New afternoon drama

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33448, 1 February 1974, Page 4

New afternoon drama

Phyllis Calvert, one of Britain’s leading stage and film personalities for the past 30 years, takes the role of Kate Graham in a new drama series of 39 episodes called “Kate,” which begins on Tuesday afternoon.

Kate Graham is an eniot i o n a 1, compassionate woman, sometimes a little headstrong, but, above all, honest with herself and other people. Kate is, naturally, the focal point for the series, but always in the background is the giant Killearn | Enterprises, headed by Donald Killearn, one of "Kate's closest friends and her em-ployer-to-be. Jack Hedley plays Donald Killearn, the man who holds the reins of an assortment of interests controlled by the [ combine, including the popu-’' lar woman’s magazine “Heart and Home”. Killearn is a man with an instinct for getting the right person for the job, and he has long-since recognised Kate’s prospective value to the organisation. He admires the things which come naturally to her. She is witty, charming, sophisticated and at her best with real, honest people. One of Kate’s failings, or in some cases attributes, is that she cannot resist the challenge to take up arms against injustice, whether it | be the plight of a homeless, I widowed woman, or a tren-[ dy designer forced to the point of a complete mental breakdown by the people around her. [ MIDDLE-AGED WIDOW Kate is a middle-aged widow with a son, Stephen, carving out a career for himself in the Stock Exchange. Her husband, Robert, was killed in a car

crash, and Kate, having sold the thriving advertising agency he started, is now comfortably well off and living in a mews cottage in a smart area of London. From the profits, and in order to ease the pain of her •husband’s death, Kate goes on a cruise by herself. But things don’t work as she plans and she returns to her beloved home and friendly daily' help. Ellen Burwood. The series opens with Kate's unexpected return from the cruise, and that is the point where her life slips back into gear once more. Guest artists in the series include Tony Beckley, Tony I Britton, Megs Jenkins and Bernard Archard. The first episode, “Dear Monica”, deals with Kate’s homecoming and subsequent involvement with the magazine’s advice column. (“Kate” begins at 2.05 p.m. 1 ‘on Tuesday.)