His Excellency (1957 TV play)

"His Excellency (1957 TV play)"
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre episode
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 16
Directed by	Alan Bromly
Based on	play by Campbell Christie and Dorothy Christie
Original air date	April 21, 1957 (1957-04-21)

His Excellency is a 1957 British television play based on a 1950 stage play. ^{[1] [2]}

It was a rare early dramatic role for Shirley Eaton, her first performance since The Dance Dress . ^[3] She said "I wanted to play a straight part." ^[4]

Premise

A former trade union leader becomes the governor of a far-flung British colony.

Cast

• Mervyn Johns as His Excellency, the Governor
• Hugh Sinclair as Sir James Kirkman
• Shirley Eaton as Peggy Harrison
• Glen Alyn as Lady Kirkman
• John Foster as Co-Pilot
• Nigel Hawthorne as Captain the Contino Sevastien Jacono de Piero
• John Horsley as Vice-Admiral Sir Oliver Pain-Bartley
• Harold Kasket as Emil Zamario
• Philip Leaver as Colonel Paul Dobrieda
• Donald Pickering as Major Charles Hugonin
• Michael Segal as Fernando
• Patrick Waddington as Major-General Alan Copeland

Reception

The Bolton News called it "intensely exciting, dramatically real." ^[5]

The Daily Telegraph said Johns "brought unsual conviction and depth of deeling to the part... the result was not perhaps one of the most ambitious television plays but certainly one of the most satisfying I can remember." ^[6]

References

1. "Television notes". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 18 April 1957. p. 5.
2. "Coming television events". Evening Post. 13 April 1957. p. 7.
3. Vagg, Stephen (2 September 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Shirley Eaton". Filmink. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
4. "Her chance to be Miss Somebody". Manchester Evening News. 20 April 1957. p. 3.
5. "Televiewpoint". The Bolton News. 22 April 1957. p. 2.
6. "Television". The Daily Telegraph. 22 April 1957. p. 8.

External links

• His Excellency at IMDb
• His Excellency at Genome BBC