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The Best Episodes of London's Burning

Every episode of London's Burning ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of London's Burning!

London's Burning is a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    London's Burning Season 1 Episode 1 - Series 1 Episode 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Series 1 Episode 1

    S1:E1

    After rescuing a boy's pet cat from a roof, Vaseline accidentally runs over it in the appliance, killing it! They then attend a warehouse fire, where Vaseline's boots catch fire, injuring him seriously. An old tramp who was dossing in the basement burns to death but his cat survives, and they give it to the boy who's cat was crushed earlier. The Watch then raise £1,200 by pushing an old fire engine through the streets, but Tate discovers that the money has gone missing and calls in the police. The Watch are called out to an incident where a young City dealer has been cemented in a toilet by some raiders. Unable to release him, the Watch carry him to an ambulance, and can hardly stop themselves laughing. They then get called out to a major RTA when a lonely woman walks out in front of a lorry. New recruit Kevin panics when he finds a child trapped in a crushed car, and Sicknote is sick after discovering the old lady's severed head. On the domestic front, tongues are wagging over Bayleaf's relationship with Josie and hard-up Tony confesses that he took the money, but hid it in a store room. With the help of Josie, he returns the money undetected to Tate's office.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. London's Burning Season 1 Episode 2 - Episode 2
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    #2 - Episode 2

    S1:E2

    Charisma is flattered when a woman named Donna chats him up in a pub. He learns that she used to be the wife of a former fireman nicknamed Liver Salts. No sooner has she moved herself in with him, he discovers she took Liver Salts for a ride financially. Tate is behaving irrationally and humiliates Hallam over an incident involving some old tramps feared trapped in an old warehouse. Hallam calls in appliances from all-over London but the tramps are at a nearby off licence. Blue Watch are called to a fire at a business premises next to a lock-up containing chemicals. Tate warns that they must find out more about the chemicals before tackling the blaze but Charisma, wound up after a row about Donna, ignores the orders and rushes out into the fire. A car petrol tank explodes and engulfs Charisma. Badly injured, he is taken to hospital where he is visited by Donna. Although barely able to speak he tells her he knows about her past.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. London's Burning Season 1 Episode 3 - Episode 3
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    #3 - Episode 3

    S1:E3

    Blue Watch are called out to release a lift stuck between floors in a tower block. The rescue is hindered because vandals have stolen the winding lever and the passengers are frantic. There is a constant bitching by an old woman about Sue, a young tart, and her client who is claustrophobic. When they are freed and the man does a runner, Vaseline asks Sue out on a date. On their fire inspection round, the Watch visits a local clothing workshop. The place is a death-trap, but Malcolm falls for Samina, one of the workers. When Tate's worst fears come true and there is a fire there, Malcolm is frantic. On the way, the troublesome pump engine breaks down and the crew's arrival at the fire is delayed. By the time they get there, several of the girls have been killed behind a locked fire door - among them Samina. A few weeks later, the Watch are out in force to watch Sicknote and Jean in POP's version of South Pacific. They greet the final curtain with wild applause, especially when the fire curtain falls on his head as he is taking a bow!

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. London's Burning Season 1 Episode 4 - Episode 4
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    #4 - Episode 4

    S1:E4

    In the middle of a divorce from her husband, Josie accepts a lift home from a man she has met at an evening class. He persuades her to ask him up to her flat for coffee but inside, attacks her and tries to rape her before she fights him off. Charisma, still in hospital, reveals that he wants Donna out of his house, but when he gets home, he finds out she has set up a Hairdressing business there. Blue Watch wants George to represent them in a charity LFB boxing match but after agreeing, he damages his hands in seeing off Big Eddie, who had come to the station to batter Vaseline for non-payment of a debt. Meanwhile Tate has problems of his own, when a shout at a high rise block is jeopardised by vandalised equipment, he goes over the edge. He turns to drink, and instead of going to work, takes himself off to the Kent coast and stares out to sea. When he comes back, he takes a week off and returns to a warm welcome.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. London's Burning Season 1 Episode 5 - Episode 5
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    #5 - Episode 5

    S1:E5

    An Open Day at Blackwall is badly interrupted by criminals who are on the run after they tried to rob a building site office round the corner from Blackwall. The robbers 2 men and a pregnat woman are armed with guns. Blackwall hosts an open day to a group of children. At the event, Sicknote dresses as a banana and Malcolm dresses as Welephant! Two men - Bobby and Garry, break into an office at a milk depot. Garry pulls a gun on an accountant and tells him, he wants money. Outside, Garry' pregnant sister Amanda is sitting in the car. However, two police officers start to sniff around and she quickly leaves the vehicle as it isn't taxed. All of the money had been collected over an hour ago, so they only got £28! Malcolm dressed as Welephant, talks to a group of boy's about fire safety and one of them asks what he has to do if he needs to go to the loo! Bobby, Garry and Amanda are chased by the police and they run into the station yard. Garry pulls out his gun and Amanda reveals she also

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 1 - Series 2 Episode 1
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    #6 - Series 2 Episode 1

    S2:E1

    Blue Watch deals with a fire at a hotel which is run as council accommodation, where Kevin becomes especially sympathetic to a young woman resident Bayleaf's family problems continue to mount,and Hallam plays matchmaker over dinner while George enlists Malcom and Sicknote to help him woo a pretty girl

    Director:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of London's Burning

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  7. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 2 - Episode 2
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    #7 - Episode 2

    S2:E2

    Tony,Vaseline and Malcolm are using the radio sets to whistle at women going passed the front of Blackwall by using a dummy Firefighter dressed up in LFB clothes. It backfires on them when the new ADO arrives

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 3 - Episode 3
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    #8 - Episode 3

    S2:E3

    Charisma continues to blabber on about Big Ron, as Malcolm, George and Vaseline chorus 'BIG RON!' each time his name is mentioned! The bells go down and the pump is put on standby at Stratford as the majority of the Brigade are tackling a huge blaze. The Pump Crew arrive at Stratford to find the food in the oven ablaze! It is quickly extinguished before the bells go down... The Pump crew arrive on the scene where a nuclear container is leaking and ticking. As radiation is suspected, Tate orders that the pump is moved back. He tells Josie that she knows the deal with women and radiation and tells her to inform the public. The train driver and his guard continue to moan about being de-contaminated, but Tate rightfully points out that they don't know if they have been contamination yet and tells them to move their bums back to where the pump is! The Borough Street Watch continue to bully Maddox and they tie him to a ladder and put him face down in a pool of water. As his fellow watch memb

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 4 - Epsidoe 4
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    #9 - Epsidoe 4

    S2:E4

    Blue Watch face a race against time when two building workers are buried under collapsed scaffolding at the edge of a river. There is just half an hour before the incoming tide will drown the trapped men and Tate urgently requests a thermal imaging camera to help find them. But when ADO Scase arrives, he orders the rescue work to be halted until the remaining scaffolding has been secured. Tate ignores Scase and the men are dragged out just in time. Josie attends a Junior Officers Training course, the first woman to do so. Sicknote is jealous as his role as the leading light in POP's is unsure after the arrival of a newcomer, Dominic. Vaseline ends up sleeping with Marion one by mistake while Charisma tries to track down his long-lost father. He is sent to the Savoy Hotel, but is disappointed to find he is only a cleaner there. He tells the Watch that the old man died a hero's death in the war, but nobody believes him. Tate learns he has to go before the Area Commander for insubordination.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 5 - Episode 5
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    #10 - Episode 5

    S2:E5

    Neither Scase or Tate emerge unscathed from their meeting with ACO Bulstrode. Tate is delighted to hear that Scase has been transferred to an obscure station in the North-East. Sicknote comes home to find Jean kissing Dominic, and after attacking him, he leaves home. With the Dockland Development Board buying up the area at relatively low prices, several businesses have burned to the ground for the insurance money. Cafe owner Ray tries a similar ploy, and the exploding petrol traps him inside. As the cafe is just around the corner, the Watch hear the explosion and run round to the blazing cafe. Bayleaf remembers an old man and his dog who live upstairs and Josie has to crawl along smouldering joints to rescue him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 6 - Episode 6
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    #11 - Episode 6

    S2:E6

    The racism trial goes to a disciplinary tribunal. Hallam is called to give evidence and despite Scouser's claim that it was just a wheeze that went wrong, Scouser and his co-defendants are thrown out of the Brigade. Sicknote has moved in with Charisma while George realises he has blown it with his latest girlfriend, Julia. Malcolm tries to heal the rift, but when George hears that Malcolm has been seen kissing her, he lunges at him. Meanwhile, an old man has been mugged and thrown into a culvert. He is washed down into an underground tunnel where he clings to an overhanging chain for dear life. Tate orders George and Malcolm to get him out. They wade through the rushing water, but Malcolm trips and is about to be washed away when George comes to his rescue. Back on dry land, Tate hopes the cold water has knocked some sense into them.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 7 - Episode 7
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    #12 - Episode 7

    S2:E7

    With Guy Fawkes night approaching, Blue Watch brace themselves for the usual flood of emergency calls. A boy is left to guard a bonfire against a revenge attack from some youths and hides inside from fear. He doesn't hear the youths set fire to the bonfire. When the Watch arrive, the youths throw bricks at them and cut the hoses. From the fumes, Blue Watch realise that someone was inside the fire and find the boy fried. Bayleaf goes home to comfort Clare when her son is rushed into hospital after a firework accident and he rest of the Watch are sent to a bonfire party which has got out of hand and engulfed the kitchen. Badly-parked cars block the appliances path to the house, so Tate orders the appliance through, even if it means damaging the cars. The blaze is put out, but the guests are not happy when they see their cars

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. London's Burning Season 2 Episode 8 - Episode 8
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    #13 - Episode 8

    S2:E8

    Tate asks Josie to take charge of a drill. Predictably, the Watch, George and Kevin in particular are lazy and Josie struggles to keep her temper. Dominic has damaged his larynx and Sicknote is persuaded to return to POPs. Malcolm thinks of a wheeze and as the cats burst into the drinking song, the Blackwall contingent join in! The two Marions go out for a night out, leaving Vaseline to babysit. They return home to find Vaseline asleep with little Damian in his arms, the perfect picture of a father. A routine visit to Surrey Docks turns sour when a truck reverses too far and plunges into the dock. Vaseline, George and Bayleaf put on BA and dive in, George and Bayleaf rescue the driver but there's no sign of Vaseline, he is dead. The funeral reunites Sicknote and Jean, while Josie reveals that Marion one is pregnant

    Director:Unknown
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  14. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 1 - Episode 1
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    #14 - Episode 1

    S3:E1

    A flat is alight and parents and two children are trapped. The mum dials 999, but soon collapses. Nancy is on control and hears the screams, but she is helpless. She calls back through to the operator, so the location can be tracked. The Watch arrive and Hallam, Josie and George work together to free the children, but the parents are both dead. It is revealed that Charisma has left the Watch to work at staff and they all begin to go on about how they think the Watch is jinxed. Tate states that the Watch is not jinxed and Josie agrees with him. George then upsets Josie, reminding her that she doesn't have to worry, because she won't be with them for much longer! The Watch later find Josie crying in the dorm, George apologises and Josie tells them all that she will miss them when she leaves and it is pointed out that she's only transfering, not leaving the country! Bayleaf goes to see a Mrs Roger, about child minding Melanie, who is is now looking after permentantly while Karen is in hos

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 2 - Episode 2
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    #15 - Episode 2

    S3:E2

    Josie is acting Sub at her new station and supervises a shout involving a crashed lorry and some hot tar. Tow workmen are injured - one sprayed with molten tar, the other lying beneath a propane cylinder. Blue Watch arrive on scene and have to take their orders from Josie. Tate watches with pride as she organises the rescue of the two men and the immediate evacuation of the area. Blue Watch are then called out to a night fire in a ship's engine room. The hold is already full of foam when they learn that the Chief Engineer is still down below. Malcolm leads his team down on a perilous mission because the foam means they cannot see or hear anything. Everything has to be done by touch. Eventually they resurface with the injured engineer. As a break from playing practical jokes on Colin, Blue Watch decide to do up an old car for Maggie who has passed her driving test at the sixth attempt. They park it in the station yard, to the horror of ACO Bulstrode who is making an official visit. Malcolm tells him it is for practising drills for RTAs. Bulstrode asks to see a demonstration which involves the removal of the car roof. Kevin has to tell Maggie that her car is now a convertible.

    Director:Unknown
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  16. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 3 - Episode 3
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    #16 - Episode 3

    S3:E3

    A drug war leads to a fire in a block of flats. Colin chases one of the suspects and is threatened with a knife. Fortunately, Bayleaf has followed him and comes to his rescue but at the cost of a slashed face. The crew read the riot act to Colin, warning his "go it alone" approach could have resulted in a fatality. Hallam's wife Sandra is convinced he is having an affair, while Sicknote's campaign to save the City Farm earns him a standing ovation at a public meeting. The Watch are called out to a horrific train crash. The implications of the job finally dawn on Colin as he and George take time to talk to a young girl trapped in a compartment. She has to have her legs amputated. Colin breaks down in tears and is comforted by Bayleaf.

    Director:Unknown
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  17. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 4 - Episode 4
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    #17 - Episode 4

    S3:E4

    After Hallam saves a distressed claimant who set fire to himself in a DHSS office, Blue Watch are called to a collapsed trench on a building site. The foreman has ignored warnings that the trench is unsafe and now a young worker has been buried alive. Malcolm uses his own body to protect the lad from a further collapse and saves his life. Tate tells the Watch he is putting Malcolm up for a bravery award. Malcolm becomes a hero and is interviewed by the national press, much to the annoyance of Sicknote, who's petition to No.10 about the City Farm only recieves coverage in his local newspaper. Technique is thrown out of the Brigade for mooonlighting and warns Bayleaf who has been doing some decorating to make ends meet. Bayleaf has to leave the job unfinished and George takes up ballroom dancing to find his ideal woman.

    Director:Unknown
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  18. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 5 - Episode 5
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    #18 - Episode 5

    S3:E5

    High up on the side of an office tower block, a window cleaner's arm gets stuck in a cradle mechanism. In the absence of a high line rescue team, a terrified Sicknote is sent down on a rope. Sicknote frees the mechanism and repairs the wound but then has to be lowered all the way to the ground where he collapses. Malcolm learns that Jimmy, the lad he rescued from the trench, is extremely brain damaged. At the suggestion of Clare, Bayleaf applies for a transfer, which is turned down. Sicknote temporarily takes over as Mess Manager but his health food is greeted with distaste. Technique is giving Marion the runaround. When she and the watch go down to the Swan and Sugarloaf (SAS) to see him in competition, he humiliates her and announces he is going on a date with a female bodybuilder called Tuesday. A fight breaks out during which Technique head-butts Colin and is sent flying across the pub by Jaffa.

    Director:Unknown
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  19. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 6 - Episode 6
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    #19 - Episode 6

    S3:E6

    Kate Stevens joins Blue Watch and proves herself at an accident involving two cars and a chemical lorry. She helps Bayleaf release a woman but hears a baby cry and pulls it out just before the chemicals ignite. Another shout takes the crew to a man-mountain called Benny who has suffered a heart attack. With the use of a hydraulic platform, they winch him out of a window. George's tango partner, Kelly, suggests he moves in with her and Tony reveals he is considering quitting the Brigade to set up a boutique business with his new girlfriend.

    Director:Unknown
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  20. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 7 - Episode 7
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    #20 - Episode 7

    S3:E7

    Blue Watch are on night duty and have been called out to a number of what Tate calls "looney tune shouts" - a dustbin fire, a pregnant cat stuck up a tree and so on. If nothing else, the crew are pleased that Bayleaf is back in the mess, but as usual when they start to tuck into a meal, the bells go off. Tate confiscates Malcolm's sandwich but the butter on it comes in handy for releasing a mans head stuck in some railings as part of his stag night. When they return to the station, Blue Watch find supper has become a burnt offering. Colin is commandeered to get a Chinese takeaway but comes back with nothing but rice and noodles. Kevin meets his dad who has been released from prison. The old man says he's going straight and asks Marion to put him up. but as soon as they're backs are turned, he makes off with her gas and electric money. Bayleaf has a narrow escape when he falls through the ceiling and is only sved by his lifeline to Kate. Sicknote announces he is standing in the local elections.

    Director:Unknown
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  21. London's Burning Season 3 Episode 8 - Episode 8
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    #21 - Episode 8

    S3:E8

    George is suffering from last minute nerves before he and Kelly appear on a TV talent show. He only agreed because apart from the SAS, no one has satelite. The Watch are called out to a shout at an old man's flat. Tate knows the occupant but despite cutting through the security door, they find him dead in bed. While Malcolm goes to collect his bravery award, Tate goes for a routine medical and is devastated to told he is to be taken off duty immediately. Sadly, he tells Hallam his career is at an end. After a call to a flooded funeral parlour, Tate holds his farewell party in the SAS. Bayleaf puts on a video for entertainment, and George can only watch in horror as it is him and Kelly doing the tango!

    Director:Unknown
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  22. London's Burning Season 4 Episode 1 - Episode 1
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    #22 - Episode 1

    S4:E1

    A light aircraft carrying two businessmen crashes into a warehouse. In the process it breaks in half and sets fire to a lorry. When Blue Watch arrive, they are faced with the problem of how to make the plane safe enough to reach the two passengers, one of whom is seriously injured, as well as the dead pilot. The solution is to raise the fuselage on a giant airbag. Acting Station Officer Hallam is being interviewed for promotion. His wife Sandra feels sufficiently confident to order a new kitchen on the basis of his increased salary. Clare and her children moves in with Bayleaf and Malcolm has found a new lodger to help out with the mortgage - a classy law student called Helen. Sicknote decides to run as the Green candidate in the local elections. Dozy Colin misreads an address of a hotel fire and sends Hallam and the pump to the wrong place. Luckily it is a hoax call but Colin's probationary period is extended for three months. George's girlfriend Kelly tells him she's pregnant and invites him to a party to meet her family but a stunned George finds its their engagement that everyone is celebrating!

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. London's Burning Season 4 Episode 2 - Episode 2
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    #23 - Episode 2

    S4:E2

    A basement recording session turns to disaster when a frying pan catches fire near a sleeping roadie. In the soundproof booths, no-one can hear the fire alarm until one of the technicians opens a door and is confronted by a blazing corridor. To make matters worse, the fire-door has been locked to keep the groups fans out. Four bodies are brought out. Hallam has done a good job but he has not gained full promotion. Sandra takes the news badly and in a bid to cheer Hallam up, Bayleaf volunteers the boys to install the new kitchen. But Sandra is left with a large hole in the wall when the lads forget to order the right size window. George remains sober on his his stag night. At the reception, one of Kelly's drunken relatives slags off the Fire Brigade and George flattens him. Then in the honeymoon suite, George gets his big surprise...... Kelly may not be pregnant. Meanwhile, Sicknote is elected to the council.

    Director:Unknown
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  24. London's Burning Season 4 Episode 3 - Episode 3
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    #24 - Episode 3

    S4:E3

    The arrival of new Station Officer Nick Georgiadis ruffles a lot of feathers. A strict disciplinarian, he finds fault with the appearance, sloppy practices and conduct of everyone from Hallam down. The atmosphere is hostile. Relief comes in the form of a shout to a sewer where three men lay injured by a gas explosion. Two had gone upstream to repair a fault but gas started to fill the sewer chamber. The noise from their work prevented them from hearing the gas detector. The result is that the pair are pinned under rubble while the third has a severe headwound. Under Nick's impressive command, Blue Watch free the trio. Afterwards, Nick has words with Hallam about their professional relationship and at home Sandra's constant nagging about the kitchen doesn't make Hallam a happy man. Kevin becomes involved in a brawl with his sisters boyfriend Rick and at the next roll call, Nick sends the battered and bruised Kevin home.

    Director:Unknown
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  25. London's Burning Season 4 Episode 4 - Episode 4
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    #25 - Episode 4

    S4:E4

    When an elderly couple try to put out a fire in their old couch, young neighbour Zoe ends up calling the Fire Brigade. Mabel refuses to leave without her pet budgie and Colin, who takes a shine to Zoe, volunteers to rescue it. As Colin tries to resuscitate the dead bird, he gives it a blast of air from his BA and sends the corpse through an open window. To Mabel and Zoe waiting outside, it looks like the bird has flown away. Colin is Zoe's hero and so he asks her out. The pump is sent on standby into the Kent countryside and dispite getting stuck in a mud field, assist in fighting a barn blaze. Attempting to remove a valuable tractor from the inferno, George merely succeeds in demolishing half of the barn. Councillor Sicknote has started holding surgeries in his living room. Beseiged by pensioners, Jean gets tired with every cup of tea, until a drunk Irishman comes in vomiting, mistaking it for a doctors surgery.

    Director:Unknown
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Best Episodes Summary

"Series 1 Episode 1" is the best rated episode of "London's Burning". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/20/1988. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Episode 2".