Television Play dramas or plays telecast on television. With the development of technical facilities, TV started broadcasting plays. However, the management and technical skills needed for TV drama are different from those of stage dramas. Format-wise, TV drama finds itself placed in between drama and cinema. Dramatic dialogue, protagonists, different scenes, use of light and sound etc are utilized as on the stage but the actors and actresses of course do not remain present in person. As in the cinema, they are presented through their images in TV dramas. The camera plays an important role in framing the overall scene through selection of the size and angle of reflection. In the process, the theory of making films is followed to some extent.

A television play was first broadcast in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) on 25 December 1964. A comedy titled Ektala O Dotala (ground floor and first floor) written by munier chowdhury and directed by Monirul Alam was telecast for the first time on 27 February 1965. Lilly Chowdhury, Ferdous Ara, Dolly Ibrahim, Khondker Rafiqul Haq and Ramendu Mazumder acted in this play. Usually, TV plays are of an hour's duration.

Initially, telecast of dramas had to face certain limitations. In the absence of VTR facilities all the programmes had to be telecast live and the scenes and stage scenery were created with limited facilities. When the VTR facility was added after quite a long time, editing of the recorded scenes continued to be difficult due to the absence of editing facilities. Outdoor shooting or recording of scenes on location was impossible at that point. Artists had to act, sitting or standing, before a set of outdoor scenes painted by artists. Later on, when Bangladesh television moved to its own building at Rampura, and facilities for rehearsal room, use of several studios, transport facilities for outdoor shooting, skilled set designers, requisite cameras and cameramen, latest technology for controlling light and sound etc were made available, the quality of TV drama improved subsequently. Nowadays no play is shown live on TV; only after necessary editing in the studio TV dramas are telecast.

TV drama is considered to be one of the most popular forms of entertainment. So regular weekly dramas, drama serials, special dramas on such occasions as Victory Day, Independence Day, Eid, Christmas, Durga Puja, the birth and death anniversaries of Rabindranath and Nazrul etc are broadcast on TV. Of the drama serials and plays broadcast, some of the popular ones were Triratna (talented three), Sakal Sandhya (morning-evening), Samay Asamay (In time and out of time), Bhanganer Shabda Shuni (Sound of breakdown), Sangsaptak (soldier vowing to win or embrace martyrdom), Ei Sab Din Ratri (These days and nights), Ayomay (made of iron), Kothao Keu Nei (no one here), Raktakarabi (a flower), Idiot, Shahjadir Kalo Nekab (princess's black veil), Ekhane Nongar (anchor here), Suprabhat Dhaka (good-morning Dhaka), Durbin Diye Dekhun (View through telescope), Babar Kalam Kothay (Where is father's pen?), Aynay Bandhur Mukh (A friend's face on the looking glass), Ksudhita Pasan (hungry stone) etc.

The subjects TV dramas deal with include such as family and social life, the language movement, the Liberation struggle and War, politics, love, degeneration of society etc. However, the dramas that have dealt with subjects concerning family life and social degeneration have been most well-received by the audience. Quite a few of TV dramas have the Liberation War as its main subject. Those plays have depicted the atrocities and repression carried out by the occupation Pakistani army, training of the mukti bahini (freedom fighters), guerilla warfare, spirit of the war of liberation etc.

Nevertheless most dramas broadcast during the period starting from the 90's till today have human love as their central theme. But a number of plays stand out for their depiction or are marked for varieties for their focus on village life, ordinary people struggling for a living, sub-human life in city's slums, mechanical city life, conflict and struggle within low-income families, the connections between city people and rural folks, and the growing distance between them.

Of late, a few short plays aimed at educating people are being telecast. These plays concentrate on issues like planting of trees, population control, awareness of health, education, animal husbandry, pisciculture etc. These are of 10-15 minutes' duration. These plays have an important role in educating people about these aspects of national life. Those who have earned fame as producers and playwrights at different times are Zaman Ali Khan, Waliullah Fahmi, Khaleda Fahmi, Monirul Alam, Abdullah Yusuf Imam, Mostafa Monwar, Deen Mohammad, Mostafizur Rahman, Syed Siddique Hossain, Abdullah Al Mamun, Barkatullah, Mominul Haq, Noazesh Ali Khan, Atiqul Haq Chowdhury, Nasiruddin Yusuf, Mamunur Rashid, Humayun Ahmed, Syed Ahmed, Selim Al Din et al.

Among the most popular artistes are Lily Chowdhury, Syed Lutfunnessa, rawshan jamil, Mirana Zaman, Jahanara Ahmed, Ayesha Akhter, mohammad zakaria, Momtazuddin Ahmed, Abul Khair, Abdullah Al Mamun, Ramendu Mazumder, Golam Mostafa, Masud Ali Khan, Zahirul Haq, Ariful Haq, Nazmul Huda Bachchu, Rini Reza, Syed Ahsan Ali (Sydney), Mita Chowdhury, Dilshad Khanam, Keya Chowdhury, Abul Hayat, Ali Zaker, Asaduzzaman Noor, Ferdousi Majumder, Keramat Mowla, Al Mansur, Jamaluddin Hossain, Sara Zaker, Pijus Bandyopadhyay, Afzal Hossain, Feroza Banu, Laki Inam, Raisul Islam Asad, Humayun Faridi, Subarna Mostafa. [Zillur Rahman John]