The Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 12

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   6.9/10(112 votes)

   #1 - Country

   S12:E110/20/1981

   The story of the disintegration of an aristocratic country estate after World War II

   Director:Richard Eyre

   Writer:Trevor Griffiths

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   Director:Richard Eyre

   Writer:Trevor Griffiths
2. 

   6.3/10(18 votes)

   #2 - London Is Drowning

   S12:E210/27/1981

   A docudrama about what would happen if London was hit by severe flooding

   Director:Martyn Friend

   Writer:Graham Williams

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   Director:Martyn Friend

   Writer:Graham Williams
3. 

   6.2/10(10 votes)

   #3 - A Room for the Winter

   S12:E311/3/1981

   James, an expatriate South African anti-apartheid fighter, deals with his nightmares and his complaining landlady in a run-down area of London, while dreaming of his lover Stephen, left behind.

   Director:Jim Goddard

   Writer:Rose Tremain

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   Director:Jim Goddard

   Writer:Rose Tremain
4. 

   6.7/10(13 votes)

   #4 - No Visible Scar

   S12:E411/17/1981

   A nurse is subjected to an interrogation after giving medical treatment to a terrorist leader.

   Director:Moira Armstrong

   Writer:Rosemary Davies

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   Director:Moira Armstrong

   Writer:Rosemary Davies
5. 

   7.8/10(13 votes)

   #5 - Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain

   S12:E511/24/1981

   In Belfast, Ruby has a cold and is caught in the rain while Iris is looking for work and gets caught in traffic

   Director:John Bruce

   Writer:Stewart Parker

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   Director:John Bruce

   Writer:Stewart Parker
6. 

   6.0/10(11 votes)

   #6 - Protest

   S12:E612/1/1981

   In an adaptation of Václav Havel's play, a dissident, newly released from prison for political reasons, attempts to get his well-connected friend to sign a protest. In this one man play, both the roles are played by Nigel Hawthorne.

   Director:Alistair Clarke

   Writers:Vera Blackwell, Václav Havel

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   Director:Alistair Clarke

   Writers:Vera Blackwell, Václav Havel
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7. 

   8.6/10(33 votes)

   #7 - United Kingdom

   S12:E712/8/1981

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

   Director:Roland Joffé

   Writer:Jim Allen

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   Director:Roland Joffé

   Writer:Jim Allen
8. 

   6.8/10(14 votes)

   #8 - PQ17

   S12:E812/15/1981

   During World War II, a British officer is ordered to abandon a Russian convoy.

   Director:Frank Cox

   Writer:Roger Milner

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   Director:Frank Cox

   Writer:Roger Milner
9. 

   6.2/10(23 votes)

   #9 - The Factory

   S12:E912/22/1981

   A manager, a foreman, and two workers are all that remains of a factory yet labor relations stay the same

   Director:Gerald Blake

   Writer:David Hopkins

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   Director:Gerald Blake

   Writer:David Hopkins
10. 

    7.2/10(11 votes)

    #10 - England's Green and Pleasant Land

    S12:E101/5/1982

    A planning decision must be made, and the motorway extension must go through on either the Golf Course or the Allotments - will the greens survive or the peasant lands?

    Director:Jim Hill

    Writer:Rita May

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    Director:Jim Hill

    Writer:Rita May
11. 

    6.1/10(93 votes)

    #11 - A Cotswold Death

    S12:E111/12/1982

    A police inspector investigates the murder of an Arab sheik who had become a village's Lord of the Manor.

    Director:Tony Bicât

    Writer:Tony Bicât

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    Director:Tony Bicât

    Writer:Tony Bicât
12. 

    5.5/10(11 votes)

    #12 - Under the Skin

    S12:E121/19/1982

    Three women involved in different ways in the women's movement.

    Director:Tony Smith

    Writer:Janey Preger

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    Director:Tony Smith

    Writer:Janey Preger
13. 

    6.0/10(10 votes)

    #13 - Commitments

    S12:E131/26/1982

    Politics and relationships during the last years of the Heath government

    Director:Richard Wilson

    Writer:Dusty Hughes

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    Director:Richard Wilson

    Writer:Dusty Hughes
14. 

    6.6/10(20 votes)

    #14 - Life After Death

    S12:E142/2/1982

    Meg: We were so close, we loved each other, we made a whole together. I feel cut in half.

    Director:Anthony Simmons

    Writer:Rachel Billington

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    Director:Anthony Simmons

    Writer:Rachel Billington
15. 

    7.0/10(10 votes)

    #15 - The Silly Season

    S12:E152/9/1982

    Malcolm goes through life hating the mundanity of his existence as a factory worker and an unloved husband. But when students take up summer jobs at the factory, it reawakens both his passion for political feeling and romantic urges.

    Director:Alex Marshall

    Writer:Stephen Mulrine

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    Director:Alex Marshall

    Writer:Stephen Mulrine
16. 

    8.0/10(96 votes)

    #16 - Too Late to Talk to Billy

    S12:E162/16/1982

    A family in Belfast deals with life after the death of the mother from cancer

    Director:Paul Seed

    Writer:Graham Reid

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    Director:Paul Seed

    Writer:Graham Reid
17. 

    7.6/10(30 votes)

    #17 - Willie's Last Stand

    S12:E172/23/1982

    Willie and his friends notice the passage of time around them, and how society is changing as their marriages stagnate. Can Willie prove to himself that he still has it, by being able to cheat on his wife just once?

    Director:Brian Parker

    Writer:Jim Allen

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    Director:Brian Parker

    Writer:Jim Allen
18. 

    6.6/10(12 votes)

    #18 - Tishoo

    S12:E183/9/1982

    Frank has dedicated 19 years to researching a cure for the common cold, and is almost ready to publish a paper. Yet budget cuts and his own inability to form real relationships with those around him threaten to derail the project.

    Director:Gerald Blake

    Writer:Brian Thompson

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    Director:Gerald Blake

    Writer:Brian Thompson
19. 

    7.2/10(328 votes)

    #19 - Home Sweet Home

    S12:E193/16/1982

    Three postal workers and their dysfunctional families interact over cups of tea and Sunday dinner. 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. The film was shot on location in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

    Director:Mike Leigh

    Writer:Mike Leigh

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    Director:Mike Leigh

    Writer:Mike Leigh
20. 

    7.5/10(16 votes)

    #20 - A Sudden Wrench

    S12:E203/23/1982

    "My life is over - and I just didn't notice it passing." A call to a radio helpline leads to depressed housewife Christine finding a new direction in life.

    Director:Jon Amiel

    Writer:Paula Milne

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    Director:Jon Amiel

    Writer:Paula Milne
21. 

    7.0/10(12 votes)

    #21 - Eve Set the Balls of Corruption Going

    S12:E213/30/1982

    Adolescents will always be obsessed by the same old subject, even when they are educated by nuns. Six ex-Classmates meet for the first time in 12 years and hilarious memories change into highly emotional situations.

    Director:David Maloney

    Writer:Marcella Evaristi

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    Director:David Maloney

    Writer:Marcella Evaristi
22. 

    6.9/10(13 votes)

    #22 - Whistling Wally

    S12:E224/6/1982

    While Wally was happy there wasn't much wrong with the world, and pints seemed a small price to pay for what he gave us. But don't forget what we gave him. We gave him the knowledge he was important, at least to us.

    Director:Gerald Blake

    Writer:Wally K. Daly

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    Director:Gerald Blake

    Writer:Wally K. Daly