On This Day, August 28: Saturday Night Theatre and Palmolive Beauty Box Theater
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August…
August 28 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August 28 across American network radio, BBC Home Service, and BBC Radio 4, five decades of BBC Saturday Night Theatre headliners spanning Emlyn Williams, Alan Ayckbourn farces, rabies outbreaks, and seaside murder reinvestigations (1965–1993), and mezzo-soprano Gladys Swarthout singing Rudolf Friml's The White Eagle on The Palmolive Beauty Box Theater (1934–1993):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Light of Heart" | BBC Home Service 1965-08-28 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining Classical Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory | Emlyn Williams (Author) | ["Drama", "British", "Theatre", "Family", "Anthology"] |
A devoted daughter sacrifices her own marriage plans to nurse her alcoholic, once-great Shakespearean actor father through an audition. |
| "You're a Long Time Dead" | BBC Radio 4 1971-08-28 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining Detective Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory | Alan Gosling (Writer) | ["Drama", "British", "Mystery", "Detective", "Anthology"] |
A retired homicide detective uncovers evidence that an innocent man was wrongly executed for a seaside murder twenty years earlier. |
| "The Rabid Summer" | BBC Radio 4 1976-08-28 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining Suspense Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory | Brian Thompson (Writer) | ["Drama", "British", "Suspense", "Thriller", "Anthology"] |
A sleepy coastal village is plunged into quarantine and panic when a smuggled pet sparks a deadly rabies outbreak across the county. |
| "Relatively Speaking" | BBC Radio 4 1982-08-28 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining Theatrical Comedy |
BBC Drama Repertory | Alan Ayckbourn (Author) | ["Drama", "British", "Comedy", "Farce", "Anthology"] |
A young man visits his fiancee's supposed country parents, unaware they are actually her older married lover and his unsuspecting wife. |
| "The Battle of San Remo" | BBC Radio 4 1993-08-28 7:50 PM BST |
Sustaining Historical Drama |
BBC Drama Repertory | Barry Campbell (Writer) | ["Drama", "British", "Historical", "Military", "Anthology"] |
British veterans reunite at the Italian Riviera resort to confront lingering battlefield rivalries and buried wartime betrayals. |
| "The White Eagle" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1934-08-28 10:00 PM EDST |
Colgate-Palmolive Palmolive Soap |
Gladys Swarthout | Nat Shilkret (Conductor) | ["Operetta", "Music", "Vocal", "Romance", "Classical"] |
An operatic romance set in revolutionary Russia, where a rebellious Polish countess falls in love with an imperial army officer. |