This screen adaptation of George Orwell's famous novel 1984 was made for the BBC SUNDAY-NIGHT THEATRE show and scripted by QUATERMASS scribe Nigel Kneale. It's chiefly remembered today for being the production that catapulted star Peter Cushing to later fame as a Hammer Horror icon, as it got him the Frankenstein role in THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. He's certainly impressive as Winston Smith, bringing a mix of steely inhumanity and deep-rooted thought and feeling. As for the production itself, it's a sterling piece of work, a little cheap and stagey by modern tastes - there's no disguising the "filmed play" feel. A sterling cast including fellow luminaries Andre Morell and Donald Pleasence help to bring the material to life, but overall it's Kneale who comes out the winner for successfully getting to the novel's icy heart.

1984 is Orwell's legendary cerebral work . It's a novel that is bleak , downbeat and philosophical . It seems something of a pity however that much of his other work is overlooked such as his essays . Notes On Nationalism for example is a scathing attack on those people who are " anti-war " but whose bitter condemnation of conflict is only heard when it's waged by the democracies of Britain and America . It was written in the spring of 1945 so fundamentally it's far more prophetic than 1984 but 1984 is considered Orwell's masterwork Scriptwriter Nigel Kneale is - Like much of Orwell's work - somewhat forgotten today . He was once a household name in Britain due to both this adaptation of 1984 and the Quatermass serials . Regretfully it's forgotten how controversial the teleplay was when it was broadcast away back in December 1954 , so controversial that the houses of parliament debated television standards after the BBC was deluged with complaints . Perhaps this collective amnesia works in its favour when viewed today ?You have to be slightly forgiving when viewing 1984 . It may seem talky and static compared to even 1970 British television but if you compare it the same production team's THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT the year before which had the same production values as a school play you'll see how far things have come in such a short space of time . It's also noticeable how much Rudolph Cartier has been influenced by German Expressionist Cinema . We see nods to it here and see it even more explicitly in QUATERMASS 2 Kneale's script does contain a slight hiccup at the beginning when we're told of atomic wars and shown a vision of a devastated London . It's difficult to believe a nation that has survived such a catastrophe and still have the technology of telescreens but this is soon forgotten and we get on with the story proper . Kneale has a written a great adaptation on a novel that is probably impossible to film . Much of the novel's mechanics has Winston Smith thinking to himself and the subtext involves the idea that both personnel Utopia and societal Utopia are mere delusions that should never be sought . All the bits you remember from the novel are here and they're easily understood . Compare this to the 1984 movie by Michael Radford where the story is confused and you'll see how well Kneale has done in doing the impossible The cast are good and there's little in the way of over emphatic performances though they are sometimes noticeable when they do appear but they're nowhere as bad as some that plagued television in the 1950s . There is the slight problem of middle class extras giving it " Cor blimey guv " working accents but having heard David Tennant's mockney accent in DOCTOR WHO for several years I've become immune to them . It's also a novelty seeing Cushing and Pleasence both most famous for horror films appearing on screen in a story about the horrors perpetrated by humans on one another . The stand out performance though belongs to Andre Morrell as O'Brien . Morrell was a prolific British actor in film and television and painfully underrated . He is absolutely outstanding in the torture scene with Cushing where he gives a virtual soliloquy on the metaphysical aims and existence of the party . It's this scene you'll remember long after the rats in Room 101 which caused so much controversy All in all this is a legend of television based upon a legendary novel . There's an argument that both are overrated and I'll probably agree with you on Orwell's novel but that's probably because I believe the author should be remembered more for his other works and how he lived his life . I should state also QUATERMASS AND THE PIT is my favourite of Kneale's wonderful work . Nevertheless this is a milestone of television and should be celebrated as such

Teaming the ultimate speculative-fiction scenarist (Nigel Kneale) with two of the most monumental actors to have ever had a command of the Queen's English (Peter Cushing and Andre Morell) has resulted in a dynamic trio striking this unflinching rendition of the Orwell classic with sparks aplenty. Later to become living legends over at Hammer Films (particularly Cushing), it was this momentous pairing of Morell and Cushing that led the Hammer powers-that-be to reunite them seven years later in the truly remarkable "Cash on Demand" (see my review). The lovely, inscrutable Yvonne Mitchell acquits herself well as Cushing's forbidden love interest, and the atmosphere of foreboding and dread is so thick you could cut it. Last but not least, watching Kneale apply his inimitable touch to Orwell's concepts is a tremendously exciting foretaste of the wholly original yarns he would later spin ("Quatermass," etc. ) A superlative production all the way around.....don't miss it!

There is very little which can touch this programme. Made with extremely limited resources, given the extra strain of being performed mostly live with just a few filmed inserts, Nineteen Eighty-Four had a profound effect on television at the time. Questions were asked in parliament about it, and the BBC came in for considerable criticism at the time for broadcasting it. However, the production found its way into the minds of the public, giving the world such expressions as "Big Brother is watching you". Nowadays Big Brother is little more than the title of a cheap, spineless TV series. Back then it was a terrifying possibility. I've been fortunate enough to see Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I have to say that if TV was still prepared to take risks like this, it wouldn't be seen as cinema's poor cousin any more.