The Affair (Wednesday Theatre) Explained

Series:Wednesday Theatre
Season:1
Episode:33
Director:Eric Taylor
Teleplay:Ronald Miller
Airdate: (Melbourne, Sydney)[1]
Length:90 mins[2]
Prev:Ever Since Paradise
Next:Winter in Ischia

"The Affair" is a 1965 Australian television play based on the novel by C. P. Snow. It starred Roger Climpson, Richard Meikle and Anne Haddy and aired on the ABC as part of Wednesday Theatre.[3]

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[4]

Plot

A young Cambridge scientist, Donald Howard, introvertive and unpopular, is accused of fraud and dismissed from his fellowship. The twenty fellows attempt to dismiss their feelings of unease by calling him guilty. His wife campaigns for him, splitting the college into two factions, one which sticks by the original verdict the other which seeks to re-try him.[5]

Cast

Production

The script was based on the Dreyfus Case. The production was filmed at the ABC's studios in Gore Hill, Sydney.[6] It was the third in a trilogy of stories set at Cambridge.[7]

Reception

The Woman's Weekly called it "a milestone in local drama. It was good, world-class TV, not a production that can be tarnished by the tag "good for an Australian one." It was a wonderful play... The cast did well, and the producer did wonders."[8]

The Sydney Morning Herald thought it was "outstandingly cast and intelligently produced" but thought the story had flaws.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: The Age. The judges go on trail. August 12, 1965. 14.
  2. News: TODAY'S TV . . 39 . 11,237 . Australian Capital Territory, Australia . 18 August 1965 . 21 March 2017 . 21 . National Library of Australia.
  3. News: Worth watching... . . 39 . 11,235 . Australian Capital Territory, Australia . 16 August 1965 . 21 February 2019 . 1 (TELEVISION and radio GUIDE) . National Library of Australia.
  4. Stephen. Vagg. 60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s. Filmink. February 18, 2019.
  5. News: TV Guide. The Age. 12 August 1965. 27.
  6. News: Sydney Morning Herald. Echoes of J'Accuse. 16 August 1965. 12.
  7. News: TV Guide. Sydney Morning Herald. 16 August 1965. 13.
  8. News: Return of Streisand . . 33 . 14 . Australia . 1 September 1965 . 21 February 2019 . 19 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: Sydney Morning Herald. August 20, 1965 . 11. English accent in Australian manner. Kylie. Tennant.