London theatre packages come in a variety of shapes and sizes but they all have one thing in common. They make delightful gifts! Choosing presents for loved ones is never easy and when it’s for a much loved Mum and Dad it can be really hard. What can you get the couple who have everything? A giant food hamper perhaps? Well, maybe, but it’s just food. Might be, dare I say it, a little dull? After all your Mum is just going to add it to that already overstocked pantry and freezer and while your Dad might enjoy the bottle of malt whisky it doesn’t really show much thought does it? London theatre packages are much more interesting and entertaining. First of all you get the fun of choosing what show you think they’ll enjoy. I’ve got some more advice about that in a minute. Then you can pick them a nice hotel, maybe throw in a pre-theatre dinner, and book their train journey as well. If there are a few of you sharing the expense you could add in an extra night and maybe one of those river cruises with dinner if it’s an extra special occasion. By now you are probably thinking this is going to cost a fortune but theatre break packages for London are really quite good value at the moment. You can get weeknight tickets for Les Miserables and one night in a 3* London hotel for under £100 at the moment. Adding  an extra night only adds around £35 each! Dinner is around £15 – 20 per person. All very affordable really. And just think of the brownie points on Christmas morning! London Theatre Packages Choosing a show

So how do you choose what they’d like to see? Sometimes it is obvious and easy to just choose their favourite show. If your parents are not quite so predictable I’d start with their music collection if I were you. Here’s some tips: Lots of classical stuff, some light opera, SuBo’s new CD = Les Miserables or just possibly Phantom of the Opera. If you are feeling adventurous book for Love Never Dies so they can brag to their friends about being the first to see it! Not much after 1965, except maybe some Shawadiwadi. Your Dad goes a bit funny when anyone mentions Olivia Newton John – they are going to love either Jersey Boys or Grease! Your Dad’s rock collection is rivaled only by your Mum’s passion for Freddie Mercury – has to be We Will Rock You Your Mum knows all the words to Dancing Queen and still has all her signed photos of Bjorn. Your Dad liked the film – Mamma Mia of course

I expect you get the idea by now. You could always surprise them and choose tickets to Chicago (still the sexiest show in town) or even Dirty Dancing. They’d have a great time at either whatever their musical taste. That’s the thing really. All the shows that are on in London are worth seeing. Oh and it’s not just musicals, you can get London theatre packages to see plays, opera and even ballets! a

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Are you looking for more information about London weekend breaks by rail? That’s actually a very good starting point because you’ve already made the best decision as far as transport goes for arriving in London. Go by train and you’ll not have to be worrying about things like car parking, how to pay the congestion charge or long motor way traffic jams holding up coach journeys. The fast inter city trains are also the quickest way to get from most UK cities into one of the central London mainline stations. London Breaks by Rail - Express Routes Weekend breaks can be for a West-end theatre show on any Friday, Saturday or Sunday night combined with a hotel stay of one night or more, including the show date. The most popular break tends to be a one-nighter including the big Saturday night out, but getting away early on a Friday makes a lot of sense too. Traveling on a Friday and Saturday gives a clear run through but Sundays can be fine for getting home too, depending on which rail line takes you back. All I’m saying is, check for regular Sunday engineering works if the service that relays between your city and London is one that may be prone to scheduled maintenance on a Sunday. Longer Weekend Breaks If your weekend break means going home on a Saturday of course, the traditional weekend has only just begun but then again I’ve noticed that for some people around here, the weekend definitely starts to ramp up on a Thursday night! London can be a very pleasant play to stay on a Sunday with less of a hurried atmosphere but still plenty of things to see and do so staying on for the whole weekend and then booking to get back on a Monday during the daytime can make for an extremely satisfying London weekend rail break, more like a mini holiday really. You could even make it a three or four night stay with the weekend theatre trip included, especially worthwhile if you have a long distance rail journey from one of the smaller rail networks that lie beyond the core inter city services. London Shows for Weekend Theatre Breaks One of the advantages with buying a theatre breaks package is that you can get good tickets for any of the more popular shows, even on a busy Friday or Saturday night. I tried to get an impulse ticket from the famous half price ticket booth the other day and after a lot of waiting around I came away without making a purchase. That was because the shows on offer didn’t include two that I was most interested in, and because the prices offered are not anything like half price at all. So supposing you’ve always wanted to grab a friend and go and see Hairspray, Dirty Dancing or Sister Act on a Saturday night but couldn’t find any available tickets except from the disreputable touts and so-called discount kiosks, well the answer is to do just a little bit of forward planning and organise a weekend break in London for just a few weeks down the line, then you can get on with life knowing there’s a fantastic treat in store for you to look forward to. London weekend breaks by rail are also perfect for really special occasions such as a big anniversary or celebration. Never mind seeing Les Miserables from the back of the upper circle, with theatre breaks packages it’s often possible to get best available seats with a competitive price guarantee, because the tour agents buy blocks of tickets way in advance and can therefore hold the best seats open for people who are booking the whole London weekend theatre package thing with the hotel stay and return rail tickets included. This is just one suggestion, but supposing you were a big fan of the Phantom of The Opera having seen it many years ago, and fancied repeating the experience in today’s West End. This gives you two possible shows for London Weekend breaks by rail because the new show with the Phantom opens in March 2010 and it’s going to be one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s biggest shows ever, called “Love Never Dies“. By booking the rail tickets well in advance in combination with London weekend breaks, (that’s the show and hotel stay), you get the full discount on the rail tickets which can mean as much as a 70% saving off the regular return saver. If it appears as if the only shows on in London are the big musicals then that’s certainly not the case. There are always a number of serious plays also on in the West end, usually for shorter runs but not always, and these are also available for London weekend breaks by rail. In 2010 there will be more Shakespeare, Pinter and Becket as well as modern American playwrights, and some comedy plays too. So you’ve decided very sensibly to opt for London weekend breaks by rail, thought about which show you’d both like to see, and maybe opted for a Friday night or Saturday theatre ticket depending which suits you best and considered the best time and day for homewards travel. All that’s left is to balance the convenience of a central London hotel with the economy of staying a little further out, but there is always a good selection of options available when booking London weekend theatre breaks. Now let me see, what else is there to worry about? a

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Peter Denton has added a photo to the pool:

Sam Wanamaker, the American actor, producer and director, was responsible more than anyone else for today’s Shakespeare Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank.

In 1970 he launched the Shakespeare Globe Trust, with the sole intention of creating a replica of the original 16th century open-air theatre. He worked tirelessly on his project, overcoming great swathes of scepticism and all kinds of other obstacles – but in the end he not only raised more than £5 million but he also acquired a prime development site overlooking the Thames.

Unfortunately, Wanamaker never lived to see his dream come true: he died of prostate cancer in 1993, just four years before work was finished and the theatre was opened by the Queen. But Shakespeare's Globe still flourishes today – and were it not for the tenacity of this distinguished American, Britain and the world would be without this utterly exquisite and unique theatre.

London Theatre Breaks to see Arcadia by Tom Stoppard ** book London Theatre Breaks to see Arcadia by Tom Stoppard ** Arcadia has been described as Tom Stoppard`s richest and most ravishing comedy. It’s a truly dazzling and also witty masterpiece of a play, full of human misunderstandings and a genuine quest for knowledge which resonates down through the centuries. David Leveaux directs Arcadia at the Duke of York’s Theatre , and his other recent West End and Broadway collaborations with Tom Stoppard include The Real Thing and Jumpers. Arcadia is the first major revival of this brilliant play since its premiere at the National Theatre in 1993. The cast includes Samantha Bond, Nancy Carroll, Jessie Cave, Neil Pearson, Dan Stevens and Ed Stoppard – yes, some relation.

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard – the setting The setting takes us immediately away from St Martin’s Lane in London where we enter the theatre, way back to April 1809 at a stately home in Derbyshire, the heart of the English East Midlands. Thomasina is a gifted pupil who proposes a startling new theory, way beyond her comprehension. All around her the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are preoccupied with secret desires, illicit passions and professional rivalries. In a parallel universe two hundred years later, academic rivals Hannah and Bernard are piecing together the clues and puzzling over those events of 1809 in their search for the baffling truth about the matter as the relationship between past and present provides some unique conclusions and further questions. London Theatre Breaks for Summer 2009 Two writers whose plays can be relied on in the testing West End are Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter so don’t miss the chance to catch Arcadia, a remarkable and wonderfully funny play by one of the world’s greatest writers, only available for London theatre breaks during the short summer season. ** book London Theatre Breaks to see Arcadia by Tom Stoppard **

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The Shawshank Redemption A new serious play comes to Charing Cross after the summer, The Shawshank Redemption. The world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption ran at The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin this May where it received an almost unbroken run of standing ovations. The Shawshank Redemption is to receive its London premiere at the Wyndham’s Theatre on 13th September with previews starting on the 4th of September, 2009

The Shawshank Redemption book and film Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Stripped of his freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine, but with his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing Andy never loses: hope. The story was adapted into a film in 1994, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, which was nominated for seven Oscars. Audience Reaction to the Shawshank Redemption Click here to view the embedded video. Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns’s new stage adaptation stars American actors Reg E Cathey and Kevin Anderson. Cathey is known for his role in hit US television drama The Wire and has appeared on Broadway in The Green Bird. Anderson is a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company and has Broadway credits including Death Of A Salesman, which earned him a Tony Award nomination, Come Back Little Sheba and Brooklyn, while in London he starred in the premiere production of Sunset Boulevard. The Shawshank Redemption will run at Wyndhams Theatre with evening performances from Tuesday to Saturday and Matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

a Shawshank Redemption

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A new Cast for Calendar Girls from July 28th. Jerry Hall Jerry Hall, ex-model and ex Mrs Mick Jagger, she of the long blond hair and even longer legs will be joining the cast of Calendar Girls from July 28th! Jerry’s West End credits include Mrs Robinson in The Graduate and Mother Lord in the 2005 production of High Society Dot Cotton in Calendar Girls EastEnders star June Brown (Dot) will also join the ladies of Calendar Girls. Of course, June is a stunning actress so she’ll help to bolster the cast. In real life June couldn’t be further from the part she plays in Eastenders as she’s actually a very elegant lady. The Eastenders connection doesn’t end there as Anita Dobson is also joining the cast. The other cast members will include Gemma Atkinson, Jill Halfpenny, Jill Baker, Richenda Carey and Jack Ryder. I can’t help feeling that there will be even more laughs backstage with this line up! I’d love to be a fly on the wall when that lot start dishing the dirt! The new cast will join the show on July 28 until October 17.

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Serious drama is the new black Writing in the Evening Standard Nicholas Hytner makes a ‘confident prediction’. He says: the hot tickets in London this summer will be for Shakespeare, Chekhov and Racine. He suggests there’s serious hunger amongst the theatre audience for more complex plays. He goes on to say: Over the next few months, sold out houses, a thousand strong, will discover again that honesty, intelligence and nobility of mind can be a crippling handicap (Hamlet). That the destruction of a decayed old order is necessary and absolutely heart-breaking (The Cherry Orchard). That obsessive love is an affliction that can turn a woman into a stalker (All’s Well That Ends Well) or prompt her to accuse an innocent young man of rape (Phedre) - but that in both cases the audience will stay with her, will not easily condemn, will not turn tabloid editor and cry witch. I can’t disagree with any of that. They are all productions that I’d love to see. Rich, complex, serious drama. And there is an audience for it. Those productions, in the main, sell out before most of that potential audience can even book seats. He’s not saying the West End musicals are dead. He’s being much more subtle than that. His point seems to be that the London theatre can both celebrate and satirise ‘pop culture’. I think he might be saying that we can have our ‘jukebox’, feel-good, musicals so long as they come with a suitable spoon full of self-awareness and make us think, as well as sing. It will become part of a London theatre that is thriving because it provides escape, because it both satirises and embraces a debased popular culture. But above all, because it is serious. And it turns out that serious is what the public wants. What do you want? I hate to point out the obvious but Nicholas Hytner is Director of the National Theatre. To an extent he has to believe serious drama is what the public wants. So it’s over to you, dear reader, what is it that you want? More serious drama? Or more fluff like Legally Blonde? (Oh and please, don’t try to persuade me it’s making a serious feminist point!)

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Duet for One re-opens May 12th Following a successful run the Almeida production of Duet for One, which finished today (March 14th), will transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre for a 12 week run in the West End. The show will re-open on May 12th. Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman will continue in the leading roles. Duet for One tells the story of Stephanie Abrahams, a brilliant concert violinist who is forced to re-evaluate her life when struck down by an unforeseen tragedy. She consults psychiatrist Dr Feldmann and through a series of highly charged encounters is led to examine her deepest emotions and finally to consider a future without music. Kempinski’s play is thought to be loosely based on the life of cellist Jaquelline Du Pre and was turned into a hit film (1986)starring Julie Andrews and Anthony Bates.

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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, at Trafalgar Studios Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf opens at the Trafalgar Studios on 14th April - 9th May 2009 Mathew Kelly will play George and Tracey Childs will play Martha. Albert Albee’s depiction of the cocktail party from Hell is undoubtedly a masterpiece so I’m looking forward to this. It’s not that long since Kathleen Turner played Martha in the West End (2006) so it does seem a little soon for another outing. This production was originally seen at Lichfield last year where it got some very good reviews: We find ourselves virtually sitting in George and Martha’s living room, audience members visibly wincing, laughing, cringing…Matthew Kelly and Tracey Childs give towering performances as the tortured pair…superb performances from Mark Farrelly and Louise Kempton’ The Stage Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

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The Nation Theatre based at London’s Southbank is to embark on a radical new initiative to broadcast live performances of plays onto cinema screens worldwide. A pilot season of four shows is planned starting with a broadcast of the play Phèdre, with Helen Mirren, Margaret Tyzack and Dominic Cooper on July 25th. This will be restricted to fifty UK cinemas, but clearly if the technology holds up it could be expanded worldwide wherever there is sufficient interest. NESTA which is a Quango supporting innovation is sponsoring: National Theatre : NT Live : What is it? How does it work? NT Live What is it? How does it work? Live theatre broadcast to cinema screens around the world. ‘I grew up in Manchester in the 60s. If I had been able to see Olivier’s National Theatre at my local cinema, I would have gone all of the time.’ Nicholas Hytner On 25 June the performance of Phèdre will be filmed in high definition and broadcast via satellite to approximately 50 cinemas and arts centres, reaching a widespread audience live across the UK. Tickets will cost £10. Over 100 venues around the world will also screen the production. The remaining three shows in the pilot season have yet to be announced but will feature a range of the National’s diverse repertoire. The performances will be nominated in advance to allow cameras greater freedom in the auditorium. Broadcasts will also feature behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with artists. We hope to open the walls of the National Theatre and invite cinema audiences around the country and the world to share in the work we create. Find out if NT Live is at a cinema near you on 25 June. NT Live is funded in partnership with: NESTA Future international venues for  live screenings of Phèdre  are intended for Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sweden & US. The big question which this initiative perhaps seeks to answer is this: Do people really want to see “live” theatre at the cinema? Well do you?

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Three Days of Rain - London Theatre Originally uploaded by Andyrob

James McAvoy, Nigel Harman and Lyndsey Marshall in the play Three Days of Rain by Richard Greenberg

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Old Vic Complicit From Jan 28th (we hope) - booking to Feb 21st. Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic production takes a look at Bush-era politics vis a vis the press in this play by Joe Sutton Richard Dreyfuss plays Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ben Kritzer, who is hauled before the Supreme Court “where he faces the dilemma of defending his belief in the freedom of the press or protecting his family.”. The cast also includes David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern. Donmar Warhouse Be Near Me From Jan. 22, - Be Near Me, adapted for the stage by Ian McDiarmid — who also stars — from The Booker Prize-nominated novel by Andrew O’Hagan. McDiarmid plays David Anderton, an Oxford-educated Catholic priest who befriends two unstable Scottish teenagers in his parish. Dimetos From March 19 th. Jonathan Pryce and Anne Reid star in Athol Fugard’s play about a skilled engineer who escapes to a remote coastal village in search of a simpler existence. A Doll’s House From May 14. Gillian Anderson stars as Nora in a new production of A Doll’s House. Wyndhams Theatre - Donmar in the West End Madame de Sade From March 19, Judi Dench stars in this all woman cast. The play, by Yukio Mishima focusses on the inexplicably loyal wife of a notorious figure. Michael Grandage directs. Almeida Theatre Duet for One Starts Jan. 22. Tom Kempinski’s story of a concert pianist, played by Juliet Stevenson, who seeks out a psychiatrist, played by Henry Goodman, when she is faced with a tragedy that causes her to reevaluate her life. Parlour Song Begins March 19 . Jez Butterworth’s play about the strange things that keep happening to demolition expert Ned, played by Toby Jones. Ian Rickson directs. Theatre Royal, Haymarket Waiting for Godot. Performances begin April 30 . Sean Mathias directs Ian McKellen (Estragon), Patrick Stewart (Vladamir), Simon Callow (Pozzo) and Ronald Pickup (Lucky). The National Theatre Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. From Jan 16th A revival of Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn’s play exploring the slippery relationship between truth and freedom. Toby Jones plays a dissident prisoner who will be released by the authorities only if he admits he has been mentally sick and, after treatment, is now well. The man must ask himself which price is the dearer: freedom bought with a lie, or sticking to a truth that ensures captivity. Felix Barrett and Tom Morris direct. Burnt by the Sun From Feb 24th. Written by Peter Flannery from the screenplay by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov. Ciarán Hinds stars as Colonel Kotov, a decorated hero of the Russian Revolution, who, while on holiday with his family in 1936, finally understands what it means to have Stalin as your leader. Howard Davies directs. England People Very Nice From Feb. 4th A new play by Richard Bean described as “a riotous journey through four waves of immigration from the 17th century to today.” The Littleton Time and the Conways From April 28th. A new production of a play about the disappointed aspirations of another era: J.B. Priestley’s classic starts in 1919, the clock and the calendar are the villains, as a peek into the future reveals the gap between 21-year-old Kay’s aspirations and the possible reality. A Selection These are a few of the plays that are coming to London in the next few months. What have I missed off that you are dying to see?

a New Plays in London for 2009

A Plague Over England is coming soon Plague Over England Tickets Plague Over England is a play based around the controversial conviction in 1953 of Sir John Gielgud for persistently importuning men for immoral purposes. More than just a dramatization of a scandalous event in one actor’s life, this new play shows how Gielgud’s arrest played a small but distinct part in the battle to make homosexuality legal. Plague Over England captures the spirit of Britain in the early 1950s when judges, politicians and the national press were describing homosexuality as a cancer, an epidemic and a threat to national life. It is an extraordinary insight into the dramatic changes in social attitudes to gay life in the last fifty years. Booking from 11th February to 16th May 2009

Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday 3pm Evenings: Monday to Saturday 7:45pm Running Time: 150 minute

Plague Over England Tickets

a Plague Over England

On The Waterfront On The Waterfront comes to The Haymarket Booking for a medium length season from Wednesday, 28th January 2009 until Saturday, 25th April 2009 with matinees on Thursdays at 2.30pm, and Saturdays at 3pm Evening performances on Monday to Saturday start at 7:45pm At the Haymarket Theatre Royal. Director Steven Berkoff explains why On the Waterfront is still a contender in The Times Online The waterfront theme is close to Greek tragedy, close, since in our version the hero doesn’t die, but the elements are there - the loner, the individual battling against an evil regime. The chorus, the masses who look on helplessly, yet only impotently comment. The New York docks were run by gangsters, as a personal fiefdom, ruled by intimidation and bribery. We all identified with Brando’s Terry Malloy and in some way we wished to emulate him. The values that he handed on to us were the simple ones our fathers trained us to espouse. To be loyal to your friends, to your colleagues, and to fight to the death for what you believed in. How could we not be seduced by this modern-day hero? On the Waterfront now has a new life. Terry Malloy lives again. I am proud of the work. On The Waterfront acclaimed by critics On The Waterfront was acclaimed by critics and audiences on its original run at the Nottingham PLayhouse and achieved standing ovations when it transferred to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last summer. There, both lead actor Simon Merrells and the Ensemble Cast were nominated in The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence, given by the entertainment industry’s leading professional journal, which also named On The Waterfront one of this year’s “MUST SEE” Edinburgh shows. There was a further nomination for the production in the Theatrical Management Association Awards, where Steven Berkoff received a nod for Best Director. Adapted by Budd Schulberg from his own screenplay for the celebrated Marlon Brando movie, ON THE WATERFRONT is the story of a young New York dock worker, Terry Malloy (Merrells) who takes a daring stand against the Mob which controls the dockers’ unions. Berkoff, whose company East Productions co-produced the show with Nottingham Playhouse, brings to it the full power of his renowned muscular style.

a On The Waterfront

In A Dark Dark House at the Almeida Neil La Bute’s latest offering is playing at the Almeida until January 22nd. In A Dark Dark House continues his exploration of the psyche of the American male. In three acts, it’s the story of two brothers who grew up together in an unspecified mid-western US town, a town where as LaBute himself says, you wouldn’t want to stop if you knew what was going on under the surface. The two brothers are brought together as the younger brother Drew, is undergoing court enforced rehab. Their encounter with a young woman acts as a catalyst to bring to the surface much that has remained long hidden and denied for both of them. LaBute’s work is never less than controversial. (Just have a look at the comments on our Fat Pig review!) I’ve softened my view of LaBute since Andy wrote that review as I have to admit Fat Pig was really thought provoking and even now discussing it can still cause arguments debate This has to be a good sign I think and theatre that actually provokes that much thought has to be worthwhile at some level. The cast is interesting with Steven Mackintosh (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) returning to the stage after an 8 year gap, playing the younger brother Drew. Terry, the older bother is played by David Morrissey (on our screens over Xmas in Dr Who). Kira Sternbach plays the young woman. Have a look at the trailer for the play: Click here to view the embedded video. It seems from some of the responses so far that the whole ‘fake American accents’ thing continues to be an issue. However if the actors can keep up the standard we hear in the video I don’t think it will be too much of a problem. Of course, it’s not a problem at all for Kira Sternback as she is actually American! My only issue really is whether I can manage to get around to seeing In A Dark Dark House at this busy time of year. I hope we can fit it in but remember comments here are open for your thoughts and reviews.

a In a Dark Dark House - Neil LaBute

Calendar Girls opens tonight in the West London Richmond Theatre for six nights 24th - 29th November 2008 and two matinees as part of a UK tour before ending up at the Noel Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London for a twelve week run starting on 4th April 2009. This is the same full cast who will be coming to the West End including Lynda Bellingham, Patricia Hodge, Sian Phillips, Gaynor Faye, Brigit Forsyth, Julia Hills and Elaine C Smith. So if anybody is going along to the opening night or during the week do let us know how what you think of the show as a taster for next spring.

Richmond Theatre is one of the most beautiful of all the Frank Matcham theatres, of which there are many in both central London and the outer boroughs. Pic by Jim Linwood

a Calendar Girls in Richmond

Jim Linwood has added a photo to the pool:

The Richmond Shakespeare Society is a highly-respected amateur dramatic society with a Membership from a wide area. Founded in 1934 to perform Shakespeare's plays annually in the open air, it has grown to have a programme of eight productions a year by vastly differing playwrights of all eras, from ancient Greece to the modern day. They have their own theatre (which is extremely well-equipped), the Mary Wallace Theatre by the riverside in Twickenham.

Peter Denton has added a photo to the pool:

In June 1965 the Mermaid Theatre in London presented 'Left-Handed Liberty', a new play by John Arden specially commissioned by the Corporation of London to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. The cast included Patrick Wymark, Esmond Knight, Sonia Dresden, Bernard Miles, Freddie Jones, Timothy Bateson, Sally Miles, Denise Coffey and Colin Ellis.