Joe Orton Laid Bare

Fifty years since his murder at the hands of his lover Kenneth Halliwell, this film charts Orton’s meteoric rise, one which began after his imprisonment for defacing library books in 1962.

Joe Orton Laid Bare celebrates the rapid development of his literary talents and the important contribution he made as one of the working class voices that challenged the status quo of popular culture in the 1960s. Orton’s writing takes centre-stage, with excerpts from his stage and TV plays and diaries. In addition, the circumstances of his murder are re-examined. Interviewees include Kenneth Cranham, Sir Michael Codron, Christopher Hampton, Dame Patricia Routledge and Joe Orton’s sister, Leonie.

Today, BBC2, 9pm