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The Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 8

Every episode of Play for Today Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Play for Today Season 8!

Binge this in 22h 30m•Peaking at 8.5/10

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 8 Episode 1 - Stronger than the Sun
    7.4/10(99 votes)

    #1 - Stronger than the Sun

    S8:E1

    A worker discovers a radioactive leak at the nuclear power plant where she works and tries to make it public knowledge.

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writer:Stephen Poliakoff

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  2. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 2 - Come the Revolution
    6.6/10(11 votes)

    #2 - Come the Revolution

    S8:E2

    Mike and his commune have a performance of their musical theatre "Diver" at the local pub, and ITV's Beth Bailey is coming along to see it. But will Beth's visions for the play as an incitement to revolution please everyone?

    Director:Michael Darlow
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 3 - Abigail's Party
    7.9/10(2492 votes)

    #3 - Abigail's Party

    S8:E3

    Comedy of manners focusing on the bourgeois affectation and sexual frustration of a young married couple. Abigail's mother Sue is invited to take refuge from her teenage daughter's party with a neighbouring couple, Beverly and Laurence. They have also invited Angela and Tony, new arrivals in the street. Beverly plies her guests with alcohol as Sue becomes increasingly withdrawn and embarrassed by the pretentious goings-on. Slowly, marital tensions emerge and the evening is breaking up in disarray.

    Director:Mike Leigh
    Writer:Mike Leigh

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  4. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 4 - Oy Vay Maria
    7.7/10(19 votes)

    #4 - Oy Vay Maria

    S8:E4

    The story of the romance between a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl

    Director:Richard Loncraine
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 5 - Nipper
    8.0/10(18 votes)

    #5 - Nipper

    S8:E5

    Teenager Jimmy's life begins to unravel after the death of his father. With his mother promiscuous and his new stepfather and stepbrother difficult to get along with, he begins to fall into a cycle of petty crime and self harm.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 6 - One Day at a Time
    8.0/10(13 votes)

    #6 - One Day at a Time

    S8:E6

    "People coming to their first AA meeting, prosperous people, sometimes, accustomed to the best. They look round the places where we meet, and you can see them thinking: what am I doing here? I owe my life to these rooms!"

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 7 - The Mayor's Charity
    6.5/10(16 votes)

    #7 - The Mayor's Charity

    S8:E7

    Olive Major is determined that her year of office as Mayor will be a happy and successful one. But her appointment of Ex-Warrant Officer Higham as Attendant and Mace-bearer causes the storm-clouds to gather over Medburgh Town Hall.

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 8 - Catchpenny Twist
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Catchpenny Twist

    S8:E8

    Three schoolteachers in Belfast give up teaching to become singers/songwriters.

    Director:Robert Knights
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 9 - Charades
    6.3/10(12 votes)

    #9 - Charades

    S8:E9

    "We've just got to get it right. It'll be our little secret. When all the other servants have gone out, we'll play this little game to amuse ourselves. A sort of private charade."

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 10 - The Thin End of the Wedge
    6.8/10(8 votes)

    #10 - The Thin End of the Wedge

    S8:E10

    "Five days of darkness then. Unless you get it together we will have five days of darkness. And on the sixth day you will say, let there be light, and no doubt it'll be such an effort that on the seventh day you'll have to rest!"

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 11 - Scully's New Year's Eve
    7.5/10(23 votes)

    #11 - Scully's New Year's Eve

    S8:E11

    A Liverpool teenager has a hectic night out on New Year's Eve.

    Director:Michael Simpson
    Writer:Alan Bleasdale

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  12. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 12 - Licking Hitler
    7.6/10(46 votes)

    #12 - Licking Hitler

    S8:E12

    During World War II, a young woman joins the propaganda department and makes radio broadcasts to Germany from a British country house.

    Director:David Hare
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 13 - Red Shift
    6.6/10(86 votes)

    #13 - Red Shift

    S8:E13

    A stone axehead links three couples living at different times in the same place in Wales.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 14 - The Spongers
    8.5/10(81 votes)

    #14 - The Spongers

    S8:E14

    The story of a single mother of four living on welfare

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 15 - Destiny
    8.2/10(31 votes)

    #15 - Destiny

    S8:E15

    A story dealing with racial tensions and fascism during a by-election in a West Midlands town

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 16 - Our Day Out
    8.0/10(257 votes)

    #16 - Our Day Out

    S8:E16

    When a teacher takes a group of troubled school children on a school trip to Conwy in Wales, the children understand life outside of Liverpool.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 17 - The After-Dinner Joke
    5.7/10(13 votes)

    #17 - The After-Dinner Joke

    S8:E17

    The story of a well-meaning charity worker

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 18 - The Legion Hall Bombing
    6.8/10(9 votes)

    #18 - The Legion Hall Bombing

    S8:E18

    The story of the trial of Willie Gallagher, convicted of bombing the Strabane British Legion Hall in 1976.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 8 Ratings Summary

"Stronger than the Sun" is the best rated episode of "Play for Today" season 8. It scored 7.4/10 based on 99 votes. Directed by Michael Apted and written by Stephen Poliakoff, it aired on 10/18/1977. This episode is rated 0.8 points higher than the second-best, "Come the Revolution".