Joe Orton : Laid Bare Drama/doc BBC2

drama/feature / Drama

As Orton’s story was told, a cast including Antony Sher, Jaime Winstone and Freddie Fox threw themselves into new performances of his most famous works. It almost felt a shame to cut away from the rare treat of seeing his verse on the screen. Perhaps most special were the performances of Orton’s unpublished works: a scene from his rejected Beatles script Up Against It, and a sketch entitled “Until She Screams”, written purposefully to be as pornographic as he could imagine. What would he have thought of it being broadcast at 9pm on a Saturday on BBC Two?