''Artemis 81'' is a British

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

which was written by

David Rudkin James David Rudkin (born 29 June 1936) is an England, English playwright. Early life Rudkin was born in London. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, he was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Great ...

and directed by Alastair Reid. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was broadcast by the BBC on 29 December 1981. It was one of the last TV performances from Anthony Steel.

Plot summary

Occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

novelist Gideon Harlax (

Hywel Bennett Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in '' The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' ( ...

) is drawn into an epic battle between Helith ( Sting), the Angel of Light, and Asrael (

Roland Curram Roland Kingsford Bernard Curram (6 June 1932 – 1 June 2025) was an English actor and author. Career Curram was educated at Brighton College and has had a long film, television and theatre career. His appearances include Julie Christie's trave ...

), the Angel of Death.

Selected cast

- Gideon Harlax *Dinah Stabb - Gwen Meredith *

Dan O'Herlihy Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (1 May 1919 – 17 February 2005) was an Irish actor. His best-known roles included his Oscar-nominated portrayal of the title character in Luis Buñuel's ''Robinson Crusoe'' (1954), Brigadier General Warren A. Black in ...

- Albrecht Von Drachenfels * Sting - Helith *

- Asrael * Anthony Steel - Tristram Guise *

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American singer of popular music who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard'', January 12, ...

- Laura Guise * Ian Redford - Jed Thaxter * Mary Ellen Ray - Sonia *Cornelius Garrett - Pastor *

Ingrid Pitt Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in British horror cinema of the 1970s. Early life Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two ...

- Hitchcock Blonde *

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Day-Lewis, numerous a ...

- Library Student *

Sylvia Coleridge Sylvia Coleridge (10 December 1909 – 31 May 1986) was a British stage, film, radio and television actress. Her credits included '' Tess'' (1979), '' The Avengers'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', ''The Onedin Line'', '' Survivors'', ''Blake's 7'', ...

- Library Scholar

DVD release

''Artemis 81'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 2007. It was incorrectly issued as ''Artemis '81''. The 81 is the number of a star, not a date. The DVD also removes 94 seconds of material due to licensing issues around the use of stills from Alfred Hitchcock films during the scene in Jed Thaxter's office.

References

External links

*
''Artemis 81''
a
www.davidrudkin.com
{{Alastair Reid 1981 plays BBC television dramas British supernatural television shows British English-language television shows Films directed by Alastair Reid

Plot summary

Selected cast

DVD release

Further reading

See also

References

External links