Every season of Ironside ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Ironside!

While on vacation, Chief of Detectives Robert Ironside of the San Francisco police force is shot by an unknown assailant and paralyzed from the waist down. Fearing he will be forced to retire he convinces the powers that be to to make him a Special Consultant to the Commisioner of Police, who is an old friend. With his team, consisting of police detective Ed Brown, police woman Eve Whitfield, and reformed Juvenile offender Mark Sanger.  he tries to find the gunman who put him in a wheelchair.

Ironside

A substantial sum of money is stolen from a race-track, whilst Ironside and his team are present, and the Chief is determined to crack the case. The only clue is a car, crashed by the inside man, but if it has a secret to tell it is not going to give it up easily.

Message from Beyond

Lonely old women are being strangled, and Chief Ironside believes that there is more to it than just a serial killer at work. Setting Eve up as a potential victim requires a little ingenuity, but it might just prove to be worth the effort.

The Leaf in the Forest

A notorious gangster is preparing to turn State's evidence when he is murdered, but Ironside pretends that the man is still alive, and ready to talk, in order to catch the killer and nail a major criminal.

Dead Man's Tale

When TV personality Francesca Kirby starts to receive death threats, her old friend Robert T. Ironside is soon on the case. When the threats become attempts on her life, he begins to delve deeper. Will he like what he finds?

Eat, Drink and Be Buried

A policeman known to Ironside for some years is shot dead whilst on an investigation. The evidence points to him being crooked, but the Chief is determined to prove otherwise.

The Taker

Two killers break out of their cell in the precinct and hold Ironside and Eve Whitfield hostage, forcing the Chief to come up with a fool-proof plan for their escape. As always Ironside has a trick or two of his own up his sleeve.

An Inside Job

An apparently accidental death occurs, but Ed risks his shield on the certainty that it was murder. When Ironside gets on the case a murky tale of murdered ex-servicemen and an old robbery is soon uncovered.

Tagged for Murder

Ironside is having problems keeping a group of local kids on the straight and narrow, and enlists the help of football star Bat Masterson, an old friend of Mark's. Bat's brother Joe, however, is a rather less savoury character, and Bat has to choose which side he is on.

Let My Brother Go

A recently blinded woman is witness to a murder, and not knowing that she couldn't see him the murderer attempts to silence her. Ironside is on hand to protect her, and also to help her to come to terms with her new way of life.

Light at the End of the Journey

An ingenious art theft takes place at Comus Towers Art Museum, and a guard is murdered in the process. Chief Ironside takes the case, but another death is to follow; this time the proprietor of the museum, who is an old friend of the Chief's.

The Monster of Comus Towers

A woman who wrote a cheering letter to Ironside when he was recovering from being shot, dies in an apparent suicide. Convinced that it was murder Ironside investigates, and uncovers the sad truth. (NB - As part of the incidental music, this episode heavily features the original song From The Day You're Born, which was reused later in the season, in episode Something For Nothing, where it was sung by guest star James Farentino).

The Man Who Believed

Cars are being stolen in worryingly high numbers, and with the numbers recovered falling dramatically, the signs point to a crooked cop somewhere in the department. Mark is convinced that the cop in question is innocent, but nobody else seems very sure.

A Very Cool Hot Car

A friend of the Chief's turns out to have been living under an assumed identity for the last nineteen years, and is wanted in New York for murder. The mayor is determined to have him extradited back to NY for execution, but Ironside is equally determined to save him, especially when it becomes clear that he is innocent.

The Past Is Prologue

Ed falls for a girl he meets after hearing her playing the piano in a bar in Las Vegas. While they are out together Ed is knocked unconscious and the girl disappears. Ed, Ironside and the team try to figure out the mysterious circumstances behind her disappearance.

Girl in the Night

A visiting Soviet athlete vanishes during a practice run, and Ironside is placed on the case. It soon turns out that the 'trustworthy Soviet hero' is anything but, and that the athlete is working for American Intelligence. Has he simply disappeared, however, or has he been found out?

The Fourteenth Runner

A local businessman sets up an organized vigilante force to try to clean up San Francisco. When a key member is murdered, it becomes clear that the "Second Force" has got severely out of hand.

Force of Arms

An old friend of Mark's is a suspect in a murder investigation, but Mark refuses to accept that the man may be bad. Ironside tries to convince him otherwise, but in the process risks breaking his own friendship with Mark.

Memory of an Ice Cream Stick

When Ed and two colleagues arrest a violent man they don't take his threats seriously, but when the other two officers are murdered, Ed is convinced that he knows who the killer is. Suspended from duty he sets himself up as the next victim, determined to prove that his suspicions are correct.

To Kill a Cop

A cop goes bad and shoots a fellow officer, then offers to give himself up to Chief Ironside. Instead, he takes the Chief and Mark hostage, and plans to kill them as soon as his escape is certain. Ironside has to convince the man's wife that her husband is no longer the man she married.

The Lonely Hostage

A psychiatrist friend of Ironside's is murdered, and the only clues are his collection of artworks. Is one of the artists the murderer? And if so, which one?

The Challenge

During a night on the town, Eve Whitfield kills an armed robber who tries to shoot her. When he turns out to be a boy just turned seventeen, she doubts her abilities as a police officer, particularly when half of the town seems convinced that he was a model teenager. It soon turns out that this is far from the truth.

All in a Day's Work

A compulsive (and unlucky) gambler is in debt to a local mobster for $32,000. Ironside wants to put the mobster away, but only can if the gambler is prepared to turn state's evidence. The Chief has to persuade him to turn against the man who is offering him a way out of debt.  (NB - The second episode to feature original song From The Day You're Born.)

Something for Nothing

A friend of Ironside's turns out to be an amnesiac victim without a past. The need to discover who she really is comes to the forefront when somebody tries to kill her, and it becomes clear that the Chief's hopes for a long term relationship might not be possible with this particular girl.

Barbara Who

Lecturing on a law course at a local college, the Chief finds that one of the students is planning to prove that the perfect crime can be committed. The person responsible appears to be particularly cold and calculating, and the Chief finds that he is facing true genius.

Perfect Crime

A baby is found abandoned in the Chief's van, following an explosion at an airport. The Chief suspects that the child's mother was the intended victim of the attack, and plans to make her come forward, using the baby as bait.

Officer Bobby

Ed is charged with police brutality following a raid on a hippie drug den. As always, of course, things are far from being as they seem, and the trail leads to a group of apparently model students at a local private school.

Trip to Hashbury

Mark's date is found murdered in Golden Gate Park, and he is determined to catch the man responsible, with or without Ironside's help. When he decides to take the law into his own hands, however, he finds himself under arrest for the murder of the chief suspect.

Due Process of the Law

A decorated Vietnam war hero is found guilty of murder, but the Chief, amongst others, does not believe that he is guilty. Whilst he is trying to find out the truth, somebody else is killing off the witnesses, and the Chief himself may be next on the list.

Return of the Hero

A notorious jewel thief named Justin arrives in town at the same time as a shipment of famous jewels arrives for display in a local museum. Ironside must keep the thief guessing about the method of shipment so that the jewels will remain safe; but he is up against a mastermind and there is still an inside man who has to be unmasked.

Shell Game

Ironside is the only witness to a murder, but has to go into hospital for exploratory surgery immediately after the events that he witnessed. The murderer is determined that he should not leave hospital alive, and as the Chief deals with the possibility of maybe one day being able to walk again, his presence in the hospital helps various other citizens right wrongs in their lives. Meanwhile Ed, Eve and Mark deal with their own worries and fears for the Chief as the murder attempts escalate.

Split Second to an Epitaph

A policeman friend of Ironside and the team is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Is he really guilty, though, or is the evidence just a little too damning?

The Sacrifice

A black rights activist is arrested for murder, and San Francisco's Black community threatens to take to the streets in protest. Commissioner Randall asks the Chief to investigate the case in an attempt to prove Phillip's innocence; but certain citizens do not appear to want to co-operate.

Robert Phillips vs. the Man

A friend of the Chief's invites him to stay and then promptly disappears, leaving Ironside to figure out what has happened to him, whilst also running the gauntlet in a town determined to cover up a secret.

Desperate Encounter

An obnoxious talk show host known as ""The Peoples' Voice"" begins to receive death threats, and the Chief is assigned to protect him. Firstly he must overcome his own feelings of dislike for the man, but are those feelings entirely misplaced? Events escalate when the host's wife is killed by a car bomb apparently meant for her husband.

I, the People

The Chief is alerted to the murder of a down-and-out by an ex-cop now living on the streets. The trail soon leads to a long line of false cheques, and an extremely unstable man.

Price Tag -- Death

A friend of the Chief's is an obvious suspect in the murder of her husband, but the Chief believes that the evidence against her is too obvious. He soon proves her innocence, but is she really the victim of a frame-up, or is it all rather more complicated than that?

An Obvious Case of Guilt

When Eve is injured during a shooting, the rest of the team recall their early encounters with her, and the Chief wonders if he was right ever to have encouraged her to join the force. Meanwhile, Ed worries over whether he wants to arrest Eve's attacker, or just kill the man outright.

Reprise

A rich man is murdered, and his man-servant is the prime suspect, until a talkative Mynah bird appears which may just have the solution to the whole case on the tip of his tongue.

The Macabre Mr. Micawber

A young pool hustler is coerced into a contract with a crooked promoter when his brother amasses large gambling debts. The Chief steps in, but can he get through to the brothers in time?

Side Pocket

A old woman is murdered, and the only witness appears to be a large, grumpy Alsatian. The Chief enlists his help in a search for the murderer, and uncovers a story of con-jobs and blackmail suggesting that the old woman was far from being just a helpless victim

Sergeant Mike

A painting turns up, apparently painted by an old friend of the Chief's who is presumed dead after confessing to a murder. The Chief believes that he is still alive, and innocent, and sets out to find not only his friend, but also a murderer.

In Search of an Artist

Eve's niece is arrested for possession and use of marijuana, and the Chief investigates her school and friends in a bid to clear her. It soon becomes obvious that she is guilty as charged, but how many others are involved, and just whose fault is it?

Up, Down, and Even

Victoria Ironside, the Chief's aunt, is a member of the Tuesday Afternoon Bridge Club. When a fellow member disappears, Aunt Victoria turns to the Chief for help, but what he uncovers turns out to be a very strange and sorry tale.

Why the Tuesday Afternoon Bridge Club Met on Thursday

Mark's old boxing coach, an alcoholic, is found at the scene of a serious assault, and nobody seems prepared to entertain the theory that he might just be innocent. Mark battles to prove that he has been falsely accused, assisted by the rest of the team, and in the process wins the affections of his law school teacher.

Rundown on a Bum Rap

A fortune teller predicts various confusing prophecies for the members of Ironside's team, which begin to come true with remarkable accuracy. Faced with a missing Da Vinci painting, a kidnapped Ed Brown, and a prediction of his own death, the Chief has to find out who is responsible, before the visiting French ambassador becomes too upset at the loss of his country's much loved art treasure.

The Prophecy

An old friend of Mark's calls him to ask for a meeting, but she is kidnapped before he can reach her. It soon transpires that her disappearance is tied to that of movie star Gloria James, who appears to have died or been murdered. The Chief naturally digs further, and finds a tale of heartache and sorrow which leads to the front door of a local mobster.

A World of Jackals

Following a series of robberies amongst San Francisco's richest inhabitants, Eve Whitfield falls in love with one of the victims, only to discover that he is the Chief's prime suspect. Whilst the rest of the team worry about how to catch the thief, however, Eve is wondering if it may be time to quit the force to get married.

And Be My Love

Ed and an old friend uncover a drug running operation whilst having a night on the town, and after becoming implicated in the affair they are suspended. Ed risks extreme wrath from above in order to continue his investigations, whilst the evidence against his friend continues to grow.

Moonlight Means Money

An old friend of the Chief's, recently widowed, is hearing strange voices and receiving threatening 'phone calls. She is afraid that she is going mad, but the Chief is determined to prove that this is just what somebody wants her to think.

A Drug on the Market

An ex-policeman murders his wife, and sets up a complicated false trail and apparently flawless alibi in order to cover his tracks. The Chief has to find a way to crack the man's seemingly perfect defence, in order to prove that he is guilty.

Puzzlelock

A famous baseball player who is an old friend of Ed's begins to receive nuisance mail, which soon turns into something far more sinister. Fearing for his family, he refuses Ed's offers of assistance, and tries to handle the situation alone. Ed has to persuade him to change his mind, before events get out of hand.

The Tormentor

A young woman is found dead in a park, and it soon transpires that she died as a result of an illegal abortion. Greatly affected, Eve disguises herself as a pregnant woman, and tries to discover who the back-street abortionist is.

A Matter of Love and Death

A local college is plagued by false bomb alerts, and the editor of the campus paper is convinced that leftist militants are responsible. However, when the fourth bomb proves to be real, and a member of the bomb squad is killed, the Chief begins to look in another direction.

Not With a Whimper, But a Bang

Mark's aunt Ruby is cheated out of her life savings by a pair of conmen, and the team set out to capture those responsible. Ed and Eve go under cover as a rich couple, but the investigation is threatened when Ed's cover is blown by a woman he once arrested.

Alias Mr. Braithwaite

Barbara Jones, the amnesiac victim with whom the Chief once fell in love (season one episode Barbara Who), calls Ironside in when her daughter is kidnapped. Not only is it a difficult case, but the Chief has an over eager Sheriff, a jealous husband and his own feelings to contend with, as he attempts to find the girl before it is too late.

Goodbye to Yesterday

As the team passes through a small town, Ed is kidnapped by an escaped convict. When it transpires that the real criminals are the local law officers, the pair go on the run together, and Ironside must get to Ed before he is killed by the Sheriff and his men.

Poole's Paradise

Lured to a prison with a promise of information, the Chief and Mark are taken hostage by three convicts desperate to escape. Together they plot to undermine the escape attempt by turning the situation to their own advantage.

Eye of the Hurricane

When Mark is shot, everybody assumes that the hitman was aiming for Ironside. It soon transpires, however, that Mark was the intended victim. With no apparent motive, and no clues as to who hired the assassin, can the team find the people responsible before they find out that Mark is still alive?

A Bullet for Mark

Ironside and Mark travel to France to handle the security for an American delegation at a conference with the Chinese, but somebody is determined to stop the talks from going ahead. Meanwhile, Mark falls in love with one of the Chinese delegates.

Love My Enemy

When a lowlife bookie is found severely beaten, five witnesses identify Ed as his attacker. Unable to provide an alibi, Ed finds himself having to prove his own innocence; and when the victim dies and Ed is arrested on a murder charge, the team have to find out who the real killer is.

Seeing Is Believing

Mark encounters a group of freedom fighters at his local college, who appear to have more attitude than sense. When it turns out that they also have a roomful of stolen automatic weapons, the Chief has to decide whether or not they represent a threat to the security of San Francisco.

The Machismo Bag

Several girls connected to the same computer dating agency are attacked, and when it transpires that they all fit the same rough profile, Eve sets herself up as a potential next victim, in order to catch the man responsible.

Programmed for Danger

Taking an important witness from Hawaii to San Francisco by plane, Ironside discovers that a fellow passenger is a hitman. He has to find out who is trying to kill his witness before the plane lands; but there may be more than one person trying to claim the reward for an open contract.

Five Miles High

A Torah is stolen from a local Synagogue, presided over by an old friend of the Chief's. Ironside personally takes on the case, determined to find out if the theft was an act of vandalism, as the evidence would seem to point out, or if it is really the work of thieves looking for some quick money.

L'Chayim

An old friend of the Chief's tries to commit suicide, after local gossip and the media both blame her for the murder of her husband. Ironside is determined to find out the truth about the death, even if it means proving that his friend really is guilty.

Beyond a Shadow

A member of Mark's basketball team becomes involved with a gang stealing to order. Mark is determined to get to the boy before the police do, to persuade him to give himself up, but the boy's employer has other ideas.

Stolen On Demand

A fruit seller is threatened by a protection racket, who obtain false photographs of her lawyer son in an attempt to coerce her into letting them invest in her business on the docks. The racket has not reckoned on the tenacity of Dora and her son, however; or on her good friend Chief Ironside.

Dora

Driving home from a visit to his cousin, Mark picks up a hitch hiker, who turns out to be a thief looking for a scapegoat. The pair become friends, however, which causes problems when her accomplice turns up, anxious to carry out the original plan.

Beware the Wiles of the Stranger

A young boxer from San Francisco's Samoan community is anxious to break free from the old traditions of his people, which he feels are holding him back. He finds the process a lot more distressing than he had imagined, however; and his own life, and those of the people he spars with, are put at risk.

Eden Is the Place We Leave

Ed falls in love with an actress, accidentally caught up in a robbery case. Although the affair is mutual, Vivian Page is a pacifist, and unable to accept Ed's career in the force. Both have to decide what means the most to them, and in the end, separate; whilst the cameras pull back, and curtains fall across the screen, as though it had all been just a movie...!

The Wrong Time, the Wrong Place

When he arrives in Fiji to spend his holiday with an old friend, the Chief is suspicious about news that his friend has gone to visit him in San Francisco. After sending for Mark and Ed to join him, Ironside himself promptly disappears, leaving the boys to put the pieces together themselves.

Return to Fiji

Eve is present when an old friend of hers is kidnapped, and is taken along by the abductors. Anxious to get her back, the Chief investigates the husband of the intended victim, and discovers that all of the evidence points to his guilt. As always, however, the Chief is not prepared to go along with what seems obvious.

Ransom

Ironside becomes trapped in his office on his own, when a man comes looking for revenge. With Mark at school and Ed dragged to the opera by Eve, the Chief has to improvise a series of defences, whilst his team gradually come to realise that something is very wrong.

One Hour to Kill

An ex-thief on parole is suspected of a jewel robbery, but the Chief, who has supported him since his release, is sure that he is innocent. Of all those with the means to commit the crime however, it seems that only this man and his young cousin are likely suspects. The fate of an entire rehabilitation programme may hang on Ironside's ability to prove his friend innocent.

Warrior's Return

A thirteen year old boy is the only witness to his mother's murder, but finds it hard to co-operate with the Chief, knowing that it was Ironside who put his father in prison. Allowing Marty Jessup a temporary pass is the only way for the Chief to solve the murder and to lessen his conscience at the same time.

Little Jerry Jessup

The team is assigned to watch over a Crown Prince on a one night stay in San Francisco. With Eve accompanying him on an unscheduled tour, and Ed following along behind, it seems that he is safe from harm; or is he?

Good Will Tour

A dog belonging to a rich friend of the Commissioner's goes missing, and Ironside is assigned to the case. Somewhat scornful of the task, he details Ed and Eve to investigate instead; but is soon lured back when, helped by Mark, they uncover a racket stealing dogs for ransom.

Little Dog, Gone

After killing Ed Brown's fiancÃ©e seven years previously, Tom Dayton, a sociopath with a hatred of female authority figures, is released on parole. Ed is certain that Dayton is still dangerous, but the authorities do not share his concerns.

Tom Dayton Is Loose Among Us

The Chief begins to receive strange phone calls, warning him of a murder to be committed somewhere in San Francisco, apparently in the interests of justice. With very little to go on and virtually nothing to help him identify his mysterious caller, Ironside eventually traces the case back to a policeman, thrown out of the force fifteen years earlier.

A Killing Will Occur

A sniper working for the criminal underworld seeks refuge in the anti-Vietnam protest movement, and with a number of draft-dodgers relying on his silence, the only man who can help the Chief is unwilling to follow proper channels.

No Game for Amateurs

The Chief travels into the mountains to spend the weekend with an old friend, only to be snowed in following a bad blizzard. Trapped in a small cabin, Ironside discovers that his friend is now an addict, violent and unpredictable without the fix he cannot get.

The Happy Dreams of Hollow Men

A judge decides to begin a series of lectures about a case that he tried eight years previously, the result of which was that a man was executed. Immediately he starts to receive death threats; but with no clues to help, the Chief may not be able to find the would-be murderer - who may, it appears, have committed the murder in the original case as well.

The People Against Judge McIntire

An ageing accountant, weighed down by the responsibilities of his life, decides to break free from the grindstone and try for something different. On the way he comes close to going off the rails, and the Chief makes it his personal crusade to ensure that nothing goes too wrong.

Noel's Gonna Fly

The accountant for the Police Pension Fund confesses to the murder of his secretary, but all of the evidence suggests that he could not possibly be guilty, instead pointing to another culprit and a man merely suffering from alcohol-induced hallucinations. As always, however, the Chief does not go along merely with what is 'obvious'.

The Lonely Way to Go

In Canada for a conference, Ironside and the team get caught up in a spate of bombings, courtesy of Quebec separatists; one of them the son of an old girlfriend of the Chief's. When one of the bombings proves fatal, Ironside suspects that there is more going on than just terrorism; and he soon links the killing to a famous stolen chess set.

Check, Mate: and Murder (1)

Ed goes undercover at the docks to try to identify and capture the murderer, whilst the rest of the team continue investigating the case. Finally, with a terrorist plot to defuse, a parade to protect, and Ed masquerading as the arrested murderer, Ironside has plenty to work on; but still has enough time to spend with his old girlfriend.

Check, Mate: and Murder (2)

A policeman's daughter crashes her car after taking cannabis, and her father sets out to catch the man who sold her the stuff. When it becomes apparent that he has framed the man responsible, the task falls to Ironside to decide whether to charge a known pusher or an old and trusted cop who has clearly gone off the rails.

Too Many Victims

When a drug pusher is arrested following a spate of botched drug raids he fingers Ironside as a gang informer. Ed is press-ganged onto a team set up to investigate the Chief, which leads to conflict with Eve. Meanwhile Ironside himself seems to be taking the investigation very calmly, which leads to concern all round.

The Man on the Inside

Mark investigates an old case as part of his coursework research, and uncovers an apparent miscarriage of justice which implicates Ed in a fit up. The pair investigate the case to try to work out what really happened, and discover that the truth is not necessarily what it appears to be.

Backfire

Pablo Esteban, a young Mexican boy, is brought to San Francisco by some businessmen who claim that he can heal people just by touching them. Placed on the case to find out whether it is for real, the Chief develops a close friendship with the boy, and has to help him when he finds out that it is all just a money-making scam.

The Laying on of Hands

Ironside attends a hospital for psychological evaluation, and whilst he is tying knots in his psychiatrist's theories, it transpires that a crook is trying to use the situation to find out the whereabouts of a police informer. With Mark and Eve on holiday, however, there is just Ed to help the Chief, and a whole city to search through for clues.

This Could Blow Your Mind

The power station for a four mile square area of town is destroyed in an explosion, and when a similar attack takes out the auxiliary generator at Police Headquarters, Ironside realises that somebody somewhere is trying to cover their tracks. The question is, who - and what is their goal?

Blackout

A successful folk trio comprising two brothers and a sister tour San Francisco, and Eve's suspicions are roused when the girl, an old school friend, disappears without a word. When the body of another young woman turns up, brutally murdered, the Chief knows that there is a connection somewhere; but which, if either, of the brothers killed the girl? The clue to their sister's whereabouts might just be in their music.

The Quincunx

The Chief and his team are detailed to escort a spy to Mexico, in order to make an exchange with the Russians for an American scientist. When Ironside and the spy are kidnapped by a Mexican political group, Ed has to keep the Russians at bay long enough to get the pair back, so that the exchange can be made.

From Hrûska, with Love

An ex-con determined to go straight is roped into a scam to steal dynamite, after his son is kidnapped. The Chief manages to get the boy back, but by then a bomb has already been planted, and there may be no time to stop it before it blows up. The Chief not only has to find the bomb, he also has to work out how to defuse it.

The Target

Outside odds horses are starting to win at the local track, and Ironside is soon on the case. He discovers that somebody is trying to fix the races, but his prime suspect is Eve's one-time fiancÃ©, and a jockey who may be the unwitting key to it all.

A Killing at the Track

Ed and Eve travel to Mexico to assist in the interrogation of a former suspect in a murder case, who has been arrested for a similar offence across the border. The local police are determined to convict him, but Ed and Eve are equally certain that he is innocent; and when he is helped to escape from police custody, suspicion falls on them.

Escape

The team is at a theatre to watch the rehearsals of a play Ironside has some money invested in, when one of the actors is found dead. Two attempted murders soon follow, and the Chief has his work cut out for him trying both to find the guilty party and to save the play.

Love, Peace, Brotherhood, and Murder

A court case is put in jeopardy when it seems that the jury is irrevocably hung over its verdict; until the Chief realises that one member must surely be on the take. He has a race against time to unmask the guilty party, however, before the judge must dismiss the jury and let the defendant walk free.

The Best Seasons of Ironside

The Best Seasons of Ironside

Season 5

Season 2

Season 8

Season 7

Season 3

Season 4

Season 6

Season 1