The BBC has confirmed the re-showing of several archive drama series, some of which haven’t been on TV for decades.
As part of BBC Four’s weekly classic drama slot (Wednesday 10pm), programmes coming up include The Roads To Freedom, which will play on the BBC for the first time since the 1970s. The seminal drama based on novels by Jean-Paul Sartre will air on Wednesday 27th July and will be introduced by Colin Baker, who, in his first TV appearance, played Claude.
In addition, BBC Four has announced additional archive gems that will air later this year:
- The Singing Detective,
- How Green Was My Valley,
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- Sunset Song, with introductions from Vivien Heilbron and Moira Armstrong,
Previously announced programmes on BBC Four that celebrate the BBC centenary coming up include the landmark coming-of-age drama set in South London in the 1970s Buddha Of Surburbia with an introduction from Hanif Kureishi; the 1956 early television exploration of the difficulties faced by West Indian immigrants in Britain, A Man From The Sun; Our Friends In The North, the drama about four friends from Newcastle-upon-Tyne which includes an introduction from Christopher Eccleston, and The Billy Plays, which was part of the BBC’s Play For Today series.
The classic drama slot was created earlier this year to mark 100 years of the BBC. It also forms part of a change in BBC Four’s remit, which has now become an archive channel.