Spaces for criticism: the Play for Today Viewing Group on work, gender and the body in The Bevellers (1974) and Not for the Likes of Us (1980)

Abstract

The Play for Today Viewing Group, consisting of academics from the United Kingdom and Ireland who meet virtually multiple times per year to discuss a teleplay, collectively analyse two Plays for Today, The Bevellers (1974) and Not for the Likes of Us (1980). These plays reflect Play for Today’s historical tendency towards a greater inclusion of female workers alongside emergent forms and patterns of work, and from heightened studio realism, shot on video, to its use of film and critical dissection of its attractions. Analysis reveals the plays’ thematic intersections concerning work, gender and the body: this comparative approach discerns how Play for Today was a strand of interconnected dramas within British television's flow possessing deep social and cultural significance.