The Lover

Tainted love: infidelity, eroticism and cruelty drive Harold Pinter's complex and provocative early TV drama

This highly-charged exploration of infidelity, eroticism and cruelty comes from the acid pen of Harold Pinter. Adapted from his one-act stage play, it picks apart the sexual game-playing of a bored suburban couple, exposing the bitterness simmering beneath. Starring Alan Badel and Pinter's then wife and muse, Vivien Merchant, it's an intense, bracingly clever and darkly comic work, which carries an erotic charge that's rare in early 60s TV.