Alan Clarke on TV

Play for Today: Psy-Warriors (1981)

As part of the BFI’s major cross- platform season Dissent & Disruption: The Complete Alan Clarke, we present a selection of the subversive director’s work, spanning two decades and free to view in BFI Mediatheques around the UK. Alongside some of his best known TV plays (many produced for the BBC’s groundbreaking Play for Today strand) you can see rarities exclusive to Mediatheques: BBC drama Horatio Bottomley (1972) and ITV documentary The British Desk (1984) – both reflecting Clarke’s politically engaged yet purposely detached approach. You can also catch Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1986), Clarke’s memorable foray into features, which brought Andrea Dunbar’s Bradford- set black comedy vividly to life.

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Ten to try

The Last Train Through the Harecastle Tunnel (1969)
Clarke’s Wednesday Play follows a trainspotter’s day trip-turned-voyage of discovery.

Horatio Bottomley (1972)
Timothy West stars as the notorious swindling MP in Clarke’s episode of BBC series The Edwardians.

Penda’s Fen (1974)
English pagan myths and burgeoning sexuality in the Malverns: a true Play for Today cult classic.

Funny Farm (1975)
Roy Minton’s understated but powerful play follows a day in the life of a disillusioned psychiatric nurse.

Scum (1977)

Ray Winstone and David Threlfall star in the infamous Borstal drama, banned on British TV until 1991.

Nina (1978)
Clarke directs poet Jehane Markham’s play about Russian dissidents in London.

Beloved Enemy (1981)
A British multinational woos the USSR in pursuit of military technology in this sinister play based on David Leland’s book Vodka Cola.

Psy-Warriors (1981)
Clarke directs David Leland’s shocking and prescient dissection of the use of torture as an interrogative measure.

The British Desk (1984)
A documentary about the work of South African intelligence agencies in Britain. Interviewees include exiled government spin doctor Eschel Rhoodie.

The Firm (1989)
Gary Oldman stars in Clarke’s searing indictment of football hooliganism, broadcast in the BBC Screen Two slot.