The Best Episodes of Playhouse

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   Click to reveal

   REVEAL THE WINNER
   

   9.8/10(11 votes)

   #1 - My Dear Palestrina

   S7:E612/5/1980

   No description available

   Director:Diarmuid Lawrence

   Writer:Bernard MacLaverty

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Diarmuid Lawrence

   Writer:Bernard MacLaverty
2. 

   9.6/10(13 votes)

   #2 - You're All Right, How Am I?

   S7:E255/1/1981

   No description available

   Director:Paul Ciappessoni

   Writer:William Douglas-Home

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Paul Ciappessoni

   Writer:William Douglas-Home
3. 

   8.7/10(15 votes)

   #3 - Speed King

   S6:E712/19/1979

   In 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell's obsession is to win the World's Land Speed Record in his car Bluebird. Speed King is about the man, the car, and the ruthless, but irresistible, public ambition of a world hero.

   Director:Ferdinand Fairfax

   Writer:Roger Milner

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Ferdinand Fairfax

   Writer:Roger Milner
4. 

   8.3/10(43 votes)

   #4 - Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

   S6:E211/14/1979

   A dissident, Alexander, has been pronounced insane by the authorities (although he isn't), and finds himself sharing a cell with a genuine mental patient, Ivanov.

   Directors:Roger Bamford, Trevor Nunn

   Writer:Unknown

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Directors:Roger Bamford, Trevor Nunn

   Writer:Unknown
5. 

   8.3/10(11 votes)

   #5 - Fothergill

   S7:E91/9/1981

   John Fothergill, aesthete and scholar, becomes the proprietor of the Spread Eagle, in Thame, Oxfordshire, with the intent of turning it into the most celebrated Inn in England, catering to the brightest lights in London's literati.

   Director:Claude Whatham

   Writer:Unknown

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Claude Whatham

   Writer:Unknown
6. 

   8.3/10(10 votes)

   #6 - Unity

   S7:E193/20/1981

   The true story of Unity Mitford who, in the 1930s, moves to Germany, where she befriends Adolf Hitler.

   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:Unknown

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:Unknown
TRENDING NOW
The 20 WORST Episodes of Playhouse
READ
7. 

   8.2/10(22 votes)

   #7 - School Play

   S6:E111/7/1979

   A play about the horrors of life at an English public school - with all the schoolboys played by adults.

   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:Frederic Raphael

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:Frederic Raphael
8. 

   8.2/10(18 votes)

   #8 - The Brylcreem Boys

   S6:E311/21/1979

   Cpl. George Hunn's sentry post is knocked over and he wakes to find he is suffering from frost bite of the face. Sent to hospital he is put on a ward with aircrew who have mental issues. He is trapped reenacting their missions at night.

   Director:Roger Bamford

   Writer:Peter Durrant

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Roger Bamford

   Writer:Peter Durrant
9. 

   8.0/10(12 votes)

   #9 - Journal of Bridget Hitler

   S7:E132/6/1981

   An Irishwoman married to a German in pre-WWI Liverpool prepares to meet her brother-in-law, a young man named Adolf Hitler.

   Director:Philip Saville

   Writer:Unknown

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Philip Saville

   Writer:Unknown
10. 

    8.0/10(74 votes)

    #10 - Going Gently

    S7:E286/5/1981

    Two men sharing a hospital room after their diagnoses of terminal cancer struggle with fear, physical pain, the difficulties of being in hospital, family members unable to cope, loneliness, and their unusual friendship.

    Director:Stephen Frears

    Writer:Thomas Ellice

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Stephen Frears

    Writer:Thomas Ellice
11. 

    7.8/10(380 votes)

    #11 - Caught on a Train

    S7:E110/31/1980

    Peter boards a train to attend an important business meeting across Europe. His trip is complicated by two women also assigned to his compartment. One is an independent American whom Peter finds attractive. The other is Frau Messner, an extremely particular and demanding older European woman. Between the two of them, they try different aspects of Peter's patience...

    Director:Peter Duffell

    Writer:Stephen Poliakoff

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Peter Duffell

    Writer:Stephen Poliakoff
12. 

    7.7/10(42 votes)

    #12 - The Mind Beyond: The Daedalus Equations

    S4:E410/20/1976

    During a séance, a medium transcribes complex equations that seem to be the final work of a recently deceased physicist revealing the secret of cold fusion, to the consternation of a rationalistic scientist.

    Director:David Reid

    Writer:Bruce Stewart

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:David Reid

    Writer:Bruce Stewart
13. 

    7.7/10(594 votes)

    #13 - Grown-Ups

    S7:E511/28/1980

    Young working class couple Dick and Mandy move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them to action.

    Director:Mike Leigh

    Writer:Mike Leigh

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Mike Leigh

    Writer:Mike Leigh
14. 

    7.7/10(89 votes)

    #14 - Come Into the Garden, Maud

    S8:E317/7/1982

    A henpecked American visiting Europe is able to throw off his ghastly wife and find love.

    Director:Cedric Messina

    Writer:Noël Coward

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Cedric Messina

    Writer:Noël Coward
15. 

    7.6/10(9 votes)

    #15 - The Unborn

    S6:E215/16/1980

    A physicist has visions of his unborn baby – it turns out that the child will grow up to become a Hitler-like dictator responsible for World War III.

    Director:Michael Custance

    Writer:Philip Martin

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Michael Custance

    Writer:Philip Martin
16. 

    7.3/10(92 votes)

    #16 - Diane

    S2:E37/9/1975

    Teenager Diane Weaver lives with her abusive single father. A religious local boy only who wants to be her friend, but she doesn't like him as much as he does her. What no one realizes is how far the abuse goes.

    Director:Alan Clarke

    Writer:Anthony Read

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Alan Clarke

    Writer:Anthony Read
17. 

    7.3/10(29 votes)

    #17 - The Mind Beyond: Meriel, the Ghost Girl

    S4:E19/29/1976

    Psychic investigator George Livingston is asked to attend a séance. Can it be that he has finally discovered a genuine supernatural phenomena!?

    Director:Philip Saville

    Writer:David Halliwell

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Philip Saville

    Writer:David Halliwell
18. 

    7.0/10(15 votes)

    #18 - Standing in for Henry

    S7:E812/19/1980

    At a Nottingham advertising agency, young graphic designer Graham is recruited as a temporary replacement for the iconic Henry. The agency are desperate to be part of the Swinging Sixties but not without Henry. Can Graham replace him?

    Director:Michael Heffernan

    Writer:Malcolm Bradbury

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Michael Heffernan

    Writer:Malcolm Bradbury
19. 

    6.9/10(16 votes)

    #19 - The Mind Beyond: Double Echo

    S4:E210/6/1976

    Alison has suffered Autism since childhood. Now 17, her parents take her to Dr. Mallam for psychotherapy. Alison is tested with Zener cards, leading him to suspect she is telepathic.

    Director:Alan Bridges

    Writer:Brian Hayles

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Alan Bridges

    Writer:Brian Hayles
20. 

    6.9/10(44 votes)

    #20 - Chains

    S8:E306/18/1982

    Eddie's 40th birthday party reunites friends not seen since the old days of ton-up bikes and early rock and roll. It could be a chance to relive those 'good times', if the others can only match Eddie's enthusiasm.

    Director:Graham Theakston

    Writer:Janey Preger

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Graham Theakston

    Writer:Janey Preger
21. 

    6.8/10(61 votes)

    #21 - Mrs. Reinhardt

    S8:E110/30/1981

    An Englishwoman seeking to escape her marriage arrives at French hotel.

    Director:Piers Haggard

    Writer:Edna O'Brien

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Piers Haggard

    Writer:Edna O'Brien
22. 

    6.7/10(38 votes)

    #22 - The Mind Beyond: Stones

    S4:E510/27/1976

    Stones and curses go together. A series of strange events connected with Stonehenge lead Professor Reeve, an Oxford historian, to wonder if this superstition is true.

    Director:Graham Evans

    Writers:Christopher Bigsby, Malcolm Bradbury

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Graham Evans

    Writers:Christopher Bigsby, Malcolm Bradbury
23. 

    6.6/10(29 votes)

    #23 - Mrs. Acland's Ghosts

    S2:E21/15/1975

    An isolated woman is haunted by the ghosts of her dead siblings.

    Director:Mike Newell

    Writer:William Trevor

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Mike Newell

    Writer:William Trevor
24. 

    6.6/10(132 votes)

    #24 - The Workshop

    S8:E142/19/1982

    In 1945, just a year since the allied troops entered Paris, Simone arrives for her first day at M. Leon's tailoring workshop.

    Director:Nicolas Kent

    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Nicolas Kent

    Writer:Unknown
25. 

    6.5/10(10 votes)

    #25 - The Mind Beyond: The Love of a Good Woman

    S4:E310/13/1976

    A pair of childhood sweethearts have their peaceful life interrupted when a vulgar woman from her dreams show up in reality.

    Director:John Gorrie

    Writer:William Trevor

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:John Gorrie

    Writer:William Trevor