Play For Today: Angels Are So Few (BBC-1 1970, Tom Bell)

In the fantasy drama Angels Are So Few, which was an entry in the Play For Today strand Michael Biddles begins to believe that he is an angel sent from above and targets a number of people convinced he can do good, but tragedy awaits.

In an interview for Radio Times in October 1970, Potter said of it: “It’s about the way we manipulate our fantasies to protect ourselves and what happens to us when they are ripped away.”

production details
UK / BBC1 / 1×65 minute episode / Broadcast 5 November 1970

Writer: Dennis Potter / Costume: Elizabeth Agombar / Music: Joseph Horovitz / Design: Stanley Morris / Camera: John Turner / Producer: Graeme McDonald / Director: Gareth Davies

Series: Play For Today / Season 1 Episode 4

cast
Tom Bell as Michael Biddle
Christine Hargreaves as Cynthia Nicholls
Susan Richards as Mrs Cawser
Erik Chitty as Mr Cawser
Barrie Cookson as Richard Nicholls
Godfrey James as Postman
Beryl Cooke as Storyteller
John Glyn-Jones as Clergyman
Kenneth Ives as Interviewer
Denise Buckley as Danish Girl
Dorothea Rundle as Old Lady
Matthew Davies as Timothy

Head of film reviews at The Viewers Guide with an erudite, insightful, slightly sardonic, deep appreciation for classic cinema. Has a habit of quoting obscure lines from old films in everyday conversation. He keeps a meticulously organized film logbook. He's a bit of a tea snob.