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The Worst Episodes of BBC Play of the Month

Every episode of BBC Play of the Month ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of BBC Play of the Month!

Worst episode
S4E2 The Male Animal
3.012 votes
Best episode
S15E2 On Approval
8.986 votes
Top season
Season 15
8.2avg
Binge time
4d 15h
127 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons16

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    BBC Play of the Month Season 4 Episode 2 - The Male Animal
    3.0/10(12 votes)

    S4:E2

    The Midwestern University trustees have forced three teachers out for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild-mannered English professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the Homecoming.

    Director:Alan Bridges
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. BBC Play of the Month Season 8 Episode 7 - A Room with a View
    4.1/10(12 votes)

    S8:E7

    When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?

    Director:Donald McWhinnie
    Writer:Pauline Macaulay

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  3. BBC Play of the Month Season 13 Episode 3 - Flint
    4.9/10(13 votes)

    S13:E3

    Ossian Flint is an elderly Anglican vicar whose way of life has long been the cause of scandal. He has had as little respect for the seventh commandment during nearly half a century of married life as he has had faith since his ordination. The winter of his life is transformed by his encounter with Dixie, a simple young Irish hirl, unmarried and pregnant, late of Holloway prison.

    Director:Peter Wood
    Writer:David Mercer

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  4. BBC Play of the Month Season 9 Episode 1 - The Love Girl and the Innocent
    6.5/10(46 votes)

    S9:E1

    Nemov is an honest man serving a term of 10 years for violations of Article 58. Nemov falls in love with Lyuba, who is having sex with the camp doctor Mereshchun, in exchange for better food and living conditions.

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writer:Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

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  5. BBC Play of the Month Season 13 Episode 2 - Waste
    5.6/10(13 votes)

    S13:E2

    Centres around ambitious independent politician Henry Trebell, his plans for a bill to disestablish the Church of England, and his fall from grace and suicide after his affair with a married woman who dies following a botched abortion.

    Director:Don Taylor
    Writer:Harley Granville-Barker

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  6. BBC Play of the Month Season 11 Episode 2 - The Little Minister
    6.7/10(71 votes)

    S11:E2

    In rural 1840s Scotland, Gavin Dishart arrives to become the new 'little minister' of Thrums's Auld Licht church. He meets a mysterious young gypsy girl in the dens and to his horror Babbie draws him into her escape from the soldiers after she incites a Luddite riot. But unknown to Gavin, Babbie is more than she seems, and they must overcome her secret, the villagers' fears of her, and--worst of all--Gavin's devotion to his mother's sensibilities, before they can openly declare their love.

    Director:Cedric Messina
    Writer:J.M. Barrie

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  7. BBC Play of the Month Season 12 Episode 7 - Heartbreak House
    6.7/10(56 votes)

    S12:E7

    On the eve of World War I, Ellie Dunn, her father, and her fiancé are invited to one of Hesione Hushabye's infamous dinner parties. Unfortunately, her fiancé is a scoundrel, her father's a bumbling prig, and she's actually in love with Hector, Hesione's husband. This bold mix of farce and tragedy lampoons British society as it blithely sinks towards disaster.

    Director:Cedric Messina
    Writer:George Bernard Shaw

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  8. BBC Play of the Month Season 6 Episode 9 - Platonov
    6.6/10(38 votes)

    S6:E9

    A brilliant fellow, Platonov, and he might be a good husband, too — if only women would let him.

    Director:Christopher Morahan
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. BBC Play of the Month Season 14 Episode 5 - The Wings of the Dove
    6.8/10(68 votes)

    S14:E5

    Kate is secretly betrothed to a struggling journalist, Merton Densher. But she knows her Aunt Maude will never approve of the match, since Kate's deceased mother has lost all her money in a marriage to a degenerate opium addict. When Kate meets a terminally ill American heiress named Millie traveling through Europe, she comes up with a conniving plan to have both love and wealth.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Denis Constanduros

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  10. BBC Play of the Month Season 10 Episode 5 - The Apple Cart
    6.8/10(62 votes)

    S10:E5

    King Magnus's position as monarch is in danger – can he 'upset the apple cart' and preserve his throne?

    Director:Cedric Messina
    Writer:George Bernard Shaw

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  11. BBC Play of the Month Season 6 Episode 1 - Macbeth
    6.4/10(19 votes)

    S6:E1

    Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. BBC Play of the Month Season 16 Episode 1 - Dangerous Corner
    6.8/10(36 votes)

    S16:E1

    An unexpected suicide prompts much speculation about honesty and theft.

    Director:James Ormerod
    Writer:J. B. Priestley

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  13. BBC Play of the Month Season 13 Episode 7 - Danton's Death
    7.0/10(71 votes)

    S13:E7

    Georges Danton, a leader of the French Revolution, created the office of the Revolutionary Tribunal as a strong arm for the Revolutionary Government. Within months, he knew this power was a terrible mistake and fought to have it ended with tragic consequences.

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writers:Alan Clarke, Stuart Griffiths

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  14. BBC Play of the Month Season 11 Episode 8 - French Without Tears
    6.8/10(26 votes)

    S11:E8

    The romantic and comic adventures of a quintet of young Englishmen in France, on a course to learn the language.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Anatole de Grunwald

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  15. BBC Play of the Month Season 12 Episode 1 - The Picture of Dorian Gray
    7.2/10(282 votes)

    S12:E1

    A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:John Osborne

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  16. BBC Play of the Month Season 12 Episode 5 - The Country Wife
    7.1/10(71 votes)

    S12:E5

    Pinchwife brings his simple young wife to London for his sister's wedding. Lest she falls prey to the town's temptations, he keeps her under lock and key.

    Director:Donald McWhinnie
    Writer:William Wycherley

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  17. BBC Play of the Month Season 15 Episode 3 - Little Eyolf
    7.1/10(69 votes)

    S15:E3

    Writer Alfred is trapped in a loveless, unfulfilled marriage to wealthy Rita. The death of their disabled son wreaks havoc on their relationship as they struggle to find redemption for their personal failures.

    Director:Michael Darlow
    Writer:Henrik Ibsen

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  18. BBC Play of the Month Season 3 Episode 10 - Man and Superman
    6.3/10(10 votes)

    S3:E10

    John Tanner is determined not to lose his independence - which comes under threat when he falls in love with an ardent feminist.

    Director:James MacTaggart
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. BBC Play of the Month Season 3 Episode 11 - Hay Fever
    7.0/10(32 votes)

    S3:E11

    Weekend guests of the Bliss family finds their hosts distinctly eccentric.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Noël Coward

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  20. BBC Play of the Month Season 14 Episode 6 - Design for Living
    7.1/10(45 votes)

    S14:E6

    A woman cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Noël Coward

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  21. BBC Play of the Month Season 6 Episode 3 - Uncle Vanya
    7.2/10(79 votes)

    S6:E3

    A retired professor has returned to his estate to live with his beautiful young wife, Yelena. The estate originally belonged to his first wife, now deceased; her mother and brother still live there and manage the farm. For many years the brother—Uncle Vanya—has sent the farm's proceeds to the professor, while receiving only a small salary himself.

    Director:Christopher Morahan
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. BBC Play of the Month Season 7 Episode 5 - Summer and Smoke
    6.7/10(14 votes)

    S7:E5

    A plain, repressed spinster falls for a dashing young medical student, but he prefers the wilder life, until it's too late.

    Director:Alvin Rakoff
    Writer:Tennessee Williams

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  23. BBC Play of the Month Season 8 Episode 1 - The Millionairess
    7.3/10(218 votes)

    S8:E1

    An Indian doctor meets a willful and arrogant heiress stuck in a dull marriage in order to satisfy the conditions of her father's will.

    Director:William Slater
    Writer:George Bernard Shaw

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  24. BBC Play of the Month Season 3 Episode 1 - Girls in Uniform
    6.8/10(16 votes)

    S3:E1

    No description available

    Director:Waris Hussein
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. BBC Play of the Month Season 16 Episode 3 - The Misanthrope
    6.8/10(16 votes)

    S16:E3

    A satire of the hypocrisies of French aristocratic society, but also engages a more serious tone when pointing out the flaws that afflict all humans.

    Director:Michael Simpson
    Writer:Molière

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Worst Episodes Summary

"The Male Animal" is the worst rated episode of BBC Play of the Month. It scored 3.0/10 from 12 votes. Directed by Alan Bridges and written by Unknown, it aired on October 13, 1968. This episode scored 1.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "A Room with a View".

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