Spend, Spend, Spend (play)

Spend, Spend, Spend
Written by	Jack Rosenthal
Directed by	John Goldschmidt
Starring	Susan Littler John Duttine
Country of origin	UK
Production
Producer(s)	Graeme McDonald
Cinematography	Phil Méheux
Running time	86 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC
Release
Original network	BBC1
Picture format	16 mm
Original release	15 March 1977 (UK)

Spend, Spend, Spend is an episode of the BBC's Play for Today anthology series first transmitted 15 March 1977 on BBC1, recounting the life of football pools winner Viv Nicholson.

Written by Jack Rosenthal it is based on the book of the same name by Nicholson and Stephen Smith and recounts Nicholson's life story from the 1950s to the early 1970s in a non-linear fashion.

Rosenthal was a colleague of the PR man who, on behalf of Littlewoods Pools, persuaded Nicholson to allow publicity for her pools win. He wrote in his autobiography: "From that day on, I followed her wild, seemingly stupid adventures in the papers - and believed every snide, snooty, biased word the relentless publicity said. All adding up to one word - that she was a cow." Being given Nicholson's book by director John Goldschmidt caused Rosenthal to reassess his attitude and "become a fan" eager to put across an explanation of her behaviour.

The production won the British Academy Best Play Award and Royal Television Society's Writer's Award 1977. A shortened version - running to 76 minutes - was screened by BBC Four in 2003. The work was released on DVD by Acorn media in 2011, alongside other works by Rosenthal broadcast by the BBC.

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