job to join his Uncle Nick in the glamour of the music halls, while in Bright Day, a chance encounter prompts a disillusioned scriptwriter to rediscover his past. Extraordinary and magical things happen on one elusive day in The Thirty-First of June, and in The Grey Ones, a patient fears evil is at work in the shape of a sinister conspiracy. Will his psychiatrist be able to help?

Among the array of stars in these stunning dramas are Toby Jones, Frances Barber, Harriet Walter, Alan Bennett, Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Nicol, Morvern Christie, Alun Armstrong, Roy Hudd, Tom Baker, Jack Shepherd, Geoffrey Palmer, Amaka Okafor, Martin Jarvis and Joan Plowright. Also included are two fascinating documentaries: Postscripts: J. B. Priestley, a five-part series of wartime observations originally broadcast in 1940 and read by Patrick Stewart, and Great Lives: J. B. Priestley, which sees Barry Cryer discussing his friend and fellow Yorkshireman with Martin Wainwright and Matthew Parris.

First published 1929 (The Good Companions), 1932 (Dangerous Corner), 1934 (Eden End), 1937 (Time and the Conways, I Have Been Here Before), 1938 (When We Are Married), 1945 (An Inspector Calls), 1946 (Bright Day), 1947 (The Linden Tree), 1953 (The Grey Ones), 1961 (The Thirty-First of June), 1962 (The Demon King), 1965 (Lost Empires)

Production credits
Written by J. B. Priestley


Contents List

An Inspector Calls

Time and The Conways

When We Are Married

I Have Been Here Before

Dangerous Corner

Eden End

The Linden Tree

The Good Companions

The Demon King

Lost Empires

Bright Day

The Thirty First of June

The Grey Ones

Postscripts: J. B. Priestley

Great Lives: J. B. Priestley

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