The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series, which consists of standalone contemporary dramas first shown during the daytime on BBC One.
The first episode, entitled "Turkish Delight", aired on 27 January 2003.
Since, a total of twenty-five episodes have been broadcast across five series.
The series was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2005 for Best New Director for an episode directed by the actress Sarah Lancashire.
As of 2009, the series has been replaced in the schedules by fellow anthology series Moving On, which follows a very similar format.