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The Best Episodes of Play for Today

Every episode of Play for Today ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Play for Today!

The Best Episodes of Play for Today

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run,...
  1. Background image for The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner
    8.9/10(27 votes)

    #1 - The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner

    S11:E17

    A group of men hold a reunion dinner in Tokyo

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil
    8.6/10(45 votes)

    #2 - The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

    S4:E19

    The exploitation of the Scottish land and its people from the 18th century to the present

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for United Kingdom
    8.6/10(31 votes)

    #3 - United Kingdom

    S12:E7

    Two men on a local council fight the system when forced with massive spending cuts.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for The Spongers
    8.5/10(77 votes)

    #4 - The Spongers

    S8:E14

    The story of a single mother of four living on welfare

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for The Muscle Market
    8.5/10(55 votes)

    #5 - The Muscle Market

    S11:E12

    The problems of an owner of a building contractor company in Liverpool

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    Director:Unknown
  6. Background image for A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado
    8.4/10(9 votes)

    #6 - A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado

    S11:E13

    "They're nice affable gobblers and we're in the nice affable gobbling business." Tom and Gwen soon find that their gastronomical retreat from the rat race is anything but an escape when the Porters come to dine.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for A Time to Keep
    8.3/10(104 votes)

    #7 - A Time to Keep

    S2:E18

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Saturday Party
    8.2/10(26 votes)

    #8 - The Saturday Party

    S5:E17

    When a stockbroker loses his job, he decides to throw a party.

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    Director:Barry Davis
  10. Background image for Spend, Spend, Spend
    8.2/10(77 votes)

    #9 - Spend, Spend, Spend

    S7:E12

    The rags-to-riches-to-rags story of a 1960s football pools winner, based on a true story

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    Director:Unknown
  11. Background image for Waterloo Sunset
    8.2/10(19 votes)

    #10 - Waterloo Sunset

    S9:E13

    A young man and an old woman try to fit in when their neighborhood goes West Indian

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Even Solomon
    8.2/10(15 votes)

    #11 - Even Solomon

    S10:E4

    Stephen Piper is a quiet young man. A virgin, he shows no interest in sex, and is cruelly scorned by an aggressive female neighbour when he rebuffs her advances. He lives with his mother, an overbearing woman who mocks him for being wet. But Stephen has a secret. An accurate and heartfelt depiction of the challenges he faces and a fascinating glimpse at the gender politics of the day.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for The Flipside of Dominick Hide
    8.2/10(354 votes)

    #12 - The Flipside of Dominick Hide

    S11:E8

    Dominick Hide, a time traveller from London in the year 2130, is studying the city's transport system of 1980. Breaking the rules, he lands his craft to seek out his great-grandfather. Compared to his anaesthetised home, 80s London is filthy and polluted...and yet...it exudes an excitement that soon draws him in.

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    Director:Unknown
  14. Background image for Leeds--United!
    8.1/10(76 votes)

    #13 - Leeds--United!

    S5:E1

    About a strike in a textile factory, based on a true story

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    Director:Roy Battersby
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Gangsters
    8.1/10(60 votes)

    #14 - Gangsters

    S5:E8

    A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

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  16. Background image for Rumpole of the Bailey
    8.1/10(166 votes)

    #15 - Rumpole of the Bailey

    S6:E10

    Rumpole defends a young West Indian boy accused of attempted murder.

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    Director:John Gorrie
  17. Background image for Nipper
    8.1/10(17 votes)

    #16 - Nipper

    S8:E5

    Teenager Jimmy's life begins to unravel after the death of his father. With his mother promiscuous and his new stepfather and stepbrother difficult to get along with, he begins to fall into a cycle of petty crime and self harm.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Comedians
    8.1/10(71 votes)

    #17 - Comedians

    S10:E3

    Budding comedians take an evening class taught by a retired performer and, for their final exam, must perform for an impresario in a nightclub.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
    8.0/10(34 votes)

    #18 - Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

    S4:E1

    Mrs Palfrey tries hard to be accepted by the other residents at the Claremont. But then she meets Ludo and a real friendship begins.

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  20. Background image for Schmoedipus
    8.0/10(72 votes)

    #19 - Schmoedipus

    S4:E20

    A young man persuades a woman that he is her son.

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    Director:Unknown
  21. Background image for Destiny
    8.0/10(32 votes)

    #20 - Destiny

    S8:E15

    A story dealing with racial tensions and fascism during a by-election in a West Midlands town

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    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Our Day Out
    8.0/10(256 votes)

    #21 - Our Day Out

    S8:E16

    When a teacher takes a group of troubled school children on a school trip to Conwy in Wales, the children understand life outside of Liverpool.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for Just a Boy's Game
    8.0/10(277 votes)

    #22 - Just a Boy's Game

    S10:E5

    In Glasgow, a young man's sole aim is to be as tough as his dying grandfather once was

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Minor Complications
    8.0/10(10 votes)

    #23 - Minor Complications

    S11:E5

    Kay Gilbert goes into hospital for a minor operation which goes badly wrong. This play tells the story of her fight for compensation.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Angels Are So Few
    7.9/10(50 votes)

    #24 - Angels Are So Few

    S1:E4

    A man claiming to be an angel enters the household of a bored housewife and teaches the family a few lessons.

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  26. Background image for Edna, the Inebriate Woman
    7.9/10(183 votes)

    #25 - Edna, the Inebriate Woman

    S2:E2

    Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series on 21 October 1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, Irene Shubik produced it. The play deals with an elderly woman, Edna, who wanders through life in an alcoholic haze without a home, a job or any money. A rambling, pathetic yet defiant woman, Edna sleeps rough and begs for food and shelter and the drama follows her progress as she moves from hostel to hostel, going to a psychiatric ward and then prison along the way. Jeremy Sandford, who had previously written Cathy Come Home, researched the play by living rough himself for two weeks. A great deal of the dialogue and the incidents in the play come from the book, 'Down and Out in Britain' published by Jeremy Sandford in 1971; although the majority of the speakers in the book are male, Jeremy Sandford puts much of their speech into the mouth of the female character. The film features the only notable acting role of British actor Vivian MacKerrell, the real-life inspiration for the character Withnail in Withnail and I. At the 1972 British Academy Television Awards, the play won the Best Drama Production category, with Patricia Hayes receiving the award for Best Actress.

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner" is the best rated episode of "Play for Today". It scored 8.9/10 based on 27 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/17/1981. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil".