An ambitious BBC Two arts anthology programme, presenting a mix of documentaries, musical performances, and original television plays.
Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, 2nd House was BBC Two’s flagship arts programme of the mid-1970s. Each edition was constructed as an eclectic magazine, combining studio interviews and documentary films with substantial one-off artistic presentations. The programme’s brief was unusually wide, giving equal space to a television play, a profile of a writer, or a complete musical performance. Notable dramatic works were presented under its banner, featuring adaptations of writers such as James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, and Saul Bellow, alongside original plays.
The drama productions mounted for 2nd House were a key part of its cultural signature, cementing its reputation as a home for serious and prestigious television theatre. These were not mere illustrations for a magazine format but high-calibre plays given a prominent platform. The list of contributors confirms the programme’s ambition: Jonathan Miller directed an adaptation of James Joyce’s Clay, and Patrick Stewart starred in a version of Chekhov’s An Artist’s Story. Perhaps most significantly, the strand presented an early television version of Trevor Griffiths’ seminal stage play Comedians, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Jimmy Jewel and a young Jonathan Pryce.
Broadcast: BBC Two, Saturdays, 3 November 1973 – 26 June 1976
Producers: Melvyn Bragg, Gavin Millar, Ben Rea, Tony Cash
Editor: Bill Morton
Presenter: Melvyn Bragg
