1 9 8 6 – 1 9 9 3 (UK)
87 x 60 minute episodes
This BBC2 anthology series presented feature-length made-for-television drama productions and debuted on 9 July 1986 with “All Together Now”, running until 27 October 1993, when the final episode aired (“Boswell & Johnson’s Tour of the Western Isles”).
A treasure-trove of British actors appeared in the stand-alone dramas aired under the Screenplay umbrella, including Alison Steadman, David Jason, Bill Nighy, John Alderton, Tom Courtenay, Miranda Richardson, Maureen Lipman, Patricia Hayes, Lynn Redgrave, Liz Fraser, Jean Boht, Colin Farrell, Jane Horrocks, Stratford Johns, Sean Bean, Alun Armstrong, Juliet Stevenson, John Woodvine, Andrew Keir, Timothy Spall, Dilys Laye, Robert Hardy, Prunella Scales, Annette Crosbie, Kathy Burke, Alexei Sayle, Robbie Coltrane, Jimmy Jewel, Kevin Whately, David Threlfall, Ed Devereaux, Paul McGann, Simon Callow, Zoë Wanamaker, John Hurt and Ray Winstone.
Standout episodes included “A View From a Window” (21 September 1987), “The Black and Blue Lamp” (7 September 1988), “Keeping Tom Nice” (15 August 1990) and “Needle” (12 September 1990).