The Girl in the Window

aka ITV Play of the Week: The Girl in the Window

Directed by Julian Amyes
Writers: Allan Monkhouse, Gerald Savory (adaptation)

20 December 1960

  • Diana Beaumont . . . . . . . . . . The Girl in the Window
    Arnold Bell . . . . . . . . . . Parkinson
    Joby Blanshard . . . . . . . . . . Eveson
    David Brierly . . . . . . . . . . Charlie Paynter (as David Brierley)
    Richard Briers . . . . . . . . . . Tony Wallingford
    Rosemary Crowson . . . . . . . . . . Jennie
    Frank Finlay . . . . . . . . . . Bill Foden
    Terence Knapp . . . . . . . . . . Jerry Hochman
    Lloyd Lamble . . . . . . . . . . Ambrose Wallingford
    Anne Lawson . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Gilchrist
    Henry B. Longhurst . . . . . . . . . . Magistrate
    Jeremy Longhurst . . . . . . . . . . John Archer
    Barry Lowe . . . . . . . . . . Welby
    Lane Meddick . . . . . . . . . . Bill Kemp
    Brian Peck . . . . . . . . . . Jack Tranter
    Frank Pettitt . . . . . . . . . . Adam Tranter
    Wensley Pithey . . . . . . . . . . Gilchrist
    Muriel Rogers . . . . . . . . . . Parlourmaid
    Peggy Thorpe-Bates . . . . . . . . . . Eleanor Wallingford


    Richard Briers and Frank were lifelong friends. They met whilst students at RADA and worked together at The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in several productions including; The Waltz Of The Toreadors and Romanoff & Juliet.





  • SOUTH AFRICAN Wensley Pithey plays a newspaper editor in The Girl in the Window but he does not think he would make a success in title job off screen. To explain why, he thought back to Johannesburg in May, 1941. "I was a radio announcer, but because of a shortage of staff we had to edit the early ticker-tape news ourselves. This went all right until the never-to-be-forgotten-morning, when I ignored an item of news. Unlike the newspapers, which all printed it, Pithey on behalf of radio, thought the Rudolf Hess, landing in Scotland story was a leg-pull."

    This is a North Country play and Pithey has the part of Gilchrist, editor of the Mercury, a Saltchester newspaper with a Liberal slant. He finds himself swept into a web of conflicts involving his daughter's fiance.

    The fiance is Tony Wallingford (Richard Briers), son of the local Conservative MP, Ambrose Wallingford (Lloyd Lambie). Tony allows himself to be persuaded into joining a New Year's Eve rag after the pubs close. "He had been called a snob," said Briers, "and decided to show them he was one of the lads by joining in."

    When someone throws a stone, injuring a woman seen in a lighted window, the rag takes on a more serious aspect.

    Lloyd Lambie is an Australian who came to Britain 10 years ago. Like Pithey, he started his career in radio.

    Playing the MP's wife, Eleanor, is Peggy Thorpe-Bates. "During the action Eleanor has a heart attack." she said. "I've been consulting my doctor for tips on playing the part."

    TV Times, December 1960

  • ITV Play of the Week

    ITV Play of the Week is a 90-minute UK television anthology series produced by a variety of companies including Granada Television, Associated-Rediffusion, ATV and Anglia Television. From 1956 to 1966 approximately 500 episodes aired on ITV. The first production was Ten Minute Alibi, produced by Associated-Rediffusion on 14 May 1956.

    Frank appeared in three episodes:

    The Girl in the Window (1960) Bill Foden
    A Leap in the Dark (1960) Alfred Wilson
    Sugar in the Morning (1959) Eric Watts