Two one-act plays explore love and loneliness. In "Table by the Window" an aging fashion model contrives a reunion with her ex-husband, a politician ruined by scandal, and their passion is rekindled. In "Table Number Seven" a meek woman harbors a secret love for a man accused of fraud and sex offenses, forcing her to take a stand for the first time in her life.
Acting
Christie's dual roles showcase her range like nothing else.
Direction
Schlesinger makes a TV movie feel like theatrical intimacy.
Director
John Schlesinger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was a rare double-casting experiment: Christie and Bates each play both leads across the two Rattigan one-acts. The original 1958 film had eight separate actors.
Rattigan wrote 'Table Number Seven' in 1954, when homosexuality was still criminal in Britain. Major Pollock's 'offense' was originally coded gay; this 1983 version makes him explicitly heterosexual, arguably softening the social critique.
US
