''The Good and Faithful Servant'' is a darkly comic

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television mov ...

by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was originally written in 1964 and was filmed for British television by the company

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

as part of the ''Seven Deadly Sins'' anthology series, shortly before author Joe Orton's murder in 1967. The play was later performed theatrically. A production directed by Fred Proud was performed at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ ...

in Islington, London in 1971. A Canadian adaptation, aired in 1975 as an episode of the CBC Television anthology series '' Performance'', starred

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

and

Helen Burns Helen Burns (22 December 1916 – 23 July 2018) was a British actress mostly known for playing comedic roles. Burns is known for her performance in the 1993 production of '' The Last Yankee'' at the Duke of York's Theatre, for which she won a ...

in the lead roles.

Original television cast

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

– Buchanan *

Hermione Baddeley Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy".Folkart, Burt, "Noted ...

– Edith *

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom '' Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Awar ...

– Mrs Vealfoy * Sheila White – Debbie *

Richard O'Callaghan Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke, 7 March 1940, London) is an English film, stage and television character actor. He is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke, whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was ...

– Ray * Jack Bligh – old man

Plot

Buchanan, a doorman who has worked at the same company for fifty years is close to retirement when he meets Edith, a cleaning woman, who turns out to be his former lover and, unbeknownst to him, mother of his twin sons. Buchanan destroys his retirement gifts after having reflected on a wasted life, and in the following scene we see Buchanan and Edith, whom he married, waking up in bed together. Whilst she happily natters away Buchanan, tears running down his cheeks, closes his eyes and silently dies in bed next to her.

References

External links

* 1967 plays British television plays Plays by Joe Orton English-language plays Black comedy plays {{1960s-play-stub