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The Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 5

Every episode of Play for Today Season 5 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 5!

Binge this in 1d 3h•Peaking at 8.2/10

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, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Play for Today Season 5 Episode 1 - Leeds--United!
    8.1/10(79 votes)

    #1 - Leeds--United!

    S5:E1

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

    Director:Roy Battersby
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 2 - Baby Love
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #2 - Baby Love

    S5:E2

    After the stillbirth of her illegitimate baby, a woman steals a baby at random and is sentenced to 9 months in prison.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 3 - Back of Beyond
    7.5/10(52 votes)

    #3 - Back of Beyond

    S5:E3

    Olwen lives in a tumbledown farm up in the mountains - a lonely widow, virtually a recluse. Her only human contact is with the occasional shopkeeper and young Rachel, who delivers her papers. For Rachel, her visits to Olwen are half adventure, half honest friendship. But they also mean a time to 'put aside childish things.'

    Director:Desmond Davis
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 4 - The Bevellers
    6.6/10(14 votes)

    #4 - The Bevellers

    S5:E4

    The first (and last) day at work of a young apprentice in a bevelling shop at a Glasgow glass factory

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 5 - Taking Leave
    7.2/10(11 votes)

    #5 - Taking Leave

    S5:E5

    "Well, I hope I won'be seeing you come home in that uniform much more. Six years - that's long enough out of any man's life." Mike's time is nearly up. The army gives him a weekend pass so he's home from Ulster to decide whether to sign on again. His parents want him to stay but he's wondering whether the family's own flare-ups aren't a bit too like the Troubles he has left behind.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 6 - Fugitive
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Fugitive

    S5:E6

    After 18 years as a friar, Peter is no longer sure of his vocation. It is a happy life, maybe too much so, and now he has met Clare. Will his doubts run away with him? Runaway friars are officially "fugitives" who must be persuaded back to their order.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 7 - Eleanor
    6.9/10(11 votes)

    #7 - Eleanor

    S5:E7

    Eleanor is unable to communicate her inner thoughts as she's bullied at school and virtually ignored by her parents. With a mundane working existence awaiting her, she desires a chance at another life - but at what cost?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 8 - Gangsters
    8.2/10(61 votes)

    #8 - Gangsters

    S5:E8

    A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Philip Martin

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  9. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 9 - The After Dinner Game
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - The After Dinner Game

    S5:E9

    Vice-Chancellor Bartley Humbolt has problems. His young university is almost bankrupt, his wife is threatening to leave him, his protége professor from industry is threatening to overshadow him, and his prestigious professor of history is threatening to resign. But Bartley is a born manipulator. And when he gives a dinner party, he has something very special in mind - for afters.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 10 - Breath
    6.0/10(9 votes)

    #10 - Breath

    S5:E10

    A story about an asthma sufferer

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 11 - The Death of a Young, Young Man
    6.4/10(10 votes)

    #11 - The Death of a Young, Young Man

    S5:E11

    Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 12 - Sunset Across the Bay
    7.6/10(152 votes)

    #12 - Sunset Across the Bay

    S5:E12

    A elderly couple become disillusioned when they retire to their favorite holiday resort.

    Director:Stephen Frears
    Writer:Alan Bennett

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  13. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 13 - Funny Farm
    7.0/10(80 votes)

    #13 - Funny Farm

    S5:E13

    One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 14 - Goodbye
    7.9/10(10 votes)

    #14 - Goodbye

    S5:E14

    "All I said was the gramophone's too loud." Tony and Zoe Lyle 's silly row starts like any other, but Tony finds that Zoe means it this time. She's walking out and he's got a week to save a marriage that he hasn't looked at in 18 years, and with it all the trappings of a good life in Maida Vale.

    Director:Gavin Millar
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 15 - Just Another Saturday
    7.8/10(177 votes)

    #15 - Just Another Saturday

    S5:E15

    A young man participating in the Orange Parade in Glasgow becomes disillusioned with the pageant when he discovers its unpleasant and violent history and witnesses the participants' attacks on Catholics.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 16 - A Child of Hope
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - A Child of Hope

    S5:E16

    Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles from their home. They are to be tried under South Africa's Terrorism Act despite the UN ruling that South Africa must abandon its "illegal administration" of their country.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:John Elliot

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  17. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 17 - The Saturday Party
    8.1/10(29 votes)

    #17 - The Saturday Party

    S5:E17

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

    Director:Barry Davis
    Writer:Brian Clark

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  18. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 18 - Wednesday Love
    7.8/10(17 votes)

    #18 - Wednesday Love

    S5:E18

    Two women, looking for amusement on their afternoons off, visit a drinking club.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 19 - The Dandelion Clock
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - The Dandelion Clock

    S5:E19

    In Belfast, a girl awaits the return of her missing father.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 20 - Brassneck
    6.6/10(12 votes)

    #20 - Brassneck

    S5:E20

    England, 1945-75: Builder Alfred Bagley makes a fortune, with a little help from his friends.

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:Howard Brenton

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  21. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 21 - The Floater
    7.7/10(9 votes)

    #21 - The Floater

    S5:E21

    A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing when you see the works.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 22 - By Common Consent
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - By Common Consent

    S5:E22

    Political fantasy about a fascist regime

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Leeds--United!" is the best rated episode of "Play for Today" season 5. It scored 8.1/10 based on 79 votes. Directed by Roy Battersby and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/31/1974. This episode is rated 8.1 points higher than the second-best, "Baby Love".