''Pity About the Abbey'' is a 1965

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importan ...

written by

Stewart Farrar Frank Stewart Farrar (28 June 1916 – 7 February 2000) was an English screenwriter, novelist and prominent figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, which he devoted much of his later life to propagating with the aid of his seventh wife, ...

and

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

, and directed by

Ian Curteis Ian Bayley Curteis (1 May 1935 – 24 November 2021) was a British dramatist and television director. Life and career Curteis was born in London on 1 May 1935, and began his career as an actor, joining Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in the m ...

. ''Pity About the Abbey'' is a 90-minute play written for a strand of programmes titled ''Londoners''. The play imagines that

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, one of the most significant religious sites in the United Kingdom, was demolished to make way for a by-pass. They play satirised what the two writers saw as the current trend to demolish significant or beautiful structures under the pretext of necessity, for example the

Euston Arch The Euston Arch, built in 1837 (and demolished in 1962), was the original entrance to Euston station, facing onto Drummond Street, London. The arch was demolished when the station was rebuilt in the 1960s, but much of the original stone was later ...

. It was recorded for television by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and broadcast on 29 July 1965, and later repeated as part of ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramati ...

'' slot in 1966. The programme still exists.''Londoners: Pity About the Abbey''
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References

{{Wednesday Play 1965 television plays BBC television dramas Westminster Abbey