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The Worst Episodes of Play for Today

Every episode of Play for Today ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Play for Today!

Worst episode
S9E16 The Last Window Cleaner
4.915 votes
Best episode
S8E14 The Spongers
8.584 votes
Top season
Season 6
7.4avg
Binge time
16d 7h
314 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons14

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Play for Today Season 9 Episode 16 - The Last Window Cleaner
    4.9/10(15 votes)

    S9:E16

    The Irish troubles as seen by residents of a boarding house called ""The Crumlin View""

    Director:Bill Craske
    Writer:Ron Hutchinson

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  2. Play for Today Season 12 Episode 11 - A Cotswold Death
    6.1/10(94 votes)

    S12:E11

    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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  3. Play for Today Season 1 Episode 16 - The Rainbirds
    5.4/10(19 votes)

    S1:E16

    A man who attempted suicide by jumping out a window is saved only to live in a coma, in which he has fantasies about his relatives and nightmare creatures.

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Clive Exton

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  4. Play for Today Season 3 Episode 8 - The Bankrupt
    5.2/10(13 votes)

    S3:E8

    A washed-up executive is on the verge of bankruptcy.

    Director:Christopher Morahan
    Writer:David Mercer

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  5. Play for Today Season 14 Episode 3 - A Coming to Terms for Billy
    6.3/10(122 votes)

    S14:E3

    When his father comes home to Belfast after more than 2 years in England, conflicts arise with Billy

    Director:Paul Seed
    Writer:Graham Reid

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  6. Play for Today Season 1 Episode 18 - The Foxtrot
    5.6/10(16 votes)

    S1:E18

    An odd menage a trois results when a woman and her lover are visited by her long-lost husband

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Rhys Adrian

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  7. Play for Today Season 11 Episode 21 - The Sin Bin
    5.4/10(13 votes)

    S11:E21

    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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  8. Play for Today Season 4 Episode 8 - Baby Blues
    5.5/10(12 votes)

    S4:E8

    After ten years of trying, Lavinia, and a large team of medics, finally manage to produce a live baby. She should now be able to start living her dream, but what happens next is not at all the paradise she has been looking forward to.

    Director:James MacTaggart
    Writer:Nemone Lethbridge

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  9. Play for Today Season 12 Episode 12 - Under the Skin
    5.5/10(12 votes)

    S12:E12

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

    Director:Tony Smith
    Writer:Janey Preger

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  10. Play for Today Season 9 Episode 15 - Who's Who
    6.5/10(292 votes)

    S9:E15

    Slice-of-life look at class divisions among employees of a brokerage house. Alan, with his portrait of the Queen and love of the peerage; his wife April, who raises cats; youthful and pretentious friends Nigel, Giles, and Anthony, who gather for a wine-soaked dinner party with the chatty and risque Samantha and the mousy Caroline; the plummy Lord and Lady Crouchurst, in a spot of bother needing the help of Francis, a senior partner, to assist with the family's cash flow. Alan comes home from work to find Mr. Shakespeare doing a photo shoot of one of April's cats and a wealthy stranger, Miss Hunt, waiting to purchase one. His instincts for sycophantic palaver kick in.

    Director:Mike Leigh
    Writer:Mike Leigh

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  11. Play for Today Season 9 Episode 1 - Nina
    6.4/10(65 votes)

    S9:E1

    The story of two Soviet dissidents living in London and slowly coming apart under the strain of his drinking and her enforced separation from her child

    Director:Alan Clarke
    Writer:Jehane Markham

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  12. Play for Today Season 7 Episode 7 - Buffet
    5.8/10(15 votes)

    S7:E7

    Freddie is going through an existential crisis as everyone around him seems to doubt their own identity and the entire purpose of conversation. Surrounded by inflation and extra marital affairs, his only solace is in buffet room drinking.

    Director:Mike Newell
    Writer:Rhys Adrian

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  13. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 17 - The After-Dinner Joke
    5.8/10(14 votes)

    S8:E17

    The story of a well-meaning charity worker

    Director:Colin Bucksey
    Writer:Caryl Churchill

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  14. Play for Today Season 8 Episode 13 - Red Shift
    6.5/10(93 votes)

    S8:E13

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

    Director:John Mackenzie
    Writer:Alan Garner

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  15. Play for Today Season 7 Episode 9 - The Kiss of Death
    6.6/10(373 votes)

    S7:E9

    A young man's chances at romance are thwarted by his own shyness.

    Director:Mike Leigh
    Writer:Mike Leigh

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  16. Play for Today Season 12 Episode 9 - The Factory
    6.2/10(24 votes)

    S12:E9

    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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  17. Play for Today Season 4 Episode 15 - Headmaster
    6.1/10(18 votes)

    S4:E15

    Fisher is good at his job but in new circumstances that isn't enough: he has to face the risks of competition for something bigger.

    Director:Anthony Page
    Writer:John Challen

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  18. Play for Today Season 4 Episode 3 - Jack Point
    6.0/10(15 votes)

    S4:E3

    An amateur operatic society is preparing a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and someone new is needed for the role of Jack Point - but who will break this to the veteran who's always done it?

    Director:Michael Apted
    Writer:Colin Welland

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  19. Play for Today Season 1 Episode 1 - The Long Distance Piano Player
    6.4/10(36 votes)

    S1:E1

    A man tries to break the world's record for nonstop piano playing

    Director:Philip Saville
    Writer:Alan Sharp

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  20. Play for Today Season 2 Episode 5 - Thank You Very Much
    5.8/10(11 votes)

    S2:E5

    A social satire in which advertisers realise that having a blind beggar as the public face of charities would help make them seem more appealing to donors.

    Director:Claude Whatham
    Writer:N.F. Simpson

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  21. Play for Today Season 1 Episode 2 - The Right Prospectus
    6.3/10(24 votes)

    S1:E2

    A couple look for the proper school, not for their children but for themselves.

    Director:Alan Cooke
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Play for Today Season 11 Episode 16 - Beloved Enemy
    6.6/10(80 votes)

    S11:E16

    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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  23. Play for Today Season 12 Episode 6 - Protest
    6.0/10(12 votes)

    S12:E6

    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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  24. Play for Today Season 10 Episode 16 - Instant Enlightenment Including VAT
    6.3/10(19 votes)

    S10:E16

    Weekend enlightenment seminars serve as a form of brainwashing.

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Andrew Carr

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  25. Play for Today Season 12 Episode 2 - London Is Drowning
    6.3/10(19 votes)

    S12:E2

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

    Director:Martyn Friend
    Writer:Graham Williams

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Worst Episodes Summary

"The Last Window Cleaner" is the worst rated episode of Play for Today. It scored 4.9/10 from 15 votes. Directed by Bill Craske and written by Ron Hutchinson, it aired on February 13, 1979. This episode scored 1.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "A Cotswold Death".

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