The first production was Ten Minute Alibi, produced by Associated-Rediffusion on 14 May 1956[1] while the earliest to survive is There Was a Young Lady, broadcast live on 23 July 1956 and simultaneously telerecorded on film.
[2] The first production not to be transmitted live was Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck[3] which was also film recorded.
[5] The recording of The Liberty Man, a Granada production broadcast on 1 October 1958, contains the original advertisements during the first commercial break.
[7] The series included You in Your Small Corner by Barry Reckord, first broadcast in June 1962, which was an early taboo breaking drama depicting lovers from white and black backgrounds kissing.
Notable guest stars included Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Peggy Ashcroft, Maggie Smith, Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Judi Dench, Deborah Kerr, Paul Scofield, Laurence Harvey, Glenda Jackson, Susannah York, Leslie Caron, Richard Harris, Edith Evans, James Mason, Claire Bloom, David McCallum, Donald Sutherland, John Gielgud, Oliver Reed, Mel Ferrer, Diana Rigg, Marius Goring, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, Margaret Whiting and Peter Sallis[24]