The Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 11

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   6.6/10(9 votes)

   #1 - Pasmore

   S11:E110/21/1980

   Colin Pasmore tests his strength against his family ties but finds them stronger than he ever imagined.

   Director:Richard Eyre

   Writers:Richard Eyre, David Storey

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   Director:Richard Eyre

   Writers:Richard Eyre, David Storey
2. 

   7.4/10(29 votes)

   #2 - C2H5OH

   S11:E210/28/1980

   "In heaven there is no drama - drama depends on failure and conflict. My trade is a scrutiny of hell. For any proud dramatist his style is his prejudice."

   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:David Turner

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   Director:James Cellan Jones

   Writer:David Turner
3. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #3 - The Adventures of Frank: Everybody's Fiddling Something

   S11:E311/4/1980

   Writer-director John McGrath deliberately shies away from naturalism in an experiment that mixes blue screen, songs, and characters realising they're acting within a play. This first of two parts sees Frank travel to a hostile London.

   Director:John McGrath

   Writer:John McGrath

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   Director:John McGrath

   Writer:John McGrath
4. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #4 - The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice

   S11:E411/11/1980

   No description available

   Director:John McGrath

   Writer:John McGrath

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   Director:John McGrath

   Writer:John McGrath
5. 

   8.3/10(13 votes)

   #5 - Minor Complications

   S11:E511/18/1980

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

   Director:Moira Armstrong

   Writer:Peter Ransley

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   Director:Moira Armstrong

   Writer:Peter Ransley
6. 

   6.7/10(12 votes)

   #6 - Number on End

   S11:E611/25/1980

   What could Steve Jackson's documentary film expose that must be concealed from the African leaders meeting in Brussels? Steve Jackson is on the run and the wrong decision could prove fatal.

   Director:Douglas Camfield

   Writer:Gordon Flemyng

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   Director:Douglas Camfield

   Writer:Gordon Flemyng
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7. 

   6.9/10(10 votes)

   #7 - Jude

   S11:E712/2/1980

   Twelve-year-old Jude has never met Dick, his father. One Sunday afternoon Dick impulsively engineers a meeting, which has distressing consequences.

   Director:Bill Craske

   Writer:Lesley Bruce

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   Director:Bill Craske

   Writer:Lesley Bruce
8. 

   8.1/10(427 votes)

   #8 - The Flipside of Dominick Hide

   S11:E812/9/1980

   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.

   Director:Alan Gibson

   Writers:Jeremy Paul, Alan Gibson

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   Director:Alan Gibson

   Writers:Jeremy Paul, Alan Gibson
9. 

   6.8/10(15 votes)

   #9 - Name for the Day

   S11:E912/16/1980

   Clive admits himself to a psychiatric hospital after undergoing a breakdown. His wife wants him back home, but in order for Clive to be released, he has to want to be cured.

   Director:Bill Bain

   Writer:Colin Haydn Evans

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   Director:Bill Bain

   Writer:Colin Haydn Evans
10. 

    7.6/10(26 votes)

    #10 - Jessie

    S11:E1012/23/1980

    In Victorian times, a nanny cares for a mute boy, who becomes overly attached to her.

    Director:Bryan Forbes

    Writer:Bryan Forbes

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    Director:Bryan Forbes

    Writer:Bryan Forbes
11. 

    6.5/10(11 votes)

    #11 - Beyond the Pale

    S11:E111/6/1981

    A vacation at a seaside hotel in Ireland changes the lives of four friends.

    Director:Les Blair

    Writers:Les Blair, Jon Amiel

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    Director:Les Blair

    Writers:Les Blair, Jon Amiel
12. 

    8.4/10(58 votes)

    #12 - The Muscle Market

    S11:E121/13/1981

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

    Director:Alan Dossor

    Writer:Alan Bleasdale

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    Director:Alan Dossor

    Writer:Alan Bleasdale
13. 

    8.4/10(8 votes)

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

    S11:E131/20/1981

    "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.

    Director:Baz Taylor

    Writer:Don Haworth

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    Director:Baz Taylor

    Writer:Don Haworth
14. 

    6.4/10(10 votes)

    #14 - Dear Brutus

    S11:E141/27/1981

    "They say that in the wood you get what nearly everybody here is longing for - a second chance." J. M. Barrie's fantasy play, depicting alternative realities for its characters and their eventual return to real life.

    Director:Alan Bridges

    Writer:J.M. Barrie

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    Director:Alan Bridges

    Writer:J.M. Barrie
15. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - The Cause

    S11:E152/3/1981

    A confused industrial dispute at a London hospital triggers off in trade unionist George Harley's mind memories of his days fighting in the Spanish Civil War, when the issues seemed so much clearer.

    Director:Barry Davis

    Writer:Derek Lister

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    Director:Barry Davis

    Writer:Derek Lister
16. 

    6.6/10(79 votes)

    #16 - Beloved Enemy

    S11:E162/10/1981

    The head of a multinational corporation wants to do business with the Soviets

    Director:Alan Clarke

    Writers:Charles Levinson, David Leland

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    Director:Alan Clarke

    Writers:Charles Levinson, David Leland
17. 

    8.7/10(27 votes)

    #17 - The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner

    S11:E172/17/1981

    A group of men hold a reunion dinner in Tokyo

    Director:Baz Taylor

    Writer:Stewart Parker

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    Director:Baz Taylor

    Writer:Stewart Parker
18. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - The Union

    S11:E182/24/1981

    You know the nuts and bolts of our policy? To penetrate the unions. To use all sorts of stratagems, manoeuvres, illegal measures, evasions, subterfuges, to carry on Communist activities inside them at all cost.

    Director:Ronald Wilson

    Writer:Tony Perrin

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    Director:Ronald Wilson

    Writer:Tony Perrin
19. 

    7.1/10(11 votes)

    #19 - Sorry

    S11:E193/3/1981

    Two very different women share an office, a common enemy, and a sense of humour.

    Director:Alistair Clarke

    Writer:Carol Bunyan

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    Director:Alistair Clarke

    Writer:Carol Bunyan
20. 

    7.2/10(9 votes)

    #20 - Shai Mãlã Khani: The Garland

    S11:E203/10/1981

    When her 17-year-old son Roy falls in love with a Muslim girl, and a Bangladeshi butcher seeks help from her husband Raji, Leela realizes that the tears and romance of Indian cinema are closer to her own life than she has ever imagined.

    Director:Horace Ové

    Writers:Horace Ové, H.O. Nazareth

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    Director:Horace Ové

    Writers:Horace Ové, H.O. Nazareth
21. 

    5.4/10(12 votes)

    #21 - The Sin Bin

    S11:E213/17/1981

    Six lifers living in an experimental self-rehabilitation unit attached to an ordinary prison participate in a group therapy session. All of them have spent many years in prison and have little chance of ever getting out.

    Director:John Gorrie

    Writer:Carol Bunyan

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    Director:John Gorrie

    Writer:Carol Bunyan
22. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Before Water Lillies

    S11:E223/24/1981

    An evening with the Parent-Teacher Association gets out of hand.

    Director:Alan Charlesworth

    Writer:Robert Marshall

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    Director:Alan Charlesworth

    Writer:Robert Marshall
23. 

    8.0/10(14 votes)

    #23 - Bavarian Night

    S11:E233/31/1981

    When the dynamic young head-master of St Peter's Primary School decides to liven up a parents' fund-raising social by hiring a Bavarian band, he little suspects the hidden passions that are about to be unleashed.

    Director:Jack Gold

    Writer:Andrew Davies

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    Director:Jack Gold

    Writer:Andrew Davies
24. 

    6.4/10(18 votes)

    #24 - The Good Time Girls

    S11:E244/7/1981

    Nancy and Ella are two bored housewives starved of affection when their husbands are away on the oil rigs. The rules are simple: have some fun, just make sure nobody finds out, and you don't get emotionally involved.

    Director:Gareth Davies

    Writer:Alan Clews

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    Director:Gareth Davies

    Writer:Alan Clews
25. 

    6.6/10(11 votes)

    #25 - Baby Talk

    S11:E254/14/1981

    It's such a simple, natural thing to have a baby, thinks Mary. But she and husband Paul are preoccupied with their careers. Can their young neighbour Tessa help - or are the emotions around a new baby more complex than anyone had expected?

    Director:Derek Lister

    Writer:Nigel Williams

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    Director:Derek Lister

    Writer:Nigel Williams