Nom-de-Plume
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nom-de-Plume is a British television drama series made and first broadcast by BBC Television in 1956.
Each episode tells a stand-alone story of a notable man or woman and has a length of thirty minutes. The common theme running through them all is that the name the main character is well known by, usually a pen name or stage name, is not revealed until near the end.
The series was created by Hector and Dorothy Crawford.[1]
"The Man from the Sea"
Friday 18 May 1956[2]
Written by Antony Brown[2]
- Cast[2]
- Patrick Troughton as Korzeniowski
- Peter Wyngarde as Blunt
- Bernard Bresslaw as Dominic
- Ronald Fraser as Steward
A Polish seaman called Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski turns himself into a writer in English, his fourth language.
"Portrait in a Mirror"
Friday 25 May 1956
Charles L. Dodgson is an Oxford mathematician and clergyman who has other ambitions.
"The Devil's Tattoo"
Friday 1 June 1956
"Child of Her Time"
Friday 8 June 1956[3]
Written by Ian Dallas[3]
- Cast[3]
- Peter Wyngarde as Monsieur Latouche
Aurore Dupin de Francueil is a French girl with ambitions.
"The Innocent Gunman"
Friday 15 June 1956
Something happens in the life of Samuel L. Clemens.
"The Courtesan"
Friday 22 June 1956
Ludwig I of Bavaria takes a dancer called Eliza as a mistress, who soon has real power in the land.
"The Eye of the Morning"
Friday 29 June 1956
"The Nightmare Man"
Friday 6 July 1956 Edgar Allan Poe has dreams and nightmares.
"The Ten Strangers"
Friday 20 July 1956
"Legacy of Death"
Friday 27 July 1956
"Friend of the People"
Friday 3 August 1956
"The Man Who Made People"
Friday 10 August 1956[4]
Written by Robert Furnival[4]
- Cast[4]
- David Markham as Alexandre
- Tutte Lemkow as Felix
- John Moffatt as Sergei Pavlovitch
- Lee Montague as Leon
- Tom McCall as Pianist
- Susan Pearson as Ballet Mistress
- Anna Wing as Old woman
- Andreas Malandrinos as Sweeper
- Raymond Witch as Stage hand
- John Barrard as Journalist
- Roger Delgado as Regisseur
- Lucy Young, Eileen Elton, Sylvia Herklots as Dancers
- W. Lyon Brown, J. McArthur Gordon, Douglas Jones as Aristocrats
"A Rough Diamond"
Friday 17 August 1956[5]
Written by Richard Wade[5]
Produced by Peter Lambert[5]
Designed by Gordon Roland[5]
- Cast[5]
- John Saunders as Cecil Rhodes
- Donald Morley as Barnet Isaacs
- David Lander as Afrikaaner Barman
- Edward Higgins as First Digger
- Patrick Maynard as Second Digger
- Arthur Lawrence as Third Digger
- Lewis Wilson as Harry Isaacs
- Gina Bon as Fanny
- Gerald Blake as Solly Joel
- Jan Conrad as Alfred Beit
- Robert Raglan as Englishman
- Frank Forsythe as Doctor
"The Man with a Hundred Hands"
Friday 24 August 1956
"Elephants Don't Disappear"
Friday 31 August 1956[6]
Written by Ian Dallas[6]
Directed by Frank Dermody
Magical adviser Geoffrey Robinson
Designed by Norman James
- Erich Weiss claims he can make an elephant disappear on stage.
- Cast[6]
- Peter Wyngarde as Erich Weiss
- Margaret Clifford as Showgirl
- Ellen Pollock as Mrs. Rahner
- Mary Watson as Beatrice
- Gaylord Cavallaro as Sideshow Barker
- John Paul as Police Officer
- Alastair Hunter as Police Sergeant
- James Dyrenforth as George Sadleir
- Nigel Sharpe as Stage Manager
- John Stuart as Smith
- Judy Monitz as Dancer
- Daphne Johnson as Dancer
- Eithne Milne as Dancer
- Mavis Ascott as Dancer
"The Counting-House Clerk"
Friday 7 September 1956[7]
Written by Michael Voysey[7]
Produced by Lyon Todd[7]
Designed by Gordon Roland[7]
- Cast[7]
- Robert Stephens as John
- Eric Messiter as Father
- Jane Henderson as Mother
- Robert Rietti as Hazlitt
- Ann Sears as Ann Simmons
- Una Venning as Mrs Field
- Valerie White as Bridget
- John Dunbar as Mr Simmons
- Barbara Ogilvie as Mrs Simmons
- Michael Collins as Coleridge
- Avril Wheatley as Kitty
- Douglas Storm as Coroner
- Shirley Thieman as Sarah
- Carol Marsh as Fanny
- Alexander Field as Theatre manager
- Edgar Wreford as Young man
"The Free Air"
Friday 14 September 1956[1]
Written by Elwyn Jones[1]
Produced by Peter Lambert[1]
Designed by Douglas Smith[1]
- Cast[1]
- Barrie Hesketh as Blandford
- Frank Forsythe as Monsieur Vincent:
- Lewis Wilson as Lawyer
- Duncan Lewis as Monsieur Arouet
- John Clarke-Smith as Priest
- Arthur Lawrence as Secretary
- Robert S. Young as Adam
- Tessa Clarke as Reine
- John Nettleton as Paul
- Bryan Kendrick as Gaston
- Arnold Yarrow as Sentry
- Reginald Jessup as Officer
- Tarn Bassett as Actress
A young Frenchman called François-Marie Arouet has an adventure.
"Well, He Was a Success"
Friday 21 September 1956 This story begins in London in 1929 and ends in Hollywood three years later.
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nom-De-Plume: 17: The Free Air", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 "Nom-De-Plume: 1: The Man from the Sea", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 "Nom-De-Plume: No. 4: Child of her Time", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 "Nom-De-Plume: 12: The Man Who Made People", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Nom-De-Plume: 13: A Rough Diamond", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 "Nom-De-Plume: 15: Elephants Don't Disappear", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
- 1 2 3 4 5 Nom-De-Plume: 16: The Counting-House Clerk, bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025
External links
- Nom-de-Plume at IMDb