Brenda Blethyn, Lesley Manville and Phil Davis star in this special Mike Leigh collection, featuring the iconic hit Abigail’s Party and a banned play from the BBC archives

One of Britain's most prolific and influential writers, Mike Leigh has directed some of the best British films of the last 50 years, including Life is Sweet, Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake. He has written a plethora of plays for the BBC, among them the bleakly comic drama Abigail’s Party and the sharply observed Too Much of a Good Thing. Both plays feature here, along with a fascinating interview with Leigh, in which he explains his creative process and shares stories from his life.

Abigail’s Party – Set in 1977, this dark comedy of manners revolves around Beverley, a suburban housewife attempting to throw a cocktail party. She’s invited all the neighbours, and the drinks are flowing freely – but as her guests loosen up, things start to become somewhat fraught… Brenda Blethyn stars as Beverley in this 1986 World Service adaptation of Mike Leigh’s caustic satire on middle-class respectability.

Too Much of a Good Thing – Initially censored by Radio 3 for its sexual explicitness, this 1979 drama, specially written for radio and recorded on location in London, sees a driving instructor and his pupil tentatively embarking on an affair. Graham woos Pamela with trips to the Berni Inn and the local boating lake, but what will happen when she finally succumb to his advances? Starring Lesley Manville and Phil Davis.

Calling the Shots: Mike Leigh – In this absorbing Radio 5 profile, the filmmaker and sometime dramatist tells us about his main aims: to depict real life and make his audience laugh and cry. We hear about his childhood passion fo rthe pictures, his early TV plays Hard Labour and Nuts in May, how he came to conceive Abigail’s Party, and his breakthrough pieces Grown-Ups and Meantime.

NB: Contains scenes of a sexual nature

Production credits
Written by Mike Leigh
All rights reserved

Abigail’s Party
Beverly Moss – Brenda Blethyn
Laurence Moss – Tim Stern
Tony Cooper – John Salthouse
Angela Cooper – Teresa Streatfield
Susan Lawson – Thelma Whitely

Directed by David Hitchinson
Technical presentation: Graham Harper
First broadcast BBC World Service, 2 March 1986

Too Much of a Good Thing
Mr Payne – Eric Allan
Pamela – Lesley Manville
Graham – Philip Davis

Produced by Liane Aukin
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 July 1992

Calling the Shots
With Mike Leigh
Compiled by Paul Wells
Produced by Ann Hines

First broadcast BBC Radio 5, 23 July 1991

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