The Afternoon Play is a British television anthology series, which consists of standalone contemporary dramas first shown during the daytime on BBC One. The first episode, entitled "Turkish Delight", aired on 27 January 2003. Since, a total of twenty-five episodes have been broadcast across five series. As of 2009, the series has been replaced in the schedules by fellow anthology series Moving On, which follows a very similar format. The last episode was broadcast on January 26, 2007. The series was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2005 for Best New Director for an episode directed by the actress Sarah Lancashire.