No Smoking!

"No Smoking!"
BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 11
Directed by	Stephen Harrison
Written by	Rex Rienits
Based on	play by George Moresby-White
Original air date	March 16, 1952 (1952-03-16)
Running time	80 minutes

No Smoking! is a 1952 British TV play. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

It was adapted into a 1955 film.

Premise

A chemist invents a cure for smoking.

Cast

• Robert Beatty as Hal Hurst
• Alan Webb as Mr. Bates
• Jane Barrett as Joyce Bates
• Harold Jamieson as Potman
• Christopher Hodge as Rustic
• Noel Dyson as Mrs. Ellis
• Alexis Milne as Housemaid
• Peter Bathurst as Vicar
• Walter Horsbrugh as Squire
• Harold Siddons as Reg Shipman
• Shelagh Fraser as Sylvia
• Francis de Wolff as Mr. Wellington-Simpson
• John Vere as Thackeray
• Robert Sandford as Jerry
• Lloyd Lamble as Match magnate
• Christopher Hodge as First tramp
• Morris Sweden as Second tramp
• Meadows White as Mayor
• H. G. Stoker as Prime Minister
• Leonard Sachs as Chancellor of Exchequer

Reception

It was described by the Daily Mail as "plenty of good family fun." ^[4] The Sunday Mercury thought it "a little slow moving" but had a "happy idea.. idealy suited for TV." ^[5]

The Daily Herald felt the idea "was all right... but it went wrong. The characters were so typed and the situations were so obvious." ^[6] The Evening Mail called it "rich comedy". ^[7]

References

1. "No Smoking". BBC Programme Index. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
2. Hale, Lionel (14 March 1952). "A jest with an idea". Radio Times. p. 45. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025.
3. "The Listening Post". Liverpool Daily Post. 10 March 1952. p. 4.
4. Specially Written TV Play is Effective Author: J. Stubbs Walker Date: Monday, Mar. 17, 1952 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 17415 p2
5. "Television". Sunday Mercury. 23 March 1952. p. 11.
6. "'No Smoking' just didn't come off". Daily Herald. 17 March 1952. p. 3.
7. "Televiewing". Leicester Evening Mail. 19 March 1952. p. 2.