5 has revealed more details about the second outing of its Play for Today strand.
The 6 one-off films will feature Daniel Mays, Archie Panjabi, Paul Kaye, Phyllis Logan and Johnny Vegas.
The broadcaster said that the strand was a “key pillar” of its commitment to nurturing new creative voices and providing opportunities for people from low-income backgrounds to break into the feature film and television industry.
As a result, each film must place emerging talent at the centre of its writing, directing, and production teams.
5 points to the example of LA Productions in Liverpool, which, following the first series of Play For Today has:
- supported a returning first‑time director,
- delivered broadcast debuts for two additional directors and three new local writers,
- and enabled crew members to step up into more senior roles.
A group of trainees – many of whom had never worked on a shoot before – were also given their first on‑set experience.
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In this latest series, LA Productions will be producing The Nine O’Clock Trot, The Castle and Closing Time (working title).
The Nine O’Clock Trot is a “darkly comic, emotionally resonant” drama starring Johnny Vegas (Benidorm, Home from Home, Red Dwarf) and Kalli Tant (Inside No.9, The Responder, The Gathering).
It follows Annie (Tant), a recent graduate who has spent six months caring full‑time for her grandfather. Isolated, unemployed and broke, Annie is left reeling when he dies — and facing a funeral bill she cannot afford. With no family support and nowhere to turn, she keeps his death a secret, refusing a council public health funeral she finds unbearable.
Desperate to give him a proper send‑off, Annie turns to the local parish priest, only to become entangled with Father Adam (Vegas), a troubled man facing his own reckoning. What begins as an act of love spirals rapidly out of control, forcing Annie to confront just how far she’s willing to go.
It was written by Joe McNally and directed by Harry Machray.
The other LA Productions film is The Castle, which is about 3 siblings left to fend for themselves after their mother suddenly disappears.
Connor, Jamie, and Mia; played by Oliver Nelson (After the Flood, The Gathering), Dylan Hughes (Death by Lightening, Ludwig, Maternal) and Matilda Flower (Trying, Christmas at Plumhill Manor) try to keep their lives afloat, transforming their suburban house into a makeshift fortress as they wait for her return.
It’s told through the eyes of wildly imaginative middle-brother Connor and traces fraying sibling relationships, survival strategies, and the grand stories children tell each other to feel safe.
It’s written by Jack Bradfield and directed by Emma Turner.
Mina Barber has written Closing Time, which is directed by Dan Sloan. Starring Antonio Aakeel (Slow Horses, Sherlock & Daughter) as Mo, a gifted migrant working in his uncle’s kebab shop.
He has always kept his culinary ambitions hidden until, during a late night of service, he meets Laila played by Ellora Torchia (House of the Dragon, Ali & Ava, Midsommar), a thoughtful lawyer trapped in a stagnant engagement. Their chance encounter begins a passionate affair built on late-night conversations and cooking sessions. As Laila encourages Mo to pursue his dreams despite his pending visa renewal, he challenges her to confront the life she’s settled for.
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“The response to the first Play for Today films last year was hugely encouraging, and this new line-up builds brilliantly on that success. We’ve brought together an incredible cast – from some of the UK’s most respected screen talent to exciting new voices, reflecting both the ambition and the diversity of the strand,” said Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, 5.
“I couldn’t be more excited to see these stories brought to life.”
The other 3 films are made by Vertigo.
Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, A Thousand Blows, The Thursday Murder Club), Joel Fry (Alice and Steve, Inside No. 9, Paddington in Peru) and Amit Shah (Murder Before Evensong, Happy Valley, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office) will star in Wild; a survival “dramedy” set in the breath-taking yet unforgiving Scottish Highlands.
The Quiet Hour is “a gripping, intimate drama” led by Archie Panjabi (Hijack, Doctor Who, Under the Bridge) and Paul Kaye (Small Prophets, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Hack), set over the course of one relentless night shift in an NHS hospital.
Finally Village Idiot is a comedy led by Phyllis Logan (Murder Most Puzzling, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, A Taste for Murder) and Max Harwood (Black Mirror, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Stranger Things: The First Shadow), with Angus Imrie (The Road Trip, The Crown, Fleabag), Kacey Ainsworth (Grantchester, Lynn + Lucy, Sliced, The Madame Blanc Mysteries) and Kathryn Drysdale (Small Prophets, Bridgerton, The Windsors) also starring. Logan plays Barbara, a ferociously stubborn English grandmother who literally chains herself to her beloved cottage when it’s threatened with demolition by High Speed train developers.
