Theatre Night: Ghosts (BBC-2 1981, Judi Dench, Michael Gambon)

Published

8 years ago

June 1, 2016

Period drama Ghosts tells of the preperations of Mrs Alving who is planning to mark the tenth anniversary of her husbands death by opening an orphanage in his honour. Mrs Alving, however, has ulterior motives as she is trying to disguise the disgust she still feels for him because of the way he treated her and for the deadly legacy he has passed on to his son Oswald.

This is a stunning, video bound, very stagey, version of Ibsen’s dour play, made for the Theatre Night strand of plays. Ghosts created a huge stir on its original staging with for its time (and even today at times) still shocking subject matter, which includes everything from children out of wedlock to euthenasia.

production details
UK / BBC-2 / 1×103 minute episode / Broadcast 14 June 1981

Play: Henrik Ibsen / Translation: Michael Meyer / Script Editor: David Snodin / Production Design: Gerry Scott / Costumes: Anushia Nieradzik / Producer: Louis Marks / Director: Elijah Moshinsky

Series 2 Episode 5

cast
JUDI DENCH as Mrs Alving
MICHAEL GAMBON as Pastor Manders
KENNETH BRANAGH as Oswald
FREDDIE JONES as Engstrand
NATASHA RICHARDSON as Regina

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Alastair James

Alastair James is the editor in chief for Memorable TV. He has been involved in media since his university days. Alastair is passionate about television, and some of his favourite shows include Line of Duty, Luther and Traitors. He is always on the lookout for hot new shows, and is always keen to share his knowledge with others.