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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!

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,...
Genre:Drama
Network:BBC One

Best Episodes Summary

"Dog Ends" is the best rated episode of "Play for Today". It scored 7/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Carol Wiseman and written by Richard Harris, it aired on 7/17/1984. This episode scored 1.5 points higher than the second highest rated, "Home Sweet Home".

  • Dog Ends
    7.0/101 votes
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    #1 - Dog Ends

    Season 14 Episode 11 - Aired 7/17/1984

    In a future society where euthansia is common, a man signs papers to have his father put down

    Director: Carol Wiseman

    Writer: Richard Harris

  • Home Sweet Home
    5.5/104 votes
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    #2 - Home Sweet Home

    Season 12 Episode 19 - Aired 3/16/1982

    Home Sweet Home is a 1982 television film devised and directed by Mike Leigh, for BBC TV, 'about postmen, parenthood, social workers and sex.' It was Leigh's second collaboration with Play for Today producer Louis Marks, and cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, and with composer Carl Davis - the music score featured a quartet of basses -. It stars Timothy Spall, here working with Leigh for the first time, Eric Richard, Tim Barker, Kay Stonham, Su Elliot, Frances Barber, Sheila Kelley, and Lorraine Brunning. It was first broadcast on 16 March 1982. The film was shot on location in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. 90 minutes.

    Director: Mike Leigh

    Writer: Mike Leigh

  • The Long Distance Piano Player
    NaN/100 votes
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    #3 - The Long Distance Piano Player

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/15/1970

    A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing

    Director: Philip Saville

    Writer: Alan Sharp

  • The Right Prospectus
    NaN/100 votes
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    #4 - The Right Prospectus

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/22/1970

    A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.

    Director: Alan Cooke

    Writer: N/A

  • The Lie
    NaN/100 votes
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    #5 - The Lie

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/29/1970

    ""The Lie"" refers to the 8-year marriage of a couple who are constantly hurting each other.

    Director: Alan Bridges

    Writer: Ingmar Bergman

  • Angels Are So Few
    NaN/100 votes
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    #6 - Angels Are So Few

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/5/1970

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

    Director: Gareth Davies

    Writer: Dennis Potter

  • The Write-Off
    NaN/100 votes
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    #7 - The Write-Off

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/12/1970

    A man is made redundant but can't bring himself to let anyone know, plunging into a web of deceit as he keeps up the charade he is still in work.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • I Can't See My Little Willie
    NaN/100 votes
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    #8 - I Can't See My Little Willie

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/19/1970

    A man has a mid-life crisis in his brother's pub where sees life as a game show

    Director: Alan Clarke

    Writer: N/A

  • A Distant Thunder
    NaN/100 votes
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    #9 - A Distant Thunder

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/26/1970

    A newly-appointed knight finds his celebrations cut short by someone who was witness to his treachery during the war.

    Director: James Ferman

    Writer: N/A

  • Hearts and Flowers
    NaN/100 votes
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    #10 - Hearts and Flowers

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/3/1970

    A TV host and his architect brother attend their father's funeral

    Director: Christopher Morahan

    Writer: N/A

  • Robin Redbreast
    NaN/100 votes
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    #11 - Robin Redbreast

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/10/1970

    A woman living in a country cottage thinks that someone is trying to get her.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Hallelujah Handshake
    NaN/100 votes
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    #12 - The Hallelujah Handshake

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1970

    A petty thief and social misfit finagles his way into a church congregation

    Director: Alan Clarke

    Writer: N/A

  • Alma Mater
    NaN/100 votes
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    #13 - Alma Mater

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/7/1971

    A civil servant working abroad revisits his old school

    Director: James Ferman

    Writer: N/A

  • Circle Line
    NaN/100 votes
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    #14 - Circle Line

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1971

    A cynical student has a radically different view of life from his landlady, leading to conflict. Matters come to a head when he sleeps with her fourteen-year-old brother.

    Director: Claude Whatham

    Writer: N/A

  • Hell's Angel
    NaN/100 votes
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    #15 - Hell's Angel

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/21/1971

    A couple are distressed by the changes in their adopted teenage son when he joins a biker gang.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Piano
    NaN/100 votes
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    #16 - The Piano

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/28/1971

    An old couple refuse to move when they find out that they can't take their piano with them

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Billy's Last Stand
    NaN/100 votes
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    #17 - Billy's Last Stand

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/4/1971

    Billy, a self-employed coal-shoveller, gains a seedy business partner and competition in the form of a rival coal-shoveller.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Rainbirds
    NaN/100 votes
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    #18 - The Rainbirds

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1971

    A man who attempted suicide by jumping out a window is saved only to live in a coma, in which he has fantasies about his relatives and nightmare creatures.

    Director: Philip Saville

    Writer: Clive Exton

  • Reddick
    NaN/100 votes
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    #19 - Reddick

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/18/1971

    Charges that the Rev 'Red' Reddick is exploiting his youth club members leads to an explosive confrontation.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Foxtrot
    NaN/100 votes
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    #20 - The Foxtrot

    Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 4/29/1971

    An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband

    Director: Philip Saville

    Writer: N/A

  • When the Bough Breaks
    NaN/100 votes
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    #21 - When the Bough Breaks

    Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 5/6/1971

    When an injured baby arrives at the hospital, a social worker looks for the parents

    Director: James Ferman

    Writer: N/A

  • Orkney
    NaN/100 votes
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    #22 - Orkney

    Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/13/1971

    A trilogy of plays--A Time to Keep, The Whaler's Return, and Celia--exploring the life of the islanders in the past and present

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Rank and File
    NaN/100 votes
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    #23 - The Rank and File

    Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/20/1971

    The story of the Pilkington glass workers strike of 1970

    Director: Ken Loach

    Writer: N/A

  • The Man in the Sidecar
    NaN/100 votes
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    #24 - The Man in the Sidecar

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/27/1971

    A succesful novelist Edith lives with her husband and his friend, but she decides to ask the friend to leave.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Everybody Say Cheese
    NaN/100 votes
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    #25 - Everybody Say Cheese

    Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 6/3/1971

    The story of a disintegrating marriage told through family photos

    Director: Alan Clarke

    Writer: N/A