Second City Firsts

Second City Firsts
Genre	Drama anthology
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	53
Production
Producer(s)	Peter Ansorge Tara Prem
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC
Release
Original network	BBC 2
Original release	15 October 1973 – 13 May 1978

Second City Firsts is a BBC drama anthology series of single plays, all lasting thirty-minutes. Recorded at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham, or sometimes filmed on location, the series was transmitted between 1973 and 1978.

The series title referred both to Pebble Mill's location in England's so-called Second City, and the fact that the series commissioned an unprecedented amount of first time writers.^[1]

The 1974 episode "Girl" featured the first lesbian kiss on British television, between Alison Steadman and Myra Frances.^[2]

The 1976 episode Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration was written by Ian McEwan, his screen debut.

Series

1. 15 October 1973 to 19 November 1973
2. 15 February 1974 to 25 March 1974
3. 28 October 1974 to 16 December 1974
4. 20 March 1975 to 24 April 1975
5. 25 October 1975 to 29 November 1975
6. 13 January 1976 to 24 April 1976
7. 14 November 1976 to 12 December 1976
8. 5 March 1977 to 6 June 1977
9. 8 April 1978 to 13 May 1978^[3]

Archive holdings

Of the 53 plays in the series, 28 survive.^[4][5]

References

1. Re-viewing Television History: Critical Issues in Television Historiography, ed. Helen Wheatley, pp.91-92
2. Howes, Keith (1993). Broadcasting It: An Encyclopaedia of Homosexuality on Film, Radio and TV in the UK 1923-1993. London, New York: Cassell.
3. BFI Listing for Second City Firsts
4. Lost UK Shows - Second City Firsts
5. "Kaleidoscope BBC Television Drama Research Guide, 1936, 2011", eds Simon Coward, Chris Perry and Richard Down, Kaleidoscope Ltd, 2011, pp.2175-2179