The Glittering Prizes is a British television drama about the changing lives of a group of Cambridge students, starting in 1952 and following them through to middle age in the 1970s. There are 6 episodes in the mini-series: ‘An Early Life’, ‘A Love Life’, ‘A Past Life’, ‘A Country Life’, ‘An Academic Life’ and ‘A Double Life’.
The Glittering Prizes (1976) – the title is ironic – was a landmark in television drama, chronicling the lives of a group of friends who first meet as students at Cambridge in the early 1950s. It was a characteristically sharp, witty and satirical portrait of a generation which went on to run the media 20 years later. Raphael has always denied that the character of Jewish writer Adam Morris is autobiographical, although Adam does share Raphael’s mocking wit, his success as a writer, and his obsession with being a Jew in a gentile society. The six 75 minute play format enabled Raphael to explore a range of contemporary issues, such as sexual politics, abortion, class, religion, racism, homosexuality, the ascendancy of the media, yob culture, the erosion of prewar values and the legacy of fascism. – Janet Moat
Starring Tom Conti and Barbara Kellerma, Mark Wing-Davey, Nigel Havers.