The Best Episodes of DCI Banks
Every episode of DCI Banks ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of DCI Banks!
A thrilling drama based on the novels by Peter Robinson. Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot.
Top Episode Ratings Summary
The best episode of "DCI Banks" is "Undertow: Part 2", rated 7.9/10 from 280 user votes. It was directed by N/A and written by N/A. "Undertow: Part 2" aired on 10/5/2016 and is rated 0.1 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Cold is the Grave: Part 2".
7.9/10 280 votes#1 - Undertow: Part 2
Season 5 Episode 6 - Aired 10/5/2016
Banks' mission to solve Annie's murder is made all the harder by the fact he has been taken off the case and sent on gardening leave - but that won't stop him.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.8/10 382 votes#2 - Cold is the Grave: Part 2
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/21/2011
Emily Rydell has apparently been brutally beaten to death and DCI Banks quickly ends up being in the middle of a murder investigation with many suspects. After a surveillance operation establishes a link between the murder of Charles McKay and Brian Clough, Banks and Annie soon work out that the two cases have to be connected.
Director: Marek Losey
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.8/10 278 votes#3 - Ghosts: Part 2
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 4/8/2015
No description available
Director: Kenneth Glenaan
Writer: Paul Logue
7.7/10 396 votes#4 - Cold is the Grave: Part 1
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/14/2011
An armed robbery ends up taking a much darker twist after the culprit is brutally murdered in his own home. Before DCI Banks can start to unravel the case, Chief Superintendent Gerry Rydell, makes a personal plea for Banks to look for his missing teenage daughter. Some naked photographs found on the Internet by Rydell’s wife, Rosalind, makes it look like that she could be in London. Banks reluctantly agrees to help and manages to track Emily down to the home of a drug dealer. Emily refuses to come back home with him but changes her mind. Annie, who has been leading the investigation into the robber’s murder whilst Banks has been away, thinks that the robbery could have been staged, but the victim’s accomplice refuses to talk. After Emily contacts Banks and suggests that she has seen one of Clough’s associates in Leeds, Banks wants her to tell him everything she knows about Clough. Emily refuses to tell Banks anything though. After a battered body is found in an Eastvale nightclub, Banks is shocked to discover that the victim has been identified as Ruth Walker, somebody Emily knew whilst in London. After the true identity of the victim is revealed though, both Banks and Annie find themselves involved in a conspiracy which has changed both investigations hugely.
Director: Marek Losey
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.7/10 377 votes#5 - Strange Affair: Part 1
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 10/10/2012
A mysterious phone message leads Banks to Harrogate to search for his estranged younger brother, while the team investigate the murder of a young woman.
Director: Tim Fywell
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.7/10 354 votes#6 - Strange Affair: Part 2
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 10/17/2012
When a body found at Halton quarry turns out to be his missing brother, Banks must return to his childhood home to inform his parents of the terrible news.
Director: Tim Fywell
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.7/10 296 votes#7 - Wednesday's Child: Part 2
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 2/10/2014
An 11-year old's body is found and Banks wonders if there is a connection between his death and Kyle's disappearance.
Director: Bill Eagles
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.7/10 266 votes#8 - To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 2
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 9/7/2016
The apparent suicide of a young girl drags Banks deeper into the dark world of 'untouchable' criminal Steve Richards.
Director: Robert Quinn
Writer: Nicholas Hicks-Beach
7.7/10 255 votes#9 - A Little Bit of Heart: Part 2
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 9/21/2016
Following the murder of a recently rescued hostage, Banks and his team must untangle secrets and lies from the closed world of the Chinese community.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 338 votes#10 - Dry Bones That Dream: Part 1
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/24/2012
When a hitman bursts into the luxury home of Keith Rothwell and shoots him dead in cold blood, Banks is struck by the strange reactions of his family.
Director: Jim Loach
Writer: Rob Williams
7.6/10 318 votes#11 - Dry Bones That Dream: Part 2
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/31/2012
With Pamela Jeffries in a coma, Banks is even more determined to find Rothwell's killer. And against orders he decides to question MP Martin Fleming.
Director: Jim Loach
Writer: Rob Williams
7.6/10 326 votes#12 - Innocent Graves: Part 1
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 11/7/2012
Banks and his team investigate the murder of the daughter of an internet entrepreneur. The prime suspect is quickly identified, but Morton is not so sure.
Director: Mat King
Writer: Andrew Payne, Rob Williams
7.6/10 320 votes#13 - Innocent Graves: Part 2
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/14/2012
In spite of the trial of Owen Pierce collapsing, Banks still believes that he is the murderer. But Morton tries to persuade him to keep an open mind.
Director: Mat King
Writer: Andrew Payne, Rob Williams
7.6/10 339 votes#14 - Wednesday's Child: Part 1
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 2/3/2014
When two bogus social workers come to Katy Heath's house and take her son away, Banks is drawn into a massive search for the boy - but is Katy telling the truth?
Director: Bill Eagles
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.6/10 302 votes#15 - Bad Boy: Part 2
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 3/10/2014
While Helen's career hangs in the balance, Banks risks everything to rescue his daughter who has been taken hostage by Jaff Kitson.
Director: Stephen Woolfenden
Writer: Catherine Tregenna
7.6/10 284 votes#16 - What Will Survive: Part 2
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 3/11/2015
The team are dismayed to discover that an arson attack at the Osgood's house has injured Michael and killed his autistic son Robbie.
Director: David Richards
Writer: Nicholas Hicks-Beach
7.6/10 283 votes#17 - Buried: Part 2
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 3/25/2015
Geoff has become a marked man and Banks decides to put both him and his daughter Evie under watch at an anonymous hotel whilst he increases the search for Mullen.
Director: Craig Pickles
Writer: Nicholas Hicks-Beach
7.6/10 286 votes#18 - Ghosts: Part 1
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 4/1/2015
When the body of an undergraduate is found dumped in a ravine, the investigation into his stabbing reveals he was far from being a model student.
Director: Kenneth Glenaan
Writer: Paul Logue
7.6/10 289 votes#19 - To Burn in Every Drop of Blood: Part 1
Season 5 Episode 1 - Aired 8/31/2016
When a young man is found brutally murdered, Banks' instinct drags his team into a world of organised crime.
Director: Robert Quinn
Writer: Nicholas Hicks-Beach
7.6/10 258 votes#20 - A Little Bit of Heart: Part 1
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 9/14/2016
When a devoted husband and father goes missing, a ransom demand takes Banks and his team on a journey into the Chinese community.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/10 262 votes#21 - Undertow: Part 1
Season 5 Episode 5 - Aired 9/28/2016
Banks and the team begin the painful job of finding out exactly who was responsible for Annie's death, an incident that has affected all their lives.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 575 votes#22 - Playing with Fire: Part 1
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/2011
In the first episode, DCI Alan Banks is taken to a canal where there has been a fatal fire. The crime is far from straightforward, and as another body is discovered the motive, as well as the intended victim, become increasingly unclear. However, the discovery of what appears to be a Turner landscape suggests that at least one of the victims was involved in an art forgery scam.
Director: Paul Whittington
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.5/10 485 votes#23 - Playing with Fire: Part 2
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/2011
After Tom McMahon becomes the third victim following some suspicious fires, Alan realises that he is now attempting to catch a serial killer. His superiors warn him to keep his distance from the Aspern family who are trying to lodge an official complaint against him. Banks is determined to locate the ringleader of the art forgery scam which links two of the victims. Annie continues to see Mark Keane, despite Banks’ warnings. After Banks finally discovers the true identity of ‘Morrison’, he quickly realises that Annie could be in real danger.
Director: Paul Whittington
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.5/10 308 votes#24 - Piece of My Heart: Part 1
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 2/17/2014
When a journalist is found dead in a remote village, Banks notices a connection between the case and a mysterious death in the 1980s.
Director: Edward Bazalgette
Writer: Robert Murphy
7.5/10 296 votes#25 - Piece of My Heart: Part 2
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 2/24/2014
Banks races to locate a mysterious recording that appears to connect Jack Barber and the members of The Crystal Kiss together.
Director: Edward Bazalgette
Writer: Robert Murphy