Artemis 81

Artemis 81 is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alastair Reid.^[1] 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.^[2]

Artemis 81
Written by	David Rudkin
Directed by	Alastair Reid
Starring	Hywel Bennett Sting Roland Curram
Country of origin	England
Original language	English
Original release
Release	1981 (1981) – 1981 (1981)

Plot summary

Occult novelist Gideon Harlax (Hywel Bennett) is drawn into an epic battle between Helith (Sting), the Angel of Light, and Asrael (Roland Curram), the Angel of Death.

Selected cast

• Hywel Bennett - Gideon Harlax
• Dinah Stabb - Gwen Meredith
• Dan O'Herlihy - Albrecht Von Drachenfels
• Sting - Helith
• Roland Curram - Asrael
• Anthony Steel - Tristram Guise
• Margaret Whiting - Laura Guise
• Ian Redford - Jed Thaxter
• Mary Ellen Ray - Sonia
• Cornelius Garrett - Pastor
• Ingrid Pitt - Hitchcock Blonde
• Daniel Day-Lewis - Library Student
• Sylvia Coleridge - Library Scholar

DVD release

Artemis 81 was released on DVD in 2007.^[3] It was incorrectly issued as Artemis '81. The 81 is the number of a star, not a date.^[4] 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.

Further reading

• David Rudkin: Sacred Disobedience: an expository study of his drama 1959-96 by David Ian Rabey, Oxford, Routledge, 1998 ISBN 90-5702-126-9

See also

• Manichaeism