Hard Labour (Play for Today)

20th episode of the 3rd series of Play for Today

"Hard Labour"

Play for Today episode

Episode no.

Series 3
Episode 20

Directed by

Mike Leigh

Written by

Mike Leigh

Original air date

12 March 1973 (1973-03-12)

Episode chronology

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"Access To The Children"

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"Man Above Men"

"Hard Labour" is the 20th episode of third season of the British BBC anthology TV series Play for Today. The episode was a television play that was originally broadcast on 12 March 1973. "Hard Labour" was written and directed by Mike Leigh, produced by Tony Garnett, and starred Liz Smith in her first major role.

The episode is the most clearly drawn in all Leigh's work from the background in Higher and Lower Broughton where he grew up. "Though elements of autobiography are buried in all Leigh's films and plays, only Hard Labour is set in Salford, – the scenes in the Stones' house were shot in a house just two doors along from where the Leighs had lived in Cavendish Road."

Plot

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Cast

Liz Smith as Mrs Thornley
Clifford Kershaw as Mr Jim Thornley
Polly Hemingway as Ann Thornley
Bernard Hill as Edward Thornley
Alison Steadman as Veronica Thornley
Vanessa Harris as Mrs Lily Stone
Cyril Varley as Mr Sid Stone
Linda Beckett as Julie
Ben Kingsley as Naseem
Alan Erasmus as Barry
Rowena Parr as June
June Whittaker as Mrs Rigby
Paula Tilbrook as Mrs Thornley's friend
Keith Washington as Mr Shaw
Louis Raynes as Tallyman
Diana Flacks as Mrs Betty Rubens

Theme

"The polarity between the worlds of Mrs Stone and the lady who cleans her house (the central figure, Mrs Thornley, the Catholic house-cleaner) is icily delineated. In the middle is the new housing estate, where Mrs Thornley's son, Edward, (played by Bernard Hill in his professional début), a car mechanic, lives with his wife Veronica (Alison Steadman)."

References

Coveney, Michael. The World according to Mike Leigh. p. 53.
Coveney, Michael. The World according to Mike Leigh. p. 91.

External links

v t e Mike Leigh
Awards and nominations Works
Feature films	Bleak Moments (1971) High Hopes (1988) Life Is Sweet (1990) Naked (1993) Secrets & Lies (1996) Career Girls (1997) Topsy-Turvy (1999) All or Nothing (2002) Vera Drake (2004) Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) Another Year (2010) Mr. Turner (2014) Peterloo (2018) Hard Truths (2024)
Television	Hard Labour (1973) The Permissive Society (1975) Nuts in May (1976) Knock for Knock (1976) Abigail's Party (1977) Kiss of Death (1977) Grown-Ups (1980) Home Sweet Home (1982) Meantime (1983) Four Days in July (1984) The Short and Curlies (1987) A Running Jump (2012)
Plays	The Box Play (1965) Ecstasy (1979) Too Much of a Good Thing (1979, broadcast 1992) Greek Tragedy (1989)

v t e Play for Today
Robin Redbreast (1970) Alma Mater (1971) The Foxtrot (1971) The Rank and File (1971) Traitor (1971) Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971) Evelyn (1971) Home (1972) The Operation (1973) Hard Labour (1973) Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1973) Joe's Ark (1974) Penda's Fen (1974) The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil (1974) Leeds — United! (1974) The Evacuees (1975) Gangsters (1975) Funny Farm (1975) Just Another Saturday (1975) Days of Hope (1975) Rumpole of the Bailey (1975) Nuts in May (1976) The Other Woman (1976) Willie Rough (1976) Double Dare (1976) Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976) Kiss of Death (1977) Spend, Spend, Spend (1977) The Price of Coal (1977) Abigail's Party (1977) Licking Hitler (1978) Red Shift (1978) The Spongers (1978) Our Day Out (1978) The After-Dinner Joke (1978) Blue Remembered Hills (1979) Comedians (1979) Just a Boys' Game (1979) A Gift from Nessus (1980) The Black Stuff (1980) The Imitation Game (1980) The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980) Home, Sweet Home (1982) Another Flip For Dominick (1982) Z for Zachariah (1984) Brimstone and Treacle (1987, completed 1976) Scum (1991, completed 1977)
Associated	Play for Tomorrow (1982 series)

Play for Today

Robin Redbreast (1970)
Alma Mater (1971)
The Foxtrot (1971)
The Rank and File (1971)
Traitor (1971)
Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971)
Evelyn (1971)
Home (1972)
The Operation (1973)
Hard Labour (1973)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1973)
Joe's Ark (1974)
Penda's Fen (1974)
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil (1974)
Leeds — United! (1974)
The Evacuees (1975)
Gangsters (1975)
Funny Farm (1975)
Just Another Saturday (1975)
Days of Hope (1975)
Rumpole of the Bailey (1975)
Nuts in May (1976)
The Other Woman (1976)
Willie Rough (1976)
Double Dare (1976)
Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976)
Kiss of Death (1977)
Spend, Spend, Spend (1977)
The Price of Coal (1977)
Abigail's Party (1977)
Licking Hitler (1978)
Red Shift (1978)
The Spongers (1978)
Our Day Out (1978)
The After-Dinner Joke (1978)
Blue Remembered Hills (1979)
Comedians (1979)
Just a Boys' Game (1979)
A Gift from Nessus (1980)
The Black Stuff (1980)
The Imitation Game (1980)
The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980)
Home, Sweet Home (1982)
Another Flip For Dominick (1982)
Z for Zachariah (1984)
Brimstone and Treacle (1987, completed 1976)
Scum (1991, completed 1977)

Associated

Play for Tomorrow (1982 series)

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