Plays for Television

"For purely technical reasons, I have never been very fond of television . . ." —
Tom Stoppard from an interview with Milton Shulman in the New York Times, 23 April 1978.

Another Moon Called Earth
The Boundary
The Dog It Was That Died
The Engagement
Neutral Ground
A Paragraph for Mr. Blake
Professional Foul
A Separate Peace

Squaring the Circle
Teeth
Three Men in a Boat
Tom Stoppard Doesn't Know
A Walk on the Water


Unproduced Teleplays

A Walk on the Water

First televised on ITV in November, 1963.  Re-broadcast in February, 1964 on the BBC as The Preservation of George Riley.  Later revised for the stage as Enter a Free Man, 1968.

Unpublished

A Paragraph for Mr. Blake

Adaptation of "The Story," his 1964 short story.  Originally titled "The Explorers", a version much altered by the producer was first televised on ITV in October, 1965.

Unpublished

A Separate Peace

Half-hour teleplay; directed by Alan Gibson, starring Peter Jeffrey.  First televised on the BBC-2 program "Double Image" on August 22, 1966.  The second half of the program Pursuit of Happiness was a documentary on chess which was co-written by Stoppard and Christopher Martin.

  1. A Separate Peace
    • Samuel French [pb], 1969 [No ISBN] 32pp
    • Samuel French [pb], 1977 [ISBN: 0573122547] 27pp
  2. Playbill Two. ed. Alan Durband
    • Hutchinson [pb], 1969
  3. Albert's Bridge and Other Plays
    • Grove Press, 1977
  4. The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1983
  5. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  6. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

Teeth

Half-hour teleplay.  First televised on the BBC on February 7, 1967.

  1. The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1983
  2. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  3. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

Another Moon Called Earth

Half-hour teleplay.  First televised on the BBC on June 28, 1967.

  1. The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1983
  2. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  3. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

Neutral Ground

One-hour teleplay.  First televised on Thames TV on December 11, 1968. [Some sources show the date as December 2, 1968.]

  1. The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1983
  2. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  3. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

The Engagement

45-minute film, directed by Paul Joyce, starring David Warner.  Televised on NBC-TV's "Experiment in Television" on March 8, 1970.  Television adaptation of the radio play The Dissolution of Dominic Boot, 1964.  Released in August, 1970 to a limited number of British cinemas.

Unpublished

Tom Stoppard Doesn't Know

Televised on the BBC program "One Pair of Eyes" in July, 1972

Unpublished

The Boundary

Half-hour teleplay written with Clive Exton; directed by Mike Newell.  First televised live on the BBC series "The Eleventh Hour" on July 19, 1975.

  1. The Boundary by Tom Stoppard and Clive Exton
    • Samuel French [pb], 1991 [ISBN: 0573120463] 28pp
  2. Antaeus 66 (Spring 1991): 435-447. [ISBN: 0880012684]
  3. Plays in One Act. ed. Daniel Halpern.
    • Ecco Press [pb], 1991 [ISBN: 0880013052]
    • Fine Communications, 1997 [ISBN: 1567311644]
    • Ecco Press [pb], 1997 [ISBN: 0880014903]

Three Men in a Boat

75-minute teleplay, based on the 1889 novel by Jerome K. Jerome.  First televised on BBC-2 on December 31, 1975; directed by Stephen Frears; starring Tim Curry, Stephen Moore and Michael Palin.

Unpublished

Professional Foul

80-minute teleplay.  First televised on BBC-2's "Play of the Week" on September 24, 1977; directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, starring Peter Barkworth and Stephen Rea.  First US broadcast on PBS on April 26, 1978.

  1. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Professional Foul
  2. Squaring the Circle and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1984
  3. Stages of Drama [Eds. Klaus, Gilbert, and Field, Jr.]
    • St. Martin's Press [trade pb], 1991
  4. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  5. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

Squaring the Circle: Poland 1980-81

115-minute drama / mock-documentary for television; directed by Mike Hodges.  First televised on Britain's Channel 4 on May 31, 1984.

  1. Squaring the Circle and Other Plays
    • Faber and Faber, 1984
  2. Squaring the Circle
    • Faber and Faber [pb], 1985 [ISBN: 0571125387] 90pp.
  3. The Television Plays 1965-1984
    • Faber and Faber, 1993
  4. Tom Stoppard: Plays 3
    • Faber and Faber, 1996 *

0571125387

The Dog It Was That Died

70-minute teleplay adaptation of his radio play of 1982; directed by Peter Wood, starring Alan Howard and Alan Bates.  First televised on Britain's Channel 4 (Granada TV) on January 1, 1989.

Unpublished

Unproduced Teleplays

I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby (circa 1963)

This Way Out With Samuel Boot (circa 1964)

Funny Man (circa 1963-64)

How Sir Dudley Lost the Empire (circa 1965)

The Waiter (circa 1965) [synopsis only]

The Servant Problem (circa 1965) [synopsis only]

The Frog Prince (circa 1976; based on the short story by John Collier. This may have been produced without crediting Stoppard, who had his name removed citing artistic differences.)

Undiscovered Country (circa 1982-83; based on his 1979 stage adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Das Weite Land)

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