{{Short description|BBC Radio 4 radio drama, broadcast every weekday}} {{Italic title}} {{For|the similarly named BBC One series|The Afternoon Play}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
'''''Drama''''' (formerly '''''Afternoon Theatre''''', '''''Afternoon Drama''','' '''''Afternoon Play''''')<ref>{{cite web |date=31 January 2012 |title=A name change for dramas on Radio 4 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fradio4%2Fentries%2F4e2b804f-5be0-32fc-a05a-6cc434b3ecb3 |website=BBC Radio 4 blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lost radio plays |url=http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/radio3.html |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Radio Plays & Radio Drama}}</ref> is a [[BBC Radio 4]] [[radio drama]], broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm. Generally each play is 45 minutes in duration and approximately 190 new plays are broadcast each year. More or less three-quarters are self-contained dramas. The remainder are short series of 2 to 6 episodes. As well as original drama series, the ''Afternoon Play'' has included a number of adaptations of popular works such as ''[[The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency]]''.<ref name="imagedissectors40">{{cite web| author=Image Dissectors| year=2009| title=The State of the Afternoon Play| publisher=ImageDissectors.com| access-date=2010-02-09|url=http://www.imagedissectors.com/article/40}}</ref>
==History== In one form or another, the ''Afternoon Play'' has been a feature of afternoons on Radio 4 since its launch in 1967, although the strict 45 minute format was not enforced until the reorganisation of Radio 4 by [[James Boyle (broadcasting)|James Boyle]] in 1998, whereby the play directly follows the 2.00pm repeat of ''[[The Archers]]''.<ref>Simon Elmes, ''And Now on Radio 4'' (London: Arrow Books, 2008), 210</ref>
Several ''Afternoon Plays'' were amongst programmes held in 20 underground radio stations of the BBC's [[Wartime Broadcasting Service]], to provide public information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear attack]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hellen|first=Nicholas |title=Julie Andrews to sing to Brits during nuclear attack |publisher=Sunday Times |date=1999-07-11}}</ref>
The strand was retitled in February 2012, to bring it in line with BBC television's "Original British Drama" branding.<ref>Scott Matthewman "[http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2012/02/a-play-by-any-other-name/ A play by any other name] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501022924/http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2012/02/a-play-by-any-other-name/ |date=1 May 2012 }}", ''The Stage'', 13 February 2012</ref>
==Listening figures== In May 2009 it was announced that the listening figures for the ''Afternoon Play'' fluctuated between 800,000 and 1.1 million, making it one of the most popular outlets for new dramatic writing in the world. Monday's ''Afternoon Play'' is usually the most popular play of the week, and Thursday's is usually the least popular.<ref name="imagedissectors28">{{cite web| author=Image Dissectors| year=2009| title=A Brief Guide to Radio Drama| publisher=ImageDissectors.com| access-date=2010-02-09|url=http://www.imagedissectors.com/article/28}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{BBC programme}}
{{BBC Radio 4}}
[[Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes]]