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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 8 - Gangsters
    8.2/10(63 votes)

    S5:E8

    A story exploring the Birmingham underworld

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Philip Martin

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  2. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 1 - Leeds--United!
    8.1/10(93 votes)

    S5:E1

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

    Director:Roy Battersby
    Writer:Colin Welland

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  3. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 17 - The Saturday Party
    8.1/10(31 votes)

    S5:E17

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

    Director:Barry Davis
    Writer:Brian Clark

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  4. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 15 - Just Another Saturday
    7.8/10(182 votes)

    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:John Mackenzie
    Writer:Peter McDougall

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  5. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 12 - Sunset Across the Bay
    7.7/10(153 votes)

    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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  6. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 18 - Wednesday Love
    7.7/10(18 votes)

    S5:E18

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

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writer:Arthur Hopcraft

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

    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:Barry Davis
    Writer:Peter Prince

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  8. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 14 - Goodbye
    7.6/10(12 votes)

    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
    Writers:Hugh Whitemore, William Sansom

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

    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:Julia Jones

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  10. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 9 - The After Dinner Game
    7.4/10(8 votes)

    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:Robert Knights
    Writers:Christopher Bigsby, Malcolm Bradbury

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  11. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 5 - Taking Leave
    7.1/10(13 votes)

    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:John Mackenzie
    Writer:Joyce Neary

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

    S5:E13

    One day in the life a nurse in a mental hospital

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writer:Roy Minton

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  13. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 7 - Eleanor
    6.9/10(12 votes)

    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:Barry Davis
    Writer:William Trevor

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  14. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 11 - The Death of a Young, Young Man
    6.9/10(11 votes)

    S5:E11

    Three young students suspended from school face various problems.

    Director:Viktors Ritelis
    Writer:Willy Russell

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  15. Play for Today Season 5 Episode 4 - The Bevellers
    6.6/10(15 votes)

    S5:E4

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

    Director:Moira Armstrong
    Writer:Roddy McMillan

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

    S5:E20

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

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writers:Howard Brenton, David Hare

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

    S5:E10

    A story about an asthma sufferer

    Director:Matthew Robinson
    Writer:Elaine Feinstein

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

    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:Barry Davis
    Writer:David Edgar

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

    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:Peter Gill
    Writer:Sean Walsh

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

    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:Graham Evans
    Writers:John Elliot, Joel Carlson

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

    S5:E19

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

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Wilson John Haire

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

    S5:E22

    Political fantasy about a fascist regime

    Directors:John Robins, Ron Daniels
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 5 Ratings Summary

"Gangsters" is the best rated episode of "Play for Today" season 5. It scored 8.2/10 based on 63 votes. Directed by Philip Saville and written by Philip Martin, it aired on 1/9/1975. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Leeds--United!".