Play Away: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Play Away is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series Play School, it was aimed at slightly older children.

It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.

The format was a little like a music-hall variety show or 'end-of-the-pier' show. The Musical Director was Jonathan Cohen on piano, with Spike Heatley on double bass and Alan Rushton on drums, often with accomplished guest musicians such as trombonist George Chisholm.

Regular 'Players' throughout the thirteen-year run included familiar Play School presenters such as Brian Cant, Toni Arthur, Derek Griffiths,Lionel Morton, Chloe Ashcroft, Floella Benjamin, Johnny Ball, Carol Chell and Julie Stevens.

Series details

• Title: Play Away
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Children
• Premiere date: 1971-11-20
• Final broadcast date listed: 1984-01-28
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC Two
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 9271

Cast and credited roles

• Brian Cant — Presenter
• Toni Arthur — Presenter
• Derek Griffiths — Presenter
• Lionel Morton — Presenter
• Chloe Ashcroft — Presenter
• Floella Benjamin — Presenter
• Johnny Ball — Presenter
• Carol Chell — Presenter
• Julie Stevens — Presenter
• Jeremy Irons — Player
• Julie Covington — Player
• Anita Dobson — Player

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1971-11-20; final listed air date 1972-02-12.
• Season 2: premiered 1972-10-07; final listed air date 1973-02-03.
• Season 3: premiered 1973-10-20; final listed air date 1974-02-16.
• Season 4: premiered 1974-11-02; final listed air date 1975-03-29.
• Season 5: premiered 1975-11-01; final listed air date 1976-03-27.
• Season 6: premiered 1976-11-27; final listed air date 1977-03-05.
• Season 7: premiered 1977-11-12; final listed air date 1978-02-18.
• Season 8: premiered 1978-11-25; final listed air date 1979-02-17.
• Season 10: premiered 1980-11-08; final listed air date 1981-01-24.
• Season 11: premiered 1981-11-14; final listed air date 1982-02-06.
• Season 12: premiered 1982-11-13; final listed air date 1982-12-18.
• Season 13: premiered 1983-11-12; final listed air date 1984-01-28.

Source and licence

Adapted from Play Away on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.